Evening star., 1916-12-10
WHAT The GOVERNMENT Is DOING

RNMENT D DOlNG
certain LAYERS near tho top of this forma-
ton, though beneath the highest beds
containing marine fossils. At two local
tiles the experts found, ten to twelve
miles southwest o. Slee' are so niant;fnl ves spS
so well preserved that they think they
must have grown near where they were
found, SO that they indicate the character
Of the forest which grew on tne low.
sandy shore Of the cretaceous sea, as
well as the approximate position of the
shore.
An interesting study has recently
been made BY the bureau OF foreign
and domestic commerce
r.4:4.o of the best way to do
business with Australian
Australia. merchants. This study
was undertaken because OF the gen
eral feeling that on the conduct OF
our present great trade with Australia
will depend in large measure the sue
cess of our future trade with the
island continent. The report made was
not concerned with the size of the mar
kets nor the prospects for selling
! goods. but was devoted exclusively to
the details of carrying on trade al
ready secured.
American exporters should pay par
, ticular attention to their correspond
ence say those who make this study.
1t takes two months to get a reply
from that far country, and 1t is there
fore necessary to tell the whole story
on each occasion. Another very Inn
portant point that is urged is the fact
that the typical American sales letter
which has a punch" is not at all suita-
BILE for the Australian trade. The man
aging director of the largest business
in Australia told the Investigator that
more harm is done by such letters than
by auy other one thing. The more I'M
portant firms are familiar with formal
English correspondence. and they re-
sent as discourteous the curt, familiar
letters so frequently used in TINS coun-
try. 1t is also very important, 1t is
pointed out, that the American busi-
ness man should get the point OF view
of the Australian merchant, especially
at the present trying time
The experts of the bureau call special
attention to the absurdity of allowing
tactlessness and petty uhreasohaple-
ness to bring about misunderstanding
between the peoples having SO much
in common as Australians and Ameri-
cans.
The navy is saving large sums OF
money, and has been during the past
few years, officials OF
Now. v,,d the department say. by
increasing the indus
ECONOMIES. trial activities of the
various navy yards throughout the
country.
According to those who have been
i in the closest touch with this WORK
| there are a number of yards when, UP
to the time that the industrial actiEl-
| ties were started in earnest. were a
| drain on the finances of the department
| but which are now not only self-sup-
+. porting but have actually, IN adoitiof
| to paying the cost of their own main
tenance helped to decrease the cost OF
manufactured materials. In addition &c
, this these yards are now much more
valuable from a military STANDPOINT, IN
! asmuch as they are better prepared, II
i case of war, to refit ships. repair dam
a ged ships and supply the feet with
| mines.
| During the past four years the mum
| ber of men employed in these so-called
! Industrial yards. ten in number, mas IN
creased from 1898 to 24.3s2, and thelI
daily pay roll has increased from $40
| O2735 to ST3,091.1a. This increase, as
| is generally known among manufac-
,urers, means that if the work is done
| in a busnesslike way the proportion
! ate overhead charges are reduced
| which means more economical work
| ing of the plant This has been the
| case il is said by the departments Of
| ficials, with several Of these navy yards
Taking for example the cost of re-
| pairs made in the yards to our own
vessels, in 1913, according to the sta
| tisticS, this cost amounted to s6.19 per
ton for the total tonnage of the navy
at that time. In 1916. figured on the
! same basis, this has been reduced to
| So ton, a showing all the more re-
| markable when it is considered that
| over half of this expense was for mate.
rials. principally iron. steel. copper ant
brass, and that these materials have ad-
| vanced from so to 100 per cent in cost
during that time. The output in manu-
| factured products that go on ships has
| also been greatly increased, with cor
responding decrease in the cost of each
| article manufactured.
I Take. for instance, the torpedo sta
! ton. which is located at Newport. r. l
/ At this station, so it is said, by doubling
! the number of men employed the out
other like material 400 per cent, anc
! these torpedoes are now being made al
! % per cent less than they could be
| bought from an outside commerciaI
! concern. In another case that of Ports
! mouth. by installing its own plan,
| there the navy has recovered 1.937.7Si
| pounds of waste copper and brass
| which would otherwise have been solo
| for junk, and the yards during the same
| period have used over 100000 pounds
| of scrap metal in place of new metal
This represents a saving in the pur.
| chase of 10000 pounds of new metal
| at a time when copper and brass
are at the highest point they have ever
| reached.
An interesting study has Just re-
Gently been completed by the office of
public roads and ru-
| Profits From raj engineering in an
Good Roads. was made in eight
counties in each Of the years from 1910
to 1915 to determine. in so far as pos
sible. the dollars and cents effect on a
county of the improvement of bad roads.
1t was found as a result Of this study
that the values of the farm lands in
these counties had greatly increased
and also that following the improve
ment in the roads there was consider
able increase in the number of sales
that were made. The increase in val
Ies in he instances which record