F

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

A. E. GiEGENGACK, Public Printer ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

PUBLIC PRINTER

1934

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1934



ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PUBLIC PRINTER

Office of the Public Printer,

Washington, January 3, 1936.

To the Congress of the United States:

In compliance with law, the Public Printer herewith presents his

report of the work of the Government Printing Office for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1934. The present Public Printer, having taken

office July 2, 1934, must necessarily draw his report from available

records of the Office rather than personal contact with its work.

Public Act 381, Seventy-second Congress, approved February 28,

1933, appropriated $1,750,000 as a working capital to the Public

Printer, but provided that $450,000 thereof be immediately available

for congressional printing and binding in fiscal year 1933, thus reducing the working capital for 1934 to $1,300,000. The same act also provided that $1,000,000 of the compensation deductions from employees

of the Government Printing Office, not including Office of Superintendent of Documents, was to be credited to the 1934 congressional

printing and binding fund, thus requiring the Public Printer to collect the $1,000,000 from sales of printing and binding to departments

and use it for congressional printing.

Public Act 268, Seventy-third Congress, approved May 30, 1934,

made available for 1934, $500,000 of the unexpended balance of the

1933 appropriation.

The act of March 28, 1934, Public 141, Seventy-third Congress,

reduced the working hours per week from 44 to 40; and, as it con- tinued the 48 hours' pay per week, labor costs increased a flat 10

percent. This added cost, definitely fixed by law, necessarily was

covered in charges to the various Government activities ordering

printing and binding, and under a provision in the same law these

activities were permitted to apply for funds to cover the increased

cost. Under this same provision, upon request of the Public Printer,

there was transferred to the credit of the 1934 working capital and

made available for congressional printing the sum of $90,635 to absorb the increased cost of labor due to the 40-hour week.

1
2 Annual Report of the Public Printer

The financial set-up for tlie worl^ing capital, 1934, was as follows

:

Original appropriation $1, 750, 000. 00 Made available (from above) for 1938 —450,000.00

Made available for 1934 from unexpended balance of 1933 +500, 000. 00 Appropriation under sec. 21 (e), Public Act 141, 73d Cong., to compensate for increase in labor cost on congressional printing

and binding due to the operation of the 40-hour week in last 3 months of fiscal year 1934 +90, 635. 00 Net available appropriation 1, 890, 685. 00 Repayments to working capital for printing and binding fur- nished the various Government activities 10, 059, 225. 94

Total available working capital 11, 949, 860. 94 Appropriation for Office of Superintendent of Documents 712, 800. 00 Miscellaneous funds 5, 354. 85 The combined resources available for expenditure by the Public

Printer during the year were $12,668,015.79.

Obligations incurred totaled $12,604,826.03, leaving an unobligated

balance of $63,189.76, subject to over- or under-adjustments on

approximately $1,600,000 obligations outstanding on July 1, 1934.

Deposits to miscellaneous receipts in the Treasury during the year

totaled $394,720.31. This included receipts from sale of waste paper,

condemned machinery and materials, and the excess of sales price over cost of printing documents sold to the public. The latter item

shows an increase of approximately $150,000, due to higher prices

charged the public by requirement of law.

Compensation to employees during the year totaled $8,651,117.36,

which included $303,304.69 deposited to credit of employees in retire- ment fund through the required 3% percent deduction.

Compensation deduction in fiscal year 1934 totaled $1,281,413.

This was brought about by a pay cut of 15 percent for 9 months and

10 percent for 3 months. One million dollars of this deduction was

credited to working capital for charging congressional printing and

binding, $47,727.80 remained in appropriation for salaries. Office of

Superintendent of Documents, and $233,685.20 was returned to the

Treasury for credit to surplus fund.

Payments for paper totaled $2,356,510.41, for miscellaneous material and supplies $599,521.54, and for lithographing and engraving

$81,287.45.

Congressional printing and binding charges amounted to $2,890,-

635, an increase of $190,635 over previous year. Members of Congress paid $38,867.17 for reprints of speeches; this was a decrease of $1,578.82 from previous year. Principal charges during the year were as follows : Post Office Department, including postal card and money order printing.
Anmial Report of the Public Printer 3

$1,340,097.22; Patent Office, $928,477.70; Treasury Department,

$901,529.22; and Department of Agriculture, $715,855.72. Other

departments paid over $500,000 each for their printing.

Work for the various emergency activities cost approximately

$2,000,000.

Publications printed during the year totaled 125,670,342 copies.

All work connected with the Congressional Record during the

year cost $698,645.88.

Congress was charged $353,932.10 for the printing of its public

bills, resolutions, and amendments.

Specifications of patents and trade marks cost $776,573.62, and

Official Gazette and annual indexes, $150,323.71.

Blanks, notices, cards, schedules, etc., printed during the year

totaled 3,749,085,209 copies, costing $3,816,498.38. The number of

copies exceeded those in previous year by over a billion. Blank paper purchased on Government Printing Office contracts and furnished to various Government activities on their requisitions

cost $545,355.31, an increase of $132,436.57 over fiscal year 1933. Charges for Farmers' Bulletins during the year amounted to $77,442.56 and covered 6,591,632 copies.

Postal cards printed totaled 1,528,518,300, requiring 8,342,521

pounds of stock. Xumber of cards increased 238 million (18 percent) over previous year. Money-order blanks totaled 220,817,000 copies, for which the Post

Office Department paid $150,410.55.

Annual reports printed in fiscal year 1934 for various Government activities made 13,205 type pages, with 358,940 copies, costing

$149,126.23.

The cost of printing hearings for the various committees of

House and Senate was $503,581.19, for 1,014,148 copies, with 160,377

type pages. Miscellaneous printing and binding for congressional committees

cost $471,151.83.

This was the busiest year in the history of the Office. In addition

to the work done for Congress, the congressional committees, executive departments, and independent establishments, a large amount of

printing was required by the 54 emergency activities. COXGRESSIONAL PRINTING

The Record.—Printing for Congress constituted a major problem.

During the last session the daily average number of pages of the

Congressional Record was 94.32 for 139 issues, which was, with one

exception, the highest ever attained, and the issue of June 16, with

302 pages and a requirement of 23% tons of paper, was, also with one

exception, the largest single issue in the history of this publication.
4 Annual Report of the Public Printer

The Senate was responsible for 5,504 pages and the House for 4,874

pages. The appendix made 2,732 pages, constituting about 20 per- cent of the total number of pages, which was 13,110. Approximately

1,000 tons of paper were used for the Record during the session.

Over 16,000 curved stereotype plates were required for the Record

and 1,124 for the biweekly index. Duplicate sets of plates for neces- sary press combinations greatly increased the number, there being

3,009 additional plates cast. This made a daily average of 115.24

plates cast per issue. Bills.—During the last session bills, too, were voluminous, the

number for both Houses being 6,414. As the bills progressed through

Congress, 8,310 additional prints were necessary, making a total of

14,724 bill prints. The regular appropriation bills are printed at

least eight times. The subcommittee prints of some of these bills made over 400 pages.

Reports.—Like the bills on which they were made, reports formed

a large part of the morning-delivery work. For the 139 days of the

session, they totaled 3,106—for the House 1,795 and for the Senate

1,311—with a daily average of 22.4. Calendars.—The Senate and House Calendars are printed daily.

The House Calendar is not only the largest but it increases in size from the opening day of the session to the final edition, which this

year made 262 pages. The committee calendars are printed at fre- quent intervals, some becoming quite bulky by the end of the session.

The following table shows the volume of calendar work for the

session : Pages

House 15,168 Senate 5, 428 House committees 2, 291 Senate committees 3, 973

Total 26,860

Documents.—The number of documents received during the ses- sion was unusually heavy, there being 128 for the Senate and 284

for the House.

Nominations.—During the last session nominations exceeded those

for the preceding session. In the first session of the Seventy-third

Congress there were only 1,256, while in the second session the number was 4,664—of which 4,596, in 26 messages and averaging about

177 in each message, were for postmasters.

Hearings.—With a total of 281—of Avhich 107 were for the Senate

and 174 for the House—^liearings also constituted another large

congressional job of the " rush " type. The 14 House hearings on
Annual Report of the Public Printer 5

the regular appropriation bills made 7,655 printed pages, and the

10 Senate appropriation hearings made 1,391 pages. The 20 parts

already printed of hearings of the Senate Banking and Currency

Committee on Stock Exchange Practices made 9,296 pages. In parts

19 and 20 there were 525 halftones. The 30 completed parts of the

hearings on the Condition of Indians made 16,416 pages.

Executive Journals.—In the last session of the Seventy-second Congress the Senate authorized the printing of the Executive Journals

from 1901 to and including the past session. The entire work will

consist of 39 volumes, 12 of which will be in 2 parts, thus making

51 books. At the present time 14 volumes have been completed, and

the t«xt of all but 2 is in type. Index copy on 19 volumes is yet to come, the indexes in some cases being more extensive than the text. The following is a tabular summary of congressional work for the

past session:

Congressional Record

:

Daily issues 139 Pages 13,110

Average number of pages per day 94, 32

Bills and resolutions

:

Senate

:

Bills 1, 851

Resolutions 176

Joint resolutions 80 Concurrent resolutions 19 Total 2, 126 House

:

Bills 3, 838

Resolutions 258

Joint resolutions 168 Concurrent resolutions 24

Total 4, 288 Reports

:

Senate 1, 311 House 1, 795 Total 3, 106 Documents

:

Senate 128 House 284 Total 412
6 Annual Report of the Public Printer

PATENT OFFICE PRINTING

The outstanding- feature in patent and trade-mark printing was

the complete change in dress inaugurated in August 1933. Ionic

T%-point type is now used instead of the old 10-point roman, so that

little or no resetting is needed for the Official Gazette. It was

thought for a time that this change would increase the size of the

Gazette, but close make-up has held the number of pages to a minimum. For a 6-month period with the larger type 22,707 patents made 7,338 pages in the Gazette while in a like period with the

Ionic 25,300 patents made 7,890 pages.

