Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-05
A FRESH-AIR PROBLEM
TROUBLES OF EMPLOYEES IN VEN
TILATING OFFICES

difficult ones we have to deal with IN ONCE
life, though very few persons on the outside
can comprehend the question at all, re-
marked the chief of a large division In an
uptown department to Star man yester-
day. 'Out of force of over fifty clerks In
my division there are six now absent from
their desks by reason of colds contracted
from draughts in their respective rooms. Ii
the Keen commission can devise a satisfac-
tory way to overcome this dlmculty the
number of days work which would be
saved the government would DE astohlsh-
ing. If these six clerks average three days
absence each there are eighteen days lost.
This Is from the government end or IL,
however From the clerks STANDPOINT II
means physical suffering loss of time ana
frequently loss of pay and doctors pi!s.
Sometimes clerks experience protractea III.
ness with resulting loss of time, and not
infrequently they die from the effects or the
sickness
I'm outside business occupants of offices
can regulate the windows usually as they
please In the department service the rooms
are very much overcrowded. In seven
tenths of the rooms in the department
buildings in Washington there are too many
clerks by half. 1t is only in the chief
room that the overcrowded condition does
not obtain. This means that some clerks
desks are next to the radiators, others close
to the windows, while some are placed be-
tween the windows and the doors SO that
the clerks are in draught should either
be open.
vitality Affects the Clerks.
every clerk in the departments who Is a
reader of The Star will verify what l say.
1t would not be an out of the way estimate
to state that for seven months in the year
one-tenth of the entire clerical department
force in this city is incapactated from va
JIc 70
reason of catching the initial cold In Of
flce The clerks desks cannot be changed
at will. They are fixed and stationary by
official order, as rule. AS the clerks are
required to remain seated at their desks,
draughts or no draughts, sick or well, they
are like soldiers when incapacitated in the
line of duty. In the great clerical army In
Washington one overhears the following
conversation so frequently that 1t IS really
stereotyped:
We'll. poor Mr.. Blank of the auditing
division died last night
Too bad. What was the troubles?
He returned to the office before he was
fully recovered. caught additional cold,
which developed into pleurisy, and that fin
ished him.
This condition has been officially recog-
nized, and some chiefs have tried to rem
edy 1t by issuing general orders. In the Of
flee Of one Of the auditors Of the treasury
the windows during certain seasons can
not be opened except at II am. and 23O
pm, at which hours they must be opened
and kept open for five minutes. the clerks
being excused from active work for this
time Personally, I think this an excel
lent method. though 1 understand that some
of the mossback clerks kicked.
how Some Chiefs Settle It.
Some chiefs have settled 1t by allowing
any one to open the windows at noon hour,
though clerks who remain in at lunch kick
against this. too. Others allow the win
nous consent. very sensible proposition,
and will not permit the windows to he
opened otherwise. except al the noon hour.
This Is perhaps the most just rule to all
concerned. 1t Is impossible to please both
the 'hot-bloods' and the polar bears at
the same time. but one hot blood or one
polar bear as the case may be. in a. room
full OF clerks who bear no affinity to these
two extremes will lay up dozen annually
with illness and cause more trouble to their
companions and their chiefs than a run
away horse in a crockery shop. Some chiefs
are utterly Indifferent to the physical we'll
fare of the individuals who are unfortu-
nately under their official control. 1t Is
needless to say that these selfish chiefs are
cordially hated. and do not get nearly so
much out OF their official interiors do
those who are sensible enough to under
stand that very often the difference between
the two Is only official.
Recruited as they are from all classes
and conditions in life and from all sections
Of a very large country, the employees of
the departments form more or less hetero-
geneous mass of temperaments to which 1t
Is hard to fit a general rule. Some of them
are Unfortunately selfish regards them
selves and tnconsderate of the feelings of
others. Could the doctors bills of clerks
made i'll by this class be made a charge
upon their pocketbooks 1t would have a
strong tendency to break up a condition
which is recognized In official circles as a
serious one. Again, some of the older Of
flee buildings are miserably lighted and
wretchedly ventilated. 1t Is admitted how
ever, that draughts are deadly and cannot
be fought that the government loses heav-
lily In time by these enforced absences and
that the clerks personally suffer. Any clerk
therefore. who can offer q satisfactory solu-
ton to the question ought to be promoted
two grades right ON the SnOt -