Personal
View of Richard H. Sullivan
Editor's Note - The following was written in 1922.
So, the man,
one known for probity and straightforwardness in the years gone
by, that drops by the wayside, carries with his demise a feeling
that the old days of self-reliance, promptitude and praiseworthy
effort to make a service comparatively little known of some
real and tangible benefit to future generations, can never come
again. I think it was Solomon, the wise, who once said: "Say
not that the former day were better than these;" but such a
feeling rests in the hearts of our "old men," as the Indians
say.
I cannot
just now set aside specific instances to support this statement,
but somehow, I am constrained to believe that the men inherited
by the Weather Bureau from the old Signal Service, together
with the men that came into the service in the early days of
the amplification of Weather Bureau work, were of sterner, more
practical and more initiatory stuff than the men entering, say
10 or 15 years later, or even 20 years. True, many of the old
men--many now dead, some still active and progressive, and some
still traveling the journey as a sort of memory of the old days--had
their faults and their failings. None could be called perfect
in any manner, shape or form; but they did the work for the
work's sake, and herein lies a cover for a multitude of sins
in any man. We all agree that they were ill-paid for time spent
as professional men among the most representative interests
of the country, and that changes were often made through grave
personal sacrifice. But they did the work with a minimum of
complaint, and the work was done well. In short, it was their
chosen life work, and they played the game always like a true
sportsman.
Comparisons
are not always acceptable, or wise, but I shall proceed.
The new men
coming into the service--well, I may be putting it strongly,
but will say, a large portion of the newer men--came with a
bludgeon in one hand and a bag in the other. The prevailing
idea seemed to be to get all one can for as little work as one
can do (and get away with it). Of course, in order to make room
for an element of this sort, it was tantamount to knocking all
the old codgers in the head or to throwing them all overboard
as antegrated Mathusalehs. I claim that these men, now old and
gray in servicve, were the backbone and sinew of the Weather
Bureau when it needed stamina, and are yet the backbone and
sinew of the service in managing to perform the necessary work
for the work's sake, withal in the face of accumulating complaints
from untimely and often unjust demands of many newer men.
In a general
way, the atmosphere just mentioned was of great benefit to the
service in the long run, and yet was outside the range of the
radical element that desired to advance too rapidly and at the
cost of the older men. It simply developed what might be termed
the dormant capabilities, or, better, the reserve power, of
the old men in order that all work go in on time, whether the
subordinate force was capable or not. I think this is one of
the main reasons why so many of the gray-haired men are "sticking"
today -- simply because they can and do deliver the goods, and
the element of which I write could not do so, did not do so
or left the service entirely.