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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (June 18, 1893)
OMAHA StNDAY BEE TWENTY-SECOND YEAR. OMAHA , SUNDAY MORNING , JUNE 18 , 1803 TWENTY PAGES. NUMBER 364. -31 COL , AINSWORTIl'S ' METHOD Hcsnmo of the Work of the Man Who Was Near Being Mobbed. BROUGHT ORDER OUT OF CONFUSION Wnrlc rnr In Arroitrn CnitRlit Up , but Clcrlia llatl tb Work llnrilcr ThU mill Strict Cnunctl llli UnpDpumrlty. " \VAsntNOTON , Juno 10. [ Correspondence of fur. Bun. ] Colonel F. C. Ainsworth , or ns ho is bolter known In Washington , Dr. Alns- worth , is the chief of the buicnu of records nnd pensions of the Wnr department , ilo wns placed In charge of that bureau nearly seven years ago. Ho made a record for work unexcelled In the government service , nnd ho has been the Idol of congressional In vestigating committees for years. There Is n committee of the senate nnd house now investigating the department service with n view to Its reform -under the leadership nf Senator Cockicll of Missouri nnd Representative Dockcry of the same state. The unfortunate developments of the Ford's ' theater disaster will Interfere sadly with their work. TUo had odor Into which the affair has brought Colonel Ains- worth will reflect Indirectly on lilt system. The clerks hate It chiolly bccauso It means long hours and hard woric for them. They have taken advantage of the investlcntlon before tho. coroner's Jury to vent their hatred of the entire system as well as of the > nan nt the ticad of It. Senator Cockrcll Will fltul that , the unreasoning prejudice which follows quick on a popular demon stration llko that of last Monday will have Its offset In dampening the ardor of the de partment heads for reform of the Ainsworth kind. kind.When When Mr. Ainsworth took hold of the record anil pension division , It was.llke most of the bureaus of the government depart ments , far behind in Its work. Mr. Ains worth Is an ambitious man. Ho saw how slow and how awkward the work was. The record and pension division of the War de partment furnishes to the pension olllcc on request Information about the records of soldiers of the late war , to bo used in workIng - Ing up their applications for pensions. The work of the pension oflleo is always slow It is usually ai\\vccus or a month behind. Voluminous IViiAinn Knits * Last summer when congress was not hero nnd the pension ofllco should have been rea sonably frco from calls for information. I addressed a letter to the pension commis sioner asking if a certain man was on the pension rolls , as an estate was waiting for him nnd his friends could not Ic.irn his whereabouts. Nearly two months after wards I received a reply in the negative. The matter had passed from mv mind en tirely. The delay in this case did no harm Bini-o the ucnslon ofllco could not furnish the information that was needed. But In appli cations for pensions , especially where the applicants arc growing old , tiulnys nro of the greatest importance. Under the old system which prevailed when Colonel Amswoith took charge of the bureau it took sometimes three , four or oven six months to make up the record of a pension applicant from the War ilnpam mcnt Hies. At that time there were 2SO clerks employed in the burc.iu. There was no systematic arrangement of the papers on Hie. The muster rolls of the companies woronot'arrangcd alphabetically. A man rould not bo traced by n clew except the num ber of his compnnv. and many of the in quiries sent In had slight errors in comp.iny mimbois. If the inquiry missed the idon- tlty'of the company by .an inch It might as well miss it by an ell. lu addition to the muster rolls there wcio records of detached service , wounds or sickness , death , discharge or dismissal. There were 20,1)00 ) hospital registers alonu containing more than 10,000- 000 distinct entries. Searching blindly through these scatteied records the 'JSO clerks in the bureau averaged about 150 re ports in a day. Ho Ilml nn Idon. The work was falling farther and farther behind each year when Colonel Ainsworth took hold. Ho had nn idea that by the in troduction of a now system ho could simplify the work ; that ho could bring it "up to ilnto" in a few yeats. His idea was to intro duce the "index iccord card. " It was