davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington times., 1905-05-21

He was merely a fair type of the pro-
fessionai otffoeholder of that day. The
same man who had storrned the Office
of a Democratic Secretary with Demo-
cratic Congressman now besieged the
office of that Secretary-s Republican
successor with Republican Congress-
men. The same man who had been a
loyal 'tDimmocrat" again kan of RAJ
pooblican stock" And it worked. This
youngster, without the capahility to do
single days honest work as a clerk
and with loss character, was the only
noys-technical chief who kept his plum.
Three Indiana men came into the de-
partment on this wave-one to be the
Assistant Secretary, one the assistant
to the Attorney General. and one the
chief of the record division wrote OF
this to my father. His reply told me he
knew the first well, the second fairly
we'll. and the third not at all.
grew 10 know the record chief in
two or three days. He was a farmer.
tall. very thin, large OF bone. shrewd
as Yankee peddler. and, according to
his own lights. honest from sun-up TO
sun-down. He knew OF my father, even
if my father did not know him, and
took me into his friendship at once liz
was a shame, he said, a bright young
lawyer must stay in that division COPY
ing names. He would see if something
could not be done for me-
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS.

SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS.
In the FIRST DAYS OF the civil service :
sway back in the eighties-the author OF
..The Life Story of a Department Clerk,
young Indiana lawyer, came to Washington
to accept cierkship in the once OF tiie
Assistant Attorney General, nay naxlhs haS .aiS
planned his @ay into the Office OF the At
torney General.
He describes his entry into the service
of the Government and the shcehs 10 NE lI
dignity, administered not only by the lofo4y
watchman,'' but by future associates.
He tells how he plunged into the foutiLs
work of APPLYING ''the little law IN printed
pamphlets TO letters of inquiry. =
The reaier is made acquainted WITH ms
roernlnates. the chief. "a man of fifty or
ffty-fve years, shert, and half fat, over
hearty in manner. with puffy eyelias, ul-
kind to eyeryone; a lawyer by courtesy
only" and one who owes his position 70 .
campaign speech; the second n authorl.y' ssrl.;,
Mr.. Macpherson. a tail, extremely tacltuill'
thin -lipped, difficult -to-approach indiNtdoei
"a lawyer by virtue of g general legal
knowledge as extended and accurate, say .
the writer .-as any I have ever eneoon-
tered rishman, o Mara, ABOUT 9 I'M
years old. .'suave. fluent even teE1peaSa, a*,eo
talents,' who knew little law. spent much
time in .'gassing the gerls." and VINO IA
widow, Mrs Enrol. who was appointed
through the influence of her husoana i 5
friends. and an unmarried woman, ON m ssl.e sl.e
Dragonfiy,' who seemed 10 rely Ter her oiiee i.1
standing upon the intimate friendship with
a member of the National Senate
The first year passes by before the author
realizes IL He enjoys 'liyfng the life IN a
big city, which affords diversions unatta1n-
able in the small community from which he
came. Nevertheless he does not devote all
his spare moments to pastiIne, Tor he pdrsut=s
his studies IN the endeavoT to get a diploma
from school OF law. So passes the hrst
winter and the next.
Then comes an event which brings about
a change In all The chief of the division
dies, aud o. Mara becomes his successor, al
though fellow-clerks believe Macpherson en-. en-
titled to the promotion. :fis, II IS Mr.
O. Mara and L m sorry you are disappointed :. .
saws the appointee in noting the look OF
surprise on the face OF the writer Maepher-
son quietly makes arrangements 10 leave the
division. and the writer takes steps TO 40
likewise His judgment tells him 10 go
back home His pride urges him TO stay
He catches the department fever" and OBJ
fains a transfer o. Mara lending his aid
He learns with surprise that his new post
tien Is q cierkship, requiring no legal at
tainments; but reeonciles himself, as best
he can. 10 the bed he has made and has
TO lie upon"
o. Mara In the meanwhile reaps praises
from the newspapers for the reorganiza-
f{on'' of the division.
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
Once More a Law Clerk.

