The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1910-10-12
SOME ODD OCCUPATIONS IN WASHINGTON

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freeing himself from the irksome re-
quirement. His name, save for the
final letter G, was written on all
routine documents by a clerk. Mr..
Manning supplied the missing letter.
and the comptroller said it was all
right.
Secretary MacVeagh improved this
scheme by inducing congress at the
recent session to pass a law author
izing clerk to do his signing. Now
John Kiley attends to this job, affix-
ing his name ''for Franklin Mac
Veagh" Kiley can 81 n from 5OO|
to 1900 documents a day. He has
recently finished a six weeks task of
putting his signature on 10000
treasury warrants to members of the
Cherokee Indian tribe, the money
being in payment for a sale of lands
belonging to the Indians.
At the department of agriculture
for the past two years three scient-
lists have been engaged in examining
the contents of the stOmachs of birds
They are trying to find out whether
certain birds are the friends or enc
mics of farmers. Special agents in
the field Stay the birds by the hun
dred and ship their stomaches to
Washington in alcohol Some of the
results have been surprising. 1t has
been discovered that hawks and owls
are not the wicked birds of prey the
farmers thought them to be, and, in
stead of shooting these supposed
marauders the intelligent agricul-
list protects them. He realizes that
although they may occasionally kill
chicken they perform valuable SER
vice in hunting the voracious rodents
which destroy alike grain products.
young trees and EGGS of birds.
Three women who have recently
come to the front in the government
service by reason of exceptional abil-
ity or the performance of unusual
duties are Miss Anna H. Shortridge,
of the state department.; Miss Mar
garet Kelley, of the treasury depart
ment, and Mrs. Mabel P. Leroy of the
interior department. Miss short
ridge is the highest paid woman in
the government service, her salary
being $500 a year. She is a lawyer
and an authority on international le-
gal points. She was formerly en-
ployed in the department of justice,
where her remarkable talents at
tracted the personal attention of Mr..
Knox when he was the attorney-gen-
eral. He frequently detailed her to
prepare government briefs in i'm
portant cases. When Mr.. Knox en-
tered the state department the first
thing he did was to ask for the trans
fer of Miss ShOrtridge from the de-
partment of justice.
Takes Mans Place.
Miss Margaret Kelley was recently |
appointed ''adjuster of accounts for |
the United States 'mints at salary
of $4,000. This is a position that
heretofore has always been held by |
man Miss Kelley is the highest |
paid woman in the treasury depart
ment. Mrs. Leroy signs the name of
William H. Taft to United States
land patents, for which service she
receives $1,000 a year. The posi- |.
ton is a sinecure, and is given to |
the widows of officers who have
served in the army and navy.
The worn and soiled money that |
comes to the treasury for redemption
is handled by man with deft hand .
and accurate eye. He destroys stacks |
of paper money from morn till night |
by pushing them under a mutilating +
knife, the average being $500 200
worth or currency day For doing
away with this trifie of $3.50 ,OOO,-
600 a year he is paid $1,000.
At the Washington navy yard Ma
val Constructor David w. Taylor has
a huge model tank in which he plays
with toy battleships, cruisers and
submarines. 1t looks like play, but
it isn't. He is making scientific dem
onstrations of the effect on a vessels
speed, coal consumption and other
features resulting from ever so slight
a change in the outward formation
of the hull.
In the treasury service are expert
tea and coffee tasters. who tell the
value and grades of these commodi-
ties by placing a few grains on the
tongue. In the department OF agri-
culture a force of young men eat
drugged foods to determine just how
poisonous they are. All of which
goes to show that the business of
running a big government gives rise
to many curious occupations