control of the work of the office, and
was thus, metaphorically speaking, able to work with untied hands.
It may seem almost puerile to say this to men of business experience,
but there is a current notion, spread among all classes, that because
the Naval Observatory has able and learned professors, therefore
they must be able to do good and satisfactory work, which may be
worth correcting.

I found my new office in a rather dilapidated old dwelling-house,
about half a mile or less from the observatory, in one of those
doubtful regions on the border line between a slum and the lowest
order of respectability. If I remember aright, the only occupants
of the place were the superintendent, my old friend Mr. Loomis,
senior assistant, who looked after current business, a proof-reader
and a messenger. All the computers, including even one copyist,
did their work at their homes.

A couple of changes had to be made in the interest of efficiency.
The view taken of one of these may not only interest the reader,
but give him an idea of what people used to think of government
service before the era of civil service reform. The proof-reader
was excellent in every respect except that of ability to perform
his duty. He occupied a high position, I believe, in the Grand
Army of the Republic, and thus wielded a good deal of influence.
When his case was appealed to the Secretary of the Navy, apellant
was referred to me. I stated the trouble to counsel,--he did not
appear to see figures, or be able to distinguish whether they were
right or wrong, and therefore was useless as a proof-reader.

"It is not his fault," was the reply; "he nearly lost his eyesight
in the civil war, and it is hard for him to see at all." In the
view of counsel that explanation ought to have settled the case in
his favor. It did not, however, but "influence" had no difficulty
in making itself more successful in another field.

Among my first steps was that of getting a new office in the top of
the Corcoran Building, then just completed. It was large and roomy
enough to allow quite a number of assistants around me.

Much of the work was then, as now, done by the piece, or annual
job, the computers on it very generally working at their homes.
This offers many advantages for such work; the government is not
burdened with an officer who must be paid his regular monthly salary
whether he supplies his work or not, and whom it is unpleasant and
difficult to