Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-05
NOT FIT TO WORK IN
Conditions of Geological Sur
vey Quarters Denounced.
EFFICIENCY Is LESSENED
Impossible to ventilate Properly the
Cell-Like Rooms.
LIGHTING OFTEN INSUFFICIENT
Annex Declared to Be So Dark and
Dirty as to Be Unsuited for
Human Labor.
LIGHTING OFTEN INSUFFICIEN.


work in. insufficient breathing space, in
sufficient light, and accumulated dirt and
dust are ascribed to the geological sur
vey buildings in the report by Surgeon
General Rupert Blue. just made public
by the appropriation committee of the
House. The geological survey for a long
time has been trying to get larger and
better quarters The inspection. on which
the report is based. was made by Passed
Assistant Surgeon S. B. Warren, fol-
Is. 1912.
ings are overcrowded is the burden OF
the first part of the report, and figures
are given to show that numerous en-
ployes are allowed a cubic breathing
space of only about seven by seven by six
feet. This cramped condition is given as
the cause for lowered efficiency OF the
working force.
Men working for half a year in an
air space of 300 square miles Of sparse
ly settled country naturally suffer when
confined for the winter in 300 cubic feet"
fer for lack Of air space for themselves.
but for room for their books. papers.
specimens, etc, to such degree that
loss of efficiency Is reported from this
cause
Annex Should Be Condemned.
The annex Of the geological survey is
given a bad name in the report, which
says:
1T is so bad that no detailed descrip-
ton will be made; 1t is dark and dirty
and in no way suited for human beings
to work in. In detail and as a whole 1T
should be condemned for the purposes for
which it is now used. The loft is es
pecially insanitary
THE rafters are SO low that one must
literally crawl through it. 1t cannot be
ventilated or properly cleaned. The heat
odors and stuffy atmosphere Of parts of
it are uncomfortable for any length of time
Only by visit to 1T can one have an
adequate idea of existing conditions. and
apparently there is no remedy in sight:
men must continue to work there or the
work must be abandoned. In the loft,
| where conditions are worst. there are ten
men working
Proper Ventilation Impossible.
| Other conditions in the geological sur
! vey are described in the report as fol-
lows:
1T is impossible to properly ventilate
| the cel-like rooms in which many of the
men work. 1t is true that each small
stances this opens upon an air we'll
which is not properly ventilated. To
change the air in these rooms often
enough to supply 1880 cubic feet per
to six times per hour. and would create
such a draft that no one could be ex-
pected to sit in 1t. In all rooms except
| the laboratories ventilation depends
upon windows and doors. and in many
cases these open on spaces which are not
| properly ventilated.
THE laboratories are equipped with
hoods supplied with an exhaust to carry
off fumes through fue opening In the
| roof However, the odor of chemicals
| was very pronounced. In one laboratory
room the odor Of Illuminating gas was
noted, probably due to leaking from old
| gas pipes and fixtures.
insufficient Lighting.
I'm many rooms the natural and arti-
fetal lighting are both insufficient. The
window space is not sufficient in some
of these rooms; in others they open on
poorly lighted air wells In one room an
adding machine could not be used except
on bright days on account of poor light
ing.
Ceases. desks. books. papers, specimens.
field equipment, material collected from
the field, ETC.. fill all the space to over
flowing; the halls have been taken for
cases and little of this space is left.
Same General Appearance Of Rooms.
with a few exceptions, the rooms
have about the same general appearance.
The floors are old and hard to clean.
but where they can be conveniently
reached they are fairly we'll kept. The
tops Of cases, desks and other furniture
are piled up with sundry articles which
have overflowed into every nook and
corner and SO litter the rooms that the
present cleaning force is totally made
quate. Consequently dust settles over
everything when disturbed by sweeping.
and remains on articles not in constant
use until the next annual cleaning, which
Is done just before the men return from
field duty. Due to the dusty location on
F street, it is not many days before the
dust accumulateS again..