Note. - It will be observed that on each page, both of form of contract and of bond, each type line is numbered, 1, 2, 3, etc. This is customary in all such government documents, and is for the purpose of locating references, interlineations, etc.

At first glance, this contract appears to be one-sided in that it confers on one side certain seemingly arbitrary power which, if used in the extreme, would be disastrous to any Contractor; but, as a matter of fact, the Department uses its extreme rights with the utmost caution, and generally goes more than "half-way" in disputed settlements.

Where disaster occurs - such, for instance, as in a cyclonic wind, wrecking work in place, as happened at the Pan-American Exposition; or in damage by fire, as in the Baltimore conflagration - the Department promptly recommends that Congress make a reimbursing appropriation to be used in replacing work damaged; and that body always responds, recognizing a moral if not a legal obligation.

GREYROCKS, ROCKPORT, MASS. Frank Chouteau Brown, Architect, Boston, Mass.