The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1915-11-12

aggregating $253000 II operates great clothing
factories. at Brooklyn and the other at Charles
ton, S. c. In another aspect 1t is of the biggest
purchasing agencies In the country.
So remarkable have been its achievements in the
twelvemonth that many requests have come to 1t
recently from business establishments. public and
private for information to its methods
The spirit behind the change is that of a boyish
looking, wdeeyed, ever-smiling officer who Just
fortyive years od-and he does not look it-holds
the rank and draws the pay OF a rear admiral, he
being paymaster general OF the navy and chief OF
the bureau. Rear Admiral Samuel MCGOWAN he is
to outsiders. Mr. McGowan is the form of address
he insists upon within the bureau. But in the navy
generally by all ranks and all grades he is dubbed
behind his back of course. Sammy MCGOWAN.
In the II months he has been paymaster general
he has made his bureau. What is more he has
secured the hearty and enthusiastic support of the
entire force. That, to anyone who knows how any
government organization is welded to precedent is
amazing.
Somewhat given to the making OF epigrams in his
instructions. oral and written, Admiral McGowan
has uttered two that give a hint OF the predominant
ing ideas behind his reforms. Make 1t bureau with
a small and navy with big N" is one, and
Remember that the stores exist for the feet. not
the feet for the stores"
The paymaster general and his bureau of supplies
and accounts have their Offices in the great pile
known the state, and navy building, on
Pennsylvania avenue, hankng the White House on
the west When the building erected some
forty years ago 1t the largest office building
in the world. Each corridor in It has the appear
ance of a battalion of barrooms for each of the
many corridor doors has its middle twothirds
masked by shutter door. The rooms are all inter
communicating.
The paymaster generals office is the end one in
q suite of five rooms. Across the hall are seven
rooms. In the navy annex building in street
near by, are some offices of the bureau.
When Paymasser General McGowan took the
Job he inaugurated at a cleanup campaign.
Down from the walls came the dusty old pictures.
Bookcases and file cases went out. Current and
absolutely necessary bureau files went into one
room in a set of steel vertical containers, for
general purposes, and in the purchasing end,
across the hall, they likewise were reduced
Private libraries also went out. Upstairs the
navy department maintains a splendid naval IL
brary and this is available for all purposes.
Abolish rolltop desks" was the word. Where
fat-top desks not available the department
carpenters took off the roll tops. Since then
standard office furniture has been adopted for
the entire bureau.
All intercommuncating doors in the suites
were taken of the hinges. Walls were painted
in light colors Then the chief of each room or
division chief required to put his desk in
the middle OF the room with his force grouped
about him. Now the paymaster general can
stand in his and look down the line and
see exactly what is going on.
But that isn't exactly the point. The object
is not TO keep an eye on the people so much as
IL is to convey the idea or unity. Ine DIVISION
chief who, sequestered in his own little nest.
might be tempted to write letter to the chief
next door, doesn't do II under these conditions
He SAYS Say, Bill, how about and so?" or
goes over and discusses Il at close range.
Stationery in use reduced TO the fewest
possible simple kinds
On a shelf handy TO the paymaster generals
hands Is book some IL inches long by is inches
wide. In It is all the information that once oc-
cupied a big ileroom This information pertains
to the present duty and availability for sea or
shore duty the may be. Of all of the 23O
officers making up the pay corps.
The pages of the book faced with trans
parent celluoid When a pay officer is sent
cruise his name and the essential date in
scribed on a typewrtten slip and inserted at the
bottom of the section devoted to pay officers on
sea duty Place by place the slip moves up au'
tomatcay. and in this way one may observe
at a glance who is due for shore duty and who
for sea duty as under the law for every two
years of shore duty paw officer must take three
years of duty.
And thus with all records No effort has been
spared to reduce them all to the simplest and
most graphic form. The messenger force
reoreanzed and a squad told OF to act express
messengers. This insures speed In the move
ment OF papers from desk to desk and TO the
secretary's onice. No paper remains more than
is minutes awaiting Transmission.
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