Construction and repair of life-saving stations.-The service in charge of the construction and repair of life-saving stations consists of two offices, as has been stated, one at New York, N. Y., and the other at Portland, Oreg. Each of these offices is in charge of a captain of the United States Revenue-Cutter Service, whose salary is paid from the appropriations for the Revenue-Cutter Service. The New York office has as personnel 12 assistant superintendents, at compensations varying from $1,500 to $2,000 annually, and a clerk with a compensation of $1,400 annually. The Portland office has two assistant superintendents, one with a compensation of $2,000 and the other with a compensation of $1,500 annually. The two offices together thus have a personnel of 17, the aggregate of whose annual salaries, according to the pay roll, exclusive of the salaries of the two officers of the Revenue-Cutter Service, is $27,800.

These two offices, working in conjunction with the division of construction and repair of life-saving stations in the central office at Washington, have charge of the work of constructing and repairing life-saving stations. Most of the assistant superintendents listed are engaged in the field in the personal supervision of structures in process of erection or repair.

Superintendence of construction of lifeboats, apparatus, etc.-The service for the construction of lifeboats, apparatus, etc., is located at New York, being housed in the customhouse for that city. It is presided over by a captain of the United States Revenue-Cutter Service, whose salary is paid from the appropriations for that service. He has an assistant, with a salary of $2,200; a clerk, with a salary of $1,200; and a repairman, with a salary of $1,200 per annum. The service thus has a personnel of four, the total of whose annual salaries, exclusive of the salary of the officer of the Revenue-Cutter Service, is $4,620. This service has charge of the construction and repair of power lifeboats and surfboats and certain other equipment. Power lifeboats are built under contract at Bayonne, N. J., and power surfboats under contract at Greenport, Long Island, the former under the direct supervision of the captain of the Revenue-Cutter Service and the latter under the direct supervision of the assistant superintendent.

Superintendence of construction and maintenance of telephone lines.The Life-Saving Service maintains telephonic communication between many of its stations. These lines make it easy to concentrate the crews of two or more stations at any point where additional force is required. This service is under the supervision of a superintendent of telephone lines, with headquarters at Newark, N. J. He receives a compensation of $2,000 per annum and is assisted by nine linesmen, receiving a salary of $1,200 per annum. The aggregate of annual salaries for this service is $12,800.

Inspection and storehouse. The operation of a general storehouse for the service and the conduct of the work of field inspection are intrusted to the same subdivision of the service. A 5-story and basement fireproof building, located at 379, 381, and 383 Washington Street, New York, N. Y., is leased by the Life-Saving Service as headquarters for this work at an annual rental of $8,000. Pursuant to the provisions of the act of June 18, 1878, already cited, the duties of the head of this service, known as inspector of life-saving stations,

The office of the superintendent of construction of life-saving stations is also located in this building.

are discharged by a captain of the United States Revenue-Cutter Service. He is assisted by nine other officers of this service who are known as, and perform the duties of, assistant inspectors. The salaries of all are paid from appropriations for the Revenue-Cutter Service. A chief clerk, with a salary of $2,000 per annum, is in immediate charge of the storehouse. He is assisted by 10 other employees, performing the duties of clerks, laborers, handlers, and packers, watchmen, etc. The personnel of this division, including both the inspection and the storehouse branches, thus numbers 21, and the aggregate of their compensation, exclusive of the salaries of the officers of the Revenue-Cutter Service, is $13,440.

It should be noted that two other storehouses, one located at Grand Haven, Mich., and the other at San Francisco, are maintained. Each of these storehouses is in charge of a shipping clerk, the one stationed at Grand Haven receiving a salary of $1,500 and the one at San Francisco $1,200 per annum.

The inspector in charge makes no inspections personally, the fieldinspection work being done by the nine assistant inspectors, who are permanently assigned to duty in particular districts, with their headquarters at the headquarters of the districts. Though the reports from the assistant inspectors pass through his office to that of the general superintendent at Washington, his direction and supervision of the field-inspection work is seemingly but nominal.

