588 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



tion for aqueduct bonds will be opened 

 during July for the purpose of adding 

 to this fund. 



The loss of time, and, what is of 

 greater hurt, the partial destruction of 

 an organization wonderful in its effi- 

 ciency, will extend the time of completion 

 somewhat beyond May, 1912. Despite 

 the temporary delay, due entirely to the 

 unforeseen financial conditions, there is 

 every reason to believe that the task will 

 be accomplished well within the original 

 time limit. 



Six months after the opening of the 

 Jawbone Division, the Board of Public 

 Works let a small contract of 10 miles 

 of easy conduit and tunnel section, be- 

 cause the board desired to be able to 

 compare private and municipal efficiency, 

 the result to guide them in the building 

 of the remaining aqueduct mileage. The 

 city, with the exception of this one con- 

 tract, is doing all its own work. 



Basing the cost upon contractors' bids 

 for the completion of the Jawbone Di- 

 vision and the extras made necessary on 

 the single contract, the aqueduct could not 

 have been completed under $40,000,000. 

 This statement is based upon the careful 

 figures of the aqueduct's cost-keeping 

 department. 



Throughout the country there are an 

 overwhelming number of illustrations to 

 show that where a municipality under- 

 takes its own public work, the cost and 

 period of construction range from one 

 to one and a half times more than under 

 private contract. 



the: city divides the: profits with the: 

 workme:n 



What, then, are the reasons for the 

 unexampled speed and low costs ? First, 

 undoubtedly, is the complete prepared- 

 ness provided before any excavation was 

 attempted. Secondly, the efficiency of 

 the men and the organization of which 

 they are a part. This is a public work 

 without any politics. All employees are 

 American. There is no contract labor 

 employed. There are no men on the 

 pay-rolls who have outlived their useful- 

 ness, or have been failures in life and 

 have found a berth because of friendship 



at the city hall. Youth and virility filE 

 the ranks of the 5,000. Every man in- 

 a position above that of day laborer re- 

 ceived his certification from the City 

 Civil Service Commission. He holds his 

 place provided he is competent for the- 

 duties assigned him and not othewise. 

 He climbs upward and is given prefer- 

 ence as he shows himself capable. 



Every one works for records. These 

 are published for each lo-day period and- 

 sent broadcast by the cost-keeping bu- 

 reau, and thus the spirit of rivalry is- 

 fostered and intensified. When a camp^ 

 once gains the pennant for good and. 

 rapid work it strives with all its might; 

 to retain the emblem. 



The city further divides with the men 

 the profits which result to the munici- 

 pality from unusual endeavor on the part 

 of its employees. A careful determma- 

 tion is made of how much tunnel can be^ 

 bored in a certain character of rock or 

 soil by a crew in 10 days, or the average- 

 distance that should be made by a power 

 shovel or a concrete gang in the same- 

 interval. Wherever the set distance is^ 

 exceeded, every 10 days the city pays a 

 bonus to each man for every extra foot 

 accomplished. Under this system the- 

 workmen themselves drive out the lag- 

 gards and the drones. Drones and lag- 

 gards retard progress and cut down the 

 bonus. That the city's policy is a paying: 

 one is shown by the fact that all Ameri- 

 can records for tunnel boring have been 

 repeatedly broken, as well as those for' 

 other-forms of excavation and cement 

 working. 



The 'engineers have not participated in. 

 the nioney awards. When the opening of 

 the aqueduct was placed one year ahead 

 of time, an assistant engineer complained 

 to the board : "This is a great thing for 

 the under dog, but where does the engi- 

 neer come in? His only reward is to 

 work himself out of a job as quickly as 

 possible, while the men under him reap 

 the benefit in increased wages." 



''We hadn't thought of that," admitted 

 General Chafifee, who is at the head of 

 the Aqueduct Advisory Board. "We'll 

 look into it." Two weeks later a notice- 

 was posted of a substantial increase im 



