THE 8EMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.
SSTCff mike
HE'S IN THE MOVIES
r xx i-ri ef w- , c.. . j .-t v i - - - - - i r f
IP5
N tlio bureau of supplies nnd accounts
of tho United States navy at Washing
ton somo surprising changes havo
been made In the past year In methods
of doing business. The bureau Is Ww
business qMco of the navy. Also It Is
tho butcher, tho bakor, tho banker, tho
tailor and tho grocer of tho navy. It
pays out somo J145.000.000 a year. It
saves Jack's money for him and tho
SavlniTB bank It onnrnlnn h nn rlonnalta
"SBitiBiumg aoj,uuu. it opcrntcs two great clothing
factories, ono at Urooklyn and tho other nt Charles
ton. 8. C. In another aspect It Is one of tho biggest
purchasing agencies In tho country.
So remarkablo havo been Its achievements In the
twelvemonth that many requests havo come to It
recently from business establishments, public and
j prlvato, for Information as to Its new methods.
Tho spirit behind tho change Is that of a boyish
j looking, wldo-oycd, cvor-smlllng ofllccr, who, Just
i forty-tlvo ycarB old and ho docs not look It hnhin
w.u .uK nmi uraws tno pay or a rear admiral, ho
li being paymaster general of tho navy nnd chief of
'i tho bureau. Rnnr Ail
i4 vv.i mi,vjunuu it u J a
to outsiders. Mr. McUowan Is tho form of address
ho Insists upon within tho bureau. But In the navy
Boncrally, by all ranks and all grades, ho Is dubbed,
behind his back of course, Sammy McGowan.
In tho 14 months ho has been paymaster general
ho has made over his bureau. What is moro, ho has
secured tho hearty and enthusiastic support of tho
ontlro force. That, to anyone who knows how any
government organization Is wedded to procedent, Is
amazing.
Somowhat given to tho making of epigrams In his
instructions, oral and written, Admiral McGowan
has uttered two that glvo a hint of tho predominat
ing Ideas behind his roforms. "Make It bureau with
a small b and navy with a big N," Is one, and
Remombcr that tho stores oxlst for tho fleet, not
tho fleet for tho stores."
Tho paymnstor general nnd his bureau of supplies
and accounts havo tholr oHlces In the groat pllo
known as tho stato, war and navy building, on
Pennsylvania avenue, flanking tho Whlto Houso on
tho wost. When tho building was erected somo
forty years ago it wbb tho largest ofllco building
In tho world. Each corridor In It has tho appoar
nnco of a battalion of barrooms, for oach of tho
many corridor doors has its mlddlo two-thirds
masked by a shutter door. Tho rooms aro all Inter
communicating. Tho paymastor gonoral's ofllco Is tho end ono In
a sulto of flvo rooms. Across tho hall aro sovon
moro rooms. In tho navy annox building, in a street
near by, aro oomo moro ofllccB of tho bureau.
Whnn Paymastor General McGowan took over tho
Job ho Inaugurated at onco a clean-up campaign,
Down from tho wnllB camo tho dusty old plcturos.
Bookcases and fllo cases wont out. Current and
absolutely necessary bureau IHob went Into one
room in a sot of Bteol vortical containers, for
general purposes, and in tho purchasing end,
acrosB tho hall, thoy llkowlso wero reducod.
Private llbrartos also wont out. Upstairs the
navy dopartmont maintains a splondld naval li
brary, and this Ib available for all purposos.
"Abolish roll-top desks," was tho word. Whoro
flat-top dosks woro not available tho dopartmont
carpenters took off tho roll tops. SInco then
ntandard ofllco furnituro haB been adopted for
tho ontlro bureau.
All Intercommunicating doors in tho suites
woro taken off tho hinges. Walla wero painted
In light colorB. Then tho chief of oach room or
division chief was required to put hla desk In
tho mlddlo of tho room with his forco grouped
about him. Now tho paymaster gonornl can
stand In his room nnd look down tho lino and
boo exactly what la going on.
But thnt Isn't exactly tho point. Tho object
1b not to keep an oyo on tho people so much na
It la to convoy tho idea of unity. Tho division
chlof who, BoqucBtored In Ma own llttlo nost,
might bo tempted to wrlto a lottor to tho chlof
next door, dooBn't do it undor thoso conditions.
Ho Bays, "Say, Bill, how about so and bo?" or
goes over nnd dlBcusBes It nt cloao rango.
Stationery In uao was reduced to tho fowest
poBBlblo simple kinds.
