New Britain herald., 1918-07-13
NEW HEADQUARTERS FOR ARMY AND NAVY
To Have Largest Office Building
 of Its Kind in the World

Washington, July 13.-~There is be ing erected in Washington what is said to be the largest office building of the kind in the world. One unit of this immense structure will be the new home of the navy and the other Will furnish needed accommodation to the War Department.
 It is located on the Mall south of St, and between Seventeenth and Twenty y-tirst streets. Tn the eastern or navy unit will be gathered under one roof the various bureaus now scattered about Washington and oc- cupyinE many separate buildings. Space for the navy bureau has al ready been assigned and is being divided to suit their needs.
 The units are separated by 3 100 foot aisle. Each resembles huge comb with wings projecting to the rear aS the teeth. The navy part has a "headhouse" S60 it. wide. Behind this arc nine wings. each 500 ft long and SO fl. wde. The War Department unit has a, "headhouse" 7S4 fl. long and so 1t wide. with eight wings similar to those of the Navy unit. The wings are all separated by 40 foot courts
 The structure is of railroad con crete. three stories in height. It has a floor space of forty-two acres and will house 1000 officials and em- ployes. There are 8 acres of win dow glass, thus assuring good light and ventilation. The outside walls to- get1er are over four miles in length. The walls arc all of concrete while the partitions are of hollow tile to door height with glass from there to the ceiling. Construction will re- quire 107,2 barrels of cement, 3S,10o tons of sand, S1, SOY tons of gravel and 4,507 tons of steel
 The building is fire-proof to afford protection to the valuable depart mental records it will hold. The heating plant, because of representa- tions from the Fine Arts Commission, which objected to the stacks. is about HOO feet away near the river. It will cost about $450,000. The legis- lative appropriation for the entire en- terprise is s5,75o,000. The structure will be dignified but simple in details. The entire work, for both Navy and War Departm ent units, is under the general direction of the Bureau of Yards and Docks of the Navy.
 Work was begun on April i and 1t is expected that the structure will be completed by Oct. l. Certain DOT tions will be completed and occupied before that time. About 2700 men are now enga ged on the job. Of these. 1900 are housed and fed on the work itself, Large barracks have been built for their accomm odation, the commissary department being run without profit, furnishing food at actual cost.
 Special efforts are made to keep the men interested in the work and alive to it's importance and an organi- zation has been formed for that pur- pose. The men are divided into com panies of approximately 15o men each, under selected leaders. Parades and public meetings are held st which addresses are made tending to emphasize the importance of the in dustrial 'second line of defense" in the general war scheme.
 The first of these meetings was held June 17. The men formed in line about midday and headed by navy officers with a squad of tackles and the Washington Navy Yard band marched to the place of assembly near the Marine Camp. Over two thousand persons took part in the parade and meeting. The principal address was made by Capt. Denny. of the Austrian Army Corps, and the ceremonies concluded with the sing ing of tn Star Spangled Banner" The meetings are to be held by-weelz- 1y. on Monday, the next one being held at noon tomorrow. Mai. Barnes of the American Expeditionarv Force just returned from France, will speak. To stimulate interest. the officers in charge publish an illustrated newspa per which is distributed free and is filed with pictures and de- tslis or the work Posters will be made and distributed with the same ohiecf