Evening star., 1922-10-31

supply committee. The phonograph
was received rusted and with parts
missing. 1t was learned that the cost
original estimated cost of 4 new ma
chine. The purchasing officer was in
formed accordingly that the phono-
graph was useless. and consequently
the schools did not propose to pay for
1t, and request was made that the or
der be Cancelled. Final adjustment of
the case is still pending. The board
of education, however, has paid the
delivery charges from the naval sta
tion to the school of machine of no
value.
An experience which is typical of the
dlthcultieS encountered and delays re-
sulting- may be cited in the purchase
OF equipment for some new classes in
domestic science. Specifications We're
submitted for complete kitchen utensils
and appropriate dining room equipment
for new cooking school. In compliance
with the statute before him the CO.
ordInator of the general supply COM
m!ttee did not at once release the
requisition for purchase: instead he
submitted a typed list. with description.
sizes and prices, of some ten thousand
articles collected from shipboard. or
from the messroomS of abandoned
Army camps, and stored at Hog Island,
| Phla.
! II was incumbent on the director of
domestic science to withdraw valuable
| time from her professional supervision
! to study the entire list to assure her
! Self OF the probable unSuitability of the
equipment offered her as an alternate
, for the specific items of her reQuisition.
The labor required of the director may
| be observed in the argument given in
! part below. which was forwarded to
! the purchasing officer by the board of
/ education:
| Valuable Time Lost.
| Much extended inquiry and time
| consuming inspection has been made
of the government stocks offered for
| dining room and kitchen equipment.
| The outfit is desired in e1uipping a
| new cooking school, to give children
| instruction in domestic science. To
do this there should be uniformity of
| style and pattern to meet the stand
| ards and ideals of an orderly modern
home. The kitchen ware in the hands
| of the government is crude, heavy,
| burned. battered. Clipped and other
wise marred. 1t was found impos-
sible to match up any of the goods
to constitute a table service. One
of the first lessons in good taste is
that china shall match in color and
| design. The parts offered are simply
so many vessels or utensils to convey
food in dispeliing hunger. By their
size, appearance and crudity they
Danish rather than inculcate ideals of
| taste and orderliness: they give the
impression of the noise. and clatter Of
+, the rough -andready lunchroom in
| stead Of the quiet family life about
| the dining table where the tired body
/ is soothed and restored. Correct i'm
pressions of home making cannot be
! taught, with equipment wholly un-
| suitable for home use
| While ultimately appropriate equip
ment was ordered, it was nevertheless
at the expense of many days loss of
valuable instruction.
| A requisition was forwarded to the
purchasing officer for several hundred
! folding chairs, naming the dealer who
held the District contract to furnish
| them. The order was filled by fur
nshing chairs from the general sup
| ply committees stock. The principal
| of one of the schools concerned re-
| jected them because they were who'll
i ly unsuited for school purposes. They
were crude, of faulty construction.
unsafe as to tearing clothing and un-
| hygienic as to design. Certain school
| officials with a sample chair appeared
| before the co-ordinator of the general
supply committee. who amably ad-
! mitted the correctness of the conten-
| tions offered and agreed to their
withdrawal.
Loss of Money Faced.
| However, through failure to place
an order with the contractor before
| the fiscal year closed, the schools now
| face a loss of the money involved
through a lapse of the appropriation.
During the summer vacation an in
spection of the playground equipment
disclosed the fact that repairs were
needed at about dozen schools,
where bolts had become worn or parts
needed replacement to insure abso-
lutte safety. The use of the apparatus
I dos a
Bids to cover the repairs were asked
Of the purchasing caicer. He held
! the view that playground equipment,
like other repairs. should be made by
the superintendent Of repairs, Dis
trict of Columbia. With the known
crowded program of the repair de-
| partment, the plan meant serious de-
lay. in the Judgment of the school
officials. whose first concern was
safety for the children and the early
use of the apparatus.
The controversy as to the best pro-
cedure in making repairs continued
for about eight weeks. when the
boards views were sustained in an
opinion of the Engineer Commits
sioner. In the meantime a part of
the playground equipment was re-
paired from private funds of parent
teacher associations. and some re-
! manned idle to obviate accidents.
No personal criticism of the pur-
lumbia is intended" said DR.. BalIou.
"The illustrations clearly indicate
that delays and difficulties grow out
of a system over which neither the
board of education nor the purchas-
ing officer has much or any control
In the purchases by contract or by
open-market purchase, the purchas-
ing officer exercises some control of
the procedure. This procedure does
not offer the major difficulties The
major difficulties grow out of the ap-
plication to the purchase of educa-
tionaI supplies of a purchasing sys-
tenn adopted by the government for
an entirely different kind of business,
The experiences with the general
supply committee are typical. In
establishing that law. probably no
one ever considered it's possible er-
feet on the purchase of school sup
plies. Either such legislation should
carry a provision excluding the school
! system from it's operation, or more
care should be exercised in framing
the legislation so that 1t will not af-
feet the educational system SO dtsad-
vantageously. Such delays in secur-
ing supplies and equipment for the
| schools as have been described are
serious impediments to educational