Evening star., 1898-03-19


class of worried-looking wives-limited, for
tunately-who show up on pay day because
wen, because they have reason to fear
that their bread winners might yield to
disastrous aiiurements on their way home
with their pay
There is always. to my mind, something
pathetic about the pay day appearance of
these women The wheedling young wives
VINO gain their point every time by waltz
ing In, dressed up to the limit, and frankly
demanding every nickel but a dollar of it.
JACK, are numerous. The men with grown
oaughters are easy prey to the same when
Iney hoat. In, two or three in bunch, diff
1Isfng sachet perfumes. Some of the
grown daughters are crafty enough to
nr1ng young women friends along with
them on these occasions. AS a matter of
prlde the doting parent doesn't like to re-
fuse his daughters demands when other
young women are present.
Collectors Are ON Hand.
The collectors. as I said, keep away
rom the pay line, but they permeate the
rest OF the building. You can see them
holding little confabs in dark corners of
the halls with the just-paid clerks. AS you
pass by such pairs you're liable to over
near little scraps of conversation-.Say
can't he wait till nett pay day? Can't do
thing for you this trip Says he'll have
something on the bill this time or sue;
wonder If I'll ever get this burned ac-
count settled You here again@ You peo-
PIE are Keeping me poverty STRICKEN Got
a Dig KIDS whooping cough bill to square
ration, ration day; Who does he think am, AS
torbilk? Well, are you satisfied. now
you've got my last kopeck?' I suppose that
p1ano Mar.o belongs to me, now I've paid for it,?
overcharge , me for making that dress, and
all the goods she kept. Say, that suit O.
cIothes turned pea green the first time
wore. wore II IN the SUM- That bikes cost me
11l1-
ten-spot satisfy you this ttmeP' and so on
to the end of time
Ihe division chiefs begin to get touched
aor , tne little half day off long before noon
anu the time slips begin to pile up on their
desks The applicants have ali GOT hills to
pay tnat can't be paid after 4 O'Clock. or
banks 10 swamp with new coin of the
aeaim' or dressmakers that must be visit
away at 1:47 to the Klondike An have
some special reason for letting the govern
ment take care Of itself on nav day amone
tnese applicants for half days off when the
have to turn down a good MANY of these
applcatlons, and the turned down glover
Tor the remainder of the day,
Settling Up Accounts.
AS soon as the disbursing clerk begins
" pass out money from his STALL the set
thng up OF little accounts among the
clerks themselves begins. Some of the
men tour around from desk to desk In their
DIVISIONS, depositing quarters and half dol
iars thereon. The recipients of such nav
ments always work in a little pleasantly.
S,a,-a naon as Just IKE finding it, my boy or Il
never expected to feel the heft of that half
again. The women clerks also have their
little settling up among themselves. Are
YOU sure you can spare it" or I'm sure
yoa t,od can take your time about it, the set
tied-wlth women always say on these oc-
casions, but I've noticed that they give
expression to these generous little remarks
only a1ter they've tucked the paid-back
money safely back into their purses,
"A good many of the men come hack
from their lunches feeling pretty good and
II they remain at their desks, they display
large expansiveness of humor during the
remainder of the afternoon. A few of them
too, execute little disappearance for ten
minutes or so during the progress of the
afternoon-which is a very long afternoon
that necesSitates frequent nervous study of
the clock by everybody. If the day is fine
the young fellows say to each other we
ought to be out giving the girls on f street
treat on an afternoon like this and the
women clerks reply, 'Conceited things!'
In a Hurry to Leave.
The washing of hands on the part of
the men-I suppose oughtnt to add, the
surreptitious powdering of noses on the
part of the women clerks-preparatory to
knock-of work begins about half-past
tnFee On pay Gay, ana the ch1efS OF Oh
visions who like to emphasize their de-
votion to government duty stand at the
doors of their offices, some of 'em, and
glover at the clerks scurrying to and fro
in the halls, and mutter things like, Might
as well abandon this bureau altogether
or They've got a few dollars and they
can't break away quick enough to blow il
in But the glowers of division chiefs don't
have their usual awe-inspiring effect on
pay day afternoons. When we do get into
the open air on pay day afternoon, rain
or shine, storm or calm. there's no deny
ing the fact that we do scoot of very
much like young 'uns abandoning coun-
try school house on the last day CT the
term.
"a government Office is a cave of gloom
on the day after pay day. Everybody
shows up more or less subdued, and you'll
see lot of us fumbling with calendars to
determine the exact week day of the mex.
pay day. Everybody wears a sort of it's
all-over-now Look, and you'll hear the
yorng fellows asking of each other, Say,
have you got postage stamp? 1 want to
write home
After aIrs said and done, however, I've
got no kick coming on government pay
day. That little ante-pay-day slip is about
as good a meal ticket as / know Of