Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 255, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1914 — Page 3

COMPTON DECIDED TO STOP OP LEAKS

Career of Engineer Who Has Shown New Yorkers How Graft Can Be Minimized. . ICE BILL GAVE HIM. IDEA Making Good on His First Contract, He Now Has Scores of Office Buildings in His , Charge. By RICHARD SPILLANE. (Copyright, 1314, by the McClure, Newspaper Syndicate.) Mr. Compton was near the end of his resources. For six months —and that was the period in which he had been in New York —he had not made a dollar. His office was so small that one of his friends used to say he did not dare to breathe hard while in it for fear of straining the walls. , At first Compton had been proud of that office, but it had come to be a nightmare. The rent bill worried him. So did the water bill, the towel bill Sd the ice bill. He was an electrical gineer, and a good one. He had expected to get enough business to pay expenses, at least for Hie first year, but was finding it hard to break into the crowded New York field. As he brooded over his failure he scrutinized the month’s bills. Twentyfive dollars seemed a lot to pay for that tiny office, but there was. no escape. Ice at $2 a month appeared high. Having nothing better to do he figured what ice was costing him per ton. Sonia days the lump he got weighed four pounds, and sometimes five. Sometimes he got none. According to his figures he was paying S4O a ton for ice. Spofford, who was a bit of a pessimist, called to see Compton and Compton, full of his woes, told him of the ice outrage. “Well, what are you kicking about?” Spofford asked. “Don’t you know there is as much graft in an office building as there is in a Tammany job? The ice man has to pay tribute to the superintendent or the janitor. So do the towel man and the spring water man. So does the man who does the lettering on the office doors. But that is petty. The big graft is in the basement. The engineer gets a rake-off on every ton of coal and every barrel of lubricating oil and every job of ye- . pajrs, whether to an elevator, or the boiler or anything else. If I had the graft that Is collected in the office buildings of New York, I’d be a multimillionaire in a few years.” Then He Got Busy. For a week or ten' days after Spofford’s visit, Compton was so busy that he wondered how the time passed so quickly. He visited coal men, oil men, elevator men, electric light and power -people apd a host of others. He found a means of getting into the engine room of various skyscrapers, and everywhere he went he asked a lot of questions. Every letter, marked personal or other, that was directed to Peter Tomlinson at his office was opened by Rogers, his private secretary. Out of an average of forty or fifty a day, Mr. Tomlinson was bothered with the reading of only a few. “Who’s this fellow Compton?” asked Mr. Tomlinson, testily, as he glanced over the communications laid before him by his secretary one morning. “I do not know, except what he says in the letter,” Rogers said. “He is one of our tenants, and seems to be a graduate of some good engineering schools from the list he furnishes.” Mr. Tomlinson read the letter again. It asked for an interview of ten minutes, and the writer promised he would show how Mr. Tomlinson could save $5,000 a year in the management of one of his office buildings. That was all, except the references Rogers mentioned. Timely Elevator Accident. “Bah!” exclaimed Tomlinson. “The town is full of men who cannot earn their salt, but who want to Instruct successful men how to conduct their affairs. Don’t bother me with these pesky fellows any more.” And he threw Compton’s letter In the waste basket That afternoon an elevator in one of Tomlinson’s buildings dropped a story. There were only a few persons in It but one of those persons was Mr. Tomlinson; so the affair was serious, although no bones were broken and no one suffered, except from shock. At Mr. Tomlinson’s request, Rogers fished Compton’s letter out of the waste basket and wrote to him.. Compton called the next morning. Mr. Tomlinson - was desirous of knowing why that elevator slipped. Compton promised to make an examination and report, but ventured the assertion that primarily there was laxity No such accident was possible with proper inspection. Then he took up the matter he had proposed. VHe began at the beginning. He told the story of the ice bill. Then he explained what he had been doing for a week or ten days. 7 Points Out Some Leake. “In the building In which I have my office,” he said, “there is about SB,OOO a year graft. The graft Itself would not be so bad but for the fact that ft leads to Inefficiency. Graft

