Evening star., 1939-08-27

1lOt dDOut " y col oSOy NiASAi tAAS AAA
In the Federal service.
After the Civil War, the bus
vastly. New bureaus were set up and
the activities of old ones expanded.
This resulted directly in the en-
ployment of several hundred women
clerks-mostly in the Treasury. 1t
was bold break with precedent and
the current idea of the fitness of
things.
The presence of these widows and
daughters of men who had served
In the Union Army-all, Of course,
political appointees-became the
subject of gossip all over the coun-
try. There were lurid stories in the
papers of the "scandalous" goings-
on here, and when a newly-el elected
member of Congress departed for
Washington, the sewing circle ladies
of his home town commiserated
with his wife on the temptations
her poor spouse would meet in this
wicked city. National magazines
sent staff artists to the Capital to
draw realistic pictures of the bold
vampires in the acts of vamping
and being vamped.
Valiant Little Band.
That a woman should have the
audacity to hold Government posi-
ton was, in itself, enough to rob
her of any shred of reputation. 1t
was particularly bad because these
clerks were not regimented or chap
eroned, lived in boarding houses, and
came and went as they pleased.
Now when one sees the hordes of
neatly clad women emerging from
any Government department at 4:30
pm. any day, it is hard to realize
that little more than half century
separates them from the valiant
little band of pioneers who defied
convention and scandal in 1865
thus opening the door to the thou
sands of feminine workers whose
names have since appeared on the
Federal payroll.
1t was in the summer of that year
that a staff correspondent of the
New York Last Sensation, the yell
lO"C0I JOlll ilol VI lllC OdyJ WlUlC
from Washington:
Much has been said and written
about the female Treasury clerks of
Washington Much has been said
that might better not have been
said, since but small proportion of
the truth respecting them has yet
come to light
I'm the first place, all the young
ladies employed at the Treasury De-
partment are not clerks, greater
part of them being employed in the
making of different denominations
of money. Neither are they all so
bad as they have been represented,
for, in fact, some are members of
our first families, both North and
South. Many who have been reduced
in circumstances by the war are to
be found In the employ of the Gov
eminent, and that few black sheep
should have found their way into a
place where so many are employed
is no more strange than that they
should be found in any community,
no matter how elevated or refined.
AC1oIC VIC SoIioCllAl lllClil, 1CG 10
see where the real blame rests. Are
not some of our Representatives
Heaven save the mark-to blame for
the reputation these girls have at
tanned? Any who are curious can
solve these questions for themselves
by waiting at the door of the Treas
ury Building and observing who it is
y-1n fn acpnrt tony,o h0Yy1n IN
the accompanying picture, two we'll
known Congressman are shown es-
Corting some of the dashing beauties
to their houses, while others, true to
the highest ideals of womanhood,
are avoiding both Congressman and
other lotharios and seeking their
homes unattended, but in honor"
Lurked at Treasury.
Wicked congressman just couldn't
be made to let the poor girls alone
Gay Senators were lurking about the
Treasury at all hours, or stalking
the defenseless maids to their homes.
AS the correspondent of the Last
Sensation reported:
"A number of our fair Treasury
clerks recently combined to give an
evenings entertainment which was
attended by a number of prominent
personages from the Capital.
Among these was Congressman
who, having imbibed rather freely
previous to his entree, forced his
way into the reception room noisily
and in his shirt sleeves. Having en-
tered, he continued to create ex-
citement by the use of loud oaths
until, finally, his friends persuaded
him to withdraw his distasteful
presence. The ladies, who were by
no means responsible for this ruff
fiianly member of Congress, were
deeply mortified, and the unfortu-
nate incident cast gloom over the
proposed festivities of the evening"
The scandalmongering all over the
country reached its climax, one