The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-02-11
ROAST FOR KENTUCKY.
This and Another Mans Ego Make
I'D Two Interesting Letters.

This and Another Mans Ego Make
I'D Two Interesting Letters.
Washington, Feb. 1O.-Perhaps there
is no place in Washington where more
unique letters are received than at the
office of the Civil Service Commission
unless, of course, it be at the Dead
Letter Office. Applicants for positions
covered by the civil service do not
hesitate at times to express their opin-
ions concerning the civil service sys-
TEN as a whole and its examinations in
particular. Now and then some appli-
cant for office, desiring to impress the
| officers of the commission of his great
Importance and ability, will give what
purports to be a page from his life's
history. Here, for instance, is the rec
concentrations which an applicant for
draftsmans position in the engineers
| service gives:
From November, 1896, to May 80,
1900 1 toured the United States on a
tour of sociologic and economic obser-
walton, and worked in nearly all the
states and principal cities. I started
ed salaries at the following profess
sions. trades and kinds of common la
Dor:
surveyor, craftsman (typographi-
cal. architectural and engineering,
writer for newspapers and magazines,
bridge carpenter, boat builder, black
smiths helper, boiler makers helper,
farm hand, cook, hunted geese and
| ducks for market, photographer, lum-
herman, lecturer, shoveller on railroad
grades, dishwasher. shingler, teamster,
cowboy, and cattle shipper, solicitor,
cleaned old bricks. railroad steel gang
work, woodchopper, worked in saw
mills and factories, RATED logs, wrote
advertisements, etc, etc.
Can command salary at more diff
ferent kinds of labor than any living
| man. Immune from malarial fever
mountain fever, lazy fever, or any
other disease. Expert on matters re-
| latlng to physical or mental develop
ment; at present writing a series of
articles for a New York magazine
Not afraid of heat or cold, from ex-
posture; not afraid of wild animals, mi
| crobes, men, political parties, or work
Can swim any river in the United
states. Expert with shot gun; can
also shoot rifle. Can endure fatigue
and exposure. Can handle gangs of
men.
Realizing the fact that examining
| boards are apt to doubt some of the
above assertions, 1 have on deposit in
| saving bank in New York the sum
OF $50, which 1 will forfeit to them
II l cannot substantiate every asser-
ton made, when put to a practical
test.
Roast for Kentucky.
The commission, and particularly it's
| president, Hon. John r. Proctor of
Kentucky, comes in for a bit of ex-
IRENE criticism at the hands of an
indiana man who has just been turn
| down in his desire for office. In this
case the man made a high percent
| age in his examination for the posi-
ton of law clerk, but an investiga-
| ton revealed the fact that he had
been convicted of assault and battery
| and sent to Jail for this offense Upon
the disclosure of this fact the com
| mission decided that he was not a
| proper person to have in the govern
| ment service. This brought red
hot letter from the Disguised appli-
| cant in which he pays his respects
| to Proctor in particular, and to other
| people in general in the following lam
| guage.
| If an assault and battery renders
| one incompetent to serve the govern
ment in Il civil capacity, why does
not your manual say so? 1t appears to
me that it does applicants a great
| injustice to say that they cannot take
| the examination after they have al
ready taken it. If assault and battery
in private life renders one incompe-
tent for the service of the government,
| why is it that Senator Bailey and
| Senator Tillman have not been kicked
| cut of the Senate of the United
States long ago? Does a more strin-
gent rule apply to the minor positions
of the government than to the Senate
of the United States? And if this be
true, why is it so?
us this stringent rule applied be-
! cause the president of the Civil Serv-
| ice Commission halls from Kentucky?
Is it because he comes from a state
that is so clean and free from such
| things as assault and battery? Is it
because he has been taught since ear
| ly youth to hold in contempt such
| things as 1t is so well known that the
| people of Kentucky do? Kentucky, the
| state that shoots her Governors, who
| drives her Governors into exile; the
state where the juries are packed,
and innocent men are sent to prison;
| the state from which her Ex-Governor
must flee because he cannot get JUS
| tice in her courts, the state that must
| select jury of Democrats to try a
Republican on a political charge; the
state that elected a Governor who had
murdered man in cold blood and
who was himself killed. No doubt the
| president of the commission voted for
that man for Governor-that Governor
who had killed his man. With what
| ,,aI,
| from a citizen of Kentucky"
| One feature of this case is that Mr.
| Proctor was against ruling out the
| victim of the commissions decision,
but he was outvoted by Messrs. Foulke
and Grove. other members of the COM
/ mission. After he read the roast CIV
en- Kentucky, President Proctor was
| inclined to believe that the other COM
missioners were right after all.