7j
da?
I WOULD KATHER BE RIGHT THAN PRESIDENT. Hen by Clay
1. 1 J jIl'TtJli lASU.i , ruuiisuer.
TSRMS:
$3.00 PKIl AXXI79I.
2.00 IX ADVAXCE.
EBENSBURG, PA., THURSDAY, MAY 31, 1806.
NUMBER 3
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ER
yST iWi? FORJHE UNION
0Kf pF THE OPERATIONS AND
HIOD OF BUSINESS O F THE PRO-
1:-,;T-MARS HAL'S OFF IUK IN THE
..H DIST., PA., SINCE ITS
ESTABLISHMENT is 18C3.
,rl of Tro. Mar. 17th Dist. Pa.,
oiiniYSRi-ua. v 10, 1965.
.Gen. James B. Fry, Provost Jfar-
Tn compHaoc-wiin msiruuuuua
nfficp--of theA. A. Provost jiar-
eneral Westeru'D.vision of l enna .,
at Hamsburg, iay isr, ioo.j, j.
the honor to submit tor your consia
.i mi roTnrt of the ODera-
,OD tnC 101W'r -r . .
and method of business oi ibis omce
hlishoient.
elioard of Enrollment as originally
nted. Aprii -Dth, lbb-3, consisted or
r Campbell, of Huntingdon, Cap-
nd Provost Marshal; Abraham
"ok. M. I) , of M'Veytown, Sur
and M. S. llarr, f Ebensburg,
dinner. The Board first convened
Hidaysburg, Rlair county, on the
soi May, loOo, and having or
K proceeded at o:ice to the division
Congressional .LMStrict into sud-
n of convenient size, and as nearly
.cticable oi equal population. At
mciit meetings of the Uoard of En
nt suitable) persons were selected to
. .,r'."inT ..Rlfr.j. usuallv one for
antui'j-s j
J sub-district, and their appointment
I in lin Prnvnst
iai G'c.'KTa!. Deputy Provost Mar
aoi 5peciul agents also, to the
;r allowed ia paragraph loS of Ile
Rfj:u!atiori3 tor the Provost Marshal
-ji's Kuroau, were in course of time
:-.- bv the Hoard of Enrollment and
:i by the proper department.
i the provisions of the Act of
2J. lSG.'i, had been thu- far car-
:oe!:oct, very little further organi
kis ueee?Dry before coiximencing
inJ.'ient ol that cla-s of persons
vn;titutin: the Jn:itiotiul forces."
iiory of the country, and especially
ii'ary situation just at that time,
Jed that every possible effort be
t) strengthen the weakened oriiani
; in the field at nn early day. The
'or to Yicrmon arm? at CnanceUor?-
and the tlireatened invasion and
bio devastation of Maryland and
yiva'iia by the Army of rsorthcrn
,ia were most conclusive proofs to
Aorth, not only of the formida
litary power, but ot" the desperation
rible ;irne?t of the enemv.
-.i it became evident, therefore, that
i'ntr of men obtained by valuntary
Z'-tlI? would no Jonijer be sufficient
'ply the demands of the Government
emergencies, or even to recruit
re ft
rflv
io:
ce
gan4
nee
Ate
PP'
Pre
.
runes aam to their complete anu
ury proportions, there remained, as
vtas hud wisely anticipated, only the
resort ihat of enforced military
EMtOLLMENT.
waipjiance with orders received from
oper bureau, the approved enrolling
''fir this Congressional District were
i-ti to enroll as speedily as possible
"n between the aes of twenty and
years m tneir respective fud
without regard either to color,
35, or physical deformity, and at
:'i of each week to report the result
.'. !. V - 1 I 1. i
i iduurs 10 inese neaucjunriers. ive
f the sub-districts were small, it
h i.t. .