The next morning l was deep in a
newspaper account OF this meeting.
reading 1t for the third time-I was de-
scribed as disgruntled because l had
suffered through O'Mara's "reorganiza-
tion'-when 1 was sent for by the AS
sistant Secretary Of our department He
wanted to know what that fight the
night before was all about. And L told
him-told him the whole story In de-
tail, from my coming to Washington to
my meeting with these men. He merely
thanked me and sent me back to make
the best OF my work in the record dI-
vision. But within a week I had been
transferred again, this time to the of
fee Of The assistant TO the Attorney
General, and L was put, not in O'Mara S
division, but in that directly under the
supervision Of Colonel Powell himself.
The Washington times., 1905-05-21

they laughed when went and stood be-
like hearing ore of them say She's az
fresh as a peach. wonder in what or-
chard the ChamberIalDs picked her up
Mrs. Powell was as formal as her has-
band and her guests we're eeremonious
in the extreme. they ali made q great
deal of being attentive TO Annie. but 1t
was attention which any good american
girl would resent as she did. II don't
relish being talked to like a tea-year-
old girl In an orphan asylum" she said
as we were riding home in the late
train. Those women seemed to mean 70
be nice 10 me, Phil. but they did not
really mean to he nice. They talked 70
me so kindly because they ike to con.
descend.
After that we did not make SO much
Of an effort To accept invitations. We
ssere only department people,. enter
tanned out of kindness; and because We
could not return the hospitality we were
asked to accept from others we found
that we were being systematically
dropped, for 1t Is a curious rule OF So
eiety In Washington. from which no one
is exempt. that only those are fed who
can plentifully give away food in To-
turn. After all. these considerations
simply re-enforce5 the more agreeabls
one that Annie and were born for .
different life, and that, as we were net
of the mold of people like the Poweiis.
neither were they or the mold Of people
ike u.s.
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
" "Hou'.s TeanneHe?" They Ask

Saturday at Union Station at $50
o'clock. I will be accompanied by my
aunt, but / will tell her that met you
IN Washington. She is very strict. and
you must pretend that we know each
other very we'll. Until then, with ex-
peetation, I am. sincerely,
'tJEANNETTE T.
He looked like bridegroom Saturday
afternoon as he started for Union Sta
ton. It was o'clock when he returned
home. and he didn't seem at all happy.
He looked at the letter again and then
he woke up. He had received letters
from the New Willard before, he remem-
bered, and every one but this last was
written on monogram paper. while the
one from tJeannette l. was only
plain, with New Willard written at
the top in ink.
'sD-n!" he muttered between his teeth.
Just then his chum, with whom he had
sat in the Cardinals box. dropped in,
wearing a tantalizing smile
''How's Jeannette?'' asked his chun.
bursting into boisterous laugh; but the
answer was a frown.
To add to his humilia ton. all the girls
he knows have found it out, and are
asking. "How's Jeannette?''
They couldn't help knowing, for the
ehun got one of them to write the letter
and send it to Washington TO be mailed.
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
In the New Home.

Crisp white curtains with the threads
showing unevenly IN the light, bright
ened the windows. Rag carpet rugs
given to US by Mrs, Bell. and woven out
of the savings of many years, decorated
the floors. Cushions which grew like
magic under the wife's own fingers
ornaments given to US as wedding pres
ents, and an outfit OF plain tableware
from my father. all contributed to set
tie" US IN our cottage and make 1t,
small as 1T was, the most beautiful place
In the world for rs.
Yet, though | vas reluctant to leave
every morning md eager to return
every evening, I found the office pleas
anter than ever It had been before.
Colonel Powell had the supply division
give me q convenient and costly desk
next to window. He did not disturb
. O'Mara's rule that questions of law
must all be referred upstairs" as that
functionary designated our room. but
instead, had some of them referred
every day to me. Always there was
legal work to do and I was assigned
20 Ii.
Life opened up a new path to us at
this time. 1t was nearly a fulffllment of
me OF my old dreams. Through the AS
sistant Secretarys friendship, Annie
and I were invited TO the White House
and to reception given by the secre-
tarys wife, as weIs as to teas given by
the Assistant Secretarys wife and Mrs
Powell. We went to all four with gay
spirits
At the White House we stood back
against the wall and looked on at the
brilliantly uniformed diplomatists and
officers of the army and navy; at a
thousand women in beautiful gowns; at
the Secretary and all the other mem
bers of the Cabinet; and at the Presi-
dent himself. The band playing IN the
conservatory, the restless movement
through all the rooms, the low conversa-
ton, the calls from group to group.
they were all as picturesque and un-
natural as an opera TO my little country
wife and me.
The Washington times., 1905-05-21