Patents, trade marks, and designs decreased slightly this year. Comparative figures show that during 1933, 63,021 patents, trade

marks, and designs made 192,889 pages ; while in 1934, 62,454 of the same three items made 165,682 pages. The average weekly issue

for 1933 was 977 patents, and for 1934, 934 patents. During the

year the Gazette required 60,778 illustrations, an average of 1,169

line cuts per week. The following figures show production for

the year

:

Patents 48, 523 Office patents 30

Trade marks 10,139 Labels 1,635

Designs 2,419 Prints 495

Reissues 343 CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY PRINTING

The work done by this branch, which handles copyrights and other

work for the Library of Congress, requires equipment for printing

in more than 60 foreign languages and dialects. Using a special quick-drying varnish, applied from a tint block,

the Library printing branch, with the help of the Government Printing Office Division of Tests and Technical Control, has developed

a suitable transparent facing for guide cards and case and table

labels. The following table, summarizing all work produced by this

branch during the year, shows a consistent increase in all operations

:

1934 1933 Increase

Chargeable impressions.- . _ ... . . . 29, 324, 356 27, 802, 197 1, 522, 159 Actual impressions 2, 546, 167 2, 283, 843 262, 324 Chargeable forms sent to press. .... . . 13, 859 7,116 6, 743 Actual forms sent to press.. .. ... 5, 372 4, 236 1, 136 Subject heading lines sent to press... .._ . _ 169, 151 149, 272 19, 879 Subject headings printed ... . . ... . 503, 105 448, 069 55, 036 Jackets written . ... . . ... . _ _ 1,175 1,168 7 Jackets closed out.. .. . ....... 1,171 1,156 15
Annual Report of the Public Printer 7

PRIXTIXG FOR THE REC0\T:RY PROGRAM

There Tvas a general change during the year in the class of printing demanded by the various departments and independent establishments. The 54 recovery activities, all created in the last 18

months, have demanded a tremendous amount of job printing. In

former years, book and pamphlet work predominated, but this year

the numerous blank forms necessary to carry on the administration's

relief program greatly increased job composition, platemaking, and

press and bindery work. A total of 77,000 jobs passed through the

Printing Division of the Office this year, as compared with 55,000 last year, an increase of 40 percent. The average number of jobs in the

Office was 6,057 ; the largest number on hand in one day being 8,205, on June 29, 1934; the lowest number, 5,507, on July 10, 1933. The

average number of jobs during the previous fiscal year was 4,823,

the daily average increase during the current year being 1,234.

In addition to the 20,921,715 copies of the 2,557 individual codes,

which were mailed by the Superintendent of Documents, the National Recovery Administration, since its establishment June 14,

1933. required millions of forms and pamphlets. There are approximately 500 approved codes. The Office has practically finished

printing the " Labor Provisions " posters that follow each code.

These posters ran from 200 to 800,000 copies each, and constituted in

themselves a large amount of work for the job composing, press, and

bindery branches of the Office. A million and a half two-color Blue Eagle code cards were handled.

The President's Reemployment Agreement called for the printing,

cutting, and folding of 6,000,000 circular letters and a like number

of accompanying slips, of which 814.168 copies of each, together

with an equal number of return envelops (printed in the course of

manufacture by outside concerns), were inserted in individual envelops and mailed in varying quantities to every post office in the United

States. At the same time 22,000,000 copies of consumer's cards were

printed and cut, of which 19,156,000 copies were likewise mailed

directly from the Government Printing Office to approximately 50,000

post offices. Both jobs were completed and mailed in 5 working days.

One of the newest ideas of the N.R.A. is a four-column tabloid

weekly newspaper called " The Blue Eagle ", running either 4 or

8 pages and having a circulation of about 50,000.

In response to the President's desire to hasten the return of normal

conditions, the Office rushed to the limit all printing for the new

agencies created by Congress. Many letters expressing appreciation of the Office's prompt and helpful service were received from

these agencies, as well as from other departments of the Government.
8 Annual Report of the Public Printer

Among the many large jobs completed for other Federal agencies were 7,000,000 forms and pamphlets printed and mailed for the

Agricultm'al Adjustment Administration; 7,500,000 cards for the

Labor Employment Service, and 550,000 postmaster-examination

blanks and pamphlets for the Civil Service Commission. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration's activities covering cotton,

wheat, corn, hogs, cattle, tobacco, etc., required the printing of multiple forms, using different colored stock for each of the forms and

the various duplicates.

NATIONAL PARKS PAMPHLETS

One of the outstanding series of publications issued during the

year was a group of pamphlets giving general information on the

19 national parks. These pamphlets, averaging about 48 pages each

and varying in quantity from 10,000 to 40,000 copies, were produced on offset presses. The covers, in most instances, were handdrawn by Office designers.

GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION CHARTS

Another unique job, printed by the same process, was a series of

approximately 300 charts showing in detail the organization and

functions of the entire Government service, for use of the National

Emergency Council. This was the first time a complete compilation of organization charts of the entire Government service was

attempted.

PAPER AND OTHER PURCHASES

Specifications for paper and envelops for the period of March 1, 1933, to February 28, 1934, were sent by the Purchasing Division

to 425 firms, and 31 contracts were placed. Specifications were again

issued in January for the period of April 1 to June 30, 1934, and

these were sent to approximately 200 firms, which resulted in the

placing of 32 contracts. Specifications were issued in April for the

term of 6 months or 1 year beginning July 1, 1934. All bids for

paper were rejected and six contracts entered into for envelops. As

practically all the printing of the relief agencies was of an emer- gency nature and required immediate delivery, bids for paper were

obtained by telegraph or telephone. To meet these demands, approximately 44,000,000 pounds of paper were purchased. In addition, 22,250,000 tabulating cards and 26,500,000 continuous forms were required. All purchases of paper during the month of March

1934 were made in open market. Orders approximating $3,435,000 were placed for materials, including paper, our biggest item, which

alone amounted to about $2,650,000. This is an increase of about

$1,300,000 over the previous fiscal year.
Annual Report of the Public Printer 9

CHANGES IN PERSONNEL

Xinety-tTvo men and twenty-eight women employees retired during

the last fiscal year, 90 for age and 30 for disability. Of this total,

49 took advantage of section 1 of the present retirement act, which

allows retirement at employee's option for those who would be

eligible at the age of 70, 65, or 63 years, as the case may be, after

attaining the age of 68, 63, or 60 years, respectively, providing

they have rendered at least 30 years' service. The total retirements

for age, disability, and optional from August 20, 1920, to June 30,

1934, were 1,437.

Changes in personnel that occurred during the past year necessitated many additional appointments, as follows

:

On rolls June 30, 1933 4, 557 On rolls June 30, 1934 4, 793 Retired 120 Died 22 Separated from service 680 Appointed 916 More appointments were made during the past year than in any

other fiscal year since 1920, with the exception of 1931, when 938

appointments were made. The 680 separations during 1934 exceeded

those for any other period since 1925, when 734 employees left the

service.

PLATEMAKING DIVISIO^^ While stereotype plates were used when possible, some of the

press runs were so large considerable electrotyping was required.

The large financing operations of the Treasury Department caused

the Bureau of Engi-aving and Printing to order from this Office many coupon plates for bonds. Some of these orders required

as many as 6,000 plates. Because of the necessary speed in issuing

bonds after the Treasury Department has advertised an issue, this

Office had to deliver many of these orders overnight.

More than 2,000 square inches of illustration work were produced

every day by the Photo-engraving Section of the Office, exclusive of

work done for the Official Gazette, this publication alone using 60,778

cuts during the year. The Offset Section used 7,881 negatives produced by the Photo-engraving Section.

During the year 11,601 signatures of new book plates were re- ceived and stored in the plate vault, and over 596,818 pounds of

metal supplied the Metal Section for remelting in making new plates.

All told, there were 113,843 pages stereotyped and 45,709 electro- typed.

When the Civil Works Administration decided to pay the thousands of " out-of-work " employees by check, the Bureau of Engrav-
10 Annual Report of the Public Printer

ing and Printing printed the checks; this Office, however, printed

two carbon copies for each sheet, or about 80,000,000 checks, all of which had to be delivered on a specific date to insure prompt

payment.

PRESS DIVISION Owing to unusual demands, not only has the Press Division re- quired the services of additional employees but the division has also

found it necessary to run on a 24-hour basis. The following table

shows the increase in presswork over the previous year:

1934 1933 Increase

Actual impressions 915, 871, 672 656, 466, 879 259, 404, 793 Chargeable impressions . . ...... 2, 808, 468, 475 1,985, 697, 739 822, 770, 736 Forms put to press . . ....... ... 165, 181 161, 192 3,989 Jobs completed 55, 471 45, 861 9, 623 Maney orders and postal cards.—Money orders and postal cards

reached a high production mark. Money orders, considered by

many a reliable criterion of the Nation's economic condition, showed

an increase of 51,483,800, there being 220,817,000 printed, the largest annual production in the history of the Office. Production of

postal cards increased 238,048,740, the total output being 1,528,518,300

for the year. Thirty other large runs in the Press Division totaled 283,851,771

copies, and in addition there were produced 298,453,000 tabulating

cards, an increase of 68,600,000 over the previous fiscal year. While

the figures total 2,331,640,071 copies completed, they cover only 33

of the 55,471 jobs completed in the pressroom last year. PRINTING DIVISION

In the Printing Division approximately 60,000 type forms were imposed and dropped during the past year, while there were 129,178

pages of type held for future reprints.

