Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/240

210 this is done an element of disorder is brought in which is upsetting to discipline.

In museums using turnstiles the man who sells tickets can control the admissions. Where none are used, there must be either a special policeman or the head janitor to watch the people who pass into the building and to prevent the entrance of undesirables. One museum makes it a rule to forbid entrance to persons who are "not suitably dressed." On such points this attendant must rule.

No employee should be allowed to enter the service of the museum without having his references thoroughly looked into. In case the men come through Civil Service, the director should have an understanding with the Commission that no position will be given without a special examination of references. There are few departments of public service where this matter is so important and the Civil Service bureaus are usually over-worked and often unable to be thorough in their investigation, though perfectly willing to put all possible information in the hands of the director.

In selecting men as custodians most museums are hampered in one way or another. The European museum, as a part of the state government, is manned by retired soldiers, men who through long service to the state have acquired respect and veneration for public property that makes