The Redwood gazette., 1901-07-03
THE CENSUS "GHosT. =
Hamlet Was. Shrewd Enough to Call on
the Ghost Early.

AanlSl was SAl wv LINING - ~ SetAA -
the Ghost Early.
ToTHE EDITOR: The GAZETTE has
just reached me. having been held.
up three or four days en- route, and
/ note your comment On the STAN
pede for the semi monthly salary,
due the clerks in our Offices Well,
Hamlet wasn't there, else there
wouldn't have been enough of my
anatomy left to even make a decent.
ghost. " After spending more than
the half Of my life within the quiet
|3ude of Beaver Falls, { learned to.
avoid a crowd, and although the or
der Of Director Merriam was very
emphatic, that no clerk should be.
paid before 4 o clock, yet Hamlet
was handed the coveted envelope
Ea half hour before that four o clock S
Iedict which brought the stampede, S
and went on her way, rejoicing that
Eshe Still held her reputation ofknoW-
ing how to manage finances, etc.
But say! maybe you think it
wasn't a stampede Why, men
grabbed umbrellas and hats, then
iran over the tops of desks, regard
less of the safety of furniture, lady
CLERKS, or even the building, jumped
out the windows like flock of sheep
scaling a fence. ran bowling and
Whooping to the front entrance,
causing a blockade that nearly re
suited in the death Of one woman, J,
beside tearing clothing, damaging
several switch boards, leaving the
mob in utter darkness and terrible
heat. from stoppage Of the electric
fans, etc. In the melee several la
dies fainted and were with great
difficulty taken to the sick room
Thousands Of completed cards
were destroyed, and it will take
weeks OF hard work to make them
over again. In fact, it was "a hot
old time in the. census Office and
had the Director been there and
witnessed the result Of his order
!, / think he would have. quickly de-
cided that it was not the. bowling
success he imagined it would be-.
There are something like 10000 US
on the payroll, and heretofore the
1sdisbursing officer came into each
room and we were sent in sections
! to receive our salary, and the time
of each clerk was, perhaps, one and
+ a half minutes.
Under the aneW order clerks
were to leave the building by a side
door, march by tWos around the
block to the main entrance. 60 into
/ the. hall, then up the stairs through
a narrow corridor, not more than
half as wide as the one upstairs in
the Beaver court house, thence to
the disbursing Office little place
about 6x8 feet. Now, figure how
5000 clerks could cram in there
without some accident, and It is a
miracle that some were not killed
outright
Oh, no, Bro. Julius, you'll find
me plenty in county seat scraps,
lighting the saloons, holding my
IoWn against The GAZETTE, ct al, in
public school matters, or doing
almost any other old thing that 4
/ know would benefit somebody, or
something somewhere, or sometime,
1 butwhens I know there's a crowd &
laround, then I bic away. in ghost
like quickness, and not even nv
lsalary or the Director order
1could compel me to mix IN the
stampede for dollars, that occur
lred herea a week ago.
have been told that the Secre-
I tarv Of the Interior had the order
! Irescinded, but can t vouch for the
truth Of the rumor.
4 -; ~, a =. :, lsg ~ sss