The morning times., 1895-08-25

OF work to do, and employs not a very
large force OF clerks The origin Of the office
was in 1917, and from that time up 70 the
present day the clerical force has fIuc-
tuated in numbers. At first only eleven
men Were employed. Then came the In
dian outbreaks and wars and as they rose
and fell the business OF the War Depart
ment did likewise. Thus the number of men
employed at the Wiuder Building in the
Second Auditors office is always an index
TO the degree OF peace enjoyed at the time
During the civil war the amount of busi-
ness was enormous, and consequently a
large force was needed. From 1861 up
to the end of the reconstruction period
about 500 men Were employed under the,
Second Auditor. This has gradually been
decreased, and to-day the clerical force uuu<
bers about 264
THE ARMY MUSEUM
one OF the attractions Of the building for
many years was the Army Museum, which
was situated on an upper floor. Thousands
OF visitors came each year to see the war
relics which had been collected and placed
on exhibition there Few people came
70 the city without visiting this museum,
aud through this means the public is,
generally more intimately acquainted with
the Winder building than it would other
wise be
This collection was removed some years
ago 10 the National Museum building, YET
almost daily persons call at the Winder
building and ask 10 see the collection which
was there at the time Of a former visit
During the late war the chief of ordnance
occupied room on the second floor in the
southeast corner. The assistant chief had a
room next 10 this, and then came Il room
used by the chief clerk OF the bureau In
the course OF their Official association the
assistant chief and the chief CLERK became
bitterly cstra nged, and had no COmmunica~
ton outside OF the usual routine Indeed,
so intense was the feeling between the two
that the aSsista ut chief had box let into
the wall between the TWO rooms and the
door commun icatiEg was locked and
bolted. In this box the assistant deposited
all communications for the chief clerk
through a shute similar TO those used j q de-
posting mail at postoffice This re-
ceptacle remains to-day as 1t was thirtS
odd years ago. \ hole was cut through
the solid brick wall, a Nd a strong box made
ofheavy wood is placed n the aperture thus
made. The shute is still there, the box is
still there, but ny years have passed sincS
1t was used for its original purpose.
MILES OF SHELVING.
In the Winder building there are six
miles of shelving, and accoIring 10 cUmpu-
tation made six or seven years ago. there
were over so 900 900 vouchers, which
show how 81, 100, 600 900 has been dis
bursed The number of vouchers and the
sum of money for the payment of which
they account. is now much larger.
The aggregate eight of the paper
stored in the building Is over $50 tons
In all OF this mass Of documents there is a
system and arrangement which is invariably
followed in filing II any particular voucher
is wanted by the chief he can obtain it in
five minutes even though the date be as
far back as July l, 1915. The AdJutant
General some years ago estimated that
there We're 4O2 .S16 separate rolls of the
army during the late war. and that the
total number OF men furnished was PITS
304. being composed of 2,CiT regiments Of
ten companies each All of these facts are
10 be CLEANED from the files in the Winder
building. and some idea of the Importance
and usefulness of these documents may thus
be obtained.
The Winder Building mas now come to
be regarded as one of the veteran buildings
IN the Government service Many OF the
men and women who are now employed
there have been in the same building the
greater part of their lives. 1t has grown to
be considered almost sacred.
The OId-fashioned, queer little rooms, the
many little hooks and corners, each bav-
ing its story, where a great Secretary
once stood OF where an old departed clerk
had mis- desk. are pointed out TO every new
conner. to be retold again and gain To the
next generation of employees. Thus the
building has gradually assumed sort OF
dignity, and impresses one with a feeling
of reverence and awe much as an old
gray-haired veteran who has done his ut
most for his country.
The building may need repair, the win
dow sills may sag, the paint and kalsomm-
ing come off, and the old brick floors be-
come so worn that they begin To- crumble,
yet the clerks who have Iabored So long
and we'll in the rooms of the old building
will continue to love the place and prefer
its long prison-Iike corridors and ancient
rooms to the most modern and the most
elegantly furnished office building in the
Depa rtmental service.