On a uholf handy to tho paymaster gonoral's
handB is a book somo 14 inches long by 18 inches
wide. In it is all tho Information that onco oc
cupied a big (llcrooni. This information portnlns
to the present duty and availability for oa or
ahoro duty, ns tho caso may bo, of all of tho 230
olllcors making up tho pay corps.
Tho pages of the book aro faced with trans
parent celluloid, When a pay otllcor Ib sent on a
crulao his namo and tho essential (Into aro In
Hcrlbed on a typowrltton slip and inserted at tho
bottom of tho section dovoted to pay olllccrs on
uoa duty. Placo by placo tho slip moves up au
tomatically, and in this way ono may obaorvo
ut a glanco who Ib duo for ahoro duty nnd who
for aoa duty as, undor tho law, for ovory two
years of bhore duty a pav otllcor must tnko thrco
years of sea duty,
And thus with all records. No effort has boon
spared to rcduco them all to the slmplost and
moBt graphic form. Tho messenger forco was
reorganized and a squad told off to act aa oxprcsa
messengers. ThiB Insures speed In tho move
ment of papora from desk to doBk and to the
secretary's olllco. No paper remains moro than
15 minutes awaiting transmission.
One of tho very first things Paymaster Gonoral
McGowan did was to put a stop to promiscuous
lottor writing. Tho truo bureaucrat dearly loves
to writo lottors. Ho thinks ho Is at his best
whon ho Is writing lottors for tho chlof to sign,
division heads dictating many of tho lottors
which tako tho bureau chief's slgnnturo. It gratl
Hos tho soul of tho bureaucrat to grow arrogant
and sarcastic in such dictation.
Nothing of that Bort is tolerated by Admiral
McGowan. Ho Insisted thnt lottor writing bo re
ducod to a minimum and that nothing unkind or
contontious bo put Into a letter, especially to
another coordlnato buroau. After his first gon
ornl remarks on tho subject ho followed It up
with nn "Intraburoau order," intraburenu orders
bolng ono of his methods of roachlng tho person
nel of his organization.
But tho striking changes in tho sorvlco havo
boon worked In tho dotall of tho machinery first
of accounting and thon of supplying. Abonrd
each ono of Undo Sam's lighting craft Is a pay
olllcor, tho ship's buslnosa mnnagcr. Each ship
has a bnso or homo station nt somo navy yard.
At oach navy yard is a storehouse presided over
by a pay olllcor. It Is tho business of this store
houso to provldo for tho ships nttached to it.
Thon thqro nro fuel stations coal and oil also
undor Jurisdiction of tho pay corps, for tho pay
corps nuys ovorythlng, save arms and ammuni
tion, needed by tho ships and tholr personnel.
At prosont there aro In tho custody of tho store
koopors general supplies worth $22,000,000, ex
clusive of fuel; $4,000,000 worth of clothing, and
$3,000,000 worth of provisions. Tho problom Is
not nlonn to supply lmmcdtnto nocds, but to bo
ready to supply emergency nooda.
Just as an army moves on Its belly, so Is a
navy dopartmont on Its supplies. When a por
tion of tho floct was dispatched tho other day to
Santo Domingo It required a lot of things not
ordinarily carrlod. It got away promptly becauso
thoso particular things woro forthcoming without
delny.
Always tho bureau is In tho market buying in
hugo quantities on bids nnd undor rigid specifica
tions, for dollvory at tho most ndvantngeous
points. Two simple roconl books contain all tho
data on current bids which huvo boon opened,
and thoso nro always open to public Inspection.
But tho characteristic of tho purchasing system
is tho simple and graphic methods usod In keep
ing Information up to dato on existing stocks of
fuol and HUppltos nnd on current prlcoa. Much
of this Information Ib reducod to charts on sec
tional papor. Thus a simple chart tolls In (Igurca
and lines up to within 12 hours tho exact quan
tity of coal and fuol on hand at any supply sta
tion, nnd another gives tho snmo Information
as to tho amount on board any ship of tho navy.
"STATS, IWtJWD
The selection ol the tiino
for restocking thus Is al
most automatically sug
gested. A small card-tiling caBO
contains a remarkablo ex
hibition of prices current.
Charted on cards aro tho
market prlco movements
for seven years, week by
week, of Important sta
ples. For example, tho
butter card shows a well
dellned curve for each ot
the soven years. Indicat
ing tho weeks when but
ter is high" and when low.
As theso curves closely
parallel, a glanco at It
shows when Is the most
advantageous time for
buying butter In quantity
and storing It.
