The Washington herald., 1912-05-05

postmaster, or collector OF customs, Is
made custodian and Is held accountable
for the care OF the building The bills,
down. to the pay rolls Of the scrub wom-
an. must be sent 10 Washington for
scrutiny and payment"
Gould money be saved were the gov
ernment TO construct its own buiIdings7"
Il have been studying that subject
for several months, and have concluded
that on a yearly expenditure OF S12.ooo. 900
al least 10000 can be saved were we to
change our methods Of entering into
contracts. number Of our so-calied
contractors are no more than brokers
They bid on buildings, and when sue
cessful give the work out piecemeal TO
others. 10 men and companies who act
ually 4 the constructing. They make
profit, OF course. perhaps 10 per cent Of
the amount OF the contract. Then the
subcontractors demand larger prices Of
them-because of the risk they take with
respect TO payments-than they would
were they dealing at first hand with the
government II would be better. possi-
bly,, for the government TO do business
directly with the contractors who per-
form the work. and thus save the money
that now goes 10 the brokers.
Professionals Get the Contracts.
Local. contractors seldom bid for gov
! ernment buildings. They cannot COM
pete with the professionals. who do large
things in q large way and get the low
est prices on materials. Experienced
government contractors know where pub
lie buildings are 10 be erected. One OF
them may decide to offer bids on nifty
buildings. understanding by experience
that he viii be successful possibly IN
five instances. In the meanwhile he OBJ
tains the best prices on board cars, OF
30 many hundred tons Of steel and 90
many thousand barrels of cement. BY
adding the freight TO the prices he can
figure to a cent just what his material
viii cost delivered where he wants IL.
The local contractor. doing a limited
business, necessarily buys at retail and
cannot compete with the man who buys
at wholesale and is posted in all the fine
points Of the construction business"
''Architecturally, are all Of your build
ings Of the same styleT'
mo. but there are features on every
building which connect II with the pub
lie buildings in Washington, which show
that 1t belongs to the great family OF edi-
fees at the National Capital. want
stranger riding past a post-ofice in In
diana, Iowa or Pennsylvania to know At
a glance without looking up on the roof
for the nag that the building belongs to
the government Yet the style of archi-
lecture varies. In the West and South
we follow the Spanish renaissance style,
in New England the colonial or Georgian
style, and elsewhere the italian renais-
sance or classic style. But every build
ing, as I have said, is given touch that
brings II into relationship with the archi-
lecture that distinguishes the city Of
Washington"
Are the buildings mostly made Of
-stone?"
Bricks are used. separately or IN con-
nection with stone in many cases. The
material to be decided on frequently
leads to exciting controversies. In Cleve-
land there was a spirited contest between
the champions Of stone and granite.
got into the dispute by saying that when
the Almighty made granite He piled 1t
up out of doors. and that when He made
stone He put Il under ground and COW
cred it over with dit. stone soon looks
old and dingy In sooty cities like Gin
cinnati, Pittsburg. and Chicago. whereas
granite. because Of its hardness, can be
cleaned with a sand blast"
Good Work and lIatersaIs Pay.
do you require the best material and
workmanship obtainabley'
yes. It would be unbeceming in the
national government to do cheap and
ings are put up to stay. Private build
ings, as rule. so the owners figure,
can be probably torn down and replaced
at the end OF forty years-the sinking
fund and the increased value OF the
land equaling In that time the cost of
the building in the first place. We never
figure on that basis. Some OF our build
ings are fifty years old and others sew
enty-five years old are structurally as
good as ever ana are stiIl rendering good
service. The cost OF repairs on busI-
ness building runs from to II per cent
OF its cost annually. Repairs on govern
ment buildings average but 67-100 of 1
per cent. The construction work is not
always done by local mechanics. Con-
tractors have their own men and send
them to different parts OF the country"
How Is the land bought on which to
put a buildlng?".
I'VE advertise for bids. They are mall
ed to Washington. After they are OPEN
ed, an expert is sent to examine the
sites which have been offered. Contracts
stipulate that mail must be delivered by
the railways II the post-oflce is within
eighty yards OF the station That pro-
vision in all government contracts for the
transportation OF the mails sometimes
influences the selection OF site. The
rule is TO get a central location 50 that
business letters may be distributed ex-
peditiously. II often happens that land
leaps up in value when II is learned that
the government Is looking for site on
which to erect a building. Commonly,
however. there is competition. one group
Of landowners pulling toward the part