Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-07-17
MAKING UNCLE SANS MONEY
HaFdestWorked Women In the Government Service Re.
ceive the Most Meaqer Paw


see thai, she Is not allowed to do any
frivoling. Once or twice new recruit
will break into a little song, but 1t Is
generally lost in the hum Of the rollers
II she doesn't become too scared to con-
tinue 1t when she sees the surprised
faces OF her comrades, and the grim
visages of the printers.
Six hundred men and women moving
continually, shoulder to shoulder, each
head bowed resolutely to the task,
waiting for the big gong to sound
that Is what the tourists see, and those
are the men and women who are max!
ing Uncle SANS money.
1T is certainly not social occa-
sion" the printer admits. ut Is simply
the business proposition of getting this
work done, enough of it to feed and
clothee my children, before the sound.
ing of that gong"
And 1t is the plate printers who rule
In the printing room, so the assistants
turn listlessly to the piles of paper, and
walt for the day to pass.
Although the strictest regulations
are enforced, regarding the safety of
tne money, there is little or no tempta-
ZION TO steal from the Bureau Of Print
ing and Engraving. as the money does
not receive the seal which makes 1t
valuable till 1t reaches the treasury.
But even the deadening influences of
business.like printers cannot wholly
stamp out the essentially feminine in
sttncts of woman, wherever she Ia.
and the love of finery perhaps the
strongest of these evinces itself even
IN the ink-spattered printing room.
Aper diem income of S1.25 is not
to ordinary understandings, conducive
to much extravaganza in dress, and
amazement at their foolishness in
wearing new dresses to be stained and
spotted by the ink, changes to admira-
ZION at the financial generalship which
enables them to live and buy clothes
on SLIPS per day.
1t Is no unusual sight to observe from
the tourists little bridge, wan-faced
assistant, with struggling hair, and
ink-staincd face and hands, twisting
impatiently at gaudy beads while she
waits for the roller to make the impress
sion On the bills, or pushing further
toward her elbow sleeve laden with
laces and ribbons.
The printers and their assistants
work under a bright blue electric light
all the time, whether the light outside
Is dim or not, and from the roof to the
tables on which the rollers rest run
strings of little flags. If every other
emotion loses its grip in the swelter-
Ing, vile-smelling room, the fires of pa
triotism must be famed by the fiutter-
ing little silk emblems.
In Washington's social structure the
plate printers assistants" occupy a
place all to themselves. They are too
Ill paid to permit of social intercourse
with the average government employees,
and they must seek the humber por.
tons Of the city residences If they
would meet the monthly rental with the
government stipend and something
half recognized and wholly influential
In the nature of distinction. which
\ seem to surround the servant of Uncle
Sam, prevents their seeking society's
pleasant paths with the average wo
men who receive the same wage.
Lacking even the incentive which
the plate printer has--of making as
much money as he can-the assistant
must stand all day fighting the insid.
4 ious powerful odor Of the ink, screen.
Ing her eyes from the sharp light over.
head and waiting for the hours to pass
till the day is finished, then waiting for
the days to pass till she can be passed
: on to some other form Of work.
!, That consideration, the authorities
say, is the strongest hold they have on
the plate printers assistants. A far
larger salary than they get at present
would be necessary to hold them al
their tasks If there were nothing ahead
but a repetition Of this disagreeable
work. Although promotion is of neces
sity slow in the well-filled government
departments, always the hope which
springs eternal in the heart of the
printers assistant tells her that when
a vacancy occurs in the ranks above
she will be the one who is chosen to
fill it, while her less fortunate siste,
will still toll over the plates and the
rollers.