THE BINDERY DIVISION Cutting and ruling machines have been running 16 hours a day

since November 1, 1933. Pamphlet binding has been heavy on folding blanks of a great variety of very large orders. One job of

approximately 13,500,000 copies was required in such haste that the

Office had to install two large additional folders.

The Bindery Division was called upon to perform operations never before undertaken, and completed 65,631 jobs during the last
Annual Report of the Public Printer 11

fiscal year, an increase over the previous year of 7,050. Owing to the increase in work, it was necessary to increase the bindery force by

75 bookbinders, 42 bindery operatives, 146 skilled laborers, and 5 graduate apprentices, a total of 268. The bindery force, not including those in Superintendent's office and Congressional Library

branch, stood at the close of the year at 1,100 employees, as against

897 at the beginning of the fiscal year, an increase of 203. DELR-ERY SECTIOX

In addition to 226 carloads of postal cards, weighing 9.208,760

pounds, outgoing carload lots handled by the fleet of trucks consisted of blank paper, metal, and paper cores and weighed 415,555

pounds. Less-than-carloacl lots amounted to 563,779 pounds, making

a total of 10,188,094 pounds of outgoing freight. This, added to the 62,377,468 pounds of incoming freight, totaled 72,565,562 pounds,

or 36.282 tons, of freight handled to and from freight yards alone.

There is no way to com2)ute the tonnage of finished work hauled to the numerous Government establishments throughout the city, but

practically the whole 36,000 tons of paper was again hauled as printed matter. STORES DIVISION The Stores Division worked overtime in handling the tremendous

quantities of supplies needed by the emergency agencies. Although

all months were unusually heavy, receipts in December 1933 of 185

cars broke all past records. Another all-time record was broken

February 19, 1934, when 41 cars were on the tracks to be unloaded.

Paper receipts for the year totaled 1,524 cars, or 60,682,485 pounds,

while there were 23 cars of other supplies, weighing 718,273 pounds.

Total supplies handled, including paper, were 1,547 cars, as compared with 909 cars received during the fiscal year ended June

30, 1933.

MAIXTEXAXCE DIVISION The work of the Maintenance Division includes maintaining buildings and equipment in an efficient operating condition; handling all problems of an engineering character ; carrying through with its own

force, or by contract, alterations and repairs ; designing, constructing,

and installing special equipment to meet unusual requirements in

the Government Printing Office; preparing specifications for new

machinery and equipment; operating all equipment for power con- version and distribution, emergency electric generating equipment,

heating, lighting, ventilating, refrigerating, and laundry equipment

;

compressed-air service, signal systems, elevators, conve3"or systems,

and cleaning buildings. The personnel of the division averaged
12 Annual Report of the Public Printer

during the year 353 employees. The shops reported a total of 162,-

135 maintenance jobs, exclusive of cleaning the buildings and operating power plant, elevators, and laundry work.

On July 2, 1933, Avork was begun on the construction of a storage

extension containing 5,494 square feet of floor space. It was completed September 8, 1933. It is used principally for the storage of

oils, gasoline, and bulky building materials, much of which was

formerly stored in alleyways.

The Government Printing Office, with about 4,800 employees, and

with property and equipment valued at more than $10,000,000, is housed in a group of buildings having approximately 22 acres of

floor space. Seventy percent of this area is contained in modern

steel frame buildings, Avhile 30 percent is located in old buildings, some of which date back 78 years, to 1856. These old buildings contain important production groups which print money orders and

postal cards. They also house large stocks of paper for printing,

approximately 20,000,000 copies of Government publications, as well

as the mailing rooms, from which 40 to 50 tons of publications go

out daily by mail. This tonnage does not include printing delivered

to the Government departments in Washington.

Printing demands have increased year by year to the point where

it has become necessary to crowd machinery, equipment, and materials to an extent that necessitates much wasteful rehandling, with

consequent increased cost and delayed production. The plant is working at full day capacity and in addition two 8-hour night shifts are required, thus affording 24-hour production. These conditions

make added building space necessary, not only to meet present needs

but for ever-increasing needs, as indicated by the 73-year history of

the Office. Too strong emphasis cannot be placed on the serious danger to

lives of employees from fire hazard, possible structural collapse

of heavily loaded old wooden frame buildings, and from the use of

antiquated elevators in these old buildings. DIVISION OF ACCOUNTS

The increase in volume of printing and binding ordered of the

Public Printer, accompanied by the greater number of employees

and a personnel turn-over of approximately 20 percent, resulted in a decided increase in the work of the Division of Accounts. The

pay cuts of 15 percent for the first 9 months and 10 percent for

the last 3 months of the year with required refund in April of a portion of the 15 percent deduction, the large number of temporary

uprates in pay by requirements of work in production divisions

by which some employees would have 5 or 6 different rates in one 2-week pay period, and payments for leave at rate at which

it was earned, all complicated and slowed up the pay-roll work.
Annual Report of the Public Printer 13

The increased output of printing and binding was distinctly

reflected in the increase in number of jobs computed, recorded,

and billed, and the number of vouchers drawn to cover purchases.

This office renders a bill for each job delivered to the various

governmental activities, and depends almost entirely on the prompt

payment of such bills to meet its current pay-roll and purchase

obligations. When customers do not pay promptly, it frequently

is found difficult to accumulate in the Treasury sufficient collections

in time to accomplish the routine of requisitioning the necessary

funds for pay roll. DIVISIOX OF PUBLIC DOCTOIENTS

Records of the Superintendent of Documents for the year ended

June 19d4: show an increase, both in the amount of sales and in the

number of orders. Receipts from sales amounted to $594,007.64, an

increase of $53,475.35 over last year's receipts. The 496,215 sales orders exceeded those of the previous year by 14,920. The earnings

by excess of sales to the public over cost of publications printed for

sale amounted to $302,842.23 for deposit in the Treasury to credit of

miscellaneous receipts, exceeding last year's sum by $80,711.36.

Congress has placed its stamp of approval on the sale of publications as a source of revenue, and every possible effort will be made

to increase sales. Information on almost every subject is printed in

Government publications, and the public is certainly entitled to know what has been issued. Not only is publicity needed but also better cooperation on the part of the issuing offices. Distribution is inevitably complicated by the introduction of new

distributing agencies, which serve only to confuse the librarians

and the public. The establishment of a single distributing organization is needed. It would soon be recognized as the source from

which definite information on all documents could be secured. The

public is at present experiencing much inconvenience along this line. The library of the Office of the Superintendent of Documents now

totals 628,105 books, pamphlets, and maps, a gain of 35,906 during

the past fiscal year. This library is of great value in research. It contains publications of the various Government departments, bureaus, committees, and commissions from the time of their establishment ; also congressional proceedings beginning with the first session

of the First Congress.

DmSION OF TESTS AND TECHNICAL CONTROL

Operations increased 30.5 percent over the previous year, 8,625

samples being tested. As a result of these tests, which covered paper
14 Annual Report of the Public Printer

and envelops, textiles, bookbinding leather, metals, glue, inks and

ink-making materials, oils and greases, gasoline, chemicals, and

many other items, 367 deliveries were rejected for noncompliance

with specifications—310 of paper, 12 of envelops, and 45 of miscellaneous materials.

Few changes were made during the year in the specifications for

paper. Of the 55,578,672 pounds received, an increase of 19,311,881

pounds over last year, 3,778,039 pounds were rejected.

There were 7,553,895 pounds of type metal standardized, a de- crease of 969,343 pounds under last year. Production of printing

ink for the past 12 months was 179,749 pounds, an increase of

25,251 pounds. There were 3,494 press rollers manufactured during

the year, an increase of 509 rollers. There were 77,225 pounds of

molded glue manufactured, an increase of 1,187 pounds.

In addition to the constant surveillance this division maintains

over purchases for this Office, it has rendered valuable assistance to many other Government organizations. As in previous years, many

miscellaneous supplies, manufactured by the Office, were furnished

other Government agencies. The total charge for such materials

this year was $28,457 as compared with $19,280 last year. The esti- mated savings to the departments for the year were $25,000. The

following table shows the quantities of the different supplies furnished to the various Government agencies for the fiscal year 1934:

Poimds

Mimeograph ink, black 60, 804 Printing inks, black and colored (including mimeograph). 6,426

Addressograph ink, blue and black 299 Writing ink, blue, black, and red ' 17, 520 Stamp-pad and numbering-machine inks 3, 022 Molded glue, including canceling-stamp composition. 3, 084 Paste 10,800

Many requests for technical and other information were made b;y commercial firms. The value of this service to industry was reflected during the year in numerous letters of appreciation. The complete

report of the Technical Director is printed elsewhere in this report.

APPRENTICE SECTION

Since July 5, 1922, the Apprentice Section has graduated 325

apprentices from 488 original appointments. For various reasons 87 have resigned or been separated from the service, leaving 76 on

the rolls at the close of the year. In a school printing exhibit at the Thirteenth Annual Conference on Printing Education held in Detroit, Mich., the work of the

Government Printing Office apprentices, in a group of three typo-

^ Quarts.
Annual Report of the Public Printer 15

graphical arrangements, was awarded second place. Apprentice

William H. AVeed was voted first prize. Mr. Weed was also awarded

second place in the Printing Education Conference exhibit of last year. This is the eighth time the school has received prizes and

awards or, in the absence of prizes and awards, honorable mention.

