The minor positions, such as assistants in the field and in the computing and compiling rooms, were assigned to younger men, generally with some railroad experience, and in many cases they were graduates of technical schools, Cornell, Yale, Rensselaer, Michigan, Ohio State, and other schools having representatives. The writer believes that no more harmonious or loyal organization was ever gathered together before, or has been since. Men who had held Chief Engineer-ships trudged miles in the wilds of Michigan on foot, inspecting and inventorying property, and came into the office and worked long hours at the computing tables with the utmost cheerfulness and _camaraderie_. There was complete harmony, absolute loyalty, and as perfect a spirit of unselfish devotion to the work as the writer has ever seen in any organization. The fact that such a staff of engineers, of wide experience in railroad construction and maintenance, had been assembled, made it feasible to carry out a plan of the appraiser which proved to be of great value. At frequent intervals, during the progress of the work, conferences were held which were attended by all the heads of departments and by many of the older and more experienced engineers. Matters of policy, details, general principles, and rules and methods for conducting the appraisal, were fully discussed, and stenographic records were made of the discussion and conclusions. These conferences covered practically every question that arose; they were of such a nature as to draw out the opinions of the men fully and freely; and their effect was to eliminate the error due to individual judgment, and harmonize and unify the methods and results of the appraisal. Special emphasis has been laid on the organization of the staff, because the criticism has been made that this work was lacking in care, was hurriedly done, and was unreliable. The work must be judged by its results, but the criticism that it did not receive proper care is absolutely unjustified in fact. The men engaged were of the highest type of experienced, technically educated, and highly qualified engineers; they entered the work unreservedly, and gave the best there was in them. The Michigan appraisal was not a one-man job; it was the work of many men, and all are entitled to credit.