'ierwarij thougnt nn necessary to
hem make a report until they should
completed their rolls. The exact
-i UL I ii 4 t i rs r t li a onrA mnnr oa
each officer, it would be im-
C,C lOr tao in J.i.. ! i
f . Miau, uccause circum
1 with wVip I .:-a
. . . i. au. unarniidlUltru.
)kJ 4 f cxistcd ln Afferent dsgrees in
suo-aisTricts, influenced to a
It extenf f - j-
u,u.JCj,ursuea 1Q carrying
nd wopleting the enrollment. But
; t,a tne information neces-
J W V uu "e roils was obtained
NCj f;; .,?.rmaklDK complete canvass
-s c- the families composing it. In
the rolls which had been made
j. -uiau in ijMjwcre consulted
to render very valuable infor-
, vvuiuituuu ui iiiu present
inent.
. ...o, ... i-wuipuauue wun
Jvisiona of thft At. nF M.-u o i
it ui v it OUj
' e ttvj caltfit,s 0f persons liable to
-J duty were kept separate and dis
the ameudnient of February
Ji, abolished this distinction by
t? these classe3 and thereby mate-.-tcreasiog
the available forces from
'io recruit our armies. Each en-
-ironi the Provost Marshal General's
.-"'""S" omce, oa which to
should have it correct and com-
.'o these headquarters. Generally,
C'Ose of ea.h ,una u i r'
ff l . J ,auuia ue wouia
.; to these rolls from his temporary
!iim, . 1 Ui lue persons
Flrief lk mauo me circuit of
'revir: wa?wao7. wun little addi-
L. vision nnrl . i
as it was possible under the circumstances
to have it, to the headquarters of the Pro
vost Marshal for his use.
Before dismissing this subject in my
report, I would respectfully say that per
haps in no other rural districtin the whole
North were there more and greater obsta
cles, threatened and real, to overcome in
securing a correct enrollment than in this
one. In making this assertion, it is not
my intention thereby to impugn the loy
alty or do injustice to the law-abiding
spirit of the great majority of our people,
far from it ; iut this Congressional dis
trict, located in the very center of that
portion of Pennsylvania so justly celebra
ted for its mineral wealth, has its vast
mines of coal and ore populated with for
eigners of every nationality, whose inter
ests in their on estimation, it would
seem, are ever inimical to the genius of
our institutions and hostile to any meas
ure having for its object their improve
ment and perpetuation.
The great majority of these miners are
aliens, Fonie of whom have been in this
country for many years, but who never
sought to be citizens, because the right
imposed some duties as welf as granted
privlU-ijcs. They were, however, enrolled,
and afterwards permitted to establish the
fact of their alienage by good and sufficient
proof, either before or after draft. It
would seem that by the manner in which
they construe their relations to this coun
try and its government, the advantages
are all with themselves j and whiie they
cannot be required to perform the duties
of an American soldier in time of war,
they yet assume or presume to exercise
some interest in the direction of affairs by
influencing aud controlling as far as possi
ble the actious of those among them who
have become citizens. They in this man
ner easily become the tools of political
intiigue, and though few of their number
figure as leaders, they are all devoted and
uncompromising vassals. Their prejudi
ces are of such a nature as naturally to
enlist them in any measure which has for
its object the embarrassment of the Gov
ernment, and the cxigeucy which made
conscription nocessary was peculiarly fa
vorable for their nefarious- purposes. It
gavo tncra an opportunity, uuuer tne
feigned pretext of protection to themselves
and their naturalized brethren from what
t'ney denominated tyranny and an unjust
oppression, to manifest their inherent ani
mosity against the policy and measures of
the Government ; and it was not, there
fore, a matter of surprise to find this con
trolling sentiment among them taking
upon itself form and organization, and at
times precipititiog its adherents into open
if nut treasonable demoiifctrations of oppo
sition to the enforcement of law. Accor
dingly on several occasions aud in different
localities ia this Congressional district,
the officers appointed to make the enroll
ment were abued, maltreated, threatened
with the destruction of their property, and
even death, if they did not at or.ee desist
from the further prosecution of their ob
noxious undertaking some actually suf
fering in person and possessions while
carryiug out the provisions of the law.
