the cost he can not compete with the Government, and if he cuts off the profit he can not live. Moreover, contractors find that the park regulations embarrass their freedom of action in many ways, and the rough and untidy outfits generally used are objectionable along the lines of travel. Finally, the work itself is of a character that makes it impossible to specify it with sufficient definiteness for contracts. This is particularly true of repair and maintenance work, and of construction work itself where lack of funds permits only partial work at first, leaving completion to the future. All these considerations make it impracticable to execute this work by contract, and every attempt to do so has ended in failure. Moreover, with the very complete organization which it now has and its general system of conducting operations as the outgrowth of years of experience, together with its numerous experienced foremen who have become familiar with the country and method of work, the Government can itself do this work more cheaply than it can contract for it.

The headquarters of the Government work are at Mammoth Hot Springs, where the main office, shops, and storehouses are located.

The working parties are subsisted entirely in camp. The organization of a party of, say, seventy-five men is as follows: One overseer in general charge of the camp, with two suboverseers to assist him; one blacksmith; one cook and two helpers; one timekeeper; one water boy, and one night herder constitute what might be called the staff of the party, the rest consisting of laborers of different classes. The crews are subsisted upon a regular fixed ration of high quality and ample quantity. The supplies and all material are purchased and stored in the warehouses at Mammoth Hot Springs, from which they are distributed to the parties in the field. The subsistence supplies are issued about every ten days. As there are frequent changes in the organization of the parties, the ration does not ordinarily apply without some modification, and has to be supplemented by smaller issues, which are sent out as occasion arises. The cost of subsistence, including provisions, freight and hauling, wages of cooks and helpers, falls between 40 and 50 cents per man per day.

The men are hired almost exclusively at Mammoth Hot Springs, where they are required to register and those of the higher grades to take out the necessary civil-service papers.

In going to the field the employees are not allowed time in reaching their place of work unless they stay for a period of six weeks, and are not allowed time returning unless they remain to the end of the season. Careful precautions are taken in all directions to guard against unnecessary leaks and waste of public money.

In the matter of payment it is customary to send clerks to the parties in the field as soon after the end of the month as practicable, where rolls are signed and brought to the central office. Here they are computed and compared and the checks drawn, and these are generally delivered by the 15th of the month following that for which they are in payment.

For the purpose of keeping track of the cost of the different portions of the work daily distribution sheets are kept in each camp. These show the amount of expenditure that goes upon each particular piece of work.

Cost. The present project for the road system contemplates an expenditure of $750,000, with which it is expected to have all the roads