Interior Inspection

One morning last week Secretary Ickes decided to have a look at his Interior Department. At random he walked down a corridor in his shirt sleeves and poked his head into an office. A young man was sitting with his feet on a desk reading a newspaper.

"Is that the way you work?" asked Mr. Ickes. "I don't do that myself."

"And who in the hell are you?" asked the employe innocently.

Into another office popped the Secretary and found a man who had taken off his white shoes and was cleaning them. In another he found two girls playing dominoes. He stopped to talk to the soft drink concessionaire who, without recognizing him, admitted that he did a good business because people could loaf a while at his stand. Mr. Ickes turned up at the cafeteria next morning shortly after 8 o'clock and found 100 or more employes still eating breakfast.*

Thoroughly upset by what he found on his tour of inspection, the Secretary called all his 6,893 employes into the department auditorium one sweltering afternoon. Those who could not crowd in stood in the corridors and listened by loud speaker. Said Secretary Ickes:

"I don't want you to take me for a scolding stepfather. I have failings myself and try to understand others. In the last week ... I passed certain divisions and my heart was warmed by the air of activity . . . which they exuded. I passed others where employes were reading papers and still others where feet were on the desks. . . .

"I always have had an aversion to gentlemen--and this applies to ladies also --sitting with their feet on desks. I know that some, in defense of the proclivity, say they can think better, but I wonder what they are thinking with.

"I could cite one instance where six gentlemen were sitting with twelve feet on the desks apparently having a gorgeous time.

"And personally I like to remember the days when women no more thought of putting on their make-up than of washing their teeth in public.

"Recently there was such a rush of unbranded mavericks at 3:30 that they knocked down a woman on the staff and were in such a hurry that no one stopped to pick her up. Let's add on 30 or 45 seconds to get outside and refrain from committing mayhem on the unwilling body of any individual.

"Please give me full time for full pay," he concluded and looked at his watch. It was not yet 3 o'clock. "And now all Public Works employes can go home for the day." There were 6,893 loud and long ap-lauses.

&Instead of using daylight saving time, the Interior Department goes to work at 8 a.m., quits at 3:30 p.m. during the summer.

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