The educational course in this Office is planned for practical use

in the printing trade as a whole. The subjects include English, his- tory of printing, American literature, arithmetic, and spelling, the

latter of which is considered of prime importance. The school has

developed a number of excellent spellers, the year's average grade

for all students being 89.67. HEALTH, SAFETY, AND WELFARE ACTIVITIES During the year the emergency hospital of the Government Printing Office gave 3,275 surgical treatments to employees injured while on duty, and 1,695 re-treatments for other surgical conditions, which

permitted employees to remain at work and to perform efficient service, with little or no loss of time. There were also 8,301 medical

treatments given, and 5,088 re-treatments, making a total of 18,359.

The splendid accident-prevention record attained by the Office during the past 10 years is attested by the following comment which

appeared in the Monthly Labor Review, published March 1934, by

the Department of Labor

:

In spite of the manual work performed, the experience of the Government

Printing OflSce shows proportionately fewer injuries, in each year from 1922 to 1932, than in any other branch of the service. Its frequency rates are also con- siderably less than the average frequency rates quoted by the National Safety

Council for its members in the printing and publishing industry, presumably

the best-regulated private establishments of similar character. CAFETERIA

The cafeteria is owned and operated by the Office employees,

and requires the services of about 60 non-civil-service workers, whose

wages are paid from receipts. Approximately 2,500 meals at an

average price of 18% cents are served daily. The Cafeteria Association sponsored numerous recreational activities during the year, and

many social, patriotic, and official events were held in Harding

Hall, the Office auditorium. The outstanding improvement was the

installation of a roof-sprinkling system to lower the room's temperature during summer months.

GROUP INSURANCE

The Government Printing Office Group Life Insurance Association, since its organization May 1, 1931, to June 30, 1934, has paid

88454—34 2
16 Annual Report of the Ptiblic Printer

out $61,500 on 76 claims. At the close of the fiscal year, 2,852 first- unit policies, totaling $2,393,250, and 1,363 second-unit policies,

totaling $1,142,500, had been issued, and $137,330.24 was received

and deposited. The reserve fund totaled $21,914.86, of which $19,000 was in United States Treasury bonds and $2,914.86 in checking

accounts. The association is carrying on its work as a welfare organization,

providing insurance at the cost of $1 per month per unit in amounts

from $250 to $1,000, according to employee's age. RECOMMENDATIONS Because of limited time, a close study of the personnel and a detailed inspection of the plant and its mechanical equipment have

been impossible, and but few recommendations can be offered. The entire plant is badly overcrowded, and an additional large

modern building is needed to replace antiquated and dangerously

Aveak buildings dating back 78 years. The passageways are fre- quently jammed with work, which necessarily slows up production

and actually produces a dangerous condition. The old building,

which has been condemned several times as a fire trap and a hazard

to the rest of the Office, is of little use even for storage purposes.

Roof and window repairs, needed continually to protect stored

printed matter, make it a constant expense. Preceding Public

Printers have for years urged the erection of a new building in its place, for there is great need of safe, spacious storage facilities. The Government Printing Office is a production plant and must

be considered as such. Mere renting of storage and office space will

not overcome its difficulties. No plant, either governmental or

private, can operate efficientl}^ in overcrowded and obsolete quarters.

These conditions have reached a state of emergency where the Government should not further delay the demolition of dangerous buildings. They should be replaced with a modern building to safeguard the lives of employees and to provide the space needed to meet present urgent needs and future normal growth.

Acoustic treatment to reduce noise in the main building is con- templated, particularly in the machine composing rooms and in

the proofroom, where less noise disturbance would no doubt reduce

errors, increase production, and prove beneficial to the health of

employees.

As inadequate ventilation exists throughout all buildings, air- conditioning facilities should be installed in all rooms occupied by

workers.

Many of the methods of the Office and much of its equipment being

wholly out-of-date, in some cases obsolete, plans looking toward

complete modernization are under way.
Annual Beport of the Public Printer 17

LOOKIXG AHEAD

The establishment of the 40-hour week by Congress will probably

necessitate many adjustments in the routine of the Office, since the

other Federal establishments, not coming within the 40-hour-week

provision of the law require service on a 6-day schedule. It is also likely that additional appointments will be necessary, for, despite

the fact that work last year exceeded all past records, current indications promise that the volume of business for the coming year will

be even larger. Added to the printing needed by the present emer- gency organizations, which are barely reaching their stride, will be

the demands of still other agencies likely to be created by the next

Congress. With recovery definitely on the upswing and the Nation

assuming more normal aspects, it is inevitable that printing will

climb to new records. These conclusions are based upon the opinion,

quite generally held, that once the depression is definitely left behind there will dawn a new and undreamed-of era of productivity

and prosperity.

Under authority of the act approved February 28, 1933 (Public,

No. 381, T2d Cong.), the practice of printing supplementary records

and statistics in the Annual Report of the Public Printer has been

discontinued, and original copies of such information as has been

prepared for transmission to Congress are on file for public

inspection.

Public Printer.

DIVISION OF ACCOUNTS

STATISTICAL TABLES

STATISTICAL TABLES

Compiled by the Superintendent of Accounts and Budget Officer

Table 1.

Resources and liabilities under appropriations for the fiscal year ended June SO, 1934

RESOURCES

Appropriation for working capital, Public Act 381, 72d Cong., approved Feb. 28, 1933 ($1,750,000, less $450,000 made avail- able for 1933 by same act) $1, 300, 000. 00 Public Act No. 268, 73d Cong., approved May 30, 1934, from

1933 unexpended balance 500, 000. 00 Public Act No. 141, 73d Cong., approved Mar. 28, 1934 90, 635. 00 Payments from all sources for printing and binding 9, 783, 518. 79 Refunds from various sources 108. 93

Bills receivable July 1, 1934, for printing and binding fur- nished 275, 598. 22

$11, 949, 860. 94 Appropriations for salaries. Office of Superintendent of Documents, Public Act 381, 72d Cong 502, 000. 00 Appropriation for general expenses, Office of Superintendent of Documents,

Public Act 381, 72d Cong 210, 800. 00 Balance of appropriation for equipment for Government Printing Office Building i 1, 205. 03 Chicago World's Fair Centennial Celebration, 1933-34 4, 149. 82 Total resources available for fiscal year 1934 $12, 668, 015. 79 LIABILITIES

Working capital and repayments for printing and binding: Disbursed to June 30, 1934 $10, 200, 316. 11 Impounded and credited to surplus fund 209, 496. 83 Outstanding obligations July 1, 1934 1, 502, 835. 76 Total disbursed and outstanding obligations $11, 912, 648. 70

Salaries, Office of Superintendent of Documents:

Disbursed to June 30, 1934 $435, 808. 52 Impounded and credited to surplus fund 24, 188. 37 Outstanding obligations July 1, 1934 18, 227. 72 Total disbursed and outstanding obligations 478, 224. 61 General expense, Office of Superintendent of Documents:

Disbursed to June 30, 1934 $132, 051. 89 Outstanding obligations July 1, 1934 78, 598. 11 Total disbursed and outstanding obligations 210,650.00 Chicago World's Fair Centennial Celebration 1933-34: Disbursed to June 30, 1934 . $3, 149.82 Outstanding obligations July 1, 1934 152. 90 Total disbursed and outstanding obligations 3, 302. 72 Total disbursed to June 30, 1934. $10, 771, 326. 34 Total impounded and credited to surplus fund 233, 685. 20 Total outstanding obligations July 1, 1934. 1, 599, 814. 49 Total disbursed, impounded, and outstanding obligations 12, 604, 826. 03 Unobligated balance (subject to 10% over or under on outstanding orders) 2 3_ _ 63, 189. 76 Total . 12,668,015.79

1 Appropriated in 1929, available until used.

2 Includes $1,205.03, equipai3nt for Governmsnt Printing Office Building, available 1935.

3 Includes $847.10, Chicago World's Fair Centennial Celebration, available 1935. 21
22 Annual Report of the Public Printer

Table 2.Summary of financial transactions in fiscal year ended June 30, 1934'

covering appropriations for fiscal years 1932, 1933, 1934

APPROPRIATION" FOR 1932

Resources Disbursements Unexpended

balance July 1, 1934

Public printing and binding: Unexpended balance, July 1, 1933--- - -.- -- . $13, 374. 04

10 00

Credits to appropriations by payments from all sources for printing and binding and other receipts from miscellaneous sources.. - ....

Disbursed for labor . $189. 24 Disbursed for material and supplies.. . . . . 8, 675. 86 Total 13, 384. 04 8, 865. 10 $4, 518. 94

Salaries, Office of Superintendent of Documents: Unexpended balance, July 1, 1933- - . . -. 11, 719. 60 11, 719. 60 General expense, Office of Superintendent of Documents: Unexpended balance, July 1, 1933 561. 68 Disbursed

Total 561. 68 561. 68 Grand total appropriation - . . . . - . . . . -

.

