Evening star., 1897-05-08
The Supply Of Office Seekers Has
Come Up Nobly.
KEEPS STEP With NATURES PROGRESS
But the Dews of Favor Are Not
Very Heavy.
DROU CHIT AND SITS

The long winter has gore. The month of
blossoms has returned. Washington is
again one great bowl of vivid verdure Its
soft, balmy atmosphere is once more
ladened with perfume. Its magnolia and
tulip trees are in bloom. Its newly leafed
trees again shadow it's smooth avenues
and its parks and circles are freshened
with roses and beds Of rare flowers.
All is life and animation. Sparrows twit-
ter in the marble plinths of the Corinthian
columns adorning the Capitol. and robins
dart here and there over the bright green
sward below the marble esplanade. The
aeolan notes of the red-winged blackbird
float above the Botanic Garden, and the
hoarse cawing of crows is heard as they
wing their flight from their feeding grounds
along the East Potomac to their roosts in
Virginia. Grim beetles, ugler than hell
GRANTEES, fly to the city from neighboring
swamps and encircle the electric lights
at night, casting ominous shadows over the
pavements.
Mattress spring awakening spurs wheel
men to renewed activity. With 300 miles
of asphalt and macadamized roads at their
command, they shoot over the ground like
swallows on the wing. Girls and boys, wo-
men ard men, they troop around the street
corners in platoOns and divisions. AL night
lights CLEAN in all directions. They sprin-
kle Pennsylvania avenue like fire flies. It's
sidewalks are carpeted with shadow fret
work by the brilliancy of the electric light;
delicate tracery, thinning every fresh twig
ard leaf in the foliage above.
Nor is nature alone animated. Up from
the south, east and west springs the office
seeker. Like the swamp beetle, he has
seen the effulgence of electric lights re-
flected on the sky, and he is here circing
around the flame, singeing his wings. lie
makes fully as much noise as the crows
and blackbirds. and is quite as active as
the robin and sparrow in gathering straws
to thatch his nest The Office seeker is
poor. Fifty cents a night seems to
be his limit. A few of the wealthy are
quartered at the hotels, which are full to
overfiowing, but the vast majority are
seeking the cheapest lodgings
But Little Left.
Nest of the choice places are already
pre-empted, and there appear to be no
others. The civil service law stands like
a stone wall confronting the army of place
hunters. They cannot get over it, under
it, or around it. They must drive them
selves against 1t. In the Treasury Depart
ment the first beneficiary is the Union sol
dier, who was sent to the rear months ago
under various guises and pretexts. He is
again marching to the front, and resuming
his place in line.
In the Navy Department Gov. Long of
Massachusetts presides with true dignity
attending to the duties devolved upon him,
rndisturbed by the spashing in the pool Of
politics. With the apostle of civil service as
his assistant the rules are not apt to be
disturbed or the law violated
In the War Department Gov. Alger OF
Michigan receives his friends with urbane
smiles. He has a trusty lieutenant in
Assistant Secretary George D. Meikeljohn,
late a representative from Nebraska, a
popular man In the House, Meikeljohn Is
tto,, ,1ov- v-1yy
gress who have dealings with the War
Department The plums in this department
however. are very few, and are mostly
gathered by army officers.
The Consular Service.
Grim John Sherman, patient. tenacious
and brainy, sits upon the tripod in the
State Department. The smaller consulates
which were formerly perquisites of the
Secretary Of State, are now choice It'd
bits Of civil service reform. Where va
car cies occur, under President Cleveland's
order of 1895, they are filled either by pro-
motion or transfer. Aside from this, per-
sons who have been in the service have
preference. New applicants are examined
in the State Department with special ref
erence to their fitness for the Office 1t is
under cover Of these examinations that
the spoflsmen may gather a small harvest.
In the Department of Justice spring
opens brightly for Mr.. Joseph McKenna,
the Attorney General. Here the places are
very few indeed. The new Attorney Gem
eral is greeted by scores of his late con-
gressional associates, and they always
leave him with a CHEEKY feeling. The
spoilsmen besiege him night and day, with
varying results.
Cornelius N. Bliss. with Gladstonian face.
occupies corner Of the patent office build
ing as Secretary Of the Interior The rush
upon him for places has been .unprece-
dented. Under his predecessors, Georgfans
bod
strong majority. The conditions, it is
said. warranted extreme changes. A score
of old soldiers have been restored and the
wedding process still continues. Calm and
thoughtful, the New York merchant has
proved patient listener, but he seems
sadly out of place in the Department of
the Interior. The crowd of applicants,
however, has. been very importunate and
he has been compelled to close his doors at
pm.
Looking for Post Offices.
Across the street Postmaster General
Gary is enthroned. He is the only cabinet
officer with four assistants. and he needs
them all. This is the busiest Of ell the de-
spa{ tments. Postmasters throughout the
country Of every grade are being changed
quietly and expeditiously, all under the
operation OF an order made during Mr.
Cleveland's first administration. It gives
each postmaster O four years term, from
the lowest to the highest. The ante-room
of the Postmaster General il filled with
congressman from the rural districts. all,
Of course. intensely interested in the sue
cess OF his administration. In an adjoin-
ing room will be found their clerks, copy
Ing the list Of the postInasters In each dis
trict. paying special attention to the date
Of their present appointment. The con-
gresham thus learns when the term of
office of each postmaster in his district ex-
pires. and is In shape for q future CAM
paign.
Last OF all, but not the least In lnpor-
tance. is the Department of Agriculture
Here sits blum and hearty James Wilson Of
Iowa He contrasts strongly with his pre-
decessor. Wilson would never accept an
office and say that he believed that It was
uEconstituttonally created. ONCE seekers
give him little annoyance. Book sewers
and seed packers are Of the past and not
Of the present. All seeds are now packed
and shipped by contractors. Mr.. Wilson
has begun his work In q systematic and
vigorous way. He IS earnest In his en-
deavors to develop the beet sugar indnstry,
and II turning his thoughts toward the
prevention Of hog cholera During his en-
I