SUNDRY CIVIL APPROPRIATION BILL, 1922.

HEARING CONDUCTED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE, MESSRS. JAMES W. GOOD (CHAIRMAN), WILLIAM S. VARE, WALTER W. MAGEE, JOSEPH W. BYRNS, AND JAMES A. GALLIVAN, OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, IN CHARGE OF THE SUNDRY CIVIL APPROPRIATION BILL FOR 1922, ON THE DAYS FOLLOWING, NAMELY:

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1920.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT.

STATEMENTS OF MR. JAMES A. WETMORE, ACTING SUPERVISING ARCHITECT; MR. JOHN H. SCHAEFER, ACTING SUPERINTENDENT, MAINTENANCE DIVISION; MR. N. H. THOMPSON, SUPERINTENDENT MECHANICAL AND ENGINEERING DIVISION; MR. E. H. JEMISON, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT, TREASURY BUILDING; MR. W. S. BROUGHTON, COMMISSIONER OF THE PUBLIC DEBT; MR. W. H. MORAN, CHIEF OF SECRET SERVICE DIVISION; MR. JAMES L. WILMETH, DIRECTOR BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING; DR. R. H. CREEL, PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE; MR. N. V. PERRY, CONSTRUCTING ENGINEER, PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE; MR. JACKSON, INSPECTOR, POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT; MR. DANIEL LIX; MR. H. C. RUSSELL; AND MR. A. L. BLAKESLEE, OFFICE SUPERVISING ARCHITECT.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS, CONSTRUCTION, AND RENT.

ALEXANDRIA, LA.

FOR RENT OF TEMPORARY QUARTERS.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Wetmore, your first item is for $5,000 for rental of quarters at Alexandria, La. What is the situation there? Mr. WETMORE. The situation is the same as it was when I appeared here the last time. The post office is in a rented building. We were unable within the limit of cost fixed by Congress to construct the addition to the present building appropriated for.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you a lease on this building you are occupying?

Mr. WETMORE. Not an actual lease. There is a written agreement for the rental.

The CHAIRMAN. At $4,000 per year?
Mr. WETMORE. About' $4,000 a year.

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The CHAIRMAN. Why are you asking for $5,000 this year?

Mr. WETMORE. The amount asked for is sufficient to carry us to the end of the period when we will require the rented building if the limit of cost for enlarging the Federal building is extended. The present balance is sufficient to pay the rent to March 16, 1921. The annual rental is $3,990.

The CHAIRMAN. Will the $4,000 appropriated for this year carry you to June 30, 1921?

Mr. WETMORE. To March 16, 1921, and the amount asked for will pay the rent to June 16, 1922. I fixed that date, because if we get a chance to build this year that will carry us to the end of the construction period.

The CHAIRMAN. Will this language permit you to use any part of the appropriation you are asking for the rest of this fiscal year? Mr. WETMORE. For additional rent; yes, sir. It is not a fiscal year appropriation. The Warrant Division carries it as a continuing appropriation.

The CHAIRMAN. You are asking for money enough to carry you from March 1, 1921, to June 16, 1922?

Mr. WETMORE. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Will that require $5,000?

Mr. WETMORE. I believe it is just about that amount, or it is very close to it; $3,990 is nearly $4,000 a year.

The CHAIRMAN. You have an entire quarter for this fiscal year for which you will have to pay rent out of next year's appropriation?

Mr. WETMORE. Yes, sir.

AMARILLO, TEX.

FOR ENLARGING MAILING PLATFORM, ETC.

The CHAIRMAN. In the next item you are asking "That of the unexpended balance of the appropriation for the construction of the post-office building at Amarillo, Tex,, not exceeding $10,500 is made available for enlarging the mailing platform and for making certain interior changes in said building." What is the situation regarding the construction of a new post-office building at Amarillo, Tex.? Mr. WETMORE. This is the balance left of the building fund. The business there has increased, and they need relief. The present mailing platform is of the open type with a marquise. It is inadequate in size and permits the mail to be exposed to the elements and to the public. The extension recommended, which would be inclosed, would provide 204 square feet of additional working space and would enable the proper use to be made of 128 square feet of the present platform. It would add 128 square feet to the present platform. The CHAIRMAN. When was that building completed?

Mr. WETMORE. In 1916.

The CHAIRMAN. What was the total appropriation?

Mr. WETMORE. $200,000.

The CHAIRMAN. What did the building cost?

Mr. WETMORE. $188,600. There is a balance of $10,553.87, but we do not need all of the balance for this work. I would say that if we had $6,000 of the $10,553 they could probably get along with it;

but it would be better not to be tied down too closely on that, and to expend the unexpended balance there would make the building more suitable.

The CHAIRMAN. What would you build there?