Board of life-saving appliances.-The organic act of 1878 provides that one of the functions of the general superintendent shall be to cause to be investigated all plans and inventions for the improvement of life-saving apparatus, for use at the stations, which may appear to be meritorious and available. Pursuant to this authority the Secretary of the Treasury, by departmental letter of January 3, 1882, constituted a board of life-saving appliances. This board is composed of seven persons designated and appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury from members of the Life-Saving Service and other branches of the Government on account of their qualifications for the duties they are to perform. It is the duty of this board to examine and, if necessary, to test such plans, devices, and inventions as the general superintendent may submit to it, and by their reports to aid and advise the general superintendent in the selection of devices and appliances to be used in the service. The board usually meets once a year at Boston, Mass., for this purpose.

Districts. For the direct administration of the work in the field, the country is divided into 13 districts. The number and boundaries of these districts are fixed by law. In charge of each district is a district superintendent, who is appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury, after competitive examination, from among the keepers of the stations. Ten of the superintendents receive salaries of $2,200, two $2,000, and one $1,900 annually. All, with the exception of the superintendent of the eighth district, have a clerk with a salary of $900 per annum. The 13 district officers thus have a total personnel of 25 and an annual pay roll of $38,700.

These district superintendents are disbursing officers and paymasters for their respective districts, and as such give bonds. They are also ex officio inspectors of customs. They conduct the general business of their districts, make requisitions for station supplies, repairs, etc., and upon receipt of authority see that the supplies are

furnished. They are required to visit the stations at least once a quarter and to acquaint themselves with station conditions. On these occasions they pay off the crews and make other disbursements as authorized. As inspectors of customs they look after the interests of the Government in reference to dutiable property wrecked within their jurisdiction and see that the keepers perform their duties in reference thereto. This duty is merely incidental to their other work and is of relatively little importance.

Life-saving stations and houses of refuge.-The actual work of saving life and property is performed by the life-saving stations and houses. of refuge. Of these there are 270 of the former and 8 of the latter. hach life-saving station is in charge of a "keeper," who has the assistance of a "No. 1 surfman" and from 5 to 7 "surfmen." Each house of refuge is in charge of a "keeper," who has no crew. In addition to this regular personnel there are one "engineer" and one "helper" at the City Point (Mass.) Station (a floating station), in the second district; a supply boat, with a "pilot," in the fourth district; a supply boat, with a "pilot" and an "engineer," in the sixth district; and a supply boat, with a "pilot," an "assistant pilot," and a "deck hand," in the seventh district.

The keepers are usually selected on the joint recommendation of the assistant inspector and the district superintendent for their special fitness for the position, as evidenced by their character, skill, and physique. Only surfmen are eligible for appointment. The surfmen are selected from registers of eligible men furnished by the Civil Service Commission. The keepers are required to reside constantly at their stations, are intrusted with the care and custody of the station property, for which they are accountable, and govern the station premises. They are captains of their crews and exercise absolute control over them. They are also ex officio inspectors of customs and are required to guard all wrecked property until turned over to the owner or otherwise properly disposed of.

The salary of a keeper is $1,000 per annum and that of a keeper of a house of refuge $600 per annum. The No. 1 surfmen receive $70 per month and the other surfmen $65 per month while actually employed. Each keeper and surfman receives commutation of rations at 30 cents per day. In the 270 stations and 8 houses of refuge there are employed 290 keepers, with an aggregate annual compensation of $276,800; 268 No. 1 surfmen, with an aggregate annual compensation of $225,120; 1,613 surfmen, with an aggregate annual compensation of $1,204,740; and 9 pilots, engineers, etc., with an annual compensation of $7,260-a total of $1,713,920.

In the entire service, including both the bureau proper at Washington and all offices and stations in the field, there are employed, including officers of the Revenue-Cutter Service, 2,351 persons, the total of whose compensation, not including that of the RevenueCutter officers, is $1,854,840.

LIGHTHOUSE SERVICE.

HISTORY.

The maintenance of lighthouses and other aids to navigation has been a work carried on since the origin of the Federal Government. The service covers the coasts of the United States on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes, as well

as the Mississippi River and its tributaries. It also carries on its operations in Alaska, Porto Rico, Hawail, and at the naval station in Cuba. Its activities do not extend to the Philippines, which have their own service.