QUOTAS.
Before entering iu detail on the subject
of drafting, it would not perhaps be inap
propriate in this connection to advert for
a few moments to that other topic upon
the discussion and adjustment of which
the people always seemed to feel so lively
an interest, that is, the establishment,
distribution, aud correction of quota?.
Xo other subject connected with con
scription had a power and an influence
Jike this in attracting the attention ot the
people and impelling them to action.
Here was where, if at all, the oppression
and injustice of enforced military service
were felt, and it was where the Govern
ernment, while seeing and acknowledging
this oppression and these hardships, was
powerless to remove or mitigate them
without imposing others as severe. It
was one of those cases in which the mi
nority are called upon to make concessions
and sacrifices, because that generous rule
in political ethics, "the greatest good to
the :reatest number," did not include all,
but only a majority.
It could not reasonably be expected
that there would be no discord in the
workings of the multifarious machinery
necessary to carry out the provisions ot
the Act. of March 3d, 1803. Such a
system, and one of so vast a magnitude,
had never before been introduced into our
country. It was an experiment thrust by
necessity upon the people in the very
midst of a terrible civil war, and in any
other form of government, where the pre
dominant feeling and sentiment was not
one of patriotism, its results might have
" teen disastrous ; in ours, they were bene
ficial. Of the manner in which quotas were
established and announced while this office
was under the supervision ot my prede
cessor, I am unable to speak, as the rec
ords in my possession for that time do not
furnish any data from which this infor
mation can be obtained.
Since my induction into office, Feby. 4,
18GI, it has been the uniform practice to
announce the quotas of Congressional dis
tricts from the Provost Marshal General's
office at Washington, through the offices
of the A. A. Provost Marshal Generals of
the respective States and divisions, to the
District Provost Marshals.
Whenever it was possible by lapse of
time between the call for men by the
President and the date fixed upon as that
on which the draft should take place, the
enrollment lists of the District were re
vised and corrected ; so that as little
delay as possible should take place by
drawing such persons as were manifestly
unfit by reason ot physical disability,
alienage or non-residence, to perform mil-,
itary service. When this had been done,
the total enrollment of the Congressional
District was theu ascertained, and the
quota assigned by the .Provost Marshal
General was distributed among the sub
districts pro rata to their Respective
enrollments.
In establishing quotas under the call
of December 19ih, 186-t, the process was
moT lengthy and difficult than it had
formerly ben, and being less easily com
prehended by. the people, it was the sub
ject of no little consternation in districts
that had contributed few men to fill up
the armies. When the excess in years of
service was taken into consideration,
there was a vast difference -in the condi
tion of sub-districts, some being apparent
ly overtaxed, that had been always . fore
most in their efforts to comply with the
demands of the Government, aud had filled
with promptuess every requisition made
upon them ; while others, by this new
acc&esion and through chance rather than
philosophic foresight, were relieved of
their oppressive burdens and vouchsafed
security for a long time to come. As a
striking instance of the injustice effected
in some parts of the District by takiug
into consideration the number of years'
service furnished, I need only cite the
case of sub-district number 30, compri
sing the borough of M'Veytown, Mifflin
county.
In the early part of the war, there was
a company of volunteers recruited in this
place and the townships surrounding it,
nearly all of the men coming from the
latter and the officers from the borough.
The men with very few exceptions re-cn-listed
at the expiration of their first term
ot service, and'as their post office address
in nearly every case was M'Veytown, it
was given on their muster-in-rolla as the
place for which they enlisted, thus beca
riug their credits to the borough, which
paid them very little if any local bounty,
when in reality very few ot them were
residents of tho place, and when they
might have received liberal bounties by
being credited where they properly be
longed. This accession, while it unjustly op
pressed the depleted townships from which
these men came, multiplied the credit of the
borough to such an enormous extent that
it never after furnished a man, and has
the close of the war an excess over
of sixfj-tico years sercics, which
now ac
all call
is ample credit in a town of its population
against a call for a million men. I might
multiply examples of this kind in which
county-seats aud small towns were favored
at the expense of the rural districts in
their vicinity, but the one I have cited is
sufficient as an illustration.
