SECTION 22.

PERSONNEL OF CONSTRUCTION DIVISION.

MILITARY PERSONNEL.

The Construction Division, as constituted at the date of the armistice, was composed of 1,429 officers and 12,353 civilians, a total of 13,782. Its office and field forces included many leading engineers, architects, and constructors who acted in consulting and advisory positions and as executives, department heads, constructing quartermasters, and supervising engineers. Many of these and of their assistants were drawn from organizations throughout the United States. engaged in designing, building, and contracting work, and in the operation of public utilities. So far as the Board of Review has been able to ascertain, the personnel of no other corps or division of the Army contained such a large proportion of men who had, as measured by the prewar positions or earnings, been notably successful in their civilian professions. The schedule of officers and their former work, given several pages beyond, is inserted because of its interest in this connection.

During the entire war period all but twelve of the officers of the division were men drawn from civil life. Of these twelve, six were actively connected with the affairs of the Construction Division and six were constructing quartermasters who received other assignments before or at the completion of their first projects. Three of the twelve were with the division at the time of the armistice.

Of the officers from civil life it is stated that about 40 per cent came from the engineering and architectural professions and 60 per cent from construction and allied activities.

The authorized and actual strength of the commissioned and enlisted personnel of the Construction Division and their salaries and allowances on November 11, 1918, were as follows:

1 Figures assume the heating and lighting of 1 room, as, owing to the shortage of rooms in Washington during the period of the war, officers probably did not, on the average, occupy more than 1 room each. * Of this number, 415 were located in the central office at Washington and 1,014 in the field.

In addition to salary, enlisted men received board, quarters, clothing, and medical attendance.

All of the enlisted personnel in the field served in the maintenance and repair division of the Construction Division.

The following list gives the name and an outline of the prewar experience and business and professional status of a number of the officers who served with the Construction Division:

Brig. Gen. R. C. Marshall, jr., chief of the Construction Division of the Army.

Graduate of Virginia Military Institute, class of 1898. Served through the Spanish-American War as captain, 4th United States Infantry. Entered Regular Army second lieutenant, Coast Artillery Corps, February, 1902. Promoted captain, same corps, January 20, 1908. Detailed on special technical work in connection with manufacturing shops and other Army activities. Detailed to Quartermaster Corps January, 1915. Assigned to duty in office of Quartermaster General as officer in charge of construction, maintenance, and operation of all utilities at Army posts and stations. After the declaration of war, promoted through various ranks until June 26, 1918, when made brigadier general, National Army, president of the Army & Navy Cooperative Co. Col. F. M. Gunby, officer in charge, engineering division.

Partner of Charles T. Main (former president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers), and consulting engineer for textile mills and industrial organizations.

Col. M. J. Whitson, officer in charge, building division.

General contractor and consulting engineer, specializing in heavy construction and railroad building work in the United States and Canada.

Col. P. Junkersfeld, officer in charge, building division.

President Association of Edison Companies and assistant vice president Commonwealth Edison Co., Chicago, with supervision of engineering, construction, and operation, including allied interests having electric, gas, railway, and other properties in several States.

Col. E. Shelby, officer in charge, contracts division.

Member of the New York Bar, engaged in the practice of law:

Col. J. N. Willcutt, officer in charge, procurement division.

President of the firm of T. D. Willcutt & Sons, general contractors, Boston, Mass., builders of the Touraine Hotel, Boston, and addition to Harvard University.

Col. Joseph H. Alexander, officer in charge, administrative division.

Assistant to the president of the Cleveland Railways Co. Experienced in labor and transportation problems, electric railway management, and general construction.

Col. Frank E. Lamphere, constructing officer, port development, Charleston, S. C.
Principal assistant engineer, Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal Transfer
Railway Co. An authority in Chicago on track elevation and grade separation
work.

Col. Millard A. Butler, constructing officer at Norfolk Quartermaster Terminal.
Chief engineer of the St. Paul Belt Line. Construction engineer for the
Great Northern Railroad Co.

Col. Lincoln Bush, at headquarters.

Chief engineer of the Lackawanna Railroad in charge of rehabilitation, including design and construction of large docks and terminals in the New York district. Inventor of the Bush train shed. As contractor, built the Scranton viaduct of the Lackawanna Railroad and other projects. Col. C. D. Hartman, officer in charge, maintenance and repair division.

Graduate of West Point Military Academy, class of 1908, Infantry branch. Quartermaster in field with troops, including service in the Philippines. Post quartermaster, including construction, operation, and maintenance. Constructing quartermaster for the Eagle Pass district.

Col. Charles Neville, officer in charge, accounting division.

Partner, Neville, McIver, Barnes & Co., certified public accountants of Savannah, Ga.

Col. George F. D. Trask, at headquarters.

Contractor. Built Washington & Alexandria Railroad and other construction undertakings, including work in Central America, Cuba, and Porto Rico. Lieut. Col. Philander Betts, at headquarters.

Chief engineer of the Public Utilities Commission, State of New Jersey. Consulting, constructing, and operating experience in public utilities. Lieut. Col. O. P. Chamberlain, at headquarters.

Vice president Delese & Shepard Co., Chicago, Ill., stone producers and street-paving contractors in Middle West. Experience in general railroad construction.

Lieut. Col. Wm. Couper, constructing officer, north Camp Jackson, S. C.

Assistant engineer and superintendent in charge of lighterage and scow department of Pennsylvania Railroad Co.

Lieut. Col. H. S. Durant, at headquarters.

Northwestern manager at St. Paul, Minn., of American Steel & Wire Co. Lieut. Col. W. L. Henwood, constructing officer, Delaware Ordnance Depot, Pedricktown, N. J.