Unobligated balance of 1932 appropriation on June 30, 1934

25, 665. 32 8, 865. 10 16, 800. 22

16, 800. 22 APPROPRIATION FOR 1933

Public printing and binding: Unexpended balance, July 1, 1933-.- . .... ... $2, 070, 305. 00

190, 146. 36

450, 000. 00

Credits to appropriations by payments from all sources for printing and binding and other receipts from miscellaneous sources- . Public Act No. 381, 72d Cong., approved Feb. 28, 1933. Disbursed for labor . . . $334, 175. 02 Disbursed for paper- ... - . . . . ... 564, 346. 73 Disbursed for lithographing and engraving ----- 37, 647. 06

88, 291. 42

500, 000. 00

1311,473. 66

Disbursed for material and supplies

-

-

. By transfer, Legislative Act 1935, Public Act No. 268, 73d Cong

Reserved for impound

Total 2, 710, 451. 36 1, 835, 933. 89 $874, 517. 47

Salaries, Office of Superintendent of Documents: Unexpended balance, July 1, 1933... _ - .. . 56, 179. 42 Disbursed ..... . - . ... 18, 986. 80 Impounded and credited to surplus fund .... 17, 145. 00 Total 56, 179. 42 36, 131. 80 20, 047. 62 General expense. Office of Superintendent of Documents: Unexpended balance, July 1, 1933 37, 936. 33 Disbursed 18, 602. 59 Total 37, 936. 33 18, 602. 59 19, 333. 74 Grand total appropriation. .... - .. . . . 2, 804, 567.11 1, 890, 668. 28 913, 898. 83 Deduct for outstanding obligations. . . ...... 34, 015. 72 Unobligated balance of 1933 appropriation on June 30, 1934 879, 883. 11 APPROPRIATION FOR 1934

Public printing and binding: Appropriation for working capital, Public Act 381, 72d Cong., approved Feb. 28, 1933 ($1,750,000 less $450,000 made available for 1933 by same act) . $1, 300,000. 00

500, 000. 00

90, 635. 00

10, 059, 225. 94

Public Act No. 268, 73d Cong., approved May 30, 1934, from 1933 unexpended balance.-. - Public Act No. 141, 73d Cong., approved Mar. 28, 1934 - Credits to appropriation by payments and bills re- ceivable from all sources for printing and binding and other receipts from miscellaneous sources. . .

.

1 Credit given by Treasury in 1934.
statistical Tables 23

Table 2.

Summary of financial transactions in fiscal year ended June 30, 1934^

covering appropriations for fiscal years 1932, 1933, 1934—Continued

APPROPRIATION FOR 1934—Continued

Resources Disbursements Unexpended

balance July 1, 1934

Public printing and binding—Continued

Disbursed for labor $7, 861, 957. 78

1, 792, 163. 68

43, 640. 39

502, 554. 26

209, 496. 83

Disbursed for paper . Disbursed for lithographing and engraving. _ Disbursed for material and supplies Impounded and credited to surplus fund

Total $11, 949, 860. 94 10, 409, 812. 94 $1, 540, 048. 00

Salaries, Office of Superintendent of Documents:

Legislative Act of Feb. 28, 1933 502, 000. 00 Disbursed. . ...... 435, 808. 52 Impounded and credited to surplus fund 24, 188. 37 Total 502, 000. 00 459, 996. 89 42, 003. 11 General expense, OflSce of Superintendent of Documents:

Legislative Act of Feb. 28, 1933 210, 800 00 Disbursed 132, 051. 89 Total 210, 800. 00 132, 051. 89 78, 748. 11 Equipment, Government Printing Office Building:

Legislative Act of Feb. 28, 1929 1 1, 205. 03 Disbursed to June 30. 1933 Total - 1, 205. 03 1, 205. 03 Chicago World's Fair Centennial Celebration: Public Act No. 14, 72d Cong., approved Feb. 8, 1932, available in 1934 . . . . _ __ 4, 149. 82 Disbursed . ... 3, 149. 82 Total 4, 149. 82 3, 149. 82 1, 000. 00 Deduct for outstanding obligations . . . . iz, boo, uio. /y 11, UUO, Ull. ot 1, 000, UU1. /o

1, 599, 814. 49 Unobligated balances of 1934, appropriations on

June 30, 1934 2 63, 189. 76 Total unobligated balances (subject to change by 10 per- cent over and under on outstanding obligations)

:

1932 16, 800. 22

879, 883. 11

63, 189. 76

1933 1934Total 959, 873. 09 RECAPITULATION—ALL APPROPRIATIONS

Total paid for labor 3 $8, 196, 322. 04 Total paid for material and supplies . 599, 521. 54 Total paid for lithographing and engraving 81, 287. 45 Total paid for paper 2, 356, 510. 41 Total impounded and credited to surplus fund (including amount for 1933, credited by

Treasury in 1934) 520,970.49 By transfer, Public Act No. 268 500, 000. 00 Total paid for printing and binding 12, 254, 611. 93 Total paid for salaries. Office of Superintendent of Documents ^ 454, 795. 32 Total paid for general expense. Office of Superintendent of Documents 150, 654. 48 Total paid for Chicago World's Fair Centennial Celebration 3, 149. 82 Total credited to surplus fund 41, 333. 37 Grand total « 12, 904,544. 92,

1 Appropriated Feb. 28, 1929, and available until used.

2 Includes $1,205.03, equipment, Government Printing Office Building, available in 1935.

3 Includes $286,341.71, deposited to credit of retirement fund.

* Includes $16,962.98, deposited to credit of retirement fund.

5 Includes $303,304.69, deposited to credit of retirement fund.
24 Annual Report of the Public Printer

Table 3.Moneys received during fiscal year 1934, the source, and Treasury deposit

1918 Deposited to the credit of appropriation for public printing and binding: Refund $1.20

1931 Deposited to the credit of appropriation for public printing and binding: For miscellaneous printing and binding 31. 92

1932 Deposited to the credit of appropriation for public printing and binding: Refund 10.00

1933 Deposited to the credit of appropriation for public printing and binding: For printing and binding for departments and bureaus $186, 002. 07 For miscellaneous printing and binding 2, 923. 37 Refunds 16.00 Total 188,941.44

1934 Deposited to the credit of appropriation for public printing and binding: For printing and binding for departments and bureaus $9,031,085.82 For miscellaneous printing and binding 46, 384. 66 Refunds 108. 93 Auditor disallowance 8. 11 Total 9,077,587.52 Deposited to the credit of appropriation salaries, Superintendent of Documents:

Auditor disallowance 3. 26 Grand total . 9, 266, 575. 34 Table 4.

Production of principal items entering into printing and binding in

fiscal years 1982, 1933, 1934-

Item 1932 1933 1934 Main office and Congressional Library branch: Total charges for printing and binding

Jackets written number

Estimates made do..

Bills computed do.. Time work in composing section hours

Electrotypes, stereotypes, and matrices square inches

Postal cards printed number

Money-order books shipped do-. Forms sent to press do.. Actual impressions do-- Chargeable impressions do,. Sheets folded ....do-- Signatures gathered do.. Tips made do.. Copies wire stitched .-do-. Copies paper covered do.. Books and pamphlets trimmed do.. Books rounded and backed do.. Books marbled and edged do.. Stamping impressions do.. Books cased in do.. Indexes cut do-.

Sheets passed through ruling machines. ..do-. Signatures sewed do.. Copies punched and drilled do.. Sheets and lines perforated do.. Tablets made do.. Miscellaneous rebinding, etc do..

$14, 333, 380. 35

62, 455

56, 417

79, 741

268, 912

11,

1, 366,

610,

2, 216, 410,

164,

20, 50,

13, 66,

1,

2,

1, 39,

52, 177,

070, 600

928, 994

181, 800

621, 912

059, 261

557, 697

963, 823

714, 194

546, 899

108, 675

867, 873

178, 720

243, 084

456, 972

248, 225

168, 970

288, 618

652, 684

944, 855 611,419

772, 427

99. 704

2 $12, 941, 095. 24

55, 268

48, 466

74, 105

249, 913

1, 290

658,

2, 013,

336,

130,

13, 39,

8, 40,

1,

2,

1, 26, 43, 133,

6,

3,

942, 300

469, 560

846, 666

165, 428

750, 722

499, 936

092, 301

325, 878

929, 809

505, 927

860, 923

499, 587

164, 972

183, 037

645, 351

240, 900

109, 135

235, 643

394, 325

255, 943

335, 548

182, 726

99, 287

1 $12, 949, 752. 01

71, 529

60, 572

89, 671

256, 824

11 1,528

1 918

2, 837

459,

139,

38,

59,

10,

, 849, 454

, 518, 300

, 103, 085

170, 553

417, 848

, 792, 831

568, 519

386, 074

239, 244

930, 149

252, 705

384, 582

725, 636

213, 179

858, 644

788, 562

127, 910

112, 662

840, 281

091, 831

975, 470

019, 644

101, 620

1 Does not include estimated $800,000 labor and material on uncompleted jobs.

2 Does not include estimated $400,000 labor and material on uncompleted jobs.
statistical Tables 25

Table 5.Charges for woik and to lohom delivered during the fiscal year ended June SO, 1934

Congress: Congressional Record $698,645.88 Publications for folding rooms 351, 327. 02 Publications for international exchange 11, 628. 62 Franked envelops and document franks 38, 831. 28

Bills, resolutions, and amendments 353, 932. 10 Committee reports 88, 781. 43 Documents 404, 335. 98 Hearings 503, 581. 19 Miscellaneous publications 76, 259. 50 Miscellaneous printing and binding 363, 312. 00 Total congressional printing and binding $2, 890, 635. 00 Private orders by Members of Congress: Documents, reports, bills, etc 4, 761. 96 Speeches 38,867.17 Other private orders 4, 010. 31 Superintendent of Documents 451, 804. 41 Library of Congress 383, 077. 12 Agriculture 715, 855. 72 Commerce 571, 831. 48

