The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1917-05-09
SEES LONG SERVICE.
Woman Has Given Five.Sixths Of
Life to Uncle Sam. IT,. r..
Miss Emma Brown, Not Vet Sixty
Three, Has Been Employee OF
Government for ST, Years.

A unique case in the government
service is that Of Miss Emma S. Brown,
who, not yet sixty-thrcc years old, has
spent 1ifty-one Of those years In the
employ Of Uncle Sam. ~
A remarkable feature of the case Of
Miss Brown is that. although her work
Of over half century Tor the govern
ment has been constant and frequently
arduOus, she has hardly Il gray hair to
tell tile tale Of lifetime of labor, or
confess the toll of the years. Nature
favored her again, inasmucll as she has
been spared the necessity Of wearing
glasses, and she reads and writes, sews
and knits without this artificial aid to
her vision. - ......+
At her desk in the trimming room Of
the United States bureau of engraving
and printing Miss Brown keeps busy
at her task Of experimenting the work
of the hundred and more employees
under her charge. who trim the sheets
Of all government moneys from one
dollar up to thousand made in Uncle
Sans great money factory.
This work Of trimming the federal
notes requires precision and care, and
1t is Miss Browns task to see that it
is done to the standard required by
the government and that work is
planned and allotted so that there is
no waste Of time or overlapping Of
work. She is credited by the officials
of the bureau with executive ability,
which maintains the work evenly and
satisfactorily, and with turning In re-.
ports which prove that she is possessed
Of a mind strong and accurate. 81
Miss Brown was born in Philadelphia
in 1854, the daughter of a contractor in
that city. During the Civil war the
latter was sent for by the United
States government t6 wire the TREASURY
building to make possible the destruc-
ton of the money vaults by an electric
spark in the event Of the capture Of the
national capital by the Confederate
armies. The nature of the work in
volvcd a good deal Of exposure and Mr..
Brown caught a cold that resulted in
from which he died in Oc-
tober, 1864. 49,. .,..r .......
To make matters worse for the
Brown family, the eighteen-year-0ld
son Of the contractor, Alonzo T. Brown,
lad in the meantime enlisted without
his parents knowledge and consent,
giving his age as twenty.one. In his
first engagement he was Killed by
shell from the cnemy's camp, near Pc
Va, July 80. 1864.
The fathers and sons deaths within
q few months of each other left the
wife and mother of two small laugh-
ters without means of support, and it
was decided that the intelligent and
capable child of eleven should become
The family breadwinner. Fortunately
for little Emma, s. NJ. Clark, the first
director Of the bureau Of engraving
md printing, was friend Of her fam
lily. and he offered the eager child a
position under him.
Miss Brown has served in almost
every branch of the service of the bu-
reau and has noted with interest the
and progress Of its meth !
DDS and work. She recalls, as an in
stance, when the numbering of thou.
sand sheets consumed one days work
If che person operating hand press;
low from one press. electrically driven
from 1900 to 10000 sheets are the
daily O,ltnut