Mr. WETMORE. This is for the extension of the mailing platform and inclosing the open space. It is now exposed to the elements and is not of sufficient size. That would give 332 feet of inclosed working space. That would give quite an addition to the workroom. The CHAIRMAN. What is the width of it?

Mr. WETMORE. I have not the dimensions.
The CHAIRMAN. Is the length 204 feet?

Mr. WETMORE. No, sir; that would be the number of square feet additional, and it would make 128 square feet of the present platform more available.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you regard this as very important?

Mr. WETMORE. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Has the business been growing very much there? Mr. WETMORE. I have the report of the superintendent on that. He says

The present mailing platform is of the open type with a marquise over, which is not only inadequate in size but permits the mail to be left exposed to the elements and the public. Not being able to put the mailing platform to proper use during the rush periods causes intolerable congestion of the workroom and materially decreases the working efficiency of the postal force. A 12-foot extension to this platform and inclosing the same and providing three doors, for receipt and dispatch of mail, will provide 204 additional feet of working space, and proper use of the present platform. It will also protect the mail from the elements and the public. This extension will make ample provision for some time to come, and it will not encroach upon the driveway surface too much for practical purposes, and it is urgently recommended that this work be done at the earliest date possible.

That will probably take care of any question of having to enlarge that building for quite a number of years to come.

Mr. BYRNS. What is the population of that place?

Mr. WETMORE. 19,124.

Mr. BYRNS. You have erected a building there at a cost of $188.600. Is it used for any other purpose besides post office purposes? Mr. WETMORE. For the post office and courthouse.

Mr. MAGEE. What interior changes of the building are contemplated?

Mr. WETMORE. Wire screening for inclosures for stamp division, $300; new counter for stamp division, $100; new screened inclosure for parcel-post division, $350; and some changes in doors, closing some openings and cutting new doorways, $300. The exterior changes amount to $4,500. I think that $6,000 of the balance would probably do the work.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the annual business down there?

Mr. WETMORE. The gross postal receipts were $114,536.51 for the fiscal year 1919.

The CHAIRMAN. How does that compare with the receipts for prior years?

Mr. WERMORE. I will supply that for the record.

NOTE.--Amarillo, (Ter.), postal receipts.—1918, $107,157.11; 1919, $114,536.51; 1920, $113,872.89.

BROOKLYN (N. Y.) POST OFFICE.

The CHAIRMAN. We gave you $45,000 for raising the annex floor to grade of main workroom and for installing mail lift at the Brooklyn (N. Y.) post office. How is that work progressing?

Two

Mr. WETMORE. There were two contracts to be let there. contracts had to be let, one for work that had to be done on the floor below before this work was put in. I have not seen a report of the work, but I can supply for the record a statement of the percentage of completion there.

The CHAIRMAN. What did the contract amount to?

Mr. WETMORE. I will supply that for the record.

NOTE. The contract for the work below the floor to be raised has been completed, and work for which the $45,000 appropriation was made will be let presently.

BUFFALO (N. Y.) POST OFFICE.

FOR EXTENSION OF LOOKOUT SYSTEM.

The CHAIRMAN. At Buffalo (N. Y.) post office, you are asking $3,500 for extension of lookout system.

Mr. WETMORE. The four items in these estimates for lookouts at Buffalo, Camden, Charleston, and Philadelphia, are submitted at the request of the Postmaster General, and Mr. Jackson, of the Post Office Department, will tell you about the necessity for them. I will tell you what they will cost. The first one is at Buffalo. The First Assistant Postmaster General has called attention to the unsatisfactory condition of the lookout at Buffalo, stating that it can not be entered without the knowledge of one or more employees. The workroom is of one story and has a glass roof, so that to reach the door recommended, it would be necessary to walk over the supporting beams of the skylight, which is inadvisable. We have had an inspector there and he has made a layout for the lookout, and the estimated cost in that case is $3,500. I understand that Mr. Jackson, who is here, has been at that building and knows about the situation there. He can tell you about the necessity.

THE CHAIRMAN. Mr. Jackson, what is the necessity for the construction of additional lookouts?

Mr. JACKSON. You can not go into the lookout there without somebody on the workroom floor seeing you, and without using the lookout in most buildings you will not be able to get anywhere with your testing. You may spend nights and nights, but you can not get your tests in front of your man, and it will not be safe to pick him up. It will not be safe to pick him up unless you have some way of observing him to tell what has happened to the test. They are also using the lookout extensively on clerk-hire cases and city letter-carrier cases. For instance, the postmaster makes a request for five or ten clerks in his office, claiming that he can not have the mail ready for the carriers with his present force. The next morning the inspector will be in the lookout to determine whether the clerks are giving the Government a fair day's work. We have used them extensively in those cases.