Evening star., 1926-12-12

NCLE SAM has a neat trick
Of getting expensive people
to work for him for small
~ pay. OF course thousands Of
his employees are paid all
they are worth, but for technical, sci
entific and administrative tasks he
keeps an astonishing proportion Of
! people working for him at ridiculously
| low wages.
Herbert Hoover. Secretary Of Com
merce, is paid $4,000 a year, though
dozens Of corporations would gladly
pay him 10 times that. He recently
required a chief for the Bureau of
100000 man. Hoover decided on
Scott Turner, and sent for him. When
they talked 1t over, Turner had en-
listed, at something like one-fourth
the salary he could have commanded
elsewhere.
Turner, like Hoover, is an engineer,
and takes the practical engineers
view Of social and economic prob
lens. Conservation? Yes, these en-.
servation means the efficient. result
producing employment Of both effort
and resources. Your engineer hates
prof1igacy; but he also despises parsi-
mOny. He wants us to use things,
but use them for all they are worth.
He believes in spending, usually on
huge scale; but he wants 100 per cent
return, and more If possible.
X X X X
The Bureau of Mines has chiefly to
do with natural resources whose
supply is limited. It wants us to
make the most of every ton, or bar
rel, or kilowatt-hour of them. 1t
guesses that if we use them in this
way we will find new supplies, de-
velop better modes Of utilization, dis
cover substitutes and improve our
scientific methods fast enough to keep
industry moving and human wants
supplied. The engineering mind con-
ceives that II We run short Of lumber
we can use steel, brick and cement.
The inventor, first cousin to the en-.
gineer, hears that increasing popula-
tion may outrun the supply Of tex
tiles for clothing. He also notes that
the ladies want to wear silk instead
Of cotton. So ne turns cotton fiber
and wood pulp into artificial silk. A
few years ago economists were wor-
rying about supplies Of lumber and
cotton. Now. folks who have lumber
and cotton to sell are worrying be-
cause substitutes are elbowing their |
goods out Of the market.
Lately, the Bureau Of Mines and |
other Government and business ac-
tivities have been wondering about |
supplies of petroleum. Wherewith |
shall our 20,00O,000 cars be propelled, |
how shall the vast mechanism of this |
machinery age be fabricated, If petro- |
leum runs out on us? What will |
those people do for light who still find |
kerosene the one cheap and efficient |
illuminant? With this country turn. |
ing out 70-odd per cent of the worlds |
petroleum. running most of the motor |
cars and ever more dependent on |
petroleum products, it is no wonder |
such questions are asked. So went |
to the Bureau of Mines, one of whose |
specialties is petroleum, to learn what |
they thought there.
Scott Turner, who is big, blunt and |
knows exactly what he is about, re-
ferred me to Harry HI. Hill, chief of |
the petroleum division. Hill Is an
other Of these specialists who work
for the Government for modest frac-
tions of what they could get else
where, because they like the work.
After hearing his story I decided that
we wouldn't sell the old family car
He thinks there viii be
to run it with so long as