Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-24
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ONCE OF the. paymaster general of the navy
has created an unusual amount of gossip
among department clerks, observed an
official of the War Department to Star
reporter but 1 am in a position to state
with positiveness that 1t will go no farther
In the Navy Department and Will not reach
the War Department. One OF the nrst
things the present Secretary of war DID
after he took charge was to abolish the
time card. He thereby put his clerks on
their honor instead of their time cards, ana
he has had no reason to regret 1t. Inc
change has worked wonderfully, and the
time that clerks were required to use IN
making out and comparing their time cards,
chief clerks in recording and grouping them
and other work in connection with the time
cards is now devoted to government work.
1t Is no secret that il was the action OF
three particular clerks that brought about
the new order of things in that particular
bureau of the Navy Department. me
clerks are as well known as the peculiari-
ties of their conduct. To reach them, how
ever, an order had to be issued that Will
strike over fifty clerks whose work Is sat
iSfactOry and who do not need Such an Or
der 1t will be noticed that ten points are
charged against efficiency records for loud
talking during office hours, while but Two
points are to be charged for hardness. Thls
is intended to reach one particular clerk
who makes himself a nuisance by going
through the rooms of the bureau blowing
his trumpet generally and interfering with
the work of every one His complaint IS
that his special abilities are not sufficiently
recognized. The hardness charge IS in
tended to reach two lady clerks, who are
chronic for being late, though rarely lor
over a few minutes each day. Hardness is
held by the paymaster general to be an
ofrense each time it occurs, though IN sew
eral OF the branches Of the War Depart
ment 1t has to occur three times IN the
same month before it Is noticed at all. In
some of these the clerks are required to
make up the lost time during lunchtlme
or after office hours This rule seems 10
cure hardness better than any general or
der OF shotgun policy, for it is notorious
that clerks who are prone to tard1neSS are
the first to get ready to quit work the
moment the clock strikes 1. Indeed. they
are often dressed and ready to leave nVe
or ten minutes before closing time Their
hardness is at only one end of the ofhclal
day. 1t breaks them all up when they are
told that they have to make up lost time
and is more of a punishment than any gen.
eral efficiency order can be.
y X
1.-The Indian Is by no means an extinct
portion of civilization" explained an Indian
bureau official to Star reporter, las the
coming census will very clearly demon
strate Indeed. instead of running out, the
last ten years will show that he has got al
most as good a hold on life as the most
favored of our people. The poems regret
ting his passing away will have to be stored
for some years. The Indian of late years
has been generally engaged in minding his
own business. He is not much improved
morally from what he was. but he has not
fallen behind to any noticeable extent. 1t
is u case of the survival of the fittest, and
while eventually the Indian will nave to
go. he is not gathering up his traps and get
ting ready to start as yet. Those who re-
gard the lndlAN as a scattered race. exist
ing in small CAMPS in the far west will be
considerably informed when / can tell them
that there is today a record of $4,000 In
dams IN the western states. There are
many kinds there. The Choctaws number
over 1900; the Creeks even more; the
SeminOles about $3.50; Cherokees about
3O.Un; Chickasaws about $500. There are
over 1nOTo Indians in the Six Nations of
New York state alone. The Indian is still
in it, and y ill be in it for many years yet,
and / would not be surprised if the COM
ing census will show that there are over
10000 of them"
~
II cannot remember when l have been so
surprised at the result of a legal investiga-
ton as one 1 have just concluded re-
marked an official of the Department of
Justice TO a Star reporter, in which 1
looked into the question of national holt
days 1 had always supposed that Amer
lea haG national holiday or holidays, and
II not the king bee in the holiday line. 1t
has always been called our natal day, the
birthday OF independence with a big B, anC
all that sort of thing. and 1 took it for
granted. as 1 am sure hundreds of thou
sands of others do, that ii was consecrat tee
to liberty and independence by some ex
preston in the statutes of the land but ar
investigation reveals the fact that there is
not line in the statutes on the subject
excepting here and there IL is spoken of a:
legal holiday But II is no more of 6
national holiday than is the 22d of Feb
ruary, and by no means as clearly defined
as Decoration day. This fact was baC
enough. and it may be thought that il
was overlooked. but there is not a line il
the statutes Of any of the states of tht
United States giving the Fourth of July
the glorious Fourth, mind you, any men
tion or preference in the matter of honor
The glorious Fourth is a legal holiday al
right enough. and is pretty generally recog
nized, and IL promises 10 be more gener
ally recognized this year than ever par
ticularly in the south, but il is not a ma
tiOnal holiday and has never been so de
clared by statute. The fact Is We have ne