Interior . 335,970.52

Justice .... 166,187.18 Labor 282, 411. 30 Navy 482,276.35 Post Office 1, 340, 097. 22 State 127, 037. 18 Treasury 901, 529. 22 War 508, 480. 76 Agricultural Adjustment Administration 504, 919. 38 Alien Property Custodian 801. 03 Board of Mediation . 1, 445. 31 Board of Tax Appeals 28, 240. 05 Bureau of the Budget 27, 540. 10 Chicago World's Fair Centennial Commission 521. 12 Civil Service Commission 47, 143. 48 Commission of Fine Arts 299. 89 Commodity Credit Corporation 28, 937. 01 Court of Claims 21, 699. 43 Court of Customs and Patent Appeals 3, 271. 81 District government 106, 079. 86 Emergency Conservation Work 19, 932. 45 Employees' Compensation Commission 23, 490. 11 Export-Import Bank 166. 21 Farm Credit Administration 206, 632. 10 Federal Alcohol Control Administration 5, 139. 96 Federal Civil Works Administration 272, 470. 92 Federal Coordinator of Transportation 18, 462. 80 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 26, 548. 75 Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works 46, 013. 32 Federal Emergency Rehef Administration 73, 864. 87 Federal Home Loan Bank Board 6, 847. 65 Federal Power Commission 2, 852. 11 Federal Radio Commission 13,222.04 Federal Reserve Board 42, 721. 89 Federal Surplus Relief Corporation 15, 707. 92 Federal Trade Commission 42, 723. 49 General Accounting Office 55, 947. 45 Geographic Board 3, 476. 77 George Washington Bicentennial Commission 14, 395. 21 Home Owners' Loan Corporation 110, 373. 94 Inland Waterways Corporation 816.53

Interstate Commerce Commission 130, 370. 35 National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 12, 092. 79 National Emergency Council 25, 761. 96 National Forest Reservation Commission 420. 71 National Recovery Administration 472, 329. 46 Pan American Sanitary Bureau 12, 969. 30 Pan American Union 25, 459. 82 Panama Canal 11, 777. 24 Patent Office 928, 477. 70 Railroad Administration 203. 99 Reconstruction Finance Corporation... 113,236.30 Shipping Board 10, 346. 73 Smithsonian Institution 36, 514. 25 Special Adviser to the President on Foreign Trade 840. 20 Supreme Court:

District of Columbia 6, 841. 91 United States 2,310.51 Tarifl C ommission 32, 889. 97 Tennessee Valley Authority ' 27, 329. 50 Veterans' Administration 114, 321. 67 White House 8, 036. 54 Yorktown Sesquicentennial Commission.. 350.00 Sundry accounts (9) 333.25 Grand total... 12,949,752.01
Annual Report of the Public Printer

Total

cost

ofproduc- $407,

990.

06

831,

988.

80

1,230,346.22

2,

055,

632. 38

113,017.811

21,

536.

58

234,

994.

40

84,

247.

25

1,

534,

133. 83

1,

246,

076.

47

1,

416,

213.

59

676,

680.

26

101,

998.

29

400,

222.

92

121,

726.

21

150,

327.

65

57,

694.

53

183,

334.

63 m 1 i

1 12,

805,

424. 51

$122,

689. 39

2,

398.

00

141,051.

15

303,

821

43

384,

218.

61

1

317

696

36

'

150,

439. 86

80,

032.

66

11,742.

19

291,

609.

22

11,

422. 76

22,

544. 68

19,

894. 93

107. 98

813.06 194. 50

8,

809.

01

30,

765. ii

7,

920.

05

39,

517.

28

13,

201.

37

: i i i ; i 2,

960,

892.

60

1 3S§ i;^ S3

i 15,

766,

317.

11

Reconciliation

between

issues

and

orders

and

SdLUe

lieiilB

i i ; i

; ! i ; i

: ; : : 1

; ; : ; ;^

1 Niii

\ UiiT

i ; i ; ; ; i ; i is M N N i i

i ii

i

i N i N \ \ ^

i i am i

-122,134.

33

Paper

and

other

stock

issued,

illus-

; : : ; : \m: ! ! : :

$10,

122. 18

694,

875.

71

79,

068.

49

41,

692.

17

251,

676.

12

19,

276.

00

5,

451.82 154.

61

1

f^aA

noo

OQ

94,

036.

91

125,

412. 30

3,

005,

788.

54

1

< Bl H 1 1

i M i i

658,

719.

91

Expense

of

delivery

of III 1,

949.

62

126,

758.

11

Work

by

other

sections,

including

proof

and

apprentice tmm mmmi^ ^ i i

r-^ III

i ^ S

i i ^

i ;J

2,

962,

162. 47

Maintenance

and

upkeep $39,

622.

96

73,

867. 06

128,571.51

198,

010.

13

39,

364. 84

QQ

f;74

no

yy,

ot'i.

uy

13,

583.

71

32,

141. 67

7,

419. 03

184,

024.

31

97,

711.

18

72,

894.

34

59,

751. 09

7,

959.

39

17,

718.

05

3,

498.

96

4,

044. 78584.

26

6,

484.

66

30,

151. 28

2,

694.

20

1,

701. 30 ill Is 1

1,

149,505.11 a 12,

349. 64

205,

274. 79

Salaries,

wages,

leave,

and

holiday pay

$381,

701.

72

337,

561.

29

577,

636. 88

920,

377.

28

366,

657.

33

1

ri/L7 m

<;

no

142,

784.

01

212,

372. 57

66,

361.

98

1,

263,

961. 89

763,624.86

642,

959.

43

475,722.85 45,

776.

37

96,

839.

48

77,

247.

93

137,223.54 63,

141. 23

10,

093. 01

146,

508.

09

10,

560. 87

4,114.81

: : ; ; : i ilMI i

i i i i i i

i i i i i 7,

780,

242.

51

1

1

1

i

1

i 1

Patents Linotype

Monotype-

-

---

Hand Proof

Platemaking—

molding,

stereotyping,

and

finishing

Photo-engraving..

-

_.-

-

Pamnhlftti

JBOOK

-

_

-

-

Money

Order

-

-

Postal

Card

Library

printing

branch

Library

binding

branch

Details

chargeable

Metal

Stores- Ink

Roller

and

glue-.

-

.

.

Illustrations

Outside

purchases

Work

for

stock

returned

to

stores...

Light

and

power

for

city

post

officeMiscellaneous

service

for

Superintendent

of

Documents

other

than

i

i

i

i

i
Statistical TaMes

Total

charges

$114,

800.51

3,

649,

373.

06

250,

590.

22

520,

509.

48

388.

820.

04

698,

645.

88

353,

932. 10

776,

673.

62

160,

323.

71

150.410.

56

293,

774.

06

3,816,

498.

38

391,

137.

00

157,

327.

72

545,

356.

31

87,

214.

10

54,

158.

65

650.

307.

72

12,

949,

762.01

$4,

475. 22

207,

234.

96

9,

066.

67

10,

901. 17

72,

709.

00

65,

143. 54 1 8,

762. 89

267,

666.

56

16,413.

04

363.

76 Ill

667,

572. 78

i

$4,

352.

21

82,

983. 66

10,

996. 58

19,

107. 27

375.

24 1

3,714.88 188.

06

10,

722. 95

129. 00134.

64

34,

925.

34

897. 98 i ig

171,359.41

$13,659.82

291,

133.

18

29,

610. 40

31,784.50 83,

845.

23

.^,4,841.74

11,824.00 9,

938.

65

14,076.21 44,

570.

62

136,

565.

55

1,481,619.25 70,

109. 39

22i HI

j 2,

805,045.00

Charges

for

composition, presswork,

plating,

fold- 1

.$92,

313.

26

2,968,

021.26

200,

927.

67

458,

716.

54

304,

599.

57

567,

380.

26

286,

776. 50

755,

912.

02

136,

118.

50

105,

839.

93

148,310.

98

2,

032,

387.

23

303,

716. 59

156,

963.

96

87,

749.

13

87,

214.

10

49,

750.

91

9,

306,

774.

82

Number

of

publica- 19,

806

493,

384

26,

488

36,497 93,

779

.

61,

705 364

—

-i^ :

;

731,

063

Number

of

type

pages 17,

699

727,

372 52,

827

130,453 858,

994 26,

643

118,

978

163,

695 17,

331

2,

103,

992

Number

of

copies 14,

586,

706

84,813,

467

1,

286,

251

3,

361,

816

21,622,102 4,

807,

274

6,

235,

340

6,

321,686 246,

778

220,410,

460

178,

094,

584

3,

749,

086,

209

4,

609.

869 88,

379

4,

295,

469,

911

Class

of

work

Publications:

Smaller

than

octavo

Octavo Quarto

Miscellaneous.--

.

Congressional

Record

Bills,

resolutions,

and

amendments..

Snecifications

of

oatents.

trade

marks,

etc

Official

Gazette

and

Annual

Indexes,

Patent

Office

Post-office

money

orders

Letterheads

and

envelops

Blanks,

notices,

cards,

schedules,

etc

Blank

books

r>mumg

newspapers,

uocumenis,

reports,

eic

Blank

paper

uoniraci

prmimg

:

Printing

and

binding

supplies

1

Total
28 Annual Report of the Public Printer

Table 8.Inventory of quantity and cost of paper and envelops, material and supplies, and machinery and equipment on hand June 30, 193Ji- [Compiled by the Purchasing Division]

Paper:

Printing Mimeograph

United States money-order writing- Safety writing Writing

Map

Manifold Bond

Ledger

Index Cover

Manila...

Kraft Manila tag board Cardboard

Bristol board

Miscellaneous Binders board

Total... Envelops.

Total paper and envelops . Other material and supplies: Miscellaneous supplies Book cloth Buckram

Leather Ink ingredients Gold leaf Ink (made in Government Printing OflBce)

.

