Evening star., 1939-08-06
Nv RUDOLPH KAUFFMANN, II.


by a special civil service examlna-
ton. was styled today by parks Of
ficials as the hottest seat in WASH
ington."
Interviews with National Park
Service and National Capital Parks
once personnel who did not wish
to be quoted revealed that for the
man who holds down the post it
means a lot of headaches and lot
of extra duties that the average
citizen would never imagine.
C. Marshall Finnan, the first and
only man to have the job since the
National Capital Park system was
taken over by the Park Service, was
transferred to Zion and Bryce Ma
tional Parks in Southern Utah as of
August / partly because his health
had been impaired by his stay here.
Now a successor to Mr.. Finnan must
be found.
Full Time Job Plus.
In the hrst place. officials agree,
the simple handling of the parks
hkre-one-seventh of the total land
area of the District plus some more
outside-is full-time job in itself.
Then, the job not only entails a
thorough knowledge of municipal
park work but in addition is the
'ambassadorial post" of the Park
Service.
A superintendent of National Cap
ital Parks has hundred and one
bosses. No. is the people of the
United States, for the parks are ma
tional and the property of the peo-
pie, not the city. No. is the Presi-
dent OF the United States. Then
there are the members of both
Houses of Congress, the District gov
ernment-for part of the funds used
come from the District and part
from the Federal Government-the
people of Washington, who use the
parks most and have stake in
them. On top of all that are all
the tops" of the Park Service two
flights up in the Interior Building
and Secretary of Interior Ickes on
top of that
In addition to bosses, he has to be
associated intimately with all the
local agencies having finger in the
Washington pie-the National Cap
ital Park and Planning Commission,
the District Commissioners, the
Board of Education, the National
Commission of Fine Arts, the United
States Army Engineers Office and
others.
Constant Target.
"It's question of pleasing every
body at once and that's part of what
makes it tough one official said
Whatever the superintendent does,
even to pruning trees, receives the
close scrutiny and often the criti-
cism Of all these bosses directly or
indirectly" he added.
First, it was explained, the super
lntendent runs the White House
right down to the last cake of soap
used in the bathtubs; hires and
fires the cook, the gardener, the
doorman, the butler, the maid and
takes care of the building, the
grounds and a, thousand and one
other details
When the phone rings the super
intendent may have anything under
the sun pop out at him involving
the President and his encourage, "
another man said. 1T will be, Where
are the quilts for the King and
Queen or Send up 500 American
Beauty roses within two hours or
some undercover thing that can't be
mentioned above whisper and
might cost the superintendent hS
job if he either didn't do it right
or let word what was being done
be revealed
Stories Of Peculiar Requests.
There are vague stories running
around, some barking back to the
1800s (the park Office was originally
founded in 179D, that First Ladies
have been known to order flowers
OF certain color so that they would
not match the dress of a political or
social rival.
Whether this be true or not the
superintendent must be a man of
discretion, especially where it
comes to the Presidents affairs, for
the President is given the money to
run the White House by Congress in
lump sum and is not responsible
to any one for what he does with 1t
The superintendent has to be in on
these things, however.
His next job is to maintain such
memorials as the Washington
Monument and the Lincoln Memo
rial, in which every taxpayer in the
country has an interest and stake
And the taxpayers chosen repre-
sentatives on Capitol Hill see to it
that these things are handled to
the constituents best interests.
On top Of this he has to maintain
all the parks and the grounds oi
most public buildings, plant them
keep them clean, enforce the regu-
lations. build on them, equip them
with electricity, roads, sewers, etc
He must be something of planner
4 designer, builder, an engineer, 8
horticulturist, a foraculturist, g
business man, personnel director
and other things.
Police Chief, Too.
To maintain law and order in the
parks he must be chief of police
and see to it that his 80 park police
men not only enforce the laws of the
United States and the District OF
Columbia, but also the park regula.
tions governing the movements ol
crowds pleasure bent Catch 'em
and hang 'em" police tactics are out
for this sort of work. And yet his po
licemen must be tough at times, fo1
the parks are the haven for drunks
bums.e panhandlers and degenerates
who might annoy honest citizens.
OF prime Importance he has to be
. recreation expert and be able tt
plan for the use of leisure time OF
millions Of park users.
And last, but not least, he must bs
possessed of all the social graces plu'
being civic minded and enough of 6
politician to be able to lick politician.
trying at their own game.
He is invited ont he Is asked tf