makes extravagance and begets negligence that means danger. In that one building you are using an average of twelve tons of coal a day. Ten tons would be ample. You are paying 20 cents a ton more than you should if your purchases were attended to properly. You are not getting so good a quality of coal as you think. You have no system whereby your coal is tested. Various of your employees get their house supply of coal from your coal man. In addition, your coal dealer pays a commission to your engineer on every ton of coal ordered. Don’t be startled. You are not any different from every other office building owner ,ln New ’ York. It is to the interest of your engineer to burn as much coal as he possibly can. He does so. He Is burning up a lot of your money. “I believe you are using about fifty barrels of lubricating oil a year in that one building. "You are paying S4O a barrel for that oil. About one-third of that is wasted. I should like to guarantee to run that building with thirty-six barrels a year. How much your repair bill each year is I have no means of ascertaining, but three times out of four the repairs could be made by your own employees. It is not to their advantage to make repairs. “You pay a water bill that must be very large. There is no effort made, so far as I can see, to curtail the use of water within reasonable limits, ffiou generate your own power and electricity. Nothing is done to keep a check on It, You should have your building examined exhaustively at regular Intervals. There should be a test of the operating equipment, embracing every detail of steam, electrical and hydraulic machinery, elevators, pipings, wiring and accessories. Everything purchased that goes into the care or operation of the building should be bought without any possibility of graft, for where graft enters the material or service will not be good. “You should have daily supervision of the consumption of water, gas, electricity, fuel and supplies. Your employees should be trained to make repairs and to do their very best for the general upkeep of the building.” Not on Commission. It hurt Tomlinson to think that he was paying for the coal that various of his employees were burning in

their homes In Flatbush or the Bronx. It hurt him, too, to think that some of the lubricating oil for which he was paying S4O a barrel was run Into the sewer because getting rid of a barrel of oil meant $4 more commission In the engineer's pocket. What hurt him most, however, was to realize that with all the money he was spending he was getting such popr service, that his own life had been Imperiled by the falling of that elevator. He was a man of lippulse. He liked Compton's looks, liked the way fie talked and like the way he had presented his case. “I’ll tell you what I*ll do,” he said. “I*ll put you In charge of that building and allow you 25 per cent of what you save in the cost of operation. I suppose I*ve got mbre cleaners, porters, elevator operators, engineers, firemen, oilers, watchmen and such than are necessary. Now if you want to take hold of this thing you ought to make a fair amount out of it” Compton shook his head. "You have the wrong Idea, Mr. Tomlinson. You never will get proper service or proper economy In that building working on that basis. There is only one way In which you and I can do business. If you wish me to keep that building In condition J will engage to give It my attention and service. I will supervise your purchases and I’ll Introduce s system of tests and reports that will safeguard you in every respect. I’ll look over your pay roll and study your em-

The Engineer’s Feelings Were Outraged.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN. RENSSELAER. IND.

ployees and I’ll make such suggestion* or recommendations for better as my judgment dictates. But I will not do this on a commission basis. You can pay a stipulated sum for. my services, or not at aIL if lam going to be any "good to you, I must stand between you and your men. If I worked on a commission basis I would be on your side of-the fence. The greater the saving, the greater the profit for me, but not for you. You would not get the highest efficiency through such an arrangement. What you rifled is the greatest economy consistent with the greatest efficiency.” Had Plenty of Trouble. “You are right, Mr. Compton,” said Tomlinson. “I am glad you made that clear to me. My proposition was wrong. I have no doubt of your honesty, but what I suggested was wrong in principle. I will make an agree>ment with you for three months on whatever- basis you think is fair. If you show in that three months that you are capable, as I am inclined to think you are, I will be disposed to consider the matter more extensively.” Mr. Compton did not have an easy time. No man has who takes cake and pie away from gentlemen who have been accustomed to feeding on thpse delicacies. There was threat of a strike when the announcement was made that he had supervision of the building. The engineer’s feelings were outraged. He scorned dictation and almost was violent in his language about Mr. Compton, , But he was not violent when Mr. Compton summoned him to his office.. Compton is mild voiced, but quite impressive. It did not take that engineer'(wo minutes to realize that there could be no juggling so long as Compton was on the job. The first three months showed a saving of s9o<Pln the operation of that office building. It did not seem much, as Compton explained to Mr. Tomlinson, but It really did not represent the real savings, for many of the Items of supply had been contracted for In advance on the graft rates. There had been a reduction of nearly 200 tons of coal consumed and a large proportionate reduction In the use of oil. Tfiere had been a slight increase in wages in one or two instances and there was a most promising outlook in the training of the

employees for making repairs about the structure. Tomlinson studied the report for a day or two. ..Then he entered into a contract with Compton for a year. Three months after that contract was made, when he looked over Compton’s second quarterly report which showed ' a saving of more than $2,000, ho turneajver all six of his office build- 1 Ings tu him to supervise on the same 1 basis as the first one. _ His Business Is Immense. No one who enters Mr. Compton’s office today need hesitate about breathing hard while in it for fear of* straining the walls. He occupies a whole floor in a big downtown structure. He has scores of buildings under his charge. He has a lot of experts assisting him who watch over these, buildings as physicians watch over patients.*..There Is not a detail about those great structures that does not come within the exhaustive examination of these men. Compton has come to be one of the largest buyers in New York. His purchases of coal total more than half a million tons a year. His purchases of oil aggregate nearly 4,000 barrels. His buying power is so great that he is able to contract for Supplies at a comparatively low rate. He never has deviated from the position he assumed in the beginning—of stahdtng midway between the owner and the employee. There are more content and better service with the eliae{nation of graft and extravaganoe.

