Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

operations just the general niahdSei
Of railroad directs those OF the prop
erty for which he is responsible. behlho
the railroad general manager are the
president of the company and the poaru
of directors: behind the chief OF stan are
the Secretary OF War, the President ana
Congress.
Sit i'm Gen Woods Office in the war
Department and observe ms work. anu
the similarity impresses you more anu
more. The popular vision OF the once OF
chief of staff of the army may De oil va
rious stiff gentlemen in uniform sittihs
about in melancholy dignity, swapping
out orders to subordinates, While prass-
bound orderiies march in cadenced une
i'm and out the doors. saluting some one
at every other step.
The real thing is quite different The
only uniforms to be seen in Gen. WOOD
offices. save on formal occasions, are
those that adorn the walls. painted uni
forms on painted portraits of long line
of distinguished American generals Per-
haps these ancient gentlemen, as they
look down out of their gilt frames, are
shocked at the ultra-modern methods or
work they see in use beneath them Inc
chances are. however. that they are not.
They were good soldiers in their time.
Your good soldier whatever his age or
generation, is an exponent OF what We
call modern efficiency. They were prdC-
ticing il long before the phrase was m
vented.
Washington. first Of our generals. was
a master of modern efficiency, ana ms
chief labors were directed toward OBTAIN
q, in he had. w hat we
need" he wrote to the President of Con-
gress after the disastrous battle OF Cam
den, rs good army. not large one.
III that doesn't mean efficiency IL
doesn't mean anything.
so one may read into these grim OLD
faces on the wall an expression OF APP
prevail as they observe the simple, eX-
peditious, systematic manner In which
their young successor discharges his
duties. Getting things done is a knack
he has. Getting things done always mas
been the ideal of the best soldiers.
He gets things done by modern meth
DDS Hence the similarity his office bears
to the office of a railroad general man
ager Gen. Wood himself d Is Oh ,n "n, rype
the quiet-voiced. trained. thoroughly
educated man who wins TO high place
by always making good
Howard Elliott the new president OF
the New Haven. like Gen. Wood, a
product of Harvard, is another OF the
tyne The two, by the way, have many
other quantities III COiilIiou-
When L.indley NJ. Garrison had beer
Secretary of War for lew weeks ne
commented publicly on the army as be
ing "a wonderfully fine machine: HIS
impression was caught from ooSerYa
tons in the department His phrase was
a distinct compliment To the work OF
Gen. Wood.
This vast complicated. involved, Du
intensely human mechanism is handled
by Gen. Wood as by a master. He has
the quality of making 1T move will
ease OF himself always apparently hav
ing leisure. Efficiency experts say tina
guide TO an executive efficiency is thu
condition of his desk. If he permit,
papers to accumulate he is deficient
Gen. Woods desk is spick and span ans
clear. Papers come there by the bushel
but they go away again quickly--actet
upon.
One reason is that he knows how {,
pick subordinates. No executive eve
made good who didn't have that faculty
Gen. Wood has been much in the pub
into prominence as colonel of the Is
wise the Rough Riders, his lieutenan
colonel being Theodore Roosevelt. 1t ii
we'll known that Roosevelt himself al
eminent Judge of men. secured the APP
pointment of Col wood out, of man,
nOScihilitiea MS tho military man hoe