Sunday Washington globe., 1902-02-16

Mr. Howard in the following extracts
tells tale Of Washington and the Depart
ment clerks, male and female. which the
GLOBE reprOduces for its application to
present conditions. He says of the young
girl from the distant state seeking a gov
erument position;
It was now four o'clock in the afternoon
and the army of clerks were pouring out of
the various departments, and she sat down
in the park opposite the White House, and
watched them 60 by. She was struck by
the stolid, wooden expression on the faces
of the men and the hard. cold, calculating
lines that marked the countenances of the
women She contrasted them with the
open, generous, sympathetic faces of her
father and mother and friends and acquaiut-
ances in the country She was no reader
of character aud no student Of human ma
ture, but there was something in the faces
of these men and women which made her
have an instructive feeling of repulsiou
toward them To those who have lived in
Washington aud have studied the ways of
official life the causes which make these
government clerks marked men aud women
so that the casual observer can point them
out on the streets, in any crowd, are per-
fectly understood In the first place TO
obtain positions they become schemers
Competition for place is so great that they
are compelled 20 resort to auyskind of
methods IN the world to secure a situation
They often take The Civil Service examina-
tiou by proxy, that is If the applicant Is un-
able to satisfactorily answer the thousand
and one absurd. irrelevant questions, he
gets a professional to go and impersOnate
him, and using the name Of the applicant,
take the examination, and for this fee of
from ten to une hundred dollars is charged,
owing TO the ability of the applicant to pay
and the Importance Of the position he may
be seeking. Others resort to open bribery,
in order to obtain places. Quite frequently
you will read in the Star or Post a notice
similar to this:
WANTED. GOVERNMENT POSITION.
"a young man, well educated, Of good
address desires position in some depart
ment To any one who will secure place
at a salary of 81 900 per year, will pay 500
cash and $40 per month during continuance
in Office"
Some appointment clerk sees this, and
being short Of funds. gets his go between
TO address the advertiser, a meeting IS ar
ranged, aud If the applicant is considered
safe, the position is forthcoming and the
appointment clerk pockets his hundred
dollars aud has made an Investment which
will give him an income OF $40 per month.
These are only few of the many methods
resorted to- But the women, how do they
get places'
All, they must scheme too, but how2
American womanhOod blush for shame
that your sisters must sell themselves, body
and soul, in order to obtain position in
the government service. but such is the
case Look at them as they 60 by. Jennie
can read it in every feature. She does not
realize what it means but to the man or
woman of the world the Significance is per
fectly plain.
Here is his description of the typical
Washington department clerks boarding
house of a certain class:
In the FIRST place there is Miss Gertrude
Sweet, spinster, about thirty-6ve years old
She came from the far West several years
ago. She IS a decided blond. only passably
good looking. and with a face so innocent
and childlike that you would think her the
most innocent. unsODhisticated creature in
-he world She has soft brown eyes with
wistful, far-away look in them She is
rather below the medium height and de-
cidedly petite No one looking at her, except
suspect her Of being what she is. brief
history Of her career would perhaps not be
amiss. When she was only eighteen she
was engaged ia several wild escapades with
the Young men of her little western town
which brought her into disrepute, and
hnally her conduct was such that she was
completely Ostrscised by society, and she
concluded to come 10 Washington and seek
her fortune She was then about twenty
years old Her education was very linn
tied and the chances were very few for her
10 succeed But her demure little ways
charmed certain Congressman, who shall
be nameless as he Is now dead, and he man.
aged by sOme sort Of manipulation TO secure
her position in the Treasury Department
which position she still holds and for which
position she receives a salary Of 5000 per
aunum. The Congressman was a handsome
and withal generous man. aud Miss Sweet
came to love him as much as was in her
nature to love- For five years or more he
visited her frequentlyand was often seen
coming from her apartments in the early
houts,of the morning In the afternoon his
carriage would frequently be seen in front
Of the Treasury Department, and when Office
hours we're over Miss Sweet would enter it
and they would take long drives together.
The Congressman Wite became suspi-
cious, aud the more she watched the more
her Jealous ire was aroused. until one day
in sheer desperation she posted herself near
the Treasury building. and just as Miss
Sweet was entering the carriage with her
husband She spTang upon her and gave her
most terrible cowhiding.
OF course this created a great sensation,
and It took ali the influence Of the Congress
man and his colleagues TO keep the scandal
out of the newspapers, but the matter was
in some way hushed up. and Miss Sweet
after a months leave of absence, returned
to her accustomed place at her desk. Aftei
this little episode she had various expe
riences in affairs of the heart. Her latest
conquest is one J. w. Miller, whom she
sweetiy aud demurely calls Johnny, unit
all the clerks in the division have taken I
M and now he Is universally called
Johnny
Johnny is a married man He is perhaps
ffty years old, aud his wife, some ave year
his senior. appears much older than She
really is. He holds position IN the Treas
rrv DeOartrnent At a salary OF 81 900 pei