Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-07
CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES
ASK NEW RATINGS
Data Given Personnel CIas-
sification Board on Workers
for Army and Navy.

Specific information relating to spe-
cialized duties of Government workers
in civilian services Of the War and
Navy Departments was laid before the
Personnel Classification Board today at
hearings being held to afford the en-
ployes opportunity to present their data
regarding positions to be graded in the
classification of the field services.
Representatives of the various serv-
ices were presented to the board by Lu-
Their C. Steward president of the Ma
tional Federation of Federal Employees.
The representatives were from local fed
Grafton unions in large industrial CEN
tiers.
At the morning session, r. G. Sutton,
chief of the administrative section OF
the district engineers Office at Phila-
delphia, a unit Of 900 civilian employees,
composing the engineer and admins
trative sections emphasized the COM
parative unattractiveness of present
salaries in the engineer service, with
no definite prospect of promotion,
which, he said, resulted in high turn
over of too large a number OF employees
who leave the service for more lucrative
employment outside the Government.
Conditions at Savannah.
ivan B. Tompkins and Taylor Hod-
nett gave information concerning con-
ditionS of the engineering district OF
which Savannah is the headquarters.
Edwin r. Drown detailed conditions
confronting employees charged with the
maintenance and operation Of the great
locks at Salt Ste. Marie, Mich.
The board was told OF the hlgny
technical character OF the work OF en-
Moves of the United States Lake Survey
by s. L. Smith, chief of the chart dtvi-
sion. The special object Of the survey,
he said, is the production and main
tenance of q complete and accurate
series of nautical charts of the North
ern and Northwestern lakes. The en-
ployes feel that they should be CLASSIFIED
similarly to those in the Coast and Geo.
detic Survey and the hydrographic once
of the Navy Department, he declared,
with salaries for the lower positions not
less than 81 800 year.
At the afternoon session John w.
Ross of the naval base al Hampton
Roads, Va. and c. c.. Frlck OF the
BROOKLYN Navy Yard outlined in detail
the responsible character OF the work
performed by clerical employees at those
stations.
Salaries Held Too Low.
A. L. Wykoff of the naval headquar-
UeTS, view 1OIh SAOys Ecu AOA UAA IA
description of the communications
system of the United States Navy
telephone, telegraph and wireless. He
declared that Notwithstanding the fact
that naval telegraph operators, much OF
the whole work is in code and who are
required to send and receive at high
rate of speed, are given much lower
rate of pay than those who are doing
similar work for any of the big COM
mercjal telegraph companies or large
commercial houses who maintain their
own wire services.
F. w. Patterson explained the work
of the supervising clerical staff at the
naval headquarters at New York, p. j.
Benson told of the work of the In
spectors @. F. Wohlgemuth, H. F. Sipe
and C. B. McCrane Of the naval expert
mental station at Annapolis, Md, de-
tailed conditions surrounding the pro-
fessional and subprofessional employees
there.
Further hearings will be held by the
board tomorrow, at which representa-
tives of various War Department serv-
ices will appear.