Evening star., 1924-08-03
10000 SOLDIER BONUS BLANKS
SOON WILL BE HANDLED DAILY
Organization of York to Receive Applications Being
Problems of Huge Task of Var Department.

| Soldier bonus applications are being
| handled by the War Department at
| the rate of about 1000 per day with
prospects that when the procedure
| becomes more familiar to tho person
| mel in charge, this will be speeded
| up to about 10000 or 40,0 daily.
Much of the early work of the de-
partment. according to Maj. Gen.
Robert c. Davis, the adjutant gen.
| eral of the Army, was occupied with
| solving the huge problem of office
organization and production and
getting the proper personnel and
| machinery with which to operate
More than 1000 persons now are
| busily engaged in the actual work of
operation at the War Department,
following a considerable period neces-
sarily given over to training for the
work. At the Navy Department a
gagged In the similar task of handling
applications from men in the Navy,
| while the Marine Corps, which, for
admlnlstrative purposes Is under the
Navy Department, likewise is han
ding It's part OF the work.
Cnre I'm Certincation.
The applications are being carefully
gone over by workers, preparatory to
certifying each claimant to the Vet
erans' Bureau. which will then make
certificate, as the case may be. The
Veterans Bureau is rapidly rounding
up its organization. which, however.
will not be needed as soon, as the
after January l, 1925, and the cash
payments after March 1, 1925.
The War Department for the pres
ent has the major portion of the task
on its hands and. according to Gen.
Davis, is proceeding slowly even now
in order to assure accuracy.
All veterans who have not yet sent
in their applications are urged by
Gen. Davis to do SO at once. "The
War Department is now ready and
said Gen. Davis. "and requests that
veterans who have not so far applied
but who intend to do so submit their
applications as soon as possible. This
department and the veterans-princi-
pally the veterans-since, IL death
should occur prior to the fling Of an
| application, the dependent would re-
ceive only one-third the amount that
| he or she would have received had
| the veteran made application before
death and named the dependent as
| his beneficiary"
should Follow Instructions.
Gen. Davis further asks that vet
Grams carefully follow the instruc-
tions for making their applications.
1t has been found. in many cases.
| that veterans have neglected to sign
| their applications or nave not OBJ
| tanned the signatures of the nects
sary witnesses. Furthermore. il is
pointed out, finger prints should be
| made so that the full imprint of the
! four fingers is thoroughly legibls. If
| possible, printers ink should be used ;
| lacking this, a clear imprint from
| tho ordinary rubber stamp pad will
| suffice.
! The force of more than 200 which
| is now working at the War Depart
| ment was obtained not only from
Washington, but from all over the
country. With the exception of few
hundred clerks taken over from the
Treasury Department who were be-
ing dropped from the rolls due to re-
duction in it's force, all the force was
obtained from the civil service list
of eligibles. A considerable number
of them are veterans Of the World
War. The clerks came from all over
the country. and since Few of them
had had any experience in the
adjutant generals Office or with the
records of veterans, it was necessary
to instruct them thoroughly with re-
gard to this new work.
Preliminary Instruction.
The preliminary instruction con-
sisted in teaching the clerks the fill
ing system Of the office and the es-
sential papers of record regarding
veterans. 1t included the perform
ance of the important work of
further perfecting the individuals
records with that data which is
necessary to the administration of
the act, but which had not been filed
with the veterans personal record.
For instance, during this instruction
period, some / 900. 900 items of record
and the information from some $4,000
| muster rolls have been filed with the
individual records.
Preliminary instruction also was
given to those clerks who will per-
form the computation of the amounts
due veterans This work is to be
done by tabulating machines special
ly constructed for the purpose, and OF
absolute accuracy. These devices,
which are capable of mechanically
transposing dates into days and then
| into dollars remove the human ele-
ment from this portion of the task.
In addition the preliminary instruc-
| ton also included a course OF study
| in finger prints, an examination OF
| the bonus law from a legal stand
FOUND.