Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-01-23

ers, specialists in their line have spent
years and years at work they have no
retirement list to go to. If they get
sick they are allowed thirty days
leave, and are discharged if they have
not recovered at the expiration of that
period.
Salaries Are Too Small.
The salaries are small, smaller per-
haps than in any other branch of the
government service, according to Dr.
Jones. who believes that some special
provision should be made for the men
OF this service, men who are trained
navigators. surveyors, paymasters and
engineers, who leave their homes and
families sometimes for several years to
go out and open up uncharted waters
to the commerce of the country and the
wo. Id.
These men, according to DR. Jones,
come into the service when they are
about twenty or twenty-one years old
and spend their whole life there. No
one, he says, realizes the privations
and hardships to which these men are
subjected in their work. They have no
superiors, in his opinion, and are per-
FORMING as great a service to the coun-
try as the officers of the army and the
navy, the coast guard and other serv-
ices.
When the officer of the navy goes on
the bridge of the battleship." said DR.
SS'co, Hc Illus there 10 aid MIN the
navigation of the vessel the charts
made by the officers of the coast sur
Vey He may go where he pleases, and
practically knows what to expect But
the survey service They must 90 into
the waters with their ships and lind out
the dangers which would be met by
other vessels and mark them on the
charts, at the same time keeping out
OF trouble themselves.
indication of Their Efficiency.
As indicative of their efficiency. il
might be- stated that the ships of the
survey have never been in a serious
disaster, and not one has been lost
There are in the bureau at the nres-
ent time thirteen men from sixty-three
to seventy-fve years old. who have
served faithfully in the government
service. and have made ali kinds of
saerlhees. They deserve some special
tiran IN the Way of special re-
SIemeht provision 1t should be diff
terent from any retirement provided
ioT the CLASSIFIED civil service"
.tesopie, he says, do not pay much at
een.ion 70 the accommodations in a
eo'erhHieht bureau. Those at the
coast and geodetic survey are about the
worst The building was built first as
a;o no'ei. and there are sixteen eleva-
tions or floors. with no elevator serv-
Ice; The help is scattered in varions
mite cuobyholes-they cannot he caIIed
roofns-here and there There il No
eohcehlration of work. Craftsmen for
tne survey, for instance are scartsrsd
In several different places If one is
oolng a piece of work that requires
conference with another IT is usuaIIy
ass TOT MN to waste ten or
Up and down the elevations and
through the corridors to confer
mere are stored in these buildings
tos winch have been accommodating
1or the past hundred years DIR Zones
estimates their value as S1oO 900 OOu
put as matter of fact, they are nrice
tess' Tor In case of FIRE, of which they
- ra ~ nsSaht DANGER they could not
pc replaced. They cover SURVEYS of
water and triangulations of land and
water Tor that period. They are con
sahtiy being called for in court cases
anu lurhlsh the only evidence accented
transactions. iaio
Need Of Better Filing System.
There is no efficient nling system
ne says The papers are filed in A dozen
Or more different places in the sixteen
moor levels, and when a certain file
IS requested one has to go to various
parts OF the building instead of to a
hle room. as 1t should be. The survey
mas not the room. the force or the
money with when TO establish such
an eineient system. he says
.ar,a e efo"ueo quarters there are $50
employees. or which thirty-nine are
clerks according TO Dr. Jones' rec
oros. Seventeen of the latter numhsr
90 nor get more than $500 year. The
survey according to Dr. Jones is go
handicapped that every one bas ~ 80 %
overtime Some OF the employees pct ~
WORK as early as O'Clock in the norn1
ne anu Work until or I O'Clock in
Sund,v. ana give up parts of their
sundays Ihey do it willingly, too. So
!nuch overtime work has been dom
sAt the employees have more than
eo.h .efacted their annual leave.
II Is d4hcut 10 keep a good man q,
go a year. asserts DIR. Jones Seventy
i've collars month is a poor ssIsyy
aor me trained help which the bureay
quot Its operations inethcientIy ~ IN ~
bureau at Washington hut circ,ra
stances IN the field also reolire 4, m go
ouct tne work there ineticientIy. he
says Inc height of this is seen in the
manner in which the service ia re.
Quired TO get its seamen TO man It's yes.
heIs IN the open season-there is no,
houSh money TO keep the vessel going
the year round.
The seamen have to be picked up in
the spring when all OF the other YES
seis have been supplied. The survey
has to take the 'riffraff" or the very
lowest type of sesmen. To take thi.
class of men, who know that they will
De employed for only a short period
hurts discipline. They realize that they
Will be employed for only six month,
At the most. and when they get to sea
on an expedition they know that they
cannot be discharged and that they
cannot be put ashore and they do moi
care what they do.
Few Are Experienced Seamen.
Eighty per cent of such men which
are placed on the vessels of this serv.
ice do not know how to handle a row.
boat. said DR.. Jones. They have to be
taught by the commanding ofiicer and
his assistants. After q month or two