BOSTON BRAVES WIN 1914 NATIONAL LEAGUE PENNANT

YALE FOOTBALL TEAM IS MUCH LIGHTER

The chief problem with which Coach Hinkey and Captain Talbot will have to wrestle this fall is to fill the shoes of Ketcham, last year’s captain and one of the most aggressive players In a Yale line in years. Avery, the end; Pendleton, guard; Warren, a first string tackle; Martyng, center, and Dunn in the back field, besides two or three good substitutes, are also among the absent this year, but the Blue has a fair amount of good material from last year’s freshmen team to draw from. The back field, consisting of Ainsworth, Wilson, Pumpelly, Guern-

URGE PROFITS OF GRIDIRON

Football Proves Greatest Money-Maker of AH College Sports—Harvard and Princeton Gains. To anyone who has seen even one of the minor fall contests upon the gridiron it will not be surprising to learn that football is the greatest moneymaker among all the college sports, says the Providence Journal. The profits tn. any other field are comparatively negligible, and the football surplus each yefir helps to make up some of the deficit that results from maintaining unprofitable athletes. If is reported that Harvard’s receipts from football last year were $114404, of which $84,713 represented clear profit, while Princeton received $87,313 add achieved a neat profit of $32,322. These are gains of which professional athletic enterprise might well feel proud, even in a season far less abbreviated than that in which football has to make its mcney.

Captain Talbot Practicing at Tackling.

sey, MacLelsh, of the veterans, and LeGore, Easton and Milburn of the 1917 team will be strong. Guernsey, who tied the Princeton game last year by a 34-yard drop kick, and Pumpelly, who saved Yale from defeat two years ago in Princeton by a 50-yard kick, which is down in football history as one of the greatest ever made, will be drilled incessantly in the art of drop kicking this year. Dr. “Billy” Bull of New York, who was one of the best kickers Yale ever turned out, will assist Hinkey in that department of the game.

So it is scarcely surprising that the athletic authorities of the colleges regard football as their most Important sport. But the game holds that prestige not merely because of the fine showing made by its financial balance sheet It seems rather that the large income to be attributed to the prestige of college football as an exclusive and unique game. It occupies a field in which the undergradu-ates-have everything practically their own way and are not yet disturbed by professional competition. As a sport it enjoys the especial distinction of the college stamp.

Unusual Exasperation.

Prom the New York American we glean the following: “Dear old Matty, discussing Tris Speaker, writes thusly: ‘The fans are sore because he held the club up for a big salary.* Verily the fans are in the habit of getting exasperated when any one pries a magnate loose from some, of his money.” «

MAKE PEACH OUT OF LEMON?

Manager John McGraw Hopes to De* velop Pitcher Marty O’Toole into a Winning Slabman. Luther Burbank has done some won* derful things with flowers, trees, fruit and vegetables, but John J. McGraw has done one thing that Burbank never accomplished. John made a peach out_of a lemon. Having accomplished this fact once, McGraw will try it again. His first attempt was on Richard de Marquis. Shortly after Mr. McGraw got the wrynecked Frenchman he discovered that he had paid SII,OOO for a lemon. Me* Graw did not lose heart of patience, and after several seasons’ experiment* ing, McGraw made Richard de Marquis into a peach. As a peach Marquard set a modern record for consecutive victories, also led the National league pitchers. Pittsburgh, a few years back, paid $22,500, more or less, for Marty O’Toole, and Fred Clarke soon discovered that he had paid that much for a lemon. He tried to emulate McGraw, but O’Toole remained a lemon and became more of a lemon this year. So be decided to get rid of him. Certain that he could repeat in the case of O’Toole, McGraw bought the red-headed spitball hurler. In his first

Pitcher Marty O'Toole.

attempt O'Toole showed signs of promise. He defeated Brooklyn 4to 3. Now McGraw thinks he can make O’Toole into a peach.

Mike Donlin’s Aspirations.

Coach Mike Donlln of the Giauta never gives up. He coaches with as much spirit when things look dark as when they are coming the Giants* way. He puts aa much life into his work with two out in the ninth and the team behind as at any other time.

Looking for Recruits.

Pitcher Bill Powell is scouting for the Milwaukee Brewers at present.