Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-01-16
To PREVENT
LEAKAGES IN
THAT WAY
Mayor Informs Chairmen of
Various Committees to Get
Busy on Plan

A municipal inventory, In which all
physical properties of the city will
be listed and later checked up from
time to time, to prevent leakages and
the latest plan of Mayor Frank
Dorsey who today informed the
chairmen of the various committees
of the Board of Aldermen that he
wanted h inventory made, to be
started at once.
The mayor feels that through lack
of system and absence of any true
list of the city's possessions, many
articles are lost from time o~time,
are borrowed and not returned, are
stolen or misplaced which in them
selves are not of much value, but
which in total represent a large
money loss to the city annually.
The request is directed particularly
at the chairmen of the fire, police,
public grounds and buildings, park
and streets and sewers committees
all of which have in their possession
q multitude Of articles which are
pever listed or inventoried.
The manner in which the inventory
is planned, the committee chairmen
will each be responsible for the in
ventory of stock held by their depart
ments. They will make the inventory
and check up with the men in charge
of the departments. Every six months
the mayor contemplates a checking
up of these inventories and IL articles
are missing the department heads
will be held directly responsible for
the loss.
In the fire department the mayor
expects the janitors to make the In
ventory with the chairmen OF the
committee. BY so doing or by check
ing his figures they will personally
know of the existence Of every arti-
Gle in the house. This means a
check on every foot of hose, every
boot and coat and every other prop
erty which the city owns. h mayor
saws hat many times the fire house
Janitors have loaned persons lengths
Of fire hose for flushing sewers and
like purposes me that through care
lessness or other causes the hose
has not peer returned. This he hopes
to avoid by having the janitors held
responsible for the loss of every arti-
Gle when the first check is made after
six months. If hose is DESTROYED at n
fire. the mayor believes that the ends
sof the burned lengths SHOULD be kept
as testimony to the loss.
The plan is far reaching. 1t strikes
every department, and as the mayor
phrased II, will give some of these
fellows something to To-" The street
department will have. a large job on
it's hands when the inventory starts.
1t will, IL the mayors plan is carried
70 fullest extent, have to list every
article which the department has In
its possession-every shovel, pick, hoe
and rake, every horseshoe wagon
tongue, bit or harness, length OF sewer
pipe, conduit. brick, paving block, as
well as equipment OF every character
for the various mechanical devices
employed by the department In cleaa-
ing the streets. The mayor plans
that every wagon used by h depart
ment shall be numbered, and that
when anythings breaks or any repairs
are called for, 1t can be determined
fuse what wagons are in poor conot-
ton and, IL there is responsibility or
carelessness on the part OF n driver,
n can be ascertained by checking up
the repairs needed to his
why" said the mayor this morn
ing, 1--WE don't know what we've got;
the city has had no inventory OF It's
possessions, and there is no way oil
checking up. Articles can be lost OF
stolen and missed from the various
departments and no one need know 1t
But with this inventory a check
every six months. I believe there will
be a marked change. and we will be
able 10 keep tabs on what the city
owns"
AS an apt example of the feasibility
of the scheme. a visit to the new Of
fee of the federal. state, municipal
employment agency at 363 state
street this morning disclosed the fact
that one of the benches from the city
hall council chamber had moved with
the agency from the city hall TO its
new home. While there was no OBJ
lection to this adoption OF furniture il
was demonstrative OF the fact that
with an article missing and no visible
record made of II. how easy II was to
have many such articles appropriated
out OF the city's possessions and into
various other agencies where they
cannot be traced readily.