New-York tribune., 1922-10-05
|Hylan's > Friend
lives Budget
Makers a Laugh
Engineer Who Worked With
Mayor " of Yore Persuades
Board ., to Give Hospitals
Three Relief Enginemep
Hits s'Cheap Skate'' Ways
Not Referring to "John, >,
but Advises Officials to
kun About Block for Pen

ihe budget makers, who are seldom
aroused to enthusiasm during their
metnodical cutting and slashinp of
ilequested i;., appropriations, enjoyed a
lNeiy meeting yesterday throuch tho
presence. of John j. Winters. of tho tho
International Union of Stationarv
Engineers, who persuaded them ~
grant three additional relief engineers
Ior I bellevue and Allied Hosnita|s
W lnters is an old friend of Mavor
Hyian, having worked with him as an
engineer on the B. R. r., and he snok q
rignt up IN meeting.
, winters pictured conditions At
DIelieVue as dangerous to the lives Of
ene patients because os the lack Of
competent relief engineers. He told
the Mayor, the Comptroller and INV tUaa
members of the Board of Est;mata
that not to have sufficient enrineers'
ness" "a "oA"s ousl~
IF there ever was a CALAMITY. tho
investigation would show that a lot of Of
cEeapskates didn't put an eno;neer
where he was needed" said Winters,
m not referring to you, Mr.. Mavor y
ne added, ."but to the city officials"
Patients in Danger
This remark was greeted bv ,ord
laughter. Winters explained +hat
through the lack of sufficient enpineers
the lives of patients have been in dan
ger at Bellevue from q leak in the
ammonia tank of the ice-makine ma
chine, because when the engineer was
called away there was no one to take
his place.
''Up in Fordham Hospital" con-
tInued Winters, "the engineer is the
whole cheese while he's there and un-
I'll he goes home for the night. When
he comes back he finds the place in
awful shape. An experienced en-
gineer Is needed to relieve him. If I
had money to invest that would give
safety to the people, would put it in
stationary engineers and give Wall
Street the go-by."
Comptroller Craig and the Mayor
were amused at Witner's attitude. The
Comptroller remarked that "these sort
of suggestions put life nthis cut and
dried budget making"
That's just what you fellers need"
shouted Winters. "Get up and run
around the block and get some life in
you before you tackle the budget"
When the board voted the three
additional engineers Winters started
to leave.
You're not going to leave us, John 7"
Mayor Hylan called out.
whats taat, Johnf r. Winters
"I've got to go on account
of business"
Prial Tits With Mayor
Frank J. Prial, Deputy Comptroller
and head of the Civil Service Forum,
had tilt with the Mayor when he
urged more salary and shorter hours
for the matrons of the Department of
Correction, who he said were obliged
to work twelve hours day and were
paid as low as $500 year.
"How many hours do you work I"
asked Mayor Hylan.
81 work as many hours as you do
and probably more" retorted the Civil
Service Forum head. II want to add,
Mr.. Mayor, that when I work work.
l don't spend any part of my time re-
ceiving guests and there is no enter
tanning attached to my work. Further
more, l don't believe in time clocks,
either. I don't need them to regulate
a days work"
Mr.. Prial was referring to the time
clocks installed in the city departments
at the Mayors request.
The Mayor observed that there were
three Or four hundred matrons and
that he couldn't see the necessity for
adding more to, the city's pay rolls
He suggested, however, that James A..
Hamilton, Commissioner of Correc-
tions, confer with Comptroller Craig
with view to reducing the workday
of matrons from twelve to eight hours.