Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-27
FIFTY-FIVE MEN NOW
The Good Weather Helps the Post Office
Average Little.
The Averages, However, Are Far BE-
low Standard and the Winter
Coming Fast.

The fourth week Of q most remarkable
period of good weather, in which there has
not been one day wholly lost on account Of
rain, closes today with fifty-fve men work.
ing on the city post Office building. This
wonderful record Of climate might have had
more influence than II has had with the
totals Of the men there laboring, and the
averages should have been forced up to the
business point. But through some cause
or other the opportunity thus given by the
meteorological powers has been neglected
The ffty-flve men at work today would
finish the building, according to The Stars
most generous calcuation, about the Goth Of
April, 1897. The average for this week is
% 1-3, the highest since the watch over the
building was begun by The Star. This was
made up as follows during the week: Mon
day, 55; Tuesday, bi; Wednesday, "a; Thurs
day. IS; Friday, 20. and Saturday. So; a
total for the week of 1856 men, which is just
A men short Of the number employed on
the library building on a single day.
The general averages per day for the four
weeks just elapsed is A 1-3, made up thus:
First week, IS 1-6; second week ,36 1-2; third
week. 43 2-6 and fourth week, 50 l-3. 1t is
to be seen that since The Star began to call
attention to the slowness of the work and to
point out the number of men actually en-
ployed each day the average has steadily
risen, with the aid of the remarkable
weather. 1t is not within the range of
probability that the contractors for the
various sorts of work on the building will
In the next four weeks experience the same
immunity from storms that they have in
the past month, especially as the period for
heavy frosts is now rapidly approaching
and the cold season cannot be many weeks
off.
Notwithstanding the many assurances
given by the superintendent based, no doubt,
upon the representations made to him by
the contractors, the work of setting the
stone for the second story has not yet been
started, and there is no prospect that it
wilt be begun in the next week. Neyerthe-
less, the frame at the starting point has
been finished for nearly two weeks. The
delay is caused by the double fact that the
contractors are insisting upon finishing the
main entrance before they begin work on
the second-story walls, and that there are
not enough engines or settlers to allow the
wall work to begin II there were an incli-
nation in that direction.
Today will likely see the completion of
two sections of the central arch of the main
entrance, which is really beautiful piece
of work. There are two masons setting
stone at this point, and they constitute the
sole capacity for advancement on the site
There are even no bricklayers at work to-
day. This, however, is not strictly accurate
because the one man who was at work yes
terday labored for two hours this morning
to finish up his job. The Star was misin-
formed yesterday by a bricklayer, who told
the reporter that a man working on a cir
cular wall received half as much again pay
! as those on straight work, and so the COM
putation yesterday based upon the fraction
of q man was not wholly correct: but in
characterized these estimates during the
past four weeks The Star will let a little
thing like that go by.