The sun., 1903-11-08
THEIR QUEER VACATIONS,
ONE CLERK or UNCLE SAM TURNS
STEAMSHIP FIREMAN.

auu HAOWs
ing Have Their Devotees-An Election
bet That Spoiled One Mans vacation.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 7.-Some Of the Gov
ernment people here have queer ways Of
spending the thirty days annual leave
which the law allows them. One of them
a husky-looking clerk Of IS, has just got
back to his desk after his annual October
cruise as a fireman on a couple Of ten-day
transatlantic steamers.
Had a monstrously fine trip this time"
he said went to Glasgow for change
I've always made Liverpool, Southampton
and London beforehand saw quite bit
of Scotland during the five days l had to
wait for a fire room billet back.
This is the sixth annual leave I've taken
out in firing on the steamers / enjoy it
wouldn't spend my vacation
otherwise for any money And the work
makes me At as fiddle for the rest Of the
year.
II worked hard for a living as a young
fellow. and among other Jobs fired for a
couple Of years on an Ohio River steam
boat. I always liked firing, and / like 1t
yet a good deal more than I like lounging
around an office and sitting hunched up
at a desk
After being tucked away in tho little
gray building for eleven months. with lit
tie or no exercise except walking to and
from the Office, I'm legy and stodgy and
have more girth than ! need. The three
weeks fire room cruise puts me on edge and
makes me hard as nails.
After my first trip | have got regular
firemans pay in making those vacation
trips. This year | took the place on the
outbound Glasgow steamer OF fireman
who had hurt one Of his hands by letting a
DEVILS claw fall on it.
Il couldn't wait for the same steamer
to return to New York, and so looked
around the Glasgow docks, after having
seen what l wanted to see Of the Land O
Cakes, and found a fireman billeted on
one OF the New York-bound steamers of
the same line who was glad Of the chance
to lay off trip and visit his folks. So my
vacation, instead OF requiring an outlay,
actually puts me money in hand, although,
of course, that's not the consideration.
when ! boarded the Glasgow steamer
this time ] weighed 2o4 pounds. When I
got back after the three weeks in the Are
room | weighed 49, just what l ought to
weigh, and ate like horse all the time.
There must be lot OF folks down here
vs. ho think I've got relatives or a private
income. When they ask me how I spent
my vacation, kind o swell up and tell
EN-, oh. I took little run over to Europe
and. of course, they wouldn't guess in
thousand years how I make these little
runs over 10 Europe"
Another clerk. who, as a young fellow,
was freight brakeman, spends his thirty
days annual leave "brskin'" for the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad up in the Maryland
mountains around Cumberland. He comes
back to Washington brown and rugged
and so full of energy that for few days
he finds it hard to settle down to his desk
routine again.
A telegrapher in one of the departments
who used to be . station operator in the
Far West, goes out to little prairie station
In Nebraska on the Union Pacific line and
subs for his brother, who is the station
operator there. He likes the prairie and
enjoys the work so much that he puts In his
fun vacation month there, while his prairie.
marooned brother has his little annual
shy at civilizat Ion.
A clerk who puts in his entire months
leave pouring. libations. on the shrine of
the Goddess Of Fortune is one Of the oldest
OF the Departmental vacationis.s; =,
with perfect frankness. "rd rather, play
faro bank than eat, any time; but there's
a strict rule against gambling In the Depart
ment I'm in, and don't touch a card or
| chip during eleven months of the year.
"At the end Of the eleven months, when
! my turn to 60 on leave comes around.
60 to Chicago, where the faro banks, are
squarer and easier Of access than anywhere
else within hitting distance Of Washington,
day and play bank by. night: I've got a
system--riot Of playing bank, but of laying
, out my gambling money.
II never buy more than $40 worth OF
but ''' it's Is ali ali I can afford in order to have
my fun every night IN the whole month.
II I win 500 In night, I cash in and quit.
If lose my $40 worth of chips, quit, too.
don't beat the ga game very often. dna but
Very often I succeed in runnig my ten
dollar stack up to $50 or even more, but
then the streak runs out OF me and I'm
| wiped out,
I get that way stand to lose $500 during
my month, but I'm about even on the whole
thing, taking it back the six OF seven years
I've been playing. faro bank on my vaca-
tions. I've had about enough of the rattle
of the chips to last me- for n while when |
get back to my desk, and It's easier fer me
TO resist the temptation to get myself in
possible trouble by fooling around faro
banks In or near Washington during the
rest OF the year.
Playing bank, far from inJuring my
nerves or damaging my health, as II aff' cts
some fellows, seems to do me good. and
always feel like fighting cock when !
get back from my vacations
The candor of this man is not unlike that
of O certain we'll known official not
clerl<--who goes down to North Carolina,
his old home, every year to got, as he ex-
presses it, "a hide full Of con iquoh,' He
solenniv declares to his frt nds that he
puts in his entire months vacation down
In the Tarllecl state doing nothing what
ever except drinking "co'n liquch."
Any other kind Of liquor poisons him,
he saws, and he never touches drop o1
ANYTHING intoxicating. except rare pint
of champagne, during the rest of the ear
He swears that the juice OF the corn makes
a new man of him. and that he drinks gallons
of it while on his months leave. without
ever experie encing the first symptoms OF
| headache. He further AYERS that IT
cleanses and rehabilitates his systt m and
puts him in prime condition for the re-
mainder Of the war.
bureau chief. who is not in the least
centric, spe nds his thirty days flying old
fashioned kites over among the adjacent
hills of Virginia. He camps out with his
young son over near Arlington, and spe nds