The Washington herald., 1921-05-22
WAR STRUCTURES
ARE APPROACHING
FINAL CHAPTERS
Sold to High Bidder and
Will Be Removed from
Present Site.

the rear Of the yCorcoran Art Gal
Iery, Tempo Building No. & CCoun-
ell Of National Defense), 173o d
street northwest, and Mall Build
fngs "A" and 3D." at Seventh and B
streets northwest.
These great temporary buildings,
erected by the government a few
months after Americas entry into
the war at a cost of upward OF Two
million dollars, have been sold 70
the highest bidder for little more
than sixty thousand dollars The
Sidney l. Hechinger Company, q
local housewrecking concern. has
contracted for their complete re-
moval at that figure.
The ground occupied Is to be left
in its original state, every vestige
of the buildings to be removed
therefrom. Rapid strides are being
made in the work and the material
Is being carefully salvaged- The
lumber. millwork. windows, doors.
plumbing supplies, etc, have been
rut on sale at prices commensurate
with the condition of the material
and local consumers are taking
advantage Of this opportunity to
obtain cheap building material
Under the terms af the contract
demolition of Mall Building "a" ~
Seventh and B streets is not to be
started before July first. as some
government Offices are still housed
there, but the work of razing two
of the buildings has progressed to
the halfway stage and the WIN
dows have been removed from
third.
share In War History.
~ OF
buildings has been. they. neverthe-
less, played highly important part
in the prosecution Of the war Be-
fore the armistice, and, indeed. long
after the cessation of hostilities,
they were the theater of some of
the busiest scenes of war activity.
Army o.icers. civilian executives
clerks. stenosraphers. typists. mes
sengers, janitors, watchmen and
workmen played their various roles
there, and often the performance
extended far into the night. Nor
was there lack of glaring lights.
Few who were in Washington dur
ing the war will forget the food OF
light from the projectors at the
caves, which made the walls stand
out white and distinct in the dark
ness, offering but small mercy to
any enemy lurking within its reach.
With the armistice there came a
slackening and the usefulness Of
the hur-igl Ns-PS
wane. Slowly but surely the faSy-
rinths of COrTIu".s and OfhCv .uOms
found themselves being deserted.
Here and there a section would
come to the end of what had seemed
an endless chain of paper work.
They would depart, leaving perhaps
great mass of papers and records
filed in sectional cases. Desks and
other furniture. sometimes every
thing, would be removed to some
other point for storage. leaving the
low-ceiled rooms quite empty and
vacant. lonely now without the hu-
man complement that makes any
room a living. breathing thing.
Loneliness Oppressive.
Today the loneliness of the empty
rooms and corridors of the doomed
buildings is almost oppressive.
Where once reigned the hurry and
hustle of war work all is silent.
Now and again one may encounter
a small group of clerks almost sur
rounded by great cases of stored
records or war pamphlets, gather
ing up the loose ends neglected in
ords. but there is not the spirit of
the war period and the atmosphere
is not that of the busy months OF
1917 and 1918.
The taxpayer will doubtless find
alarming the apparent discrepancy
between the cost of this temporary
construction and the amount real
lied in the recent sale. Indeed. but
little more than ) per cent OF the
original outlay will find its way
back TO the Treasury. II must be
remembered. however. that erection
OF the Offices was accomplished un-
der war conditions" and these
factors should be taken into consid-
Grafton in attempting to reconcile
the cost and selling prices involved:
C) speed Of construction, CD cost
of labor and materials, CD time
and-material contract basis.
Speed In Construction.
Corcoran Court was partly ready
for occupancy six weeks after con-
struction began and some sections
took occasion to move in and begin
their work at that juncture. Start
ed on December 26, 1917. the build
ing was completed early in the fol-
lowing March. Mall Buildings "A"
and 81 were started October IL,
1917. and construction was complet-
ed January IL, 1913, ninety days
after the ground was broken. 1t
will be seen that the buildings were
constructed with all possible speed,
which doubtless added much to the
total cost. being reflected most per-
haps in the increase of already pro-
hibitivs prices for material because
OF the quick delivery demanded and
the higher prices paid for overtime
labor.
Labor and material costs during
the war are a matter OF everyday
knowledge. and II goes without say
ing that their effects would be noted
as much IL not more in public con-
struction work than in similar pri-
vate enterprise. Mounting prices in
these directions probably account in
large part for the enormous cost of
the war buildings.
So unstable were the constantly
rising market conditions OF the war
period that no contractors could be
found who were willing to under
take construction for a fixed price. |
The only alternative left for the
government was to engage their
services by paying current prices
plus a reasonable profit for the time
and material expended in the work.
The unfair practices growing out of
this time-and material basis are ac-
countable in large measure for un-
heard-of costs, 1T has soften been
stated. Deliberate waste of costly
material and shirSing labor have
been broadly hinted at in connec-
tion with much of the war construc-