ttio application of an old idea which has been used by the Pennsylvania riillioad for many years. A modiflc.itiou of it is the card Index used in the Navy department , by which ref erences to individuals or subjects referred to in any of the naval reports or naval pub lications or in any scientific book or magazine - zino arc nrrnngcd on cards of uniform size , elnsslllcd and placed in alphabetical order , bo that reference to this index is the work of 'n moment. A number of newspaper corre spondents at Washington n.ivo adopted the same idea in keeping nowspapcr clippings for rcfeicnco. The clippings arc pasted on nixls which are titled and arranged in al phabetical order. Cross-tltlps nro written on other cards and all of these ate arranccd rlphaboticallv either in OHO general collec tion or under classitlcations. A further modlUcntloji of this idea is the catd index cow in general usu in llbi.irles. TJio introduction of this card system in the rc.com uml pension division-meant at first a Ki-oat deal of hard work nnd extra hours. The clurks wore kept as busy as tha eight- hour law would PCI mlt , The work of nnsucring innulilcs from the pension ofllco dragged u little more than usual at Hist , but after a time as the names of the soldiers wcro copied onto cardn , references became more nnd moio easy. On cacti card was put n summary of the soldier's record with references to the papoiswhcioa moro complete record could bo foundi Iloforo the work of transcribing theao cards had been completed , tlio but can began to catch up on its delajod work. Today the work of the iccords and pension division would bo complete but for the tin- f < Munnio nccldunt which throw its clcrks ouTofwork tor the time nnd destroyed so many of their iccords , Siuoil Time nnd l/ilior. AVhcro It formerly took liSO men to make forty reports in n day , foi ty men nro able to make 1,000 reports iu the t > amo length ol time. Under the rules of the ofllco a force of clerks Is at work tit night sorting out the inquiries sent over by the pension ofllco and placing them on the desks of the clerks in the different divisions , Under the old svS' tern , when n rloik i-amo down in the moinfng ho sat nt Ins desk idle until the mail had been distributed. Under Colonel Alnsworth's B\stcin , ho Hails his work laid out for him when ho sits down to his desk , and there It no delay. The cauls In the index arc bortcil by staten , then by regiments nnd then alpha bctlcally. The inquiries nro distributed iluflng the dlflcrcut divisions in the Biinu way , < It Gave the Colonel rromlnojioc. These improvements in the work of th < pension bureau brought Colonel Aluswortl into favorable notice with the congrcsslona committee-of which Senator Cockrcll I : chairman , which made an investigation o the department work Just before the incom ing of the Harrison administration. Thli committee tlgurud that Colonel Alnswortl had saved the government tilOO.OOO a year it clerk hire by his improvement in the sjstcn of the reconts and pension division. The ; strongly uiged that the system bo intio duced in the pension office. Mr. Cockrcll it his report spoke moil enthusiastically o Colonel Allsworth and his work. In fact thu Investigation made by Mr Cock roll wa : what gave Colonel Ainsworth prominence From the timu that this > cport was rundi his bureau was constantly hold up to the ad plratlon of all department people. Colouo strong was the sentiment In hl < j favor that ho was oven considered n possible candidate for the ofllcc of pension commissioner when Mr. Cleveland came in. All of this praise of Colonel Ainnworth was perhaps a little In- Judicious. It put him constantly on his mot- tlo. It gave him the ambition to make a still better record. This ambition may have contributed In some degree to the accident b.f which so many of his clerks wcro killed. They seem to think so at least. "It was everything for n record , " some of the clerks have said in speaking of Colonel Ainsworth. Ho .May lln 1 runnier rod. In manner Colonel Alnswoith has been rather abrupt even among his friends , It is not surprising then that ho should have been so with his clerks. Ho Is a soldierly- looking man of medium height , with n round head , hajr which curls n little over his fore head nnd sharp , penetrating oycs. Ho