But

at Fort Bragg, where we have made a rather material saving. it is found to be a safe estimate. We have in no sense exceeded that, except in one case where I told you of the unfortunate foundation conditions.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Now every Army appropriation bill carries a considerable amount for repair of barracks and quarters.

General CHEATHAM. Yes, sir.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Which of course raises the question of your ability and the lasting character of the work that has been done. I am wondering how durable a type of building you are erecting; in other words, what is the character of your specifications. Do they call, as far as the materials are concerned, for the most substantial and the highest grade and of first quality in most everything of the fundamentals of the building? For example, take the item of plumbing: Are the risers brass or cast iron? I am merely referring to that as a suggestion of the general tenor of my question.

General CHEATHAM. The materials used in our buildings are first class in every respect. The barracks buildings of to-day are built of concrete frames with brick or tile curtain walls. It is an absolutely permanent building, with as little maintenance cost as we can foresee. We have not in all cases put in steel windows, but that is done in some cases and it is a thing toward which we are progressing. We try to have as little painting about the building as we can; we try to make our specifications with a view to a permanent building, with as little upkeep as possible. We do not and have not felt justified in putting in brass pipe, but we put in cast-iron soil pipe and double galvanized-iron pipe for the water.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. How about the plumbing fixtures?

General CHEATHAM. The plumbing fixtures are first class; none better.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Do you let these buildings on a general contract, or do you contract the various elements of the work?

General CHEATHAM. We do not favor subcontracts as a rule. We have occasionally had subcontracts.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. What do you mean by "subcontracts", so we may understand what you are talking about?

General CHEATHAM. Heating, lighting, and plumbing.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. By subcontract, you mean separate contracts for the various elements of the building?

General CHEATHAM. Yes; that is what I mean to state. We prefer to have a contract for the building complete.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. That is a general contractor.

General CHEATHAM. Yes.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Whom you can hold responsible?

General CHEATHAM. Yes, sir. We do, however, in some circumstances where we have a big lot of work, let separate bids for heating and plumbing.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. In your estimates, what do you figure as the subcontractor's profit; because, after all, the contractor's profit is piled on top of the subcontractor's profit. In your estimates, how do you handle that? Do you have a certain percentage that you figure for subcontractors carpenters, bricklayers, painters, plumbers-on which to base your estimate of the subcontractor's profit, on which the general contractor will get a fixed percentage?

General CHEATHAM. A great many general contractors do not have subcontractors; they do it all themselves; they are equipped to do the whole thing themselves. Many of the general contractors now do that; so, in our percentage of profit, we estimate simply a percentage of the total cost of the building.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. So, in your own estimates, you do not undertake to figure in a subcontractor's profit?

General CHEATHAM. No, sir; that is included in the profit of the general contractor.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. On the question of alterations, does that come up?

General CHEATHAM. You mean maintenance and repair?

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. No; I mean alterations in the plan, calling for a modification of the work or, rather, additional work or less work? General CHEATHAM. We try very hard to have the plan complete within itself. We do, however, provide for unit prices. Usually, in our foundation plan, say it goes 4 feet in the ground, if we find it has to go 6 feet in the ground, we have a unit price for concrete and excavation work, which determines the cost after we get to it. We do not have the contractor give us a new price; that is settled in his bid. He gives us a unit price on brick work or concrete work and that is used, and whether it is plus or minus depends upon whether what he has to put in is greater or less than shown on the plan.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. So that in alterations, you take the unit prices and apply them?

General CHEATHAM. Yes, sir.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. That, I suppose, is based upon the unit of so much per cubic foot?

General CHEATHAM. Whatever the unit is. Usually, in concrete work, it is so much per cubic yard, for pipe, of course, it would be by the foot.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Do you put your contractors under bond?
General CHEATHAM. Yes, sir.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. What do you do as regards the time element? General CHEATHAM. We require that a time be stated. Where time is an element, as it is in some of these contracts now where we want to get men under cover, we state in the proposal that time will be considered in making the award. It was a very important element in the Walter Reed Hospital. We have a big contractor out there now who agreed to do the job in 240 days, as compared to about 400 days of the other bidders. Fortunately, he was low enough to justify the award and he is living up to his expectations; he is getting through now, apparently, on his 240-day contract.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Does the contract carry penalties?
General CHEATHAM. Penalties for nonperformance.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Now you have referred to outside architects and to advisers. Who have been your advisers?

