The morning call., 1893-08-20
ACTIVE MR.. WISE.
He Makes a Number of
Innovations.
SHIFTING ALL AROUND.
General Rearrangement of the Clerks
Offices i'm the Custom
House.

Some new rules have been issued by
Collector of Customs Wise, intended to
regulate the passage of entries through
the custom house. and in them are found
some new departures from the old way of
doing business.
In carrying out these innovations
number of workmeu were employed yes
teroay afternoon on tho second floor of
the building, under the imm date super
vision OF Deputy Collector n. 5. Farley.
making the alterations necesstated in the
offices OF the several clerks of that Off
ciaPs division. Mr.. Wise himself over
looked the work for little while, accom-
panied by Chief Clerk Jerome.
Doubtless the new order Of things is one
of the results of the recent investigation,
and the object is to guard against The pos
slbillty OF an importer or his broker get
ting an opportunity TO see rivals in
voice. 1t viii simplify the work of push
ing through the entries greatly, too, for
there will not have to be so much running
backward and forward, as was the way
with the old system. Tomorrow will see
the machinery of the Office thoroughly re-
constructed.
1t is in the first division. principally. that
the rearTaDgement has been made. Depu-
ty Collector Farley's desk will be in the
center OF the division, little to the north
OF what IS known as the passage" From
him the desks of the entry clerks will run
consecutively, or in rotation, in the order
In which the papers are to be passed from
clerk to clerk.
To the south of him will be In the order
named:
Manifest Clerk c. S. Fitzsimmons, Assist
ant Entry Clerk f. b. Sharpe, Entry Clerk
NJ. A. MrAuliffe. Invoice Clerk E. a.
Bauce and Permit Clerk Colonel Charles
Ii. Blinn.
after the papers have run the gauntlet
OF these gentlemen they will go just one
counter further TO the naval office, where
a system OF lock boxes has been established
for the accommodation of brokers. and
they will then go to the Deputy Collector.
thence 60 the bond clerk and finally to the
cashier.
NOrthward Of Mr.. Farey's counter the
desks will run as follows:
Bond Clerk w. 2. Wand. Entrance and
Clearance Clerk T. II. Craig. Registry
Clerk w. j. Cney Jr.. Assistant Registry
Clerk Joseph Hollywood and Invoice Rec
ord Clerk Edgar NJ. Dean.
One great advantage to be gained by
these alterations is that an entry can be
passed through all the routine from the
manifest desk 10 the naval office without
transfer or being carried by messenger. 1t
will save importers and brokers great
many steps. for heretofore the desks of
both Deputies Farley ana TOhin have been
in the north end of the room. 1t will also
allow ship-ownerS and captains more room
at the registry and entrance and clearance
desks. The force of clerks in the UstunI-
house is not any TOO large. and vpxatUus
delays in the past have been quite frequent.
These delays Mr.. Wise is endeavorlng To
have avoided.
a tag system has also been inaugurated,
which, It is believed, viii! prove very con-
ha Yala is fa hav hrn ntar
others attach to their entries a tag, about
four and half inches wide and five inches
long, of which the following is a blank
form, suggesting the Office it is TO perform:
Date OF arrival. al..........................
Date OF entry y.............................
E, Entry 10; '''.....'..'.......--....
haniIest No.. ..........................
V5e, Vl,poI 'er er'''''.'''.''....''''...'..
nesSeI. -:.....---..-.......--..-
nhero from. .-................-..........
IHnn INuu "a eu'tJ''..'.---- .-.-'''....-------
Estimated duties $...................
All the memoranda on this tag. except
date OF entry" ENTRY No" and "esti-
maTed duties" will be filed in by the i'm
porter or mis- broker and attached TO the
uppe. right hand corner of the entry.
When the entry is received at the entry
desk this tag will be torn off and the date
and number of entry and estimated duties
VIII De noted thereon. A corresponding
number VIII be stamped upon the entry
and invoice, and the tag will be placed on
h;e to be entered upon the record book
at the convenience of the entry clerks.
Collector Wise was induced to adopt this
regulation upon the earnest solicitation of
Robert II. SwayDe. a CUstom-hOuse broker,
whose business is largely from Chinese
merchants. and the large number of entries
made on the arrival of each China steamer
generally blocks the wheels Of the Custom
house for day or two.
Mr.. Swayne has recently made a trip to
ha iu In frxyi to
have adopted the anne rule that is used In
the New \ Ork Custom-houSe. which, since
Its adoption. few years ago, has been
found to work well.
AS the tag system will go into force at
once it 6eho0ves importers and brokers to
pay heed and have their tags printed
otherwise they may find their entries lying
on the counter al the entry desk
Another new feature will be the carry
Ing OF invoices and other official documents
between the Custom house and the Ap-
praisers' store in locked saichel. There
| will be three keys to this. which is simply
a little handbag, one of the Keys to be in
the custody OF the Appraiser, one with the
AdJuster OF Duties. and one in the first
division with the invoice clerk.
1t IS expected that this will reduce TO
minimum the chance of an invoice being
lost, misaid or stolen.
During the present week Mr.. Wise will
PROBABLY commence an inquiry into the
charge made by Broker Wheeler against
Clerk FitzsimmOns Mr.. FitZsimmons hav-
ing demanded an investigation the day the
evidence of Mr.. Wheeler and other brokers
IN the Rslston inquiry was published in
THE CALL
Two appointments were made by Mr..
wise yesterday. Both are for the proba-
tionary period of six months. James
Guthrie will succeed to the inspectorsfIip
made vacant by Harding's removal, and
Samuel l.. Moorehead lakes the place
which John Greenan left when he was
promoted from an inspectorship to board
ing-master, to succeed Mr.. Beale. who has
been raised to storekeeper.