Prior to the creation of the Department of Commerce and Labor, in 1903, the Lighthouse Service was under the Treasury Department. During the earlier years it was not organized as a distinct service, lighthouse matters being attended to at different times by various officials of the department. In 1852, as the result of an investigation by two naval officers of foreign practice regarding the administration of lighthouses, there was created a Lighthouse Board to have direction of the service. This board was composed of the Secretary of the Treasury (as president), two Army officers, two Navy officers, and two civilians of high scientific attainments, together with an officer of the Navy and an officer of Engineers of the Army as secretaries. Upon the creation of the Department of Commerce and Labor, in 1903, the service was transferred to it without change except that the Secretary of that department fell heir to the duties and powers of the Secretary of the Treasury in relation to the service.

Two characteristics of the board system thus created should be noted: First, the vesting of authority in a board instead of a singleheaded bureau, as is the prevailing practice in providing for the administration of the services of the Government; and, second, the large use made of Army and Navy officers, both as members of the board and as directors or supervisors of work in the field. In respect to both of these features the system worked badly in practice. Congress accordingly, by act of June 17, 1910, provided for an entire reorganization of the service. The Lighthouse Board was abolished and in its place was created a Bureau of Lighthouses, with a Commissioner of Lighthouses at its head. Provision was made at the same time for the substitution of civilians in place of officers of the Army and Navy as inspectors of the 19 districts into which the country is divided for purposes of field supervision. In order that the transition might not be too abrupt, the law, however, provides that the President may continue for three years to detail Army and Navy officers to fill these positions. At the present time 15 of the 19 positions of district inspectors are filled by such officers.

ORGANIZATION.

As in the case of the Life-Saving Service, the primary division of organization for the operation of this service is that between the bureau proper at Washington and the field service or Lighthouse Establishment. Following are shown the major subdivisions of each of these branches.

I. Bureau proper at Washington.

1. General administration.

2. Engineering construction division.
3. Marine engineering division.

4. Hydrographic division.

II. Field service or Lighthouse Establishment.

1. District offices.

2. Supply depots.

3. Lighthouse tenders and vessels.
4. Light stations and other aids.
5. Reservations.

General administration.-Under the heading of "General administration" are grouped the Commissioner of Lighthouses, the deputy commissioner, chief clerk, and the division of accounts, with their necessary clerical assistants; in other words, those officers and employees have to do with general direction and control, rather than with the performance of duties of a specific technical character. In the office of chief clerk and in the division of accounts are handled the financial matters of the service, such as making contracts, purchasing supplies, keeping of accounts, requisitioning for funds, etc. Engineering construction division.-The engineering construction division is in charge of the chief consulting engineer, an officer provided for by the organic act, and has for its duties the preparation of plans and specifications for the construction of lighthouses and other structures on land. It is also charged with the inspection and testing of materials and the examination of all illuminating machinery and apparatus as supplied by the general lighthouse depot.

Marine engineering division.-The marine engineering division is in charge of the superintendent of naval construction, an officer provided for by the organic act, and has the management of affairs involving marine engineering and the construction and repair of the vessels of the service. This division is also charged with the examination and filing of inventories submitted by masters and engineers of vessels, and reports of periodical inspection of lighthouse tenders by district officers.

Hydrographic division.-The hydrographic division has charge of the examination of, and reporting upon, questions concerning the establishment, changes in, or discontinuance of, aids to navigation, so far as these affect primarily the requirements of navigation. As a general rule, recommendations for new aids, or changes in existing aids, originate with the district inspectors because of their knowledge of local requirements. Where they originate in the office, or are presented by maritime interests, they are forwarded to the district inspectors for report and recommendation before final action is taken. This division also has charge of the editing of matter relating to aids to navigation, the preparation of copy for publication in the Notices to Mariners, and the correction and revision of the lists of lights, buoys, and day marks in the several districts and their preparation for publication.

For the performance of the work of these divisions, constituting the bureau proper at Washington, the law (legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for 1912) makes provision for a personnel of 42 with a total annual compensation of $64,530.

Districts. For the administration of the service in the field the organic act provides "that the Commissioner of Lighthouses, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, shall rearrange the ocean, gulf, and lake coasts and the rivers of the United States, Porto Rico, and the naval station in Cuba into not exceeding 19 lighthouse districts." In pursuance of this law the country has been divided into the maximum number of districts.

The law further provides that "a lighthouse inspector shall be assigned in charge of each district. The lighthouse inspectors shall each receive a salary of $2,400 per annum, except the inspector of the third district, whose salary shall be $3,600 per annum.' They are