Imitation leather Cartons and containers

Total, material and supplies. Total, material and supplies, paper and envelops. Machinery and equipment Grand totalPounds

921, 345

288, 225

34, 507

33, 791

060, 301

54, 353

281, 566

461, 502

710, 700

188, 900

142, 200

177, 200

287, 500

888, 200

37, 300

752, 000

63, 700

404, 600

Cost

$140, 026. 00

22, 015. 00

2, 607. 00

3, 606. 00

52, 783. 00

8, 153. 00

43, 157. 00

195, 117. 00

108, 181. 15

26, 078. 67

18, 275. 54

8, 972. 50

12, 282. 33

58, 735. 72

3, 524. 10

21, 654. 50

10, 680. 00

12, 384. 61

748, 233. 12

22, 553. 64

770, 786. 76

141, 134. 56

13, 822. 35

9, 470. 50

6, 128. 10

6, 097. 39

4, 487. 04

4, 113. 18

1, 927. 07

1, 241. 80

188, 421.

959, 208. 75

5, 415, 250. 82

6, 374, 459. 57
statistical Tailes 29

Table 9.

Piihlications , including annual reports and documents, printed on

requisition during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1934, for Congress and Govern- ment departments and independent establishments

Copies Congress (does not include Congressional Record, bills, or private orders) 5, 235, 279 Superintendent of Documents 10, 045, 947 Librarv of Congress 104, 899 Agriculture 14, 092, 328 Commerce 2, 206, 763

Interior 1, 403, 736 Justice 270, 570 Labor 2, 233, 513 Navy 4, 024, 946 Post Office 1,520,756 State 308, 819 Treasury 3, 242, 135 War 7,102,770 Agricultural Adjustment Administration 19, 638, 932 Alien Property Custodian 1, 564 American Battle Monuments Commission 7 Board of Mediation 12, 528 Board of Tax Appeals 116, 814 Bureau of the Budget 814 Central Statistical Board 1, 502

Civil Service Commission 372,645 Commission of Fine Arts 1, 038 Commodity Credit Corporation 12 Court of Claims 37, 612 Court of Customs and Patent Appeals 791 District government 291,569 Emergency Conservation Work- 195, 158 Employees' Compensation Commission 10,303 Executive Council 3 Farm Credit Administration 10, 702, 206 Federal Alcohol Control Administration 20, 175 Federal Civil Works Administration 215, 150 Federal Coordinator of Transportation 219, 360 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 2,971,529 Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works 551,955 Federal Emergency Relief Administration 237,809 Federal Home Loan Bank Board 97, 018 Federal Power Commission 2,115 Federal Radio Commission 104,746 Federal Reserve Board 444,240 Federal Trade Commission 139,140 General Accounting Office 13, 541 Geographic Board 33, 500 George Washington Bicentennial Commission 9,000 Home Owners' Loan Corporation 923,262 Inland Waterways Corporation 6,002

Interstate Commerce Commission 1,439,562 National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 35, 805 National Emergency Council 106,000 National Forest Reservation Commission 6,000 National Recovery Administration 22, 092, 864 Pan American Sanitary Bureau 67, 225 Pan American Union 134,400 Panama Canal 2,182 Puerto Rican Hurricane Relief Commission 2 Railroad Administration 653 Reconstruction Finance Corporation 191,068 Shipping Board 19, 931 Smithsonian Institution 51,833 Special Adviser to the President on Foreign Trade 50 Supreme Court:

District of Columbia 20, 530 United States 6,080

Tariff C ommission _ . _ 25, 255 Tennessee Valley Authority . . 80, 531 Veterans' Administration 92, 550 War Finance Corporation 100 White House . 9 Yorktown Sesquicentennial Commission 5, 000 Total 113,542,131 Table 10.

Receipts from miscellaneous sales during the fiscal year ended June

SO, 1934

$11,375.23 Waste paper 32, 689. 43 Telephone 11.90 Surplus from sale of documents 350, 643. 75 Total 394,720.31

DIVISION OF TESTS AND TECHNICAL CONTROL

REPORT OF THE TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

88454—34 3 31

REPORT OF THE TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

To tlie Public Peintee : The following report covers the work of the Division of Tests and Technical

Control for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1934

:

SAMPLES TESTED The total number of samples tested during the year was 8,625, an increase of

30.5 percent over the number tested during the previous year, as follows

:

1934 1933 1934 1933

Paper and envelops 5, 460

770

62 645

47 326

112

3, 837

600

41 808

61 288

132

Oils and greases . . . 69

101 124 909

42

82 352

368

Textiles _ Gasoline. . ... . _ Bookbinding leather.. Chemicals. .... ...

Metals Miscellaneous.- . ... . Glue. Ink-making materials ... Total 8, 625 6, 611 Inks

Of the 367 deliveries rejected for noncompliance with specifications, 310 were

paper, 12 envelops, and 45 miscellaneous materials. PAPER Very few changes in the specifications for paper were made during the year, and some of these changes consisted only in more clearly defining the phraseology heretofore used. It was found advisable to increase the maximum limita- tion of ash content of rag white bond paper used in printing file patents. Owing to the low opacity of a regular bond sheet it is, when printed on both

sides, not suflBcient to prevent show-through. The specifications for binder's board were slightly modified to bring them into closer agreement with good

commercial practice.

There were 55,578,672 pounds of paper received during the year, an increase

of 19,311,881 pounds, or 53.25 percent, over last year. Of this amount 3,778,039 pounds, or 6.8 percent, were rejected.

The change making the fiscal year for paper purchases begin on July 1 instead of March 1 had a bearing on the number of rejections made this year. During the month of March paper was purchased in the open market,

with the result that some contracts were placed with manufacturers who had

not previously made paper for the Government and who consequently experienced some diflaculty in meeting the acidity requirements. The 3 months intervening occasioned similar difiiculties with respect to this and other requirements. 33
34 Annual Report of the Public Printer

The following is a tabulation of paper rejections made during the fiscal year, with reasons for rejection. Some rejections included more than one deficiency. Deficient in— Numher

Stock 3 Bursting strength 25 Folding endurance 65

Tensile strength 12 Opacity 13 pH value 25 Not within weight tolerance 53 Excessive rosin 2 Unsatisfactory general appearance 96

Unsatisfactory color 16 Total 310 Determination in paper acidity.—The Division of Tests and Technical Control has cooperated with the Bureau of Standards and the paper-testing committee of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry in drafting a proposed tentative T.A.P.P.I. method for determining the hydrogen-ion concentration. The Government Printing Office has continued to use the quinhydrone method. However, the glass-electrode method is also used in cases where

check determinations are deemed advisable. Further research is being conducted with the cooperation of the Bureau

of Standards relative to standardizing the method for determination of pH

in paper. The data gathered from future studies will be utilized in a revision

of the proposed tentative T.A.P.P.I. method.

Deterioration of sulphite papers.—A study of relative rates of deterioration

of paper containing varying percentages of bleached and unbleached sulphite

pulp was made by means of periodical surveillance tests extending over 3 years of natural aging.

Microscopical examination.—In cooperation with the microscopic subcommittee of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, several

stains for use in fiber identification and analysis have been investigated. A

report dealing with this subject was presented by the Technical Director at the last annual meeting of this association. This report, entitled "Rapid

Methods for the Determination of Bleached and Unbleached Fibers in Pulp

and Paper", has been published in the Paper Trade Journal (vol. 98, no. 10, Mar. 8, 1934) and as Government Printing Ofiice Technical Bulletin No. 20: Tabulating-card paper.—Several experimental lots of paper for tabulating cards have been given complete tests. An attempt is being made to develop

a paper to be used in the production of tabulating cards for permanent record

files. The results so far obtained are gratifying, and further trial runs will be tested. Opacity tester.—An instrument utilizing the photo-electric cell for measuring

the opacity of paper has been investigated to ascertain its value for use in

this Office. This instrument measures opacity by the contrast-ratio method

as adopted by the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry. In

addition, it measures actual printing opacity. It has been found that the

photo-electric-cell instrument duplicates results and accurately checks the

visual tester now in use. Envelops.—During the year the number of envelops purchased totaled

56,096,225, an increase of 25,159,692 or 81.3 percent. Of these, 322,000 were

rejected, or 12 rejections, comprising 0.57 percent, as compared with 16 rejec- tions or 3.1 percent during the fiscal year 1933.
Report of the Technical Director 35

TYPE METALS

The total amount of type metal standardized during the fiscal year 1934

for the use of the Office was 7,553,895 pounds. This is a decrease of 969,343

pounds, or 11.4 percent, from last year. The following is a comparison of the amounts of the various type-metal

alloys standardized during the fiscal years 1933 and 1934

:

Kind 1934 1933 Increase (+) or decrease (—

)

Linotype Pounds

4, 459, 588

1, 966, 294

481, 581

581, 229

65, 203

Pounds

5, 742, 697

2, 020, 578

526, 022

171,671

61, 270

Pounds

-1,283, 109 -54, 284 -44, 441 +409, 558 +3, 933

Percent -22.3 -2.7 -8.4

+238. 6 +6.4

Monotype. . - . _ Stereotype . _ . Electrotype - . - . . . Slug

Total 7, 553, 895 8, 522, 238 The following table shows the correction of linotype, monotype, stereotype, and electrotype metals for the fiscal year 1934, including the quantity returned

for remelting, correction metals, dross, perecntage increase due to correction,

and percentage loss due to dross calculated on the quantity of metal remelted.

