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_FOR THE ‘
WEEKLY EAZETTE
ann-
‘ N. Y. WEEKLY TR BUNE.
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Sent to any Address
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One Dollar?
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p ADDBESS ALL ORDERS T0 GAZETTE.
UBSCRIBING
‘jmnEst
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A STREAM 0F com.
auNs YEARLY THROUGH THE CHAN-
NELS OF THE PENSION OFFICE.
l‘lie Klondike of Old Soldiers—Huge Pro-
portions of a Business That. is Stillv
Growing -—-0no of the Most Eflicinnt
Employes is Colored.,_
The Pension Office at Washington
fills the biggest brick building of the
world, says Frank G. Carpenter, in a
letter to the Washington Star. I doubt
if there has ever been a building made
of brick which surpassed it in size,
although the baths of Diocletian, the
ruins of which stand by the Via Nazi-
onale, in Rome, were a mile in circum-
ference. This building covers only
two acres, but it is three stories high
and there is a big attic up under its
glass roof. It has a court in its center
bigger than any barn yard you have
ever seen, and the huge brick pillars
which rise from floor to roof each con-
tain enough brick to build three good-
, sized houses.
Both court and oxiices are filled with
papers. There are hundreds of mill—
ions of pages of writing packed away
here. There are enough files in the
cases of the Pension Bureau court to
carpet a county, and the old, docu-
ments among its records, if they could
be pasted together, in a single strip,
would be long enough to cover a
wagon road reaching clear around the
world. The Pension Office deals in
big figures. Take the mail, for in-
stance. It was to this division the
commissioner, Henry Clay Evans, and
I first went. The commissioner re-
ceives 20,000' pieces of mail a day, or
more than 7,000,000 pieces every year.
He gets more than 5,000,000 letters in
in a year. If you could paste the an—
swers to his mail together in one single
strip it would make a ribbon of white
letter paper covered with typewriting
reaching from New York to Chicago.
If he had to pay his postage at the
rate of .two cents per letter his stamp
bill would amount to $100,000 a year,
and when you figure up the labor and
brains you would have a number of
life times embodied in that one item.
It takes forty-three clerks to handle
this mail. There is one corps of men
who do nothing but open letters. An-
other stamps the date cf receipt upon
them, and a third reads the letters and
sends them to the proper divisions for
answer. From four to eight thousand
letters are answered every day, and
the correspondence increases from year
to year. . ‘
.Every one of these letters has a
money end if it. The PensionOiiice
ls the Klondike of the old soldier, and
not a few men and women who are not
old soldiers seek to pan gold out of
the sands of its rivers. Last year
the amount of money distributed was
more than $140,000,000. This was an
increase of more than $1,500,000 over
the sum paid out, in 1896, and the com-
missioner tells me that there will be
more paid out this year than last.
The gold miners of the world are now
producing more than ever before and
still the total output of them all is
only about $200,000,000 a year. If the
gold mines of all the world were run
to their full extent for the next ten
years they could not get out as much
gold as this office has paid out for
pensions on account of the W'ar of the
Rebellion. Up to last June the amount
was more than $2,000,000,000, showing
a steady increase from the close of the
war up until 1890, and an enormous.
increase since then. This sum is be-
yond conception, and, as I have stated,
it is on the increase. It amounts to so
much now each year that if every
man, woman and child in the United
States contributed $2 the aggregate
sum would just about pay the pension
bills. This is equal to about $10 for
every family in our country. Of this,
over $500,000 goes abroad. Between
3,000 and 4,000 pensioners live in for-
eign countries and draw their money
from us. The remainder are scattered
over the United States from Florida
to Maine and from Massachusetts to
California, and the streams of money
which flow here and are dammed up
in the treasury are. turned into the
great pensoni irrigating ditches every
year and carry this golden flood to all
parts. of the country.
During our walk through the Pen-
sion Office Conuni‘-;siouer Evans and
myself spent some time in each of the
divisions watching the hundreds of
clerks at work. There were old and
young men among them. and there
were plenty of old and young wom-
en. I asked a number of questions
as tie the efficiency of th eemployes,
and wasvtold that while the most of
them were very efficient clerks, some
were little good except to tie up pa-
pers. One man told -e the poorest
clerks he had were the old school-
masters, and another said the girls
in his bureau were of less value than
the men. One chief of a division said
some of his’best cmployes were col-
ored, and hep eluted out a young man
with a face as black as a piece of
cannel coal, who, he said, could take
the heart out of a' pension case
quicker than any man he bad. There
are examiners and clerks scattered
over the country, so that, all told:
Commissioner Evans has about 7,000
men under him—an army more than
half as large as that which Xenophen
led on his famous march to the sea.
