Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-04-07
STATE OF MARYLAND
NOW A TICHTWAD
Nothing Doing the Decision On
Usual Special Order Program,
TOUCHING APPEALS UNHEEDED.
So Telephone Girls Pass Hat and
Toilet Room Keeper Puts Up His
Little Box for Contributions.

4 huatcfef else may be said OF til
| 1916 Legislatures wound up with
| burst of economy that would hav
made Scrooge look like a profligate.
Its grip on the strings that closes
the purse of gratuities 70 attaches a
the State House remained unshaNei
when the gayel fell for the last time
though not without sundry mighty Tug
gings and haulings to loosen il.
Every session from time whereof the
memory of man runneth not 10 the
contrary. it has been the practice Il
deal out large chunks of money to the
'loorkeepers toilet-room keepers. tele-
graph operators telephone girls broom
wleldcrs and host of other job hold
ers about the State House
Special orders TO pay so-and-so FOR
special services piled up on the read
ing clerks desk on every final night
and kept him shouting messages ol
good cheer TO the special servers" for
an hour or more. But on Monday night
he disposed of them all with one fell
swoop-the unfavorable report of the
commute on efficiency upon what
might be called the omnibus grab-hag
bill to pay everybody from the eleya
tor man up sums OF money ranging
from $25 to $500.
And with a grim sort of humor.
Chairman Mitchell had appended a.
the end of the report a paragraph OF
heartfelt thanks to the employees for
their faithful services. But that didn't
dispose of the matter entirely. In the
House of Delegates Delegate Dempsey.
of Baltimore city. and in the Senate.
Senator Legg, of Queen Anne's county.
rose to champion the cause Of the
down-trodden employees. Mr.. Dempsey
thought it mighty mean OF the House
to turn down everybody so summarily.
and Senator Legg painted touching
word picture ofthe"poor man who ate
his breakfast without knowing where
his dinner was to come from"
But both branches Of the Legisla-
ture was obdurate at least so far as
Official sanction of their proposals
went. That they were really touch
ed" developed later when the employees
in desperation got busy and passed The
hat Before the final word went round
that there was nothing doing the
corridors and retiring rooms Of The
State House were full of anxious men
adm women
The Capitol resembled an office
building at Christmas time when ele-
vator boys and janitors hurl q gleeful
Christmas gift" to everybody who
gets within hearing distance. Are wa
going TO get anything" was the motto
of he evening When the blow fell the
State House took on more of a Christ
masy air than ever. Real American
resourcefulness came 10 the rescue
Within five minutes after the Legis-
lature had once more taken up the
thread of its real work big cigar
box was tackal up in the toilet room
of the House, just below the mirror,
and above il was pasted a sheet Of
paper with the legend written in pen
ell: Goodbye and good luck. bows.
Don't forget the toilet-room man who
has been on the job all the time"
And, at a. m, when nickels and
dimes were exhausted and nearly
everybody had gone home, the toilet
man was still wandering about and
thoughtfully lingering a pocketfuil Of
change that made his trousers sag.
The telephone girls passed the hat
that is. some of the legislators did il
for them and before the operation end
ed the needed several hats. In the
House they got $50, and in the Senate
SIS. and a few cents was the harvest.
But as one of the girls remarked,
I'VE didn't get it all. We had to give
the messenger boys some. Baho. Sun