The United States Public Works Guide and Register

Abstract

THE public works of the United States are in charge of officers working under different bureaus of the executive departments of the Government. All harbour, river, and dock works are carried out by the Government; the department charged with this work being under the command of a chief engineer, who, with a small staff, has his headquarters at the. seat of Government; the other officers of the corps being stationed throughout the country wherever their presence is required. In the same way the lighthouses, buoys, and sea marks are under the charge of a Government department, the chief of which is the Secretary of the Treasury; the other members of the Board consisting of two officers of the Navy, two of the Corps of Engineers of the Army, two civilians of scientific attainments, with an officer of the Army and one of the Navy as secretaries. The coast is divided into districts, each under the charge of an engineer. All works in connection with fortifications and defences and military engineering are managed by the department of the Secretary of War. The quartermaster's department takes charge of all stores, transport, and military buildings; and another officer of the War department has charge of all public buildings and parks.

The United States Public Works Guide and Register.

By Captain W. M. Black. Pp. vi + 276. (New York: Wiley and Sons. London: Chapman and Hall, 1895.)