Quinine is one Of the most valuable
of all the drugs known to medical
science.
No one would venture to travel in
India without it, Before its discovery
1000, COO OF people died annually in India
of malarial fever; the mortality from
this cause Is now less than half that
number.
The poor people-so poor that they
looked upon the fever as their fate. and
expected no Telief-are saved by the
, agency of quinine. England could not
keep her European soIdiers in India
without 1T. says the Los Angeles Times
Livingstone and other travellers in
central Africa could have never made
their discoveries without its aid. 1t is
said of the great German explorer
Schweinfurth. that when he lost his
entire property by fire. valuable scien-
tifc instruments among the rest, he felt
the loss of his qu'nine TO be the creates
of all. and often thought with fear of
the journey that lay before him, which.
however he persevered III.
The soldiers in our civil war depend
ed greatly upon quinine. The pioneers in
our country when 1t was first settled
and civilized had as hard work fighting
fever and ague in the then swampy,
maIarial districts as in fighting Indians
and quinne was even more necessary
than firearms
The great interoceantc canal now in
process of construction across the
isthmus OF Panama requires the labor
of thousands of men largely unaccus-
toned to the climate, and so much more
susceptible TO its i'll effects. Before the
route was decided upon many surveys
were made. and the men. naval officers
and others engaged in this work were
exposed to all conditions OF weather
But through the universal and proper
use of the medicine daily as a precau-
tionary measure the mortality was no
greater than among TIen In like employ
IN other localities. Out OF little over
G,090 white men employed in the con-
struction of the Panama railroad there
were only 293 deaths, and some of these
were the result OF other than climatic
causes.
The whole world is indebted TO the
cinchona tree from which quinine is
made Who could have foretold that
this tree native of the mountainous
forests of South America, would be OF
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
Caused Wholesale shake-Up.

mot at all. I was appointed as clerk,
not a politician. And / expect TO hold
nay place without becoming a politician -
To my great surprise this was widely
raisconstrued Other clerks called me
a trimmer" and said l lacked sand. -
Good men observed that they would
rather change over than have no con-
vict,ons whatever. they were not bet
ter than their party. But / stuck to
my ground.
a readjustment of the whole Office
began the day the new Secretary took
charge. Every Democrat whose salary
was more than $1.60Q was denoted. no
matter what his merits. The chief
clerk. the disbursing clerk. and the
heads of TWO or three technical bureaus.
were hold-oyer Republicans. All the
others, who Were appointed by the
Democratic Secretary. expected to lose
their 'pickin's," and they did-alI except
OMara.
The scramble after the plums killed
the last OF my theories on the merit
system as il was then enforced. No one
talked Of qualifications. save as incl
denta,s. It was party, party, party.
'FE.ts man had been true" through all
four years OF Democratic control. This
one had been a martyr 10 his conYic-
tions,' which meant that some cne else
had suppianted him as he now hoped
TO supplant some one else. This ones
brother held the third ConRrt ssional
district of Iowa in the palm OF MS
hand This one had the Endorsement ol
his entire State delegation. Character.
creditable service, fitness. were not even
considerable was ali party.
O'Mara was no worse than the rest.
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
VII

IN WASHINGTON the calendar used
TO deal with administrations instead
OF years and months. This origin
ated with Jackson, and il was not
effectively disturbed until Grover Cleve-
land became President the second time.
In his first term Mr. Cleveland either
did not know how to control his subordi-
mates or he did not undertake to enforce
the civil service law. Harrison did no
better But the second Cleveland Ad-
ministration usaered in new order-a
secure tenure OF office for all department
clerks who were not removable for
cause. That order has since been con-
finued with fairly regular fidelity
had been in office about two years
when the first Cleveland Administration
expired. II only suggests the truth TO
say that the process Of the Harrison
accession amazed me. Men all around
me reversed their politics. O'Mara even
went back to the Republican party,
nonchalantly Indifferent TO any OBJ
gervations his associates might make.
AS good a man as Mr.. Macpherson
thought it mot wise" to air ones Dem
ocratie views in the course of a Repub-
lican regime. Political faithIessness was
in the air,
AS far as my service for the Govern
rnent was concerned, I had no politics.
In Indiana my father had been stall
art Republican and / had voted as he
did; but I was much more of an in
dependent than he and would not have
undertaken the yoke which the other
clerks displayed SO ostentatiously for
twenty elerkships When asked how 1
expected the change Of administration
to affect me. / answered, therefore;
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
IN CHICAGO.

