The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-07-27
Employees of Uncle Sam
Remain in Washington.
MUST LABOR THESE HOT DAYS
New Order Is Issued Regarding the
Use Of the Telephone in the
Oepartme
Especial to The Free Press.]

IOf the United States Is Ill the hands
lof chief clerks and bureau chiefs. Dur
ling nine months of the year these Off
cials are merely moths that futter
about the flame of greatness. Come dog
days, and To-, they themselves, burst
forth into flame, about which other
moths must futter.
The chief clerk and the bureau chief
have not had their full share of glory
the present summer, because some of
the department heads are still detained
in Washington by the press of impor-
tant business. Another spell of scorch-
ing weather, though, like the one we
had two weeks ago, will send these cab
met ministers scurrying to mountain
and seashore, and the reign of the sub
ordinate will be complete.
In each of the nine great departments
there is at least one, and in most cases
two or three, assistant secretaries whose
duty it is to take the place of the alb
sent department chief. This arrange
ment would work beautifully were it
not for the fact that an assistant Sec
lretary doesn't like sweltering heat any
better than a full-fedged member, and
there generally is important business
that takes him away from Washington
in July and August.
Now, the chief clerk of bureau chief
lust dotes on heat, especially if it en-
ables him to sign official documents as
acting secretary" The asphalt on Penn.
sylvania avenue may run in rivulets and
the Washington monument all but col
lapse under the blistering rays, but the
"acting secretary" is serene and smiling.
Sitting at the desk of the cabinet mem
Der who rules his department, door
wide open-so that all who pass may
see he does his best to look the part, and
messengers and minor clerks are kept on
the jump. His dignity sticks out like
a snail's eyes and "Sam'' or slack" who
always address him at other times as
"BilP' OF "Jim" make the deferential
bow and "Mr. Secretary" is the form of
their salutation.
Some folks may growl and grumble
and declare Washington to be an infer
no in dog days, but the ''acting secre-
tary" finds the climate hugely to his
liking.
A map of the new state of Okla
homa has just been completed by the
draguhting division of the general land
office. 1t is now being Autographed and
will be ready for distribution September
l, at least the contract calls for 5000
copies by that time.
When it began to be apparent at the
capitol, more than month ago, that
the statehood bill would pass. Frank
Bond, chief of the draughting division
of the land office, put some of his TWEEN
ty clerks to work on what he thought
would be the first official map of the
new state. The last edition of map of
Oklahoma had been made in 1898, and
of Indian Territory in 1899. Both edi-
tions had been exhausted for some time,
and there had been repeated calls for
another edition, but Mr.. Bond waited for
the statehood bill, and when it was
passed was prepared to rush splendid
draught of combination of the two
territories to the printer.
The new map will be one of the finest
photo Autograph maps ever turned out
of the land office The mountains will
be marked in brown, the water lining
in blue, the Indian reservations, of
which there are but a few small ones, in
yellow, and the game reserves in purple.
The district boundaries will be purple,
and the. state, county, and military res
ervation boundaries in red. The dis
lance scale will be twelve miles to the
inch, and the size of the entire map
will be four by two and ane-half feet.
There has already been big demand
at the interior department for the maps.
The work of putting the new state on
the big map of the United States, which
is published by the general land office
is more complicated. On this map,
which is generally seen in government
offices throughout the country, there is
a big yellow spot which denotes the
Indian Territory. 1t stands out from
the white ground of Oklahoma beside it.
Because of the allotment of Indian
lands in Indian Territory the yellow
spot will disappear on the new map,
the boundary between the two terri
tories will be eliminated and the new,
state will be all white with a big Okla
homa spelled across its face.
The story of department clerks
troubles will fill many volumes, and
then the half would not be told. The
department clerk appears to labor under
1.-THE delusion that his rights are as much