Evening star., 1943-11-20
5 Interior Employees
GivenAwards by|cke,
For Suggestions

| Awards of excellence and salary
promotions went to five Interior
Department employees here yester-
|day for suggestions which have
saved the Government 81 500, 900 an6
large amounts of critical materials
A sixth citation was awarded post
humously to an Alabama mine in.
spector who lost his life while at.
tempting to rescue survivors of q
mine explosion.
The awards, first of their kind
ever to be made by the department
were presented by Secretary Ickes
at ceremonies before 1000 employees
of the agency In the Interior Build
ing. Similar awards were made al
the same time to seven Interior De-
partment employees in Denver, Colo.
and seven in Portland, Greg.
Mr.. Ickes also revealed that he
had sent to Congress, with the ap-
proval of President Roosevelt, a pro-
posed bill that would authorize him
to make cash awards to Interior
employees totaling $4,000 a year, but
not to exceed $1,000 to any one en-
ploye in any fiscal year.
Cited Workers Listed.
Those from the Washington area
cited and their salary increases
were:
James G.. Lewis, senior engineer
ing aide, Alaskan branch Of the Geo.
logical Survey, who lives in Falls
Church, Va; salary raised 500 q
lyear.
Mrs. Catherine K. Nonamaker,
clerk in the Water Resource Board,
Geological Survey, 1340 Fairmont
street NV: raised $50 a year.
John F. Barkley, head fuel en-
gineer, Fuels and Explosive Service,
Bureau Of Mines, Bethesda, Md;
raised 5000 year.
James L. Buckmaster, associate
engineer, Alaskan Branch, Geologi-
cal Survey, Arlington, Va; raised
500 a year.
Wilburn G. Schroeder. assistant
chief, Fuels and Explosives Service,
Bureau Of Mines. College Park, Md;
raised 5000 a year.
Widow Sent Citation.
The posthumous citation was sent
to Mrs. Clifford E. Saxon, Birming-
ham, Ala, widow Of the mines in
spector who lost his life last August
80 when an explosion in q mine OF
the Republic Steel Corp. in Sayreton,
Ala. killed eight members Of a
rescue party attempting to free
workers trapped by a previous blast.
Mrs. Saxon also was presented with
a War bond placed at the disposal
Of the departments Beard Of Awards
by three employe organizations
within the agency.
Mr.. Lewis contribution to greater
efficiency in the department was a
simple mechanical plotting instru-
ment by which true horizontal
angles can be rapidly delneated on
aerial photographs. Use Of the
Lewis plotter, 1t was said, has made
it possible to free more complicated
instruments for other uses and has
saved the Government 5000 and
incalculable time.
Mrs. Nonamaker's suggestion in
wolves change in procedure on pur-
chase orders eliminating one of the
steps and reducing the possibility Of
error. She proposed that the orders
be prepared in the initiating ONCE
rather than have that ONCE prepare
a requisition, which Is then sent to
the purchasing office, to be copied on
the proper form. If adopted, her
recommendation would save consid-
erable sums by reducing paper work,
the awards board said.
y. s. Saved Large Sum.
Mr.. Barkley's award was the cul-
mination of unremitting efforts to
Increase fuel efficiency in Govern
ment power and heating plants by
revising methods and selecting diff
ferent kinds Of fuel. Over 1O-year
period, Mr.. Ickes said, Mr.. Barkley
has saved the Government 81, ,4O0, ,0OC
in cost Of equipment and, at the
end of that time, s350000 a year in
operating costs.
Mr.. Buckmaster developed devices
known as vertical and oblique
sketchmasters by which detail may
be taken graphically from aerial
photographs and shown on a map
base with proper corrections for tilt
and scale. The instruments are
used, it was reported, by the Corps
of Engineers, the Army Air Forces
and the Navy Department as we'll as
by the Geological Survey. The saw
ings, in the past year, were estimat-
ed at $1,000.
Mr.. Schroeder invented several
methods of detecting chemical re-
actions in boilers which might cause
explosions on locomotives and large
power plants. He still is doing re-
search in this field, in which he
began his studies several years ago
One large Eastern railroad alone
using Mr.. Schroeder's method, saves
$4,000 annually in repair costs
alone
Presentation of the awards yester-
day was the first public announce
ment that suggestions system was
functioning in the department
Candidates for the awards are
passed on by the Suggestions Com
mittee and the Suggestions Awards
Board.
Mr.. Ickes told the employees that
Yesterdays awards were only the
first of series which are to be made
from time to time. Within the next
two weeks, he said, more than a
dozen additional citations will be
presented to Interior employees in
various parts of the country.
lon~, P..xl:. n:>