The Sunday globe., 1901-07-14
HOMES OF WIDOWS
Where Gambling is the Recreation
of Government Clerks.
THE HANDSOME " RAKE OFF "
And Widows Mite Which Some Department
Danes who Run Boarding Houses as Side
Issues are In Receipt uf-The Pension Office
Clerk and "MIkey" Lewis WId@-Ths
Tables Turned.

Tables Turned,
The Globe contains, on another page,
AN Idyll of the Departments" illus
trative of the immoralities so preva-
lent among a certain class of female
clerks. It is unnecessary, it is to be
hoped, for The Globe to continually re-
iterate that this class is decidedly in
the minority, and that the large body
Of female clerks are as virtuOus as any
equal number of women in this or any
other country. This being properly un'
derstood, The Globe proceeds to give
its readers a typical case Of widow
working her graft. The dame holds
down a desk in "Mikey' Lewis Supply
Division Of the Postotfice, and, of
course, is one Of the "favorites' in that
Pollock's gang Of incompetents.
This particular widow at one time
conducted a clearinghouse for Gov.
ernmeut clerks exclusively. She was
very successful, too, in securing young
people in receipt of fair salaries, and
she made it interesting for them in
the manner in which she conducted
her house.
Draw poker, stud poker and all
other varieties of poker were the recre-
ations of the clerks, and the rake of
was something handsome And when
a clerk went broke the widow staked
him, charging him such a reasonable
per cent for the advance that the bor-
rover never afterwards got out or
debt, no matter how many jack pots
he swiped
Many of the young bloods Of the De-
partments, whose fathers or other rel
atives were in high official positions,
boarded one time or another with the
widow. While the board and rooms
were reasonable enough, the cost Of
living at the establishment exceeded
that of an ordinary guest at either the
Arlington or Hotel Lawrence! Notably,
one youngster, whose father is the head
of a minor Department, and who NIL
ed a nice clerical position himself, pay
Tag about 81 800 per annum, spent
every cent at the widows in draw
poker and ham and cabbage. His
dad" finally caught on, and the young
ster was reluctantly compelled to
/ change his boarding house This
/ charming widow, who is a fayorite
clerk, as stated, of "Mikey' Lewis,
lost another of her boarders, a Pension
| Office clerk, for whom the pace at the
widows got too hot--for his salary
! He left, and, of course, in debt to the
! dame. This was nothing singular, and
! indeed an utter impossibility to avoid
Like une "boarders" south of the Ave
nue., it was only necessary to put up
| at the widows to get so deeply in debt
! there was no way of getting out except
without ones trunk. So the Pension
Office clerk, after the manner of his
! impecunious class, took his baggage
along in a cardboard shoe box. The
/ widow waited until payday FOR do
nation and none being forthcoming
she sent a dun" to her former board
er. This was ignored; so was another
reminder the next payday, and then
the widow sat down and addressed a
perfumed note to Commissioner Evans
The clerk responded to this prompt
ly enough In fact, too sooner as
the widow ascertained during the in
terview he had with her This is what
he said you have 'dunned me sew
eral times, and now you have written
to the Commissioner of Pensions.
lust want an understanding with you
madam. In the first place, | do not
honestly or in equity owe you penny
but. on the contrary, you owe me. How
ever. | will let that go. What | want
you to thoroughly realize is this, il
YOU ever send me another dun, or dare
write another line to the Commission
er. will expose the kind of a gambling
clearinghouse you run in the col
umns of the Sunday Globe"
After the widow had been "broqghr
to" from her dead faint at the men
tion of The Globe, the clerk resumed
you know the kind of a house yol
keep You know how many young mef
have been ruined there to say moth
ing of other things You are a Gov
ernment employe, and the exposure o
your ranch in The Globe would no
only bust your peculiar kind o
boarding house. but even 'Mikey
Lewis would be compelled to fire
you"
After another application of ic,
water in this second fainting SPELL tht
dreaded Globe having been again men
'-o0ec nv the pension clerk, the widow
helplessly held up her diamond-stud
ded fingers before her face and sob
bed:
GO away, go away; ungenerout
young man. My nerves can stand NJ
further strain. That miserable
Globe is too, too much. Oh! VIII!
did | ever take you into my house
among a society your low breeding en-
tirely untitled you for. You are
bad man. ! want no more to do will
YOU. Keep what you honestly owe me
I shall never bother you any more
The pension clerk retired, bowling
and the widow took a little "nervine
to stimulate her after such an awfu
ordeal as to be bearded in her den b!
common 81, 200 clerk. and threatened
with exposure in The Globe.
How many widows-grass or other
wise-holding down clerkships in tn
Departments run these kinds Of board
ing houses? We pause for replies
Meanwhile, a little bird has whispere,
to us that the big Postoffice buildinl
contains a few, and that there ar
others" in several Of the Departments
Now. "Mikey," do not get gay ant
induce some widow to sue us for libe
on this article to even. up things 70
that expose The Globe had in abou
you some weeks since. We have II
preparation, Mike" to be sprung a
the proper time, a little article cor
cerning yourself, which, of its yer
= nature. will compel you ito fish or cu
? bait"-to resign or be kicked out. Thi
: will be your chance to sue for libe
Let the widow alone, and observe TIL
Globes forbearance in covering he
from public exposure. Do not imitat
: Castle and Johnson; an increase II
p salary will hardly compensate tn