REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON OBSERVATORIES 47 



Furthermore, after long duty at the instrument the observer is in 

 need of rest, and in order to attain it should not be subjected to the 

 hardship of a journey on foot for a mile or two in the small hours 

 of the morning. For those observers who are obliged to begin 

 duty at some time after midnight, it is practically indispensable that 

 their residences should be in close proximity to the instruments they 

 are to use. Aside from these obviously practical considerations, it 

 has been found by experience that the plan of housing the staff 

 upon the observatory premises effects a real economy in the quality 

 and quantitj' of output in relation to the total expenditure. 



We are of the opinion, therefore, that residences for the observ- 

 ing staff should be provided upon the site of the observatory. All 

 that would be needed would be small cottages of simple construc- 

 tion, suitable to the climate. Equal simplicity ought to prevail in 

 the construction of the office buildings required for administration, 

 computing, library, and storage. Small work rooms would also be 

 needed for the mechanical department. 



Staff and Organization. 



The question of organization for the proposed observatory is one 

 which cannot be effectively discussed until something shall be known 

 of the definite purposes of the Trustees in relation to its establish- 

 ment. It goes without saying that no work whatever should be 

 undertaken which cannot be put under the direction of assured^ 

 competent and energetic astronomers interested in what they are to 

 undertake. If the scheme should be inaugurated in its broadest 

 scope, as we hope, it would be a mistake to begin the execution of 

 the plans until the general control and direction can be arranged in 

 a manner to command the confidence of the astronomical world, as 

 well as that of the Trustees. 



In some respects, however, the situation would be peculiar. In 

 the ordinary case one of the most important functions of the directof 

 of an observatory is the control which he exercises in the choice or 

 work and methods. In the present case the director would be partly 

 shorn of this privilege at the outset, since the very idea of the pro- 

 posed observatory would be the performance of certain definite tasks. 



Furthermore, in the selection of the staff for the execution of the 

 full program it would be necessary to select, in addition to routine 

 assistants, about twenty astronomers and assistant astronomers of 

 proved capacity and experience in varying degrees. Other qualifi- 

 cations, such as health, energy, and capacity of adaptation to new 



