The Sunday globe., 1901-05-26
The PATENT OFFICE
And the Entire Interior Department
Filled with LabOrerS Who Toll
Not, Neither Do They Spin. In
formation for the Civil Service
Commission.

The Civil Service Commission, it is
alleged by the daily press, is mooslng
around the Departments to discover, If
/ possible, violations by the several heads
chiefs and appointment clerks, of the law
which gentleman George" peace to his
ashes, imposed upon posterity. That the
members of the Commission may have
no excuse 10 offer the public for white
wash report that all is lovely under the
administration of William I, The Globe
| lays the following before them free Of
charge.
In the Patent Office, where we took but
hurried survey of its interior the past
week, the cobwebs, dirt and general un-
cleanliness in the Model Halls would
disgrace a railroad boarding house
Recalling the fact that there were over
| two hundred laborers on the pay-rolls of
| the Interior Department The Globe
naturally maryelled at the neglect of this
! particular and important building. In
| vestigation as to the cause of this neglect
revealed some astonishing conditions i'm
/ the public service under the Mckinley
administration.
! 1t appears that of the two hundred or
more laborers on the rolls but few are
employed as menials, and these few are
either old soldiers or their widows, who
are compelled to do the rough work. such
as scrubbing, securing, cleaning, sweep
ing and cuspidore manipulation. These
few are overworked, inasmuch as they
are required to cover the assignment for
which two hundred or more laborers are
employed, and hence the actual filth seen
into the Patent Office building.
Noticing a handsome lady i'm the gal
lery of the South Hall, The Globe in
quired what position she occupied, mas
much as when we beheld the Vision of
loveliness she was reading the latest ac-
counts in the Ayers tragedy. "She is on
the labor roll, ;" said our informant, "at
5000 per annum. She does nothing ex-
cept what you see-novel and newspaper
reading. Killing time, in fact. and she
comes and goes without strict regard to
Office hours"
" Are there many laborers OF this kind
and sex in the Department."
I" The woods are full of them. Why,
there is a poor colored woman over there
in the Union Building whose salary is
but $3.50 per annum, and she IS required
to clean, scrub and dust the two floors
filed with model cases belonging TO this
Department. Then again there is an old
soldier, an edncated man, and one who
has seen better days, who is compelled
to scrub, sweep, clean the spitoons i'm
twenty-one rooms in the Interior Depart
ment building and wait upon the danes
of I" iluence who are like himself, on
the pay-rols as laborers."
"WhaG are these danes doing, then,
all this timer"
. Hunting up or making work for the
old soldier by throwing bits OF paper on
the floor which he is compelled 10 pick
up. Until recently this man had twelve
rooms to look after, but in the absence
of the head of the division he secured the
appointment as laborer. This simple
fact has gotten the head of the division
down on him, and when he returned he
added nine more rooms to the eX- dier's
task. You see, the "dames Of influence "
put in here by all sorts and conditions Of
men, principally members of the House,
beat tho Civil Service law hands down. /
They are appointed as laborers and then /
given clerical assignments or easy Jobs, /
such as typewriters, copyists and other .
clerical work, precious little Of which the |
danes with "pull ever perform. Now, /
that lady you saw reading the paper
lately received some notority in the .
Ayres matter and, OF course, she is inter |
ested in the development Of the case"
The Civil Service Commission may, .
probably, make some use of the forego- .
ing information, which is presented ior .
posing the board.