Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-02-02

CONTINUED From Page One)
ing dirty and insanitary conditions at
the courthouse.
The report was no sooner read at the
meeting of the county council than Coun-
Gilman Albert T. Newly rushed to the
rescue Of Benjamin 5. PIERCE, custodian
Of the courthouse Mr. Newly stated
that he suddenly appeared at tine
courthouse several days ago and made
an investigation OF conditions and
claimed he was surprised at the gOou
condition, considering the age OF the
building. In the face of the Tracy re-
port Newly cOntended that Custodian
Peirce was doing the best he could.
The cOuncilmen took a few seconds in
which to pass resolution thanking Mr.
Tracy for his investigation of Court
house conditions.
Mr.. Tracy stated in his report that
there are $1,000 feet Of office space In the
courthouse and one third Of this amount
is corridor space. lie found that the
fourth floor Is used only little by the
public, as most Of the records are kept
there.
COSTS MORE THAN
IN OFFICE BUILDINGS.
Janitor service cost only Sl2,35S1s for
1919. While janitor service for 1870 prob
ably will reach S1j,3JO. which is a part
of a total courthouse employees eApeh-
diture OF ST, 549 for service and supplies.
Mr.. Tracy stated in his report:
Figuring the cost Of cleaning per square
foot OF office space IN order TO make .
comparison with the cleaning cost OF
office buildings We hut Il 1t, including
the fourth floor. tine cost for 1919 IS II
cents Per square foot and for 1870 Il
cents per square foot; not including the
fourth floor because L IS SO rarely used.
the cost for 1919 IS L cents per square
foot and for 1920 20 cents.
The present cost of cleaning square
foot Of Office space iu class A office
buildings is about 13 cents. II has been
as low Is cents, but in recent years II
has been going higher. With the present
prospect of lanOr costs going down, II
is not likely that the cost Of cleaning
office buildings Will go higher. Consider
ing. therefore, the character of the county
courthouse as u building and taking Into
/ consid ration the fact that most Of the
rooms sre large as compared to tn
rooms in office buildings. the cost of
| cleaning seems TO be higher than ii ought
to be.
This investigation came about largely
! because frequent complaints have been
made In regard 10 the janitor service. 1t
IS true that considerable Improvement
has been made in the last few months,
but there is still great room for i'm
prOyemenr.
Much better results should be obtained
| from the amount OF money being spent.
Without making Odi0us comparisons
with other buildings, II might be inter
estlug TO point out that the city hall IS
Kept in quite a clean condition at q cost
OF Is cents per square foot of office
space. The city hail, OF course, is a
/ comparatively modern building
In discussing the janitor force at the
courthouse Mr.. Tracy reported as fol-
lows:
The jsnltor force consists Of twelve
1 colored men and three COlored women
J They are employed by tie county com
mlssiohers and not by the custodian. VINO
lis supervision over them. They fire.
queutly deal with the county commits
sIouerB directly Instead Of through the
custodian, who Is their superior This
/ IS not a good practice The man who Is
/ to direct these JanitOls should have more
] TO do with their hiring and should have
/ the responsibility OF maintaining dis
cipline among them. Some OF the ian
itOrs are advanced In ye4rs and are ca
pable. consequently Of only a degree OF
efficiency
Various rooms are assigned to the jan
/ itors 10 be cleaned Three divide the
basement between them. Four take care
I OF the hrst floor three to the second,
I three to the third and one to the fourth
month. Most Of them report at a. N.