THE METHODS OF PINKERTON's NATIONAL DETECTIVE AGENCY.
The executive department in charge at one office or grand division of the Agency is the exact counterpart of the administrative personnel at any other branch and is admirably constructed to handle, supervise and develop the business.
The executive staff of an office consists of a superintendent, and as many assistant superintendents as are required to manage the volume of business transacted.
It is one of the principal duties of the executive officials to revise the reports of the operatives preparatory to their being typewritten and forwarded to the different clients, as many reports, particularly those received from secret operatives, are, owing to the neglected or limited education of the writers, almost unintelligible. An office which employs about thirty operatives is usually equipped with an executive staff of five persons; one superintendent and four assistants. Thus, each executive official has charge of five operatives whose reports he must revise.
While it is certainly necessary to correct and rearrange an ungrammatical, mis-spelled report, yet, as it is hardly possible that five officials are employed to do work which is purely clerical, and which can easily be performed by one well-educated person, we must surmise that there is something deeper in the revision of a report than is superficially apparent, and our inference is correct as we shall see presently.
The daily report of a secret operative costs a client at least ten dollars, and it is but natural for the client to insist on getting such information as will warrant the continuance of the operative's services.