is married to n widow of ono of the victims of the Custcr massacre formerly Miss IJacon of Washington. Although Colonel Ains worth is not popular with , his fellow ofllccrs , any moro than with his clerks , there Is a strong influence behind him nnd no effort will bo spared to protect him. liul it Is very likely that the Influence of the unhappy Ford's theater nccldcnt will bo too much for him nnd that ho will ho transferred to some other position probably away from Wash ington. Gr.ouoi ; UIIANTIIAM BAIN. ADI : AS t > Kate Ftilil't WiuMnutan , I'm forty past , There Is a lingo of gray Upon my beard tlmt tonics can't displace ; And ns I nhnvpcl to ves , It uus today , The mirror hinted to my % ery fnco That 1 am aging ; oho that It could trace Crowfoot at either eye ; I should bo toldl Hut uhllu tills heart of mine keens Us young pace My glass shall not persuade mo I , um oldl I'm portly grown ; but not too stout to play An Inning now and then ; can bag a bmco Of any feathered things thntcomo my way ; Or t Uu n ll > c-lar ) gate upon the clinto , 1'or mo there's still excitement In tlio race ; Nor IIIIVP 1 yi-t begun to count my gold Until I cannot tell thu donee from ncu. My glass shall not pursuado mo I niu oldl I'"i grown a ti Illo stiff a stick , some siy ; ( My palters ImM ! Kroun harder to unfacol ) Hut maniige still to mount and rldo uway In saddle or \\liecl with old time grace. An'1 I can plrouott If I'vo the space , Or wait/ till Hud's mummn Is protiu to scold , Can IHrHory well , In "ny cast * , My glass shall not pei simile mo I am oldl She owns to twcnty-ihrco , ah , fickle , base ! She jlltrd me , ns ninny yenis grown cold , Time , while you sour her with no wry grimace My glass shall not persnailu mo 1 am oldl MUSICAL A * It UJtA.tl.lTlU. Miss Clara Morris is spending her summer vacation at Kiverdnlc-on-Iludson , New York , Hufncl Joseffy , the famous piano virtuoso , will teach at the National Conservatory of Music , New York- , during the summer term You can always tell the man who has a free scat at the theater by the calmly critica way in which ho abstains regularly from a applause. Mine. Sembrich has been singing ' 'Lucia at St. Petersburg , nnd has received a great ovation. She was on several occasions re called ten times , and the stage was literally covered with Ilowors showeicd upon her. Mrs. II. II. A. Reach of Boston , who com posed u Jubilate for the Columbian celebra tlon , is authority for the statement that bo- twccn the years 1015 and ISSi women com posed lf > 3 musical works , including 55 soriou : operas , 0 cantatas , and 53 comic operas. Elconora Duso is now the subject of won derful pen pictures by English Journalists. One report says that she is "a beauty of tin Virginian type , her fuce being one of thosi marble southern faces which reflect , as in i mirror , the workings of the restless soul be neath. " Colonel Edward M. Alfrlend has written a new play called "Intrigue. " V is in live act : and live sets. Three acts arc laid in Franci and two in England. The story opens at tin beginning of the Franco-Prussian war in IhTO. It is quite historical and moves on u hifh plane. It will bo presented in Now York in the autumn. Lcschituky , the gre it pianoforte teacher , to whom "tho human chrysanthemum , " Pa- dcrewski , ascrlocs his success , lias n wife who is said to surpass all other players in technique. But she has no expression and docs , not care a straw what she plays or how shoplajsit ; otherwise she would be ono o the greatest musicians In Europe. Jnlo Keen , the treasurer of Buffalo Bill Wild West , will begin in November t starring tour in his newly revised comedy "Only n German. " Mr. Keen used to be orib of the best known dialect comedians in the country , and was known for years as "Buf falo Bill's Dutchman. " After his tour ucx winter ho will at the beginning of sumrae : resume his duties ns treasurer of the Wild \\est. Miss Vivian Sartoris. tha daughter of Nclllo Grant-Sartoris , will go on the stage next season. She is 10 years old and has a very decided personality of her own. She is studying now in Buffalo. The granddaugh ter of General Gran ! will receive a warm welcome from the American public if she possesses a tithe of talent. A Boston paper is responsible foic the statement