General CHEATHAM. Mr. George B. Ford, of New York, is the city planning adviser, and Mr. Arthur Loomis Harmon, of New York, is the architectural adviser.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Is he connected with any of the recognized and high-class architectural firms of New York?

General CHEATHAM. Each man was selected upon the recommendation of the president of the American Institute of Architects.

He was chosen by the American Institute of Architects and recommended to the Secretary of War and appointed by the Secretary of War on that recommendation.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. They have no function of supervision at all? General CHEATHAM. Not at all.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. What is the basis of their compensation? General CHEATHAM. They are paid a per diem only for the time they actually spend in consultation with us.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. The work of supervision you attend to yourself entirely?

General CHEATHAM. Yes, sir.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. And may I ask how you do that? Is that taken care of by the post quartermaster, or is that function of supervision handled centrally from Washington, or from the corps areas, or how?

General CHEATHAM. The constructing quartermaster reports directly to the Quartermaster General. The Quartermaster General is charged by law with the construction of buildings and he is personally responsible, that is, his office is responsible, for this supervision. It is not handled either by the corps area or post commander; it is handled directly by the constructing quartermaster who reports direct to the Quartermaster General.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Have you been able to check up at all as to how the cost of this particular public work upon which you are engaged compares with the cost of construction for private interests? General CHEATHAM. No, sir; I have not, but I want to make this observation: If you refer to private construction as now practiced in houses for sale, it is difficult to compare the cost with quarters built by the Army. We build a different kind of a house. We do not believe in building a flimsy structure; we take the position we are building for permanency, and we are building the best we can within the limit of the best commercial practice.

Mr. WAINRIGHT. I am very glad you brought out that statement, General; that is what I have in mind.

Mr. FISHER. In view of the fact you have so many contractors who are doing business with the Quartermaster's Department and bids coming in practically all the time, and a number of the same contractors are putting in the bids, have you made a careful study of the bids to see whether or not there is an understanding or apparently an agreement among those contractors in the bids they submit to the War Department through your office?

General CHEATHAM. It is very evident to us in examining these bids there is no such understanding. There are too many bids, too much competition, and there is nothing whatever in the last awards that would savor of any sort of combination.

Mr. FISHER. That was the complaint made by the engineers in so far as it affected work on the Mississippi River, particularly the levees-that the contractors sometimes would have what appeared to be an agreement or understanding on the amount for which they would do the work.

General CHEATHAM. If I may express an opinion, I would say the cases are not in any sense parallel. Dredging requires a particular equipment and comparatively few men are equipped for that sort

of work; whereas the building which we undertake is very general in character.

Mr. FISHER. You mentioned about the expert advice, which I think is an excellent plan. I would like to know whether or not their passing upon the suitability goes to the extent of the kind of building or type of building that would be erected, say, in Massachusetts, as compared with one that should be erected in Panama?

General CHEATHAM. Yes, sir. We ourselves determine the interior arrangement of the barracks. We believe we know more about that than any architect in this country.

Mr. FISHER. You do not use a building in Massachusetts, then, as a model for one to be built in Panama?

General CHEATHAM. We use the same general arrangement of the dormitories, mess hall, kitchen, etc., but we make an entirely different exterior arrangement, the amount of openings, porches, etc. We do make a difference in those things; but you can not vary the interior arrangement very much. For instance, take a sleeping room, it requires so much space to sleep in.

Mr. FISHER. I have examined the officers' quarters and homes at Panama, and I think generally they were very good.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. You are not making any concession at all to the great spaciousness of the old type of barracks with high ceilings and lots of air? I was just wondering if you have cut down the cubic foot of air space per man.

General CHEATHAM. We are limited by the regulations to not less than 720 cubic feet of air space per man.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Is that more liberal or less liberal than it used to be in the old style barracks?

General CHEATHAM. It is the same; I do not think that has changed in the last 20 years.

Mr. JAMES. You say there was a great deal of difference between the estimate at Bragg and the bid. How about Benning; you made a saving there, did you not?

General CHEATHAM. Yes, sir; we made quite a saving at Benning. Mr. JAMES. And you also made a saving at Camp Lewis?

General CHEATHAM. We have made a saving at every place I can now recall. If you wish to have that accurately, I should like the privilege of modifying my statement.

Mr. JAMES. Put that in the record.

Lewis, Fort, Wash.