ART. 1801. If a vacancy happens by resignation, the letter of resignation must accompany the nomination of the proposed successor, and if by death, the date thereof should be given. If the removal of a keeper or assistant keeper is desired, the provisions of Department Circular No. 122, of 1897, must be strictly observed, but in no case shall a removal be recommended for the purpose of providing a place for some other person. Women are not to be nominated for appointment, unless by special authority previously obtained.

§ 8. OFFICE RULES.

ART. 1802. The official hours, except for employees engaged in outdoor work, will be from 9 a. m. to 4 p. m., with a recess of half an hour at noon, but these hours may be extended in accordance with any special requirements of the public business.

ART. 1803. A record will be kept in each bureau or division, under direction of the head of the bureau or division, of the daily attendance and hours of arrival and departure of all officers, clerks, and employees. All absences, and any delinquency in regard to punctuality, and any failure to keep diligently employed during business hours will be daily reported to the collector or other chief officers of customs, and monthly reports will be submitted by those officers to the Department showing their action in such cases.

ART. 1804. The reading of newspapers, smoking, loud conversation, or other conduct interfering with the orderly despatch of public business, or the congregating of idle persons or loungers in the corridors or elsewhere in public buildings, must not be permitted.

ART. 1805. No person not connected officially with the customs service shall be allowed admission to a customs office except during business hours, unless by special authority of the collector or other chief officer of the port.

ART. 1806. Access by any unofficial person to official records, or to any copy thereof, in a department of the customs, must be denied, except upon written application setting forth the reasons for such request, to be approved in writing by the collector or other chief officer of the customs. No inspection of any item in an official record shall be made except by a person interested therein.

ART. 1807. Collectors, naval officers, surveyors, and appraisers of customs will see that these regulations are enforced in their respective offices, and the willful violation thereof will be considered sufficient cause for removal.

CHAPTER XXVI.

CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION.

§ 1 CUSTODIANS OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

ART. 1808. Collectors and other officers appointed as custodians of custom-houses and other public buildings under control of the Secretary of the Treasury will have charge and supervision of the buildings intrusted to them and be governed by the regulations and instructions concerning the duties of custodians entitled "Instructions to custodians of public buildings under the control of the Treasury Department," of which the following is a

summary:

They shall have the exclusive direction of janitors, engineers, firemen, and employees, assistant custodian and janitor service, and will be held responsible for their efficiency. They will cause the halls, stairs, vestibules, passageways, and rooms to be kept neat and clean at all times, and dust and dirt must not be permitted to accumulate in corners or under movable furniture, and such measures must be taken as may be necessary to protect the walls and woodwork from defacement and prevent the committing of nuisances about the building and grounds. Advertisements or public notices, except such as relate to government business, must not be posted on the walls or in the corridors or public lobbies of the building. Carpets should be taken up and cleaned once a year, and the labor incident to cleaning the several portions of the building, whitewashing, taking up and laying carpets when practicable, and putting up and taking down awnings, must be performed by the janitor or his assistants, and no expenses for these services will be allowed unless some special reasons exist therefor and authority has been granted, and custodians in making application for such authority should state the reasons explicitly. Janitors or their assistants must not be permitted to perform any service except that which relates to the care and cleaning of the buildings, grounds, and their appurtenances.

ART. 1809. Should it be necessary to keep fires burning all night in order to preserve a proper temperature during

the winter season, custodians will, at the proper time, report such fact to the Department, with their recommendations as to the additional force of firemen which may be required for that purpose. A mounted copy of the printed “Instructions to engineers and firemen" in charge of the heating apparatus and lighting power plants in public buildings, issued by the Treasury Department, must be placed in a conspicuous position in the engine or fire room, and custodians will direct the engineers and firemen strictly to observe the same in operating the apparatus.

ART. 1810. Any necessity for repairs or alterations of the building, of the furniture or fixtures therein, of the approaches to the building, or of the fences inclosing the grounds, will be promptly reported by custodians to the Secretary of the Treasury, together with an estimate of the cost of making the same, and their opinion in regard thereto.

ART. 1811. They will not make expenditures for repairs, alterations, furniture, or other necessaries without the previous written authority of the Secretary of the Treasury, except in case of sudden break or defect in plumbing, gas fixtures, or heating apparatus, or leak in the roof of the building, when they will cause the necessary repairs to be made and immediately report the same to the Secretary of the Treasury, forwarding vouchers for the work performed, with the proper explanation. When an amount authorized for any specific purpose proves insufficient, authority should be obtained for any additional expense before submitting vouchers for payment.