In ascertaining the quotas of sub-districts
under the call of Dec. 19, 1SG4,
there was no uuiform percentage to be
applied in all cases as before, not even so
much simplicity as an intimate resem
blance in the calculations whence the
correct quotas were derived after innu
merable additions, subtractions, multipli
cations, and divisions.
The number of men required from this
Congressional District having been an
nounced by the Provost Marshal General,
after he had taken into account the cred
its to which it was entitled by estimating
the total number of its years' service by
'one," "two" and "three years' meu j"
and the excess of years' service over the
whole number of men furnished, I equal
ized this credit by adding it to the quota
of the District in gross, and distributing
it among the sub-districts according to the
number enrolled in each. This gave the
quota of the sub-disfrict, increased by the
excess in proportion to the number en
rolled; but a3 the number of "one," "two"
and "three years' men," respectively, had
been furni-hed without' regard to the
number enrolled, I subtracted from this
gross quota, the actual amount of excess
in years' service which the sub-district
had furnished, or added its deficiency,
and the result was tho net. quota or num
ber of men required under this call.
According to this formula, modified of
"course as to results by the difference iu
tho statu of sub-districts, the respective
quotas were arrived at; and though much
of its workings seemed to the people use
lessly inexplicable, its final results are
believed to bave been correct and just.
The late hour in the history of the war at
which it was determined to reward the
patriotism and generous loyalty of ccrtaiu
localities and rigidly exact justice trom
others, by taking into consideration tho
number of men and years' service which
each had furnished in response to the
calls of the Government, was perhaps one
of the most potent arguments why such
difficulty should at first be experienced in
doiug exact justice to all. In subsequent
calls, if there had been occasion. therefor,
all this apparent oppression and injustice,
together with the seeming mystery In the
Operations ol the formula here employed,
conscription whose symmetrical propor
tions aud efficiency could not fail to secure
the admiration of all.
I believe the principle on which the
quotas were arrived at. under the cill of
Dec. 19, 18G4, to be the right one, and
that which should have been adopted as
early as practicable after it became neces
sary to resort to enforced military service.
There is no other, through the operations
of which exact justice can be meted out
to all parts of the country; and when any
measure or policy of a Government, even
in "its txtremest exigencies, savors of
oppression or burden to the great masses
of the people, to be enduring it must have
in its foundation and execution not only
the semblance, bnt..the clearest evidence?
of faultless equity and good intention.
DRAFTING.
After the establishment and publica
tion of thf sub-district quotas, and during
the intervening time between this date
and the one fixed upon for the draft to
begin, nearly all the clerks were usually
employed in transcribing from the rolls to
blank draft cards or tickets, the names of
the persons to be placed in the wheel
under the existing call. At this time
there was generally great activity io vol
unteering, the recruits coming in from
every portion of the district, influenced
in part by a spirit of patriotism, but in
much greater degree by that other poteut
and impelling force the fear cf conscrip
tion. The difference in the spirit and
energy of volunteering was easily percep
tible, too, when the men were permitted
to enter new organizations ar.d when
they were forwarded at once to some vet
eran compauy and regiment in the field.
A day or two prior to the commence
ment of the draft, a few prominent men
of different political faith from the county
to be drawn were invited to be present as
a committee of observation, in order that
every portion of tho district might be
tatis.iicd as to the complete fairness and
justice of results.
When the day and hour appointed for
.the drawing to begin had arrived, the
Board of Enrollment, committee of ob
servation, and clerks took their respective
positions, in such manner as to allow ail
promiscuous spectators present to be grai
ned with a view of the wheel of fortune.