So systematized has tho
method or sewing and charting this Information
becomo thnt It requires llttlo labor and its cost,
by comparison with tho results achieved in as
sisting in Intelligent buying, is remarkably low.
Other charts, corrected daily, keep tho bureau
informed ns to tho amount of stocks on hand
In every detail, not only at tho storehouses but
on the ships as well. Since the navy through Its
extcnslvo wireless system la in constant com
munication with every ship afloat, tho task of
keeping up theso charts Is not so dlfllcult as It
seems.
Or the bunch of cards making up a ship's com
ppny also is produciblo on the instant.
Machines havo reduced tho amount ot work In
tho accounting section moro than 50 per cent.
There nro refinements of cost keeping In a mili
tary establi-hmont thnt aro not known in &
private- establishment, for nil expenditures must
conform to some specific item of an appropria
tion bill, and appropriations for the naval estab
lishment aro found In thrco different appropria
tion nets.
Roughly speaking, 3,000,000 separate accounts
must bo kopt properly to meet tho requirements
of tho law and to furnish tho information aB to
costs, gross and detailed, needed. Imaglno a
lodger with 3,000,000 accounts!
Here tho cards and mechanism havo como in to
tho extent that half tho number of men noeded
15 months ago aro now required to do the work.
In addition a great deal of now work hns boon
taken on.
Tho use of now card punching machines Is re
sponsible for tho larger economies.
Tho machine Is bo arranged that it sorta tho
punched cards, nrranges them in propor groups,
uscortnins the totnls of tho figures lnditatcd by
tho punched holes and prints on a sheot the
roBults. It Is accounting reduced to mechanism.
Of course tho usual machines, such as adding
machlnos and tho llko, nro part of tho equipment.
In fact tho whole trend of tho reforms In this
section has boon to reduce everything to a
mechanical basis.
Tho result Is great economics In oporation, In
creased olllcloncy, Increased accuracy and In
creased speed. To tho casual observer the strik
ing thing Is tho disappcaranco of books. Few
Indeed are tho books In Bight, remarkably slim
tho flies. In other words, tho accountancy sys
tem hns boon reduced to tho simplest dimensions.
Ask any man. olllcer or clvlllnn, In tho estab
lishment how tho wholo organization has boon
mndo over In bucIi a time, and ho lnstnntly will
toll you that Sammy McGowan did It. And then
ho will grow confidential and tell you what ho
esteems Is tho socrot of tho wholo accomplish
ment, tho spirit thnt McGowan has put Into his
entire ron-o. "Wo don't tolornto grouches," your
informant will say. "Wo all belong to tho Don't
Worry club and McGowan Is Its president."
Another thing this paymnstor genoral has dono
Is to establish In Washington, with tho approval
of tho secretary of tho navy, a school for nnvy
pay officers. Theso olllcors are appointed from
civil llfo on a competitive examination. Thoy go
Into tho service equipped with a good academic
education, but with no knowledge of the navy
and Its needs. Henco tho new sorvlco schooi,
which has In this year's clnss 15 young officers
Who nre being trained In tholr now profession.
Admiral McGowan himself is a product of
civilian training. Whon ho secured his appoint
ment in tho pay corps In 1S91 ho was a South
Carolina nowspnper man who had worked his
way through collego and law school by running
n brick yard and serving ns n ticket agent at a
railway station. Maybo thoro ho got tho training
which has made him a great buslnoss oxccutlvo.
Tho fact that ho has spent most of his naval
career at sea accounta for his Inslstenco that tho
lleet and not tho buroau Is tho thing over to bo
kopt in mind,
When hu loft tho Atlantic fleet to go a8horo as
paymastor gcnornl his commanding olllcor. Ad
miral Badgor, said of him, "Ho has mado tho pay
department of tho (loot n smoothly working mil
itary mnchlno."
That is tho ideal ho holds up to his bureau
and corps; "Mako It a smooth running military
mnchlno."
While Representative Albert John
son of Washington, nnd former Wash
ington nowspnper man, Is not a movlo'
nctor, you aro quite likely to soo him
mixed up with a lot of suitcases,
trunks, canes, etc., in a comedy rolo
along with tho other national hero,
whoso funny hat, walk, cane and mus
tache nro now better known thnn tho
prayer book.