One of the infielders had made an
error.
The rosy-cheeked girl in the grand
stand turned TO the young man at her
side.
George" she said
George instinctively braced himself to
meet the question he foresaW as to
what had happened and what all the
fuss was about.
Well" he said
Why don't they put wooden In
dian cigar sign on third in place of that
moon-faced duffer with the split
cipher running gear ana the glass arm
That fellow couldn't stop a toy balloon
If It was lobbed right into his fippers9
Chicago Tribune.
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
Nominated for Treasurer.

We held our first meeting in an old
hall in F street. Our three Indiana Of
ficials were al first conspicuously alb
sent The only offieeholder of high
rank who did attend was an assista Mt
secretary from another department,
who was distinctly in politics for what
there was in it. / suppose there were
fifty of us clerks there,
The assistant secretary of our depart
ment was elected president. The other
assistant secretary-who presided-all
the Republicans in Congress from In
diana. and Colonel Powell were made
vice presidents. Osborne was chosen
secretary. Then came what the papers
Of the next day called a sharp fac
tionaI fight" l was concerned In 1t,
but as unprepared for IL as the en-
barrassed presiding officer.
Nominations were in order for the
office OF treasurer. In the back OF the
hall, where ] sat, man nauttered, II
wonder who that crowd has fixed for
that office" Then some one L had
never even seen before rose IN the mid
die of the hall and nominated me.
l called for recognition at once, in
tending to decline the nomination. But
Osborne had risen nearer the chair
'sMr Chairman" he said. with air
of much suavity. Il have ii on the very
best of authority that the gentleman
proposed IS neither Republican nor
a Hoosier.''
] could hardly believe my ears. The
only reply ] could make was to shout:
THAT is not true!'
1T is true. / have it on the best of
authority" insisted the secretary, still
smiling.
The Washington times., 1905-05-21

the boarding house and the men every
where We're absorbed in life which did
not include me. In their eyes | was
still a rustic
That winter / wrote more regularly
to these real friends-tha girls as well
as the men; and / kept Annie Bell in
formed OF my situation in the depart
ment. Her letters In reply were the
greatest encouragement l had. She was
always womanly and kind, but at such
n time as that of my transfer to the
record division her courage and con-
hdence ken- ne true to myself as moth
ing else. not even my mothers faith in
me, could have done.
So, in the summer after my transfer
back to the Office of the Assistant to
the Attorney General, / went back to
get Annie Bell. The wedding was in
the old wooden chureh-the last cere-
mony before it was torn down-with
the girls and boys who had grown up
with us as bridesmaids and ushers
Annie's father broke down In the middle
Of the services, and then we all cried !:
but were happy, nevertheless. When
we went away that afternoon my mother
told me that this was the thing she
and Mrs. Bell had planned eeer since
we were DoIn babies, ana that our
wedding day was the brightest day in
the lives of two old women" as she
put it. Then we all cried again. and
laughed again, cnd started off to the
station in rain of rice, and carriage
brightly decorated with great bows of
white ribbon and enormous red hearts.
Thus began my life as man. I
had profession and was firmly ground
cd i'm ln lads eff I a yn.-S
in department of the Nationaf~Goy-
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
at Is the Only Wav."

The new assistant TO the ATTORNEY
General was OF another mold. His
manner was as chilling as his person
was fine. When l spoke to him of my
father he answered merely, II have
met him" in a tone which precluded
any further conversation along that
line, And 1 left his office without even
telling him that I was a lawyer. that
hoped TO do legal work in the depart
ment, that 1 had served two years
creditabiy in his division. and that l
would like to get back. as l went out
O'Mara entered. I did not hear the
Big Chiefs greeting. but l could
hear o'Mara's confident "Oi tho't you
would want to tock this over with me.
gineral''
A mixture OF these two was the new
assistant secretary. He was as cordial
as my division chief. Mr.. Drake and as
noncommittai as the new assistant to
the Attorney General, Colonel Powell
His conversation vas a battery of ques-
tions. When had 1 been appointed and
on whose Endorsement? What had my
father thought of my entering the de-
partment? Had l ever been promoted?
What work was / doing? And so on.
When I began to explain that I wanted
a transfer TO some desk where l could
do legal work he stopped me before
was well under way; and just when I
thought the opportunity had come to
warn him against O'Mara his secretary
entered with a bundle Of letters.
These three were the drawing power
which led q group Of other Hoosers to
form an Indiana Republican associa-
tIon. No sooner was the project
launched than Mr.. Macpherson suggest
ed that go into 1T as deep as I could.
1T is the only thing you can do" he
said. Join ii and help to run it, or it
viii run you out of the service So /
reported to the most conspicuous or
ganizer, a clerk named Osborne who
came from the southern part of the
State and had been in the department
since Grants first administration.
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
A Glimpse at the Social Life.