Two persons were then selected, one to
turn the wheel, and.the other, blindfolded,
to take from it the tickets bearing the
names of those who became thereafter
soldiers of the United States.
These preliminary arrangements having
been completed, the Commissioner of the
Board, arising from his scat, announced to
all present that "the draft wilt now com
mence for the Seventeenth Congressional
District, sub-district No. 1."
Then, in accordance with instructions
from Lt Col. J. V. Domford, late A. A
Pruvost Marshal General of the State,
the tickets were taken out of the sealed
envelope in which they had been placed
as soon as written, each sub district by
itself, counted by the Board ot Enroll
ment and committee of observation in
conjunction, and the names of any who
had been exempted since the tickets were
written, taken out. Those that remained
were then placed in tho wheel, and it
began its significant revolutions and counter-revolutions,
upon the result of which
hung so many hopes and fears. After the
cards had been sufficiently intermingled
in this way, a small door in the side" of
the wheel was thrown open, and the person
selected being properly blindfolded, tjok
from it one of the tickets, which he hand
ed to the Commissioner of the Board, who
read aloud the name and number thereon,
and in turn passed it usually to the com
mittee of observation, that they might
detect any error which could possibly
have been made in pronounsiog the name
or number.
The name on the ticket was then tran
scribed by the proper .clerk into a blank
book which hail been procured for this
purpose, and thus the work progressed,
taking each sub district in the order in
which it was numbered, until the drawing
for the district had been completed.
After drafting the required number
from any enrollment district, the tickets
bearing the uames of those drawn were
carefully sealed up in a small envelope
and placed in this condition in a larger
envelope, which contained the tickets of
said district that had not been drawn.
This large envelope was then sealed, bav
ins endorsed on it the name and number
of the sub-district to which the tickets
belonged, and carefully preserved.
Immediately after the draft was conclu
ded, the Board of Enrollment fixed the
dates for the reporting and examining of
the conscripts trom the respective coun
ties comprising the Congressional District.
All of the available dorks in the office
were then employed in filling up and pre
paring drafc notices, printed forms of
which were forwarded from the Provost
Marshal General's Bureau, to be served
on all persons who had been drawn.
These notices were distributed by mail tD
the different enrollinsr officers throughout
the district, with instructions to serve
them as soon as it could be done, and to
forward to this office a wriHen report of
the date and manner of their service.
I have already, in the course cf my re
marks under the head of Enrollment,
pointed tc carry out the provisions of the j
Act ot M arch 3rd, 18G3. In this con
nection, I deem it not out of plaa again
to revert for a moment to that subject.
In some of the disloyal portions ot the
district, it became a matter of necessity
to employ members of the Vetera-? lie
serve Corps and other soldiers to serve
the notices "of draft, as the spirit of re
sistance to law had more than once mani
fested itself in open, overt acts. Not un
frequently when notices were given to
those for whom they were intended, they
were torn in pieces and scattered to the
wiuds, with expressions of utter contempt
for the law and its officers. Posters were
put up in conspicuous places, directed to
warning
at night, the clerks were busily engaged
io making out descriptive rolls cf the meo
who had been accepted into servico durir
the day.
The instructions from the heads of De
partments about this time were that busi
ues should be transacted "without regard
to hours" in receiving, providing for, aud
disposing of drafted men and volunteers ;
and without any spirit of presumption or
boasting, I indulge the belief from a com
parison of results that no other office was
more active or continued in labor than
that of the 17th district of Penna.
In forwarding a detachment of drafted
men to general rendezvous, their descrip
tive rolls were always made out in quintu-'
persons in the employ of the Govern men-KpZcate, and disposed of in the following
i i i " , . " , A ; ft,,rcrtr,fi snoken of the threatened and real resis
I would have d-Pred : $ I "Wcb had bcea made t, officer, aP
. 1 .i.st.a
tnem mat u thev dared visit
certain localities, they did it at the jeop
ardy of their lives; stigmatizing them as
hirelings, and declaring it to be the inten
tion of many citizens to rid the country of
all such pests.