Representative Johnson was in
California recently, stopping at Los
Angeles. Ho traveled part way by
steamer, and llko all ocean voyagcra
loaded himself to tho limit with
shawls, blankets, steamer trunks,
glnilstono bags, suitcases, thermos
bottles, cameras, canes, Hold glasses
and other various and lumbersomo
Impedimenta. Ho was carrying all
of theso, and was utterly hidden from
view undor this load of baggago and
plunder ns ho walked with an effort
to maintain his congressional dignity
down tho gangplank. Ho might havo
"got away with it" had not a drunken sailor dived from a seeming torriflc
height, landing nmldshlps in tho bulwarks of baggago being toted by Brother
Johnson. Tho congressman thereupon toll down kerthump, tho baggago,
shawls, rugs and other truck got between his legs and over his head and
undor his chest. Johnson omitted sundry words of explosive character and
began collecting his junk.
By tho tlmo ho had It all together tho drunken sailor was performing
other remarkable antics on tho dock. Johnson Immediately recognized the
Jag as that great moving picture hero whoso fame seems to bo based on his
ability to fall off a building and land on his head. And not unjll thon did
Johnson realizo that hla own fall had been ground Into tho film by tho moving
picture operator.
VOICE OF ALSACE
"I have had my hcartB's desiro on
earth, ' he says. Ho does not explain
what it is. Everybody knows.
Ho Is tho Abbe Wetterlo, most fa
mous of Alsatians. For 20 years ho
was tho voice of Alsace, crying' aloud
the hope of tho return to Franco. As
such the Alsatian district of Rlbeau
vlllo solidly sent him to the German
reiehstag. Ho was tho famous deputy
of RIbcauvlllo, but ho was tho volco
of all. Tho other Alsatian deputies
loft him tho rolo.
Today ho is "Deputy of all Alsace
to Paris," preparing speeches and ar
ticles on "tho durable peace." In a
quiet street beside tho Madeleine ho
works for the future of Alsace-Lorraine.
Prussia and Gormany know him
as an open enemy. Ho had almost as
many enemies as fellow members In
tho reiehstag, yet ho was by no means
isolated or powerless. All know him.
nnd ho was welcomed by all. Admir
ably well posted on tho facts of German politics, and particularly of slao
iasuos; of witty and flowing speech, a "causeur," as tho French Bay, whose
Conversation bccomcB monologuo becauso everybody listens, tho abbo had
always a circle of admiring Gorman colleagues round him.
DESCENDANT OF MOHAMMED
10 Ji
I? " 7
A descendant of Mohammed and
a prlnco of Islam, Sayid M. Wajib Zoid-ul-Gilani,
sholk-ul-lBlam of the Philip
pines in which capacity as Moham
medan high priest in tho United States
for our far eastern possessions he is
promoting good will of all Moslems
toward tho government of tho United
States has been visiting in Washing
ton. Sayid Effendl, tho princely title
given to him by right and courtesy, is
on his way around tho world back to
tho Philippines. He comes with a
record of accomplishment during tho
few months of his chieftainship over
Moslem Philippines. Ho brought to
end tho so-called holy war against
Christians and Christian government:
no has inculcated religious and racial
tolerance, teaching a now Mohamme
dan croed of tho brotherhood or man
strango to tho flece, ranntic ana re
bellious Moro tribes.
A puro-strnin Arab, Sayid Effendi,
Is as blond as a Teuton. Ho is tall, slender, with sandy hair and a thin
heard and mustache of tho samo color. Ho dresses European fashion. Ho
is a descendant In tho thirty-seventh generation of Mohammed, through
Fatima, tho only daughter of tho prophet.
KM
BORAH PREDICTS HARD FIGHT ,
Senntor Borah of Idaho, who has
frequontly boon mentioned In connec
tion with tho Republican nomination
for president in 191C, still insists that
he is not an active candldato for that
honor.
"l am moro concerned at present
with tho platform which shall be
adopted by tho Republican national
convention next year thnn with cun
dldatcs," sayB he.
If tho Ropujllcan .narty Is to win
in tho next national elections Senator
Borah Ib convinced that a "liberal
and progressive pla.tform must bo
adopted. And ho is intent upon hav
ing such a platform adopted.
"Thoso who bollovj that the pen
dulum has swung back to the old
stand-pnt ideas will And themselves
much mistaken," ho said.
Senator Borah bollovos that tho
Republicans will havo a tight on
tnolr hands to win, that Prosldont
WIlBon Ib stronger in tho country than
no was a year ago, but ho believes that the Republicans can and will win.
ho saya that tho administration already has realized that it has made many
mistakes and is ensagod in trying to rovorso itself nt present.