The Assistant Secretary's wife put
annie at one OF her tea tables and that
made the little woman SO happy, she
said afterward. that she almost sang
aloud. Her dress was not like that of
the other young women and she had not
their air; but she was extremely modest
and sweet and much the prettiest girl in
the room. When 1 reached the house in
the company Of the Assistant Secretary
1 found her surrounded by men-old
men whom I recognized as politicians,
middle-aged men who seemed TO have
nothing to do. and the best dressed
young men I had ever seen. They we're
all courteous. but I did not like the way
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
VIII.

In the meantime l had twice gone
home to visit-once each year-and
found the little home town disappoint-
ingly small and unkempt The same
characters met me al the station-Am-
bic Nelson. Colonel Spangier, and
Shorty Whltlock. The square held all
the old friends. but it was sadly
shrunken. The courthouse where l used
to practice ilad become low and little
and the buildings which lined ii had
lost all their old imprassiVeness. Every
where l looked my recollection was
ruthlessly focused down by my eye
sight.
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
81 am Colonel POWELL

The hall that had been SO noisy a
moment before was now very still.
knew that those men would give ne
every falr opportunity to answer So
| did not hurry, but waited to get a
good grip on myself. Before I could
speak, however, voice rang through
the hall from the very back:
Mr.. Chairman! l doubt ff anyone
will question my right to speak IN any
gathering of Indiana Republicans.
am Colonel Powell, of South Bend"
The presiding officer looked much puz-
zled and answered as he bowed, Ger
tainly not. Colonel POWELL For the
The Washington times., 1905-05-21

z yE WAS nineteen, and an average
- youth. He had sat with the
dignttaries of many churches in
the Presidents reviewing stand
on the day of the Inauguration, and he
was not little raised in his owr esteem
thereby, says the Baltimore Sun. More
over If was the Cardinals box which
he occupied. The Cardinal had not been
able to attend. and had given his tickets
to a very warm personal friend, and it
was the son of this personal friend of
the Cardinal with whom he sat- He had
talked with bishops from across the sea
and with others from nearer home, and
he almost took the following letter as a
matter of course:
New Willard Hotel.
Washington, d. C.
My Dear Mr.. -:
NO doubt you will be SURPRISED to
receive this letter, but | just cannot
help it. l sat not very far from YOU liz
the reviewing StanC at the inaugura ton
last Saturday and was much impressed
with your appearance. BY the slightest
chance and after much inquiry | learn
ed your name from girl friend who
saw you at q recent Naval Academy
ball at Annapoiis, but who did not meet
you. W hat she said about YOU made me
want TO meet You all the more MY OBJ
ject in writing is to tell you that [ am
coming 10 Baltimore for two days next
week and | would like you TO meet me
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
AN IDLE WISH.

Oh, give me back the good old days;
l want the simple life.
The care free times before we knew
Bacteria were rife.
We never boiled the crystal stream
The oaken bucket drew.
And IL our mud pies reeked with germs.
At least We never knew.
But now we boil, and bake. and steam,
Ard disinfect and burn;
We wash and spray and shake and STIR
And fume and scrape and churn.
We think it Will prolong our days,
No nook or Granny shirk.
And just as every microbe fees.
We die of oVerwork.
-PaeIx
The Washington times., 1905-05-21
(To Be Continued Next sunday.)
AGREES WITH THE acoG."

To the Editor OF The Washington Times:
l have read with much interest and
appreciation the serial story running
In your Sunday edition entitled The
Life Story of Department Clerk" It
Is evident from the letters you receive
that the "bootiickers'' are being hit In
a sore spot Keep 1t up. Sons one has
said, 20, Liberty, what crimes are COM
rnitted IN thy namel'' It might well be
paraphrased. 20, Civil Service. what
crimes are committed in thy Manner
The heads OF departments little know
Of the conclaves and Jobs and rIiquea
and gangs that run the departments.
Perhaps the story In your paper viii
put them on the inquiry.
ONE OF THE RANK AND FILE.