The Washington herald., 1911-03-12
ARMY OF NIGHT T-WORKERS
PLY THEIR MANY TRADES
WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS
Busy Thousands Nations Capital Rise at Sunset and Seek
Rest Only at Dawn.

! lines of freight cars which crowd the
tracks in the night.
Expressmen and Policemen.
The offices of the various express com
panies adjoining the Union Station pre-
sent a scene OF continued hustle and hustle
! through the night. Dozens of employees
deftIy handle the incoming and outgoing
packages. Clerks run about with bills
! Of lading. locating bundles that must
make connections with trains that leave
before the birds are up. Before the sun
peeps over the eastern hills long lines
of yellow electric trucks emerge from tho
nearby garages and take their places
| before the sheds. where they are sou
burdened with tons of perishable produ.
for various market places
Washington's finest are taken as a
matter of fact. Once in three weeks
every member of the blue-coated brigade
does eight hours night duty. Two hun
dred of them are always on the streets
at night, in fair weather and foul.
The police are bot alone in guarding
the city and its treasures in the night
watches They are aided by twenty-three
watchmen in the employ OF private con-
Germs. while ten times this number are
stationed at individual buildings. care
| fully guarding against intrusions OF
Z
store, every banking house. every lumber
mill, in fact every business OF conse-
quence in the confines of the Capital
has it's own watchman, into whose hands
the property is intrusted from the time
the regular employees leave un il their
return in the morning
Uncle Sam pays neither fire nor bur-
gary insurance He maintains a corps
of most efficient guards While the cush-
ioned Office chairs of the chiefs OF diyi-
sions are vacant and their occupants
are slumbering. the shadoTy corrldorS
of the government buildings reSOund
with the footballs of the sleepless patrol
Capitol Guarded at Night.
There is never an hour whom there arc
! not seventy-three men on guard at tho
Capitol and the House and Senate Of1co
buildings. These men hold full sway one
| half the time. Excepting the occasional
| visit of a belated lawmaker, these men
! are the sole occupants of the greatest
legislative pile in the world from sun
set to sunrise.
! Although the White House is a govern
mcnt institution. the honor of protecting
! the Chief Executive and his household
during tho sleeping hours devolves upon
| A specially selected corps of Washington
! police No. 1870 PENNSYLVANIA avenue
! is the only residence IN America "hlch II
protected by city police year in and year
! out
! The departments require the service
| Of fourscore men as night watchmcn.
| and from the navy yard to the State
! Department not an inch OF government
property goes unprotected
! Two hundred men and women can os
! found every night at the Census Bureau.
compiling statistics in a frantic ehort 10
finish the twelfth decennial census before
| the time limit expires.
! And So the great nocturnal parade goes
| on. night after night. year il and year
out The army of seepless workers IS
! recruited from every walk OF life, each
adding his mite to mans progress. Little
| is heard or known OF these night toiIerS.
Like ships that pass in the night, they
go their way on The ebb and now OF
! humanity. JOHN ). MOSbt'-