In one division I found about seventy-
tive doctors. These men pass upon the
medical testimony. and they can See ”a
misstatement in theevidence if it is
not very carefully covered. All of
them have studied medicine. and not“
a few of them have been active prac-
titioners. Another division is largely
made up of lawyers, who pass on the
legal aspect of cerain cases. and an—
other’ might be said to be. made up of
detectives, for it is their business to
tel-mt out frauds.
. lsmurnmctwnrnfir
‘ Olfllorwalbk’s Needs. V ‘
Ancl Remarkable Proofs that
the National Disease
Long Considered
lncurable
Can Be Cured and Has Been Cured
Right Herein ‘Norwalk.
Mrs. William W. Bloom, who lives
at 7 Water street, Norwalk, says: “I
have been troubled with catarrh in my ‘
head and throat for some time. My
Whole head was stuffed up; the pas-
sages of my head and throat would at
times become so filled with mucous that
I could not talk, and altogether in was
very annoying. I also suffered a. great
deal of the time with headaches. Igot
a bottle of California Catarrh Cure at
Pleisted’s drug store in South Norwalk,
and I think it is the greatest stuff in
the world. It has cured me of all the
disagreeable suffering I have had for so
long;my throat troubles me no more,and
I haven’t had a headache for weeks. I
have recommended it to several friends
who have used it with satisfactory re-
sults, and we all unite in saying it is a
wonderful medicine.”
California Catarrh Cure is especially
prepared for treatment of the mucous
membrane. It allays the inflammation.
checks the disease and arrests and re-
pairs the decay of this delicate lining.
It 13 a curative agent for colds,coughs
hay fever, bronchitis, asthma, and all
purely mucous affections. Use it dur-
mg and after a cold,-and you will never
have a cold “hang on,” or even reach
the catarrhal stage. When oatarrh is
once firmly fixed in the nasal passages
and throat. it begins to attack the
mucous membrane of the passage lead-
ing either to the lungs or to the stom-
ach. _ The result of the former course
15 ultimately consumption, of the latter
what IS commonly called some form of
indigestion or dispepsia. It. is catarrh
of the stomach, intestines, kidneys and
various mternal passages. California
Catarrh Cure will prevent and cure all
forms of catarrh, whatever the part af-
fected, and even will check incipient
consumption. It is sold by all dealers;
150 cents, three times as much, one dol-
ar.
A man is never so exasperating as
when he asks a. woman for a. detailed
account of her day’s doings and then
reads the paper while she is trving to
give it to him. .
. SAVE YOUR LIFE.
By using “THE NEW GREAT SOUTH
AMERICAN KIDNEY CURE.” This
new remedy is a great surprise on ac-
count of its exceeding promptness in
relieving pain in the Kidneys, Bladder
and Back in male or female. It re-
lieves retention of water, and pain in
passing it almost immediately. Save
yourself by using this marvelous cure.
its use will prevent fatal consequences
‘21 almost all cases by its great altera-
tive and healing powers. Sold by E. P.
Weed, Druggist, Norwalk, Conn.
THE ARMY AS AN OCCUPATION.
A “Tm-d in Its Favor—If a Soldier Chooses
to do so He Can Lay by Bloney.
A contemporary, commenting on the
demand of the Secretaries of War and
Navy for more men for warships and
batteries, remarks that While the labor
market will not feel the drain much,
it is a fact that such employment of
able-bodied men is just so much sub-
tracted from the productive forces of
the country. Considering that the
number of men required cannot be
much in excess of 3,000, altogether,
the drain will be hardly perceptible.
Soldiers labor, and are the cause of
employment of others; for armies
must be fed and clothed, as well as
paid. Every year 50,000 men offer
themselves for enlistment in the army,
and recruiting officers can pick and
choose. The aspirants for enlistment
include many bright young Americans
—no aliens will be taken now—of
whom the military career is attractive.
Nor are the inducements in the way
of pay offered to be despised by able-
bodied young men who would other-
wise be employed in civil labor in the
lower grades of employment. While
the private soldier begins his service
at $13 a month, his pay increase $1
every year of faithful service up to
the sixth, when it is $18. Sergeants
in the line get as high as $30 a month;
in the engineers, ordnance and signal
corps pay runs at its highest, from
$30 to $50 a month. To the educated
man in the ranks there is the chance
to compete for a commission. The
navy pay for men before the mast
and petty officers is higher than that
given in the merchant service. When
we consider how much is supplied
gratis to the soldiers and sailors in the
way. of food, lodging and medical at-
tendance, we can readily see that their
pay compares very favorably, for sin«
gle men at least, with the Wages given
in at least the lower grades of me-
chanical employment.
Many soldiers and sailors steady,
temperate, faithful men, lay up money
enough during their service to begin
a business career with a considerable
capital.
