Evening star., 1901-12-21
WHEN THE BLOW FELL

who was connected with the last census
"to note how differently the clerks re-
ceiyed their yellow envelopes OF dismissal
| when. the work having been about COM
pleted. the rapid dissolution of the outfit
| began. / was attached to the population
division Of the bureau. the branch employ
ing the largest number Of men and wo-
men, and as my own official head was
spared until there wasn't much left of the
last census office except the skeleton, had
a good chance to study the actions OF
hundreds of clerks at the miserable mo-
| ment when they received those Inevitable
but none the less grievous notices that
their services were no longer required by
Uncle Sam.
Most Of the notices would be placed
upon the desks of the victims by messen-
gers shortly before o'clock in the morn
ing, and when the break up of the bureau
began it was odd, and just trife pathetic,
to see how the clerks, upon entering the
great room, would strain their eyes in the
direction Of their desks to see if their long
envelopes had yet arrived. Those who saw
that their desks were still free from the
despised envelopes would generally change
color and emit long sighs of relief, while
the features Of most of those whose eyes
were greeted at a distance by the sight of
the envelopes seemed to become tense and
drawn all Of q sudden, no matter how
braveiy some of them tried to bluff through
discharged at all. The men who made out
their long envelopes on their desks from
the doorway would, as a rule, endeavor to
assume jaunty air as they walked to
their places, but there were few OF them,
for all that, who didn't look to be hard hit
The young, frisky fellows who, as l knew,
hadn't saved a dollar against the rainy
day, and whose sudden discharge could
have no other meaning for them than that
of landing them fiat broke and on their
uppers. would make such strained, dismal
and obvious efforts to put on the debonair
manner when they fumbled their envelopes
that the pretense always struck me as
being little less than pitiable. L don't
know how to explain 1t. but the present
force of census employees strikes me as
being a far more conservative lot than
those who formed the personnel of the last
bureau. I happen to know that very few
of the male clerks employed by the last
census put away any money, and from
what know OF the present organization,
should say that there are five money saw
ers In it to every one connected with the
last bureau.
THE women clerks who espied their dis
charges lying on their desks from the dis
tance Of the doorway seemed to have to
fight the natural feminine tendency to cry.
Not many of them actually yielded to the
inclination beyond dabbing their handker-
chiefs at their eyes. Their pride generally
came to the rescue and restrained them
from gratifying reasonable enough dis
position to indulge in what women call a
seclusion at least from the gaze Of the
male clerks. 1t seems peculiar that folks
who were in daily expectation Of losing
their billets. and who must necessarily
have in measure padded themselves for
the blow, should have taken it so hard
when the calamity happened along; but as
l say, there were few Of them whose nom
chalance wasn't the rawest and most man.
ifest make-believe. / noticed the queer
thing that those whose discharges were
more than liable to cause them actual
hardship and suffering appeared to take
the shock more bravely than many of those
whose loss Of place merely meant the cur
tailment of spending money and no priva-
tions worth mentioning. This was partic-
ularly observable among the women. There
We're three women, each of them a widow,
with several children to support, who re-
ceived their long envelopes with perfect
calmness and self-possession, while young
women right alongside of them. who lived
with parents in comfortable circumstances,
and whose discharges perhaps only meant
the abandonment of certain plans for cos
tunes and fnery, seemed to suffer the most
poignant grief when they picked up their
papers of dismissal. / took it that the wo-
men with heavy responsibilities on their
shoulders were so Injured to trouble Of a
genuine sort that the comparatively minor
earning a livelihood for themselves and
their children was incapable Of hurting
them deeply.
mot ali Of the clerks, however, accepted
their dismissals with such evidences of de-
preston. There were quite a good many
who f1ared up with sudden indignant sur
prise when they got their envelopes, and
who thereby alienated all sympathy from
themselves. These were the ones who had
incautiously. not to say foolishly, boasted
to their intimates. and even to those not
their lntimates, of their influence and of
how they purposed sticking right along
with the census until there was nothing
left Of 1t but watchman or so. 1 am
bound to confess that all Of US felt just a
1aat1 fhrfn nF oil rr,l,1
boasters got his or her congo. It is only
human nature for governmental people to
rejoice just the teenchiest little bit over the
sudden outgoing of a companion in the ser
vice who has Dragged increasingly about
his pull and so 1t was that these garru-
lous ones Of the last census who had joy
ously and triumphantly proclaimed their
virtual irremovability invariably got Sc
cretly laughed at rather than openly sym-
path1zed with when they picked up their
long envelopes. The chagrin of some Of
them under these circumstances was often
so plainly acute that all hands would have
felt sorry for them, anyway, had they NOT
been restrained by the memory of the VIC
TINS vain. wearisome and perpetual boast
Ing.
their envelopes, and, feeling the ewes Of
their mates upon them flush sharply and
then proceed to make the situation more
ridiculous for themselves.
Well, We'll just see about this' most
OF them would exclaim, slamming down
their discharge papers and gazing about
them In ferocious manner intended to i'm
press everybody with the belief that within
something like twenty minutes or under
they tthe recipients Of the discharees)
would have about forty United States SEN
ators and virtually the whole body of the
House Of Representatives lined up at the
main entrance to the building with batter
ing rams and pole-axes. But the pompos-
ity Of their manner never had any such
impression at all, and only served, as
say, to intensity the absurdity of the atti-
tude Of such persons. After they'd relieved
their feelings in such wise they'd rush off,
generally to the office Of Mr. Porter. the
superintendent of the census, for 'satisfac-
tion,' and Immediate, even instant. rein
statement. l need scarcely say that none
OF these persons ever succeeded In a quest
OF that character. The officials in charge
Of the arrangement Of the personnel knew
exactly how each clerk stood before the
long envelopes were prepared. The super
tntendent Of the census was forced to act
thankless and very depressing part during
many scenes that followed such dismissaIs
but such scenes always ended in only one
way-the standing of the act of dismissal.
Then the incautious ones who had stormed
off to see about It would be subjected to
&l.N lty Ilf1At .-l<