Partner of Lathrop, Shea & Henwood, general contractors, New York and Scranton, Pa.

Lieut. Col. Dabney H. Maury, at headquarters.

Consulting engineer specializing on water works, and for many years an engineer and operator of waterworks systems. Ex-president of the American Water Works Association.

Lieut. Col. E. B. Morden, constructing officer, Philadelphia Interior Storage Depot, Philadelphia, Pa.

Constructing engineer and late manager of building for the Great Northern Railway at St. Paul, Minn. Previous experience general railroad construction. Lieut. Col. J. N. Pease, at headquarters.

Mill engineer for Lockwood, Green & Co., engineers, Boston, Mass.; prior to this time was in business for himself.

Lieut. Col. Warren R. Roberts, at headquarters.

President and principal owner, Roberts & Schaefer Co., Chicago, Ill. Manufacturers and contractors of coal-handling and coal-washing apparatus.

Lieut. Col. D. H. Sawyer, constructing officer, Air Nitrate Plant, Cincinnati, Ohio. Partner of Sawyer Bros., Spokane and Seattle, Wash., consulting engineers on railroad construction, hydraulic work, irrigation, drainage, and roads. Lieut. Col. E. C. Stockdale, at headquarters.

With Page & Hill Co., Minneapolis, Minn., formerly on construction projects, including St. Croix Falls, Wis., Hydroelectric Development, Keokuk, Iowa, and Rause Lake, Mont., development.

Lieut. Col. George B. Walbridge, at headquarters.

President Walbridge, Aldinger & Co., general contractors, of Detroit, Mich., for about eight years; prior to that had much experience with George A. Fuller Co.

Lieut. Col. F. B. Wheaton, at headquarters.

For many years connected with office of Supervising Architect of the Treasury. Lieut. Col. R. M. White, at headquarters.

Division superintendent of Lackawanna Railroad with previous experience in engineering construction and railroad operation.

Lieut. Col. C. C. Wright, at headquarters.

Partner of Geo. C. Nimmons & Co., Chicago, Ill., architects and engineers, specializing on warehouse and industrial construction and all construction work for Sears, Roebuck & Co.

Lieut. Col. L. L. Calvert, at headquarters.

Chief engineer for 12 years for the Tidewater Building Co., general contractors, New York City.

Lieut. Col. H. S. Crocker, constructing officer, South Brooklyn Port and Terminal, N. Y.

In business for himself as engineer and contractor in Colorado and formerly erecting manager of the American Bridge Co.

Lieut. Col. E. H. Abadie, at headquarters.

Engineer and contractor at St. Louis, Mo., engaged in the construction of street railways and public utility plants.

Lieut. Col. R. F. Proctor, constructing officer, Curtis Bay Ordnance Depot, Md.

Chief engineer of the American Casualty Co., completing work on which contractors had failed. Prior to this had several years experience with contractors. Lieut. Col. G. B. Strickler, constructing officer, Camp Hancock, Augusta, Ga.

Engineer and contractor in business for himself at Washington, D. C., and Baltimore, Md.

CIVILIAN PERSONNEL.

CI VIL SE RVICE.

Civilian employees are subject to the rules and regulations of the Civil Service Commission as to qualifications and to the Appointment Division of the War Department as to salary.

The securing of civilian personnel by the Construction Division seems to have been a trying and difficult problem during the entire war period. At the commencement of the war the eligible lists of the Civil Service Commission were inadequate in numbers, schedules of classifications and grades to meet the requirements. The statutes under which the Civil Service Commission acts grant it authority to make or suspend rules to cover or meet almost any contingency. This provided flexibility, when properly exercised, but did not

provide personnel. Whether, in time of emergency, it is or is not detrimental to the activities of a military bureau, seems to depend entirely on the commission's policy and not on the civil service law, which gives it large discretionary powers.

It is the belief among those of the Construction Division who were interviewed on the subject that the Civil Service Commission failed to appreciate fully the great difficulties facing the division. They state that the methods prescribed by the commission for filling positions proved inadequate under war conditions when, during the period of the most rapid growth of the division, it was necessary to fill positions promptly; that the demand for properly qualified assistants, including technical experts, accountants, clerks, and stenographers, was continuous and pressing; that the filling of these positions by civil service procedure requires the submission of specifications to the Civil Service Commission, the return of an eligible list, the selection of candidates therefrom, and correspondence with them to ascertain whether they are available and are willing to accept the position on the terms offered; that though the candidates on such eligible lists may be thousands of miles distant from the location of the position to be filled, the rules of the commission require that they be considered if they head the list; and that the inadequacy of this procedure to meet war conditions and its effect upon speed are obvious. The commission is stated to have realized this later and allowed the division to fill positions with temporary employees, of whom many were afterward passed and certified by the commission.

As early as October 9, 1917, the officer in charge of cantonment construction, in a letter to the Secretary of War on the subject of emergency construction, stated that "experience gained in the construction of the cantonments indicates that the following specific authorities be given and approved by you:

"(4) Authority to employ the service of such personnel as may be needed without reference, to the civil service list."

APPOINTMENT DIVISION, WAR DEPARTMENT.

Those interviewed stated that securing the approvals of the Appointment Division of the War Department was unduly difficult and time consuming. As mentioned elsewhere, the high wages paid skilled and common labor caused much difficulty in securing and holding auditors, timekeepers, and clerical forces in the field. The salaries allowed by the Appointment Division of the War Department for these positions were stated to have been often insufficient and unduly low in proportion to the wages paid workmen, to the increasing cost of living, and to the character of the service which the work demanded.