ART. 1812. Custodians will notify all officers in the building that expenditures for repairs, furniture, and other objects, made without previous authority, are in violation of law, and that application must be made to the Secretary of the Treasury, through the custodian, for any improvement or alteration of the building, or articles of furniture that may be required therein.

ART. 1813. Custodians will prepare and transmit to the Secretary of the Treasury for payment, on blanks furnished for the purpose, vouchers in duplicate properly receipted and certified for all expenditures authorized, charging them to the appropriation specified in the letter of authorization, which must be referred to by date on the face of each voucher. Vouchers should be filled out and receipted in black ink, and made in the name of the person, persons, firm, or corporation furnishing supplies or rendering service, and care should be taken to see that 9095-39

the receipt thereto is in conformity with the caption of the voucher. Vouchers for expense incurred during any fiscal year should be transmitted to the Department during that fiscal year, or as soon thereafter as may be practicable. Vouchers should not be made in the name of the custodian.

ART. 1814. Estimates of expense payable from the several appropriations for public buildings under control of the Treasury Department should be submitted in detail, and furniture and miscellaneous requisitions should state specifically each article, the quantity required, and the cost thereof. Requisitions for articles of special furniture should be accompanied by a sketch of the articles required. Indefinite estimates will not be considered and care must be taken not to include in one estimate items payable from several appropriations. The incurring of expense for trucks, rent of telephones, towels, toilet soap, letter presses for use of officials, not under the direction of the Treasury Department, will not be authorized. Proposals for supplying fuel should be made to include all expense incident to weighing, delivering, and stowing.

ART. 1815. Custodians will make application for authority to renew leases of rented buildings or rooms required for customs purposes at least sixty days before the expiration of existing leases, giving a list of all buildings and rooms rented in their districts; and stating the purposes and periods for which they are leased; the annual rent paid; the necessity for their use; that the premises are suitable for the purpose designed; that the rent charged is as low as suitable premises can be obtained for, and that the lessor can give a valid lease.

ART. 1816. Custodians will forward annually on the 30th of June to the Supervising Architect rough diagrams of the different floors, showing by whom the several rooms are occupied. They will not allow any of the rooms in the building to be used for other than official purposes, without authority from the Secretary of the Treasury. They will not make requisitions for articles needed in public buildings under their charge oftener than once a month, unless compelled by special necessity.

ART. 1817. The customs seal of the United States, consisting of the national arms within a circle 13 inches in diameter, and encircled by the legends "District of

"Port of ," "Collector of Customs," according to the design furnished by the Treasury Department, shall be impressed upon all official documents requiring impress of a seal.

ART. 1818. The flag of the United States shall be dis- R. 8., 2764. played over all public buildings under the control of the Treasury Department, during the hours of business, and on February 22, May 30, and July 4, from sunrise to sunset. Should any of the last three days fall on Sunday, the flag is to be displayed on the day that is observed locally. On May 30 the flag should be placed at half-mast. The revenue flag of the United States, consisting of sixteen perpendicular stripes of alternate red and white, with a red stripe next to the flagstaff, and the arms of the United States in dark blue on white field, as the Union, shall also be hoisted over all customs buildings during the hours of business, except in stormy weather.

ART. 1819. All articles of public property in use in the customs service are, so far as they admit thereof, to be stamped, marked, or branded with suitable words or letters denoting their ownership by the United States, and care must be taken by superior officers to preserve them as long as possible to the use and possession of the United States.

§ 2. ADVERTISING.

ART. 1820. The publication of all advertisements addressed to claimants of seized goods, and of all advertisements of sales of both seized and unclaimed goods, will be authorized by collectors of customs, who shall, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, designate the newspapers for such advertising.

Stat., 216, § 1.

Collectors must authorize these advertisements upon R. S., 3828; 20 Cat. Form No. 685, which contains full instructions to newspaper publishers regarding the rendition of their bills, etc., and no bill for such advertising will be allowed that is not accompanied by such a form of authorization. Duplicates or letter-press copies of these letters of au- Cir. 57, 1894 thorization should be kept by collectors.

The law provides that newspaper advertisements relating to seized goods shall contain a description of the articles; but there is no such requirement in the case of unclaimed goods. Under section 2973, Revised Statutes, printed descriptive catalogues of unclaimed goods to be sold will be prepared and distributed by collectors. Therefore, descriptive newspaper advertisements of sales of unclaimed goods are neither necessary nor proper. The advertisements should be very brief, the simple announcement of sale, and direction of the public to the catalogue of the articles, being sufficient.