West, w‘here thrifty privates and “non-
coms" made good investments in buy-
ing land cheap ahead of a boom.
Here in New England may be found
men prospering in civil employment
who a few years agowere in the
ranks, and started in a new career
with an honorable discharge‘and a few
hundred dollars of savings—Boston
Transcript.
\VasgCer-toinly Excusable.
The teacher of a city school recently
received the following note explaining
the absence of one of the pupils the-
day before. according to Harper’s
Round Table: "Please excoose Henny
for absents yesterday. Him and me
got a chance at a ride to a Runeral in
a charrige, an‘ I let him stay at home,
as he had never rode in a char-rige an’
never went to a funeral nor had many
other pleasures. Soplese excoose."
_r
pat
_ 'NoRWALK’ BUSINESS DIRECmRY. ° 1] I
Norwalkl‘ Fire Insurance pco; "
SUCCESSFUL Q.PERATIQN SINCE-
1860., ‘ ’ ‘
Q5“ NO OUTSTANDING CLAIMSg , .
Pifiel Bro’s’ Real German Lager,
ON DRAUGHT AND IN BOTTLE’
_____at___._
RATCHFORDS’ - .44 Main street.
, a s- B- WILSON,"
PRACTICAL CONTRACTOR a: BUILDER.
Estimates cheerfully given. Large buildings a. specialt . Cont
in any part of the Country. Steam mill‘ and yard, 8 Crossy street. ragtgéagkesg
Wall street, Norwalk, Conn. -:— -:- h 1;.
$1.00!
\ —
Warranted Solid Gold.
Beautiful Chased Holder.
You may think it cannot possess merit or durability, the price is so low; but
the “Lincoln” is a $2. 50 pen reduced to $1.00. It is durable, always ready to ‘_‘go”
but never drips, the ink flowing steadily- and uniformly. Thev are in use in this
office, giving the best of Satisfaction, and they are in use in the he 5, insurance
and business offices and among all classes of users of pens in Norwalk and vicinity.
Orders are received from all parts of the country.
Samples to be seen and orders received at the GAZETTE OFFICE.
*4'0000OOvOWWOOWMWQQMQvMQOOOQOv0000*
<> , . .
'7. TENOGRAPHY, Bookkeeping, Banking, Correspondence 9
' etc., thoroughly taught, by new and exclusive methods-
Six months w1th us equal to a. year in any other school.
wanted, Unemployed Young Men,
- whose education has been finished in Public Schools,
This is especially true in the ‘
/-/Academies and Colleges, to write for our plan ot instruction
' by mail. We train for practical work and always secure sit.
nations for Worthy graduates of the-Business and Shorthand Courses 0"
New, York
Business
institute
,. - 4 .. . ,ai£.lzslh..sl.,uewvm‘.
or the
$
v0066606666606006090000000
to any one for first infdrmation of a va- <>
. Clerk or Telegra hQ erator which we succeed in filling. Busi- ¢
ness men suppli wit competent assistants withoutcharge. If e
you are seeking employment. and willing to study, send ten two-cent. °
stamps for five easy lessons in Shorthand. Students commence work 2
any time. No vacations. Boat-(133d otherexpensesmoderate. Railroad <>
fare paid. If you_expect to go to College write for our free catalogue. <>
Address (mention thzs paper), :
CLEMENT C. GAIN ES, President, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. <>
*9000000000090000 0099909090-900W00frOv000
. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMOMM¢Meow»)?
BEEflE‘FEi.
Sun, TONIC Pupils BLOOD
.4 POSITIVE CURE» F03 '
DYSPEPSUL MAUIRIE.
CHILL5 n!” FEVER. GRIPPE.
BILIOUSNESS. SICK-HEIIDACHE
COHSTIPMIOHIH”
GENERAL DEBIUTY.
’3‘
PRICE 50 Cts.
AT Ann.
nkuomsrs.
@
Sand for Pamphlet.
\
f.
y Restores
lDllEl,_l.llEll
I mu.
Will Keep your
Stomach in Healthy
Condition.
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line me except 't'l'nde
lurk" blown in every battle.
No Woman ought to be without the SAVER FEMALE RfiMEDY (SUPPOSITORIES
m
SAVER Liven PILLS as costs.
Purely Vegetable. Will cute Biliousness, Conszlpalion, Piles. Sick-Headache,
Small Easy taken.
and
Dyspepsia. ’
The Successful Merchants in Nor-
walk: all advertise in The " GAZETTE,
because: it keepsthcmfiin touch With
the f entire: purchasing
3’ .
community: '
t
REWA Rngcancy for a. Bookkeeper, Stenographer, Z _‘
l“,
Norwalk Chronicler