On one or two occasions, they even car
ried out their threats so far as to fire upon
and wound the officers, from their con
cealment, but always in such a manner as
to induce the belief that while they thus
were guilty of au infraction of .he law,
they feared the consequences of detection.
While attributing it in part to the de
gree of foreign element in the population
of our mining localities, this spirit ot
hostility and opposition to the enforce
ment of the provisions of the Enrollment
Act, cannot be regarded as the result of
this cause alone. It is to be deplored that
some of the leading men in cenain por
tions of the district, by means of counsel
given in public and in private, exerted a
very baleful influence on their feliow-citi-zens.
Very frequently, I think, this ad
vice was distributed without a second
sober thought as to its legitimate tenden
cies, and then in other cases it was dis
seminated with the deliberate design of
fomenting and poisoning the public mind.
A chafing, restless, perturbed spirit in the
people was the natural offspring of such
teachings. They imagined themselves
oppressed, not because they felt the mail
ed hand ot the law, but for the reaon
that their more intelligent fellow-citizens
were constantly decrying the tyranny' and
military despotism under which they lived.
It was hence the influence of this mis
taken sentiment on the people more than
anything else, which appeared as a diffi
culty to be contended against and over
come in the faithful execution of all pro
visions in the Enrollment Act. There
was nothing in the statute itself which
seemed to the public o odious; it was
only when they listened to a pariizan in
terpretation of it that its provi?ious ap
peared to justify and legalize the most
oppressive exactions ; and this, I appre
hend, is the real it not the only source
whence flowed all the dir-satisfactiou and
imaginary injustice which have been so
uniformly referred to and charged upon
the conscription law.
DRAFTED MEN.
In receiving the drafted men when they
reported lor examination in. obedience to
notification, the Board of Enrollment en
deavored as nearly as possible to have only
such number report on each day as could
be attended to aud disposed of, in connec
tion with the other necessary business of
the office. At an early hour in the day,
the Board commenced its sessions for the
examination of those only whose notice
required them to report on that date. The
drafted men reporting were admitted into
the examining room in small numbers, in
the order of sub districts, and those whose
claims tor exemption were founded on
physical disability, from any cause what
ever, were referred to the Surg3on for his
decision ; while those whose claims were
of such a nature as not to require an ex
amination of their person, were attended
to by the Commissioner and myself.
When a man had beeu rejected by the
lioard as not liable, from any cause, to
perform military service, he was given a
discharge or certificate of exemption ac
cording to the prescribed form, and dis
missed without further ceremony. If,
however, after careful examination, it was
decided to ho!d him to service, he was
taken in charge by a guard, who conduc
ted him to the Quartermaster store-rooms,
whence, after signing the clothing roils
and receiving the requisite amount cf
chjthing, he was taken to the barracks at
these headquarters, prepared for the ac
commodation of guards, drafted men, vol
unteers, and deserters. Here the recruits
of every nature were quartered, under the
control of a detachment ot the v ettran
Reserve Corps which was on duty in this
district.
As soon as men, cither by draft or as
volunteers, had been accepted into the
service, they were subsisted and lodged iu
the same manner and uuder the same
contract as those Eoldiers who were on
duty here.
These contracts or agreements are such
as are provided for iu paragraphs 150 and
156 of Revised Regulations tor the Pro
vost Marshal General's Bureau, and exe
cuted and approved in strict couformity
to the provisions of other paragraphs
contained therein. At the close of almost
every day's examinations, a sufficient num
ber of recruits were obtained to constitute
a detachment for general rendezvous.