that Fanny ICemblo was her father's aunt. Minnie Hauk will bo hoard again In Chicago cage next autumn on an operatic nnd con cert tour under thu management of the Slay- ton Lyceum bureau. She will then sing portions tions of her latent creation , Christina in Giordani's opera "Mala Vita , " with which she made a great hit at the Berlin opera house last March. Minnie Hauk Is now singing in Londoti , and .will go back to her chaiming home cu tho'lnko ' of Lucerne early In .luly. Contracts wcro signed last week by the terms of which Charles Cogiilan will bo a" Joint star next season with his sister Koso. The combination duiing the last season proved extremely piolltablo , nnd playgoers will bo glad to know that it Is to remain un broken. John T , Sullivan will continue as manaucr and leading actor , as heretofore. The Coghlans nio now negotiating for a now play which embodies characters eminently suited to bottl of them , James Whltcotub Hlloy , the "Hooslcr poet , " bus associated himself with Douglas Sherloy , the southern author , nnd the pair have airanged an ambitious program for the Mc.ison of 1SIU-U4 , duiing which they will appear in Joint readings from their own works , Mr. Klloy has tilready attained a wldo reputation by the success of his dialect verse , nnd Mr. Shorloy la well known to students of American literature for his interesting stories , some of which will boar comparison with the writings of Edgar Allan Pee. Emlllo Pizzl , who is engaged to write a one- act opera for Paul to n llbratto by Charles Byrne. Is a resident of New York. Ho Is a young Italian and was the winner of the Bologna prize , his opera , ' 'William Hat- clHTc , " carrying off the honors , BoiU and Martuccl were among the Judges , Plzzl will go to Italy In Juno , where ho will finish the ono-act opera , which is to have the title , "Gabrlcllo. " From ho Italy goes to Craig-y- Nos to confer with Mmo. i'atti. The new work will bo heard lirst in this country next November In Now York , nugenoFollncrof Boston has completed a poetic play of the fifteenth century lu four acts entitled "Don Carlos do Seville , " which James O'Neill has acccutcd for an elaborate production next season. Don Carlos Is the dissipated Eon of nn illustrious family. Ho awakens to n icalUntton of his wasted past , to ntono for which ho makes a number of heroic- ana pathetic sacrifices. The political wars In which Spain is liiviHvcd give'him an opportunity to icdcein himself , and the con clusion of the play finds him thu esteemed filondpf Philip II , ana the husband of the woiuuti ho love a. . The waters of China abound In fish , and It Is estimated by high authority that ono- tenth of the people of that empire derive jholr food from the water. The coasts ore crowded with enterprising and industrious fishermen nnd besides the not and the hook n great number of ingenious expedients arc used to capture the fish. Iu the eastern provinces cormorants urn trained In great iiumbois to catch fish , which they bilug to their master , who sits in a boat , from which ho watches at the uamu tlmo fifteen 01 tw oaty of the birds. - \ TODAY , TALL D I Will be Open to the Public. Courtland Beach Is laid out in the most artistic manner with Flowers in bloom Trees that are shady Grass that is green. TIFDL With verandas on all sides is capable of accommodating . Go out today and take your best girl out boat commodating 2,000 people. riding , ADMISSION TO GROUNDS lOc. ADMISSION TO THE GROUNDS lOc. Courtland Beach Courtland Beach. Has bath houses equipped with all the " latest improvements and capable of 'taking care of 400 people at once. PThe bottom of the lake is solid st - p -rock and cohered with * as a - a * , fine sand. A Clean } Safe and Pleas- . . ri. S. * " ant Bathing Resort. ADMISSION TO GROUNDS IOC , Courtland Beach Has an elegant boat house at the edge of the lake with a pier 80 feet long. Boyd's Orchestra will furnish the Music. New Attractions will I be added every day. t has a gravity road and many other attractions that you should see. If you go out in a carnage drive out Sherman avenue to Ames avenue , thence over the long bridge to the beach. Take Sherman avenue cars and change at Locust street for the beach. © © © 13 T1 IOC. GOURTUAND BEACH ASS'N JAS. A. GRIFFITHS , General Hunger.
