The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-10-03
USlNESS EFFICIENCY WORKING
WONDERS IN THE NAVAL BUREAU

attached to It. Then there are fuel
jurisdiction Of the pay corps, for the
pay corps buys everything. save arms
and ammunition. needed by the ships
and their personnel.
At present there are in the custody
Of the st~orekeepers general supplies
worth $4,000. 900. exclusive of fuel;
$4,000, 900 worth of clothing and
$4,000 900 worth Of provisions. The
problem is not alone to supply immedi-
ate needs but to be ready to supply
emergency needs.
Just as an army moves on It's belly.
~ is n navy dependent on its supplies.
Wien n portion OF the fleet was des-
patched the other day to Santo Do
mingo it required a lot Of things not
ordinarily carried. 1t got away
promptly because those particular
things were forthcoming without de.
lay.
Always the bureau IL In the market
buying in huge quantities on bids and
under rigid specifications. for delivery
at the most advantageous points. Two
NtIllIIt ItN'Ih pbbhS NoIttull All Xix
data on current bids which have been
opened, and these are always open to
public inspection.
But the characteristic Of the our
chasing system is the simple and
graphic methods used in keeping in
formation up to date on existing stocks
of fuel and supplies and on current
| prices. Much Of this information is
reduced to charts on sectional paper.
Thus a simple chart tells in figures
and lines up to within Twelve hours
the exact quantity of coal and fuel on
hand at my supply station. and
another gives the same information as
To the amount on board any ship Of
for restocking thus Is almost auto
matically suggested.
A small card filing Ease contains a
remarkable exhibition of prices cur
rent. Charted on cards are the market
price movements for seven years,
week by week. of important staples.
For example. the butter card shows
n we'll defined curve for each OF the
seven years, indicating the weeks
when butter is high and when low.
As these curves closely parallel. a
glance at it shows when is the most
advantageous time for buying butter
in quantity and storing 1t.
So systematlZed has the method of
securing and charting this information
become that it requires little labor and
It's cost, by comparison with the re-
suits achieved in assisting In intelli.
gent buying. is remarkably low.
other charts. corrected daily, keep
the bureau informed as to the amount
of stocks on hand in every detail, not
only at the s~toreho,ses but on the
ships as well. Since the a through
its extensive wireless system Is in
constant communication with every
ship ahoat. the task Of keeping up
these charts Is not so difficult as ii
seems.
Thus within these small offices il is
possible to NOW instantly the needs
If every unit Of the nav and also to
know how to supply those needs al
the shortest notice. The service OF
iinformat!on as to supplies is practi-
I'a,,y worldwide, for when Paymas-
ter-Gcneral MCGowan went as flee
paymaStcr around the world with the
Atlantic fleet in 1908, and incidentally
made a record for himself In antici.
puting and providing for all needs. M
learned the value of such a system
observe what is known as the dis
bursting and alloting office. This |,
whore the bills are paid, save the bill,
for the construction OF warships. I
disburses some 1000, 900 a year. Th,
most intricate part of its work Is tn,
payroll. There are in the navy SON,
311 different basic rates of pay. from
the base pay of "A full Admiral down [,
that of a jack q the dust. And ever,
one of the 315 is subject to variations
for navy pay is on a sliding seal,
which goes up with years of service.
Here the ever handy card system
has been Installed in its perfection
From n simple system of reports tn
caI'ls contain every bit Of ~essentia
data about an officer or enlisted mar
kept constantly up To date. The max
Ing or checking of "A payroll and tn
making provision in advance for get
ling to "a ship paymaster the amour
If cash Ia meet the roll are rendere,
simple. The card bearing the nam
j. instantly p~rOducihle. giving ever,
important fact about an officer or mar