During the latter part of the day, after
examinations had ceased, and on oven late
manner: two conies accompanied the de
tachment, one ot which was returned, with1
receipt for the men delivered written upon
it; another was transmitted direct to the
Provost Marshal General ; another to the
A. A. Provost Marshal Genl.of the State,
and one retained on file in the office. The
copy which was returned from the gene
ral rendezvous with receipt upon it ac
companied the monthly return or roll of
men at the end of each month to the
Provost Marshal General, in compliance
with paragraph 74 of Revised Regulations
for the government of his Hurcau.
In completing these rolls so that they"
might furnish the proper data from whicb.
the correct credits to the various sub dis-'
tricts could be ascertained. I have been
careful to give in the column of remarks,
the name of the sub-district in which the
men were drafted and in consequence
must oe crcaitid. luc record or descrip
tive book of drafted men wherein their
names arc transcribed from the tickets as
thry are drawn lrom the wheel, and in
which their descriptions are recorded
when he'd to service, has been uniformly
made the book of reference. It has fur--nished
the data or necessary information
for all the returus of credits, all reports
of the draft and drafted men, and in fact
is the original record upon which are based
and from which emanate all calculations
affecting the status of the different sub
districts. For some time after my assumption of
the duties of this office, the credits of
drafted me were ascertained by me from
the proper reord book at these headquar
ters and forwarded atPtated periods to the
office of the A. A. Provost Marshal Gen
eral of the State, at Harrisbursr. Durinsr
the same time credits allowed for volunteers
were announced to this office by the A.
A. Provost Marshal General of the State,
based upon monthly and tri-monthly re
turns transmitted him by me. Later
however, all credits were calculated at
flarrisburg, and announced to this office
in exhibits, each embracing a period ofi
ten" days.
Proper blank books were furnished ma
in which to keep an account with eacb-sub-disfrict,
so that at a glance its real
condition might be seen and its surplus c1! -
deficiency at once ascertained. Tho tneth- .
od at present pursued in calculating and
announcing credits is in my opinion the
best which has at any time been adcp(d
It not only combines simplicity and ririd
correctness, but it reduces to a uniform
operation the process by which all recruits,
either by draft or voluntary enlistments,
are accredited to their pi oper sub-districts.
Conclusion next tree?:.
Another Anecdote A corespondent
of a Cincinnati paper tells the following
characteristic anecdote of the lamented
Lincoln :
A good, and what is better, an auihea
tic, story about Mr. Lincoln- came to rat
tho other day from a friend; .which
as well be set up in your types now as at
any other time. Conversing with the
lion. James A. Brigg-, formerly Sai
Agent of Ohio io New York, one day a
the White House, the late President said
in reference to the rush of office-seeke
and their ingenious devices to secure ki
attention :
" Why Briggs, I believe there is ert
a system of female brokerage in efSc
here in Washington, for I am constantlj
beset by women of all sorts, high am
low, pretty and ugly, modest and tht
other way. Here, yesterday, a Terj '
handsome young woman called, she wonlfl I
not take a denial, was admitted, and went ;
straight to work soliciting a certain office
for somebody supposed to be her husband.
She plead her cause dexterously, eloquent
ly, and at times was almost successful bv.
her importuuate entreaties. Ry degree 3
she came closer and closer to me, as I 3 &
in my chair, until really her face car je
so near my own that I thought she want ed
me to kiss her. When my indignat ion
came to my relief, and drawiog my self
back and straightening myself np, I -avo
her the proper sort of a look and said :
.'Mrs. , you are very pretty, ar 4d it's,
very tempting; but I tcont.' "
The doctor's motto be patient
The potter's motto be ware. "I'ue prin
ter's motto be composed.- Tb e lawyer's
motto be brief.
fiGrllans was told that he had sfemt
nine cast of face. "Oh, yd w," aai&he
"my mudder wa3 a womap. de ifit; J-
reason."
V chicken potpie is -
a gunsmith's store b
foul in pieces- a;j to belte
- " ;t contain
cause it
; i
j wmpicte aaa aai as far
5fC 6uolv :