The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1911-10-03
STANDARD PLANS
FOR BUILDING
Supervising Architects Office In
Washington Discharges
Many Men.
by ERNEST q. walker.

(Mail Special to The Advertiser.)
WASHINGTON, September s0.-The
discharge Of numbers of government
employees at Washington have become
Of almost frequent occurrence during
the last twelve months. The depart
ments are reforming and retrenChing.
New methods of doing work, which
have been found to work we'll in priv.
ate business, are being installed. The
results make for economy and, alike,
for efficiency.
A striking instance, to the point, oc-
ours in the furloughing of eighty EN-.
ployes under the supervising architects
office in the treasury department. Fail.
ure by congress to make the necessary
| appropriation is the first reason. But
| it offers Secretary MacVeagh opportun.
ity to try out an estimable plan for
standardizing, as it were, the pablo
buildings of the country.
There will be material curtailment of
the long delay in erecting the structures
after congress has voted the money, and
at the same time there is every pros
pect that cities will continue TO obtain
| federal buildings of an entirely salts.
factory character as to architectural ap.
pearances and well adapted TO the needs
of the government, s business.
Long Title Delay.
1t requires quite year for Uncle
Sam to purchase parcel of realty and
try out the title That has been dem.
onstrated hundreds of times Often il
takes longer Plans for buildings are
not to be drawn, of course, till the lot
is finally purchased Heretofore each
building project has thereupon been
turned over to the craftsmen and de-
sgners. When proceeding to the full
capacity the treasury department com
| pletes only about twelve plans each
month and the arrearage of work in re.
| cent years has been large A span of
one one presidential administration us
ually stretches from the day when CON
gress makes n public building appropri-
alton till the doors of the building are
open.
Scrutiny of the large construction
business which the government con.
ducts in building postoflices, custom
houses and federal court buildings dem
onstrated to Secretary MacVeagh that
it a majority of cases there is great
4 oiiAAidAA1f 40 w AONhlISu 4uVAiltlCb anu
in the type of building ultimately
turned out. 1t goes without saying
that government buildings are all sub
stantially erected and are credit to
the supervising architect 8 Office But
the needs Of the postal business in cit
les Of approximate population are very
much the same. and analysis shows that
the treasury department q efforts at
these buildings bring about very def
nite standards.
Just Standard Designs.
Therefore, in majority of projects,
no more individual designing of struc.
lures and the incidental delay of
months. Bangor, Mainee, devastated
by n great fire last April, wants a pub.
lie building in hurry and viii get It.
But Assistant Secretary Bailey, who
has all this treasury work in charge,
ascertained the volume of public bust.
ness at Bangor, looked over the list of
cities that had like requirements for
facilities, and found that plans of the
public building at Danville, Illinois,
''Uncle Joe" Cannon's town, would
just ct Bangor.
If it were a milliondolar custom
house at Boston or million-dollar pub
lie building at Honolulu, the depart
ment, of course, would call in the ar.
chitects and have special designs pre-.
pared. But hereafter there will be a
voluminous series of public building
plans upon the treasury shelf. When
a city of $4,000 or $4,000 people wrests
an appropriation from a reluctant con.
gress, the supervising architect on short
notice will hand out a set of designs
and proceed to enlist the activity of
the contractors.