THE BASE RECORDS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2802, 21 June 1916, Page 6

THE BASE RECORDS

IN NEW BUILDING

AN INTERRUPTED CAREER

To the averngo man little indeed is known of tho enormous amount of work and worry entailed in keeping track and gonerally watching the affairs of the soldier that departs from this land to fight in the battle for his country. The personal record of every one of tie thousands of soldiers that have left this country must bo carefully kept, anything that happens to the soldier in the nature of sickness, disablement, or death must be duly recorded and tho next-of-kin hastily informed, and the thousand and one things that may and do occur in connection with members of the Expeditionary Forco, have to be attended to immediately. And this is the task of the Base Records Office.

The short life of tho office has been fraught with difficulty. From the early days of the war, when a handful of men struggled valiantly in a couplo of small rooms at the Bucklo Street Drill Hall, with the inrushing casualties and the consequent sheaves of inquiries, of anxious relatives, tho Department has grown with truly a mushroom growth. The accommodation at Buckle Street became impossible, and new quarters wert taken up in the top flat of Messrs. Irvine and Stephenson's building in Brandon Street. With still a short staff, Captain Vine, then O.C. Records, struggled strenuously on with the ever, and fast-increasing work. Gradually, practically the whole of the largo building became absorbed by the Department. A second move was then undertaken, a portion of tho .DeSartment being transferred to the. top oor of Routh's Buildings. Major Norton Francis, who had meantime been appointed Director of Base Records, vigorously set about a reconstruction, of the Department. With the ever-growing 6taff it became manifest that more suitable accommodation was necessary. Accordingly a. building was hastily erected immediately- in rear of the Government Buildings, and on Saturday last the Base Records took up their new abode therein.

Tho difficult task of shifting was carried out under the chief clerk (Mr. Morris) in extraordinarily quick time, and practically without a cessation of work. The work in tho old offices went on without interruption until midday on Saturday, and by nino o'clock that evening the work of moving was completed, and everything ready for a start on Monday morning. .The New Building.

The now building is eminently suitable for the work of the Department. Spacious and well ventilated, "the new building has all the advantages that experience has taught aT6 necessary for tho speedy arid convenient handling of the various branches of work. The various departments dealing with- .correspondence, discharges,. hospital records, casualties, returned soldiers, and other work are accommodated in large, airy, and \tell-lit rooms. Immediately inside tho main entrance there is a long room with a counter running from end to end, at which public inquiries are It is anticipated that the present staff will as time goes on require reinforcements, and to meet this rather more space than is now required has been provided. For voluntary workers that.may be required from time to time there is a large room 6et apart. Reposing in pigeon-holes, with which the walls bristle, there are at, present 50,000 personal files of soldiers, besides ■ hundreds of other files of a general na'ture. Sheaves of letters are received daily, and these,-after being distributed to the departments which they affeot, are subsequently tho filing desk, at which a staff is constantly employed. It is estimated that there is an average of 500 letters received daily, and these, as far as is possible, are attended to immediately. Cablegrams bringing details of casualties have also to receive prompt'attention. The next-of-kin are notified by telegram almost immediately upon receipt of the cablegram, and the.work of compiling the casualty lists for publication is then proceeded with. Similarly, the work of issuing discharges, keeping track of.soldiers in hospitals in New -Zealand' and elsewhere, and attending io returned soldiers, is carried on with due dispatch as is needful. - For all this then a perfect and extensive system is essential, and the smoothness and dispatch with which the work is steadily going on proves that the necessary system has been . evolved. Major Norton Francis, Director, and: Mr. B. A. Morris (chief clerk), together with the heads of departments, have worked very strenuously and entirely without precedent to inaugurate a ■ workable scheme for satisfactorily dealing with the hugo undertaking, arid can take full credit for having laboured with considerable success.