Linotype Monotype Stereo- type

Electro- type

Slug

Returned for remelting. . . pounds 4. 392, 659 1, 967, 213 473, 837 522, 061 1 65, 203 Correction metal used: Lead-antimony alloy 2 . .. do.. . 7,280

90

339

82, 970

1,293

25, 342

3, 009

1,032

175 4,680 Tin-antimony alloy 3 _ . _ do.. 200 Tin do

Lead- _ _ . do 8,445 54, 288 Total do..-. 90, 679 30, 676 8, 620 59, 168 Total corrected metal -.- . . do... 4, 459, 588

23, 750

2.06

.54

1, 966, 294

31, 595 1.55

1.61

481, 581 876

1.82

.18

581, 229 Dross... ...... ... - -- - do - Increase due to correction-- -- - percent . 11.33 Loss due to dross .. -. - _- . do

1 Remelted only; no correction required as it is used for "solid-body" work (metal base)

.

2 Lead-antimony alloy consists of approximately 60 percent lead and 40 percent antimony.

3 Tin-antimony alloy consists of approximately 33 percent tin and 67 percent antimony.

The percentage of dross in linotype and monotype metals was 0.54 and 1.61, respectively, as compared with 0.65 and 2.22 last year. Owing to the increased use of linotype metal necessitated by printing demands

of the emergency agencies, the reserve supply of 200,000 pounds of this metal be- came exhausted. This required the purchase of 36,000 pounds of linotype

" pigs " and the conversion of 28,585 pounds of stereotype and 20,430 pounds

of monotype into 77,176 pounds of linotype metal. During the fiscal year 88,212 pounds of old electrotype plates were corrected

to the standard formula of 4 percent tin, 3.5 percent antimony, and 92.5 per- cent lead. This formula is identical with that adopted as the standard for electrotype backing metal by the International Association of Electrotypers.

There were melted 393,237 pounds of shavings and trimmings separated from

copper scraps and dross, and " pigged " for use in the Electrotype Section. For the Ludlow machines, 12,990 pounds of metal, containing 6.5 percent tin, 11.5 percent antimony, and 82 percent lead, were made.

Purchase was made of 161,838 pounds of correction metals, for which

83,814 pounds of dross and 12,274 pounds of electrotype shells were accepted

as partial payment.
36 Annual Report of the Public Printer

Included in the total amount of monotype metal corrected is 95,715 pounds

containing 10 percent tin, 19 percent antimony, and 71 percent lead. This hard

monotj^pe metal is used in rule casting and other special work where a harder

metal than the standard alloy is required. ELECTROTYPING The semiautomatic copper-depositing tanks have now been in operation for 3 years, and have continued to give very satisfactory service. The use of hot water instead of steam as a heating medium maintained the proper temperature of 90° F. without injury to the lead coil. No changes were made in the operating conditions of the battery room during

the year. All plating solutions were adjusted weekly under technical control. Four hundred new electrotype cases were made to replace those worn out by

long and continual service. In order to permit more liberal " stopping-out

margins and thus avoid wasteful deposition of copper on the back of the cases, their dimensions were increased 1 inch, making the new case size 24 inches

in length by 14 inches in width. Several alloys were cast into cases and given

practical tests. An alloy containing 6 percent tin, 5 percent antimony, and 89

percent lead was chosen for the new cases. Silvering wax molds.—Research undertaken to overcome the diflSculties encountered in the deposition of silver films was continued. The use of furfural as a wetting agent proved to be without value in cor- rection of the tendency of the silver film to peel from the wax surface and

develop side holes. Silver films were deposited upon a special graphite-free molding medium to study their adhesion property in comparison with that of ozokerite wax. This

special medium proved unsatisfactory owing to difficulty encountered in obtain- ing a clean separation of the mold from the type forms after the impression

had been made and before silvering. Solution of this problem depends upon obtaining perfect adherence of the

silver film over the entire wax surface and its maintenance during the process

of deposition of the copper shell upon the silver foundation. These conditions have not thus far been accomplished with sufficient frequency of success to assure commercial application. INK Owing to emergency work for the newly organized agencies of the Govern- ment and the greater demand by the other departments for mimeograph, stamp

pad, numbering machine, printing, and writing inks, the work of the ink section materially increased. The total production of printing ink for the fiscal year

1934 was 179,749 pounds, an increase of 25,251 poxmds, or 16.3 percent, over last year. The following comparative table shows the increased production of other ink products

:

Material Quantity produced

1934 1933 Increase

Blue toner. . ... . quarts.. Ruling ink. . . ...pounds..

13, 831

2, 600

16, 460

422

9, 867

2, 006

12, 056

316

3, 964

594 4,404

106

Percent

40.2

29.6 36.5

33.5 Writing ink, blue and red do

Striping ink, for tabulating cards... do
Report of the Technical Director 37

Ttie ink section lias also produced several miscellaneous materials for use of the Office, such as 193 pounds of marbling pulp colors, 299 pounds of molding wax compound, 228 quarts of lithographic plate etch, 140 quarts of lacquer

thinner, 256 quarts of turpentine substitute, and 72 quarts of backing fluid. A special ink and an overprint compound were developed for the Library of Congress for use on vulcanized fiber-board index cards. This ink is also suit- able for use on tracing cloth and parchment drawing paper. At the request of the Weather Bureau, a special brown copying ink was

developed for printing air maps. Research in the improvement of the quality of the inks manufactured by the

Office has been conducted. Further work was done to simplify the specifications for lithograph varnish. A blue-black writing ink for fountain pen and general office use, which is superior in quality to that formerly produced and which eliminates the diffi- culties of clogging and drying of the pen point, has been developed. PRESS ROLLEES, GLUES, AND PASTE A total of 3,494 press rollers was manufactured during the year, as compared

with 2,985 in 1933, an increase of 509 rollers or 17 percent. The tests on rubber rollers resulted in developing specifications for their purchase.

There were 77,225 pounds of molded glue manufactured during the year, as compared with 76,038 pounds last year. Under the direction of this division, 19,000 pounds of glucose-glycol paste were

prepared. This product has been very satisfactory in eliminating warping of book covers. A total of 80,000 pounds of flour paste was also prepared. SUPPLIES FOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES The total charge for materials furnished to other Government departments was $28,457, as compared with $19,280 last year, showing a substantial saving

to the departments. The quantities of the supplies furnished in the fiscal years 1933 and 1934 are as follows

:

Materials 1934 1933

Mimeograph ink, black.. ... . . _ Pounds

60, 804

6, 426

299

1 17, 520

3, 022

3, 084

10, 800

Pounds

46, 650

4,791

135

1 12, 349 1,460 2,859

10, 516

Printing ink, black and colored, including mimeograph

Addressograph ink, blue and black . . . Writing ink, blue, black, and red -.. . Stamp-pad and numbering-machine ink Molded glue, including canceling-stamp composition

Paste - ----- --- - - - -----

' Quarts. PHOTO-ENGRAVING AND LITHOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

Research in these fields was principally devoted to improvement of the litho- graphic reproductions of half-tones from zinc offset plates. This study cov- ered the development of high-light negatives best suited for offset printing

and adaptation of the platemaking process to faithful reproduction of their

characteristics. Trichromatic-photography experiments were continued to determine new

methods for improving the tricolor printing of marbled paper designs by the

offset process.
38 Annual Report of the Public Printer

New tentative specifications for the purchase of better quality materials

for use in the processes were developed. Half-tone negatives for offset printinff.—Half-tone negatives incorporating

varying degrees of contrast and representing a wide variety of types of copy were made both by customary methods and by unique procedures developed

during the course of this investigation. Half-tone screens of 120 to 150 lines were employed. Test proofs from these negatives were obtained from the

regular offset presses with various kinds of paper and with different qualities of ink. Photomicrographs were made of some negatives to illustrate the chaiacter

of dot formation and the consequent penetrability to light rays when printing

upon the sensitized metal press plate. The light-filtering action of yellow stain

in certain film negatives was also studied and the causes of the stains deter mined and removed.

Microscopic study of the negatives, offset press plates, and proofs indicated a pathway to improvements in the types of offset negatives and their adaptation, through improved technic, to better lithographic reproduction. Several types of negatives were studied. The first high-light effects were

obtained upon process film, using 120- and 133-line screens and a lens stop, specially designed by the Technical Division to produce a linked-dot pattern

having somewhat of a line effect rather than the usual pattern obtained through

the cross-lined screens. This pattern possesses an increased ratio of white to black areas, which results in a more contrastive print than formerly obtained

when printed upon too thickly coated albumen plates. The sharply defined formation of the dots in process film negatives, exhibiting but slight opacity

gradients, proved highly desirable for offset use. However, such half-tone film negatives were not susceptible to reduction and

intensification for altering the values of high lights and shadows, nor easily

combined with type matter upon the same film. Their qualities were therefore imitated upon collodion wet plates, which permit such chemical modification

after development.

Round stops were then substituted for the special stop and, by varying the standard distances of screen separation, additional contrastive effects of light

and shade were obtained.

Silver bromide emulsion combined with hypersensitizing dyestuffs was employed to obtain further improvement in the contrastiveness of negatives and

offset prints. The silver bromide process was found to possess certain intrinsic values which are not obtainable by the usual collodion silver iodide method.

Owing to its greater sensitivity to light waves from the central region of the spectrum than the ordinary collodion which is partially " color-blind " to these wave lengths, the bromide when treated with color-sensitizing dyes was proven

to be very valuable in obtaining contrastive negatives from yellow or discolored

copy. The character of the dot formation upon silver bromide collodion is inherently better than any other photographic medium for producing offset half-tones. It possesses less opacity gradient and thus permits a greater latitude

of exposure time during printing upon the albumenized metal plate. This is very desirable in the offset process, which requires line negatives, type matter upon process film, and half-tones to be printed simultaneously upon the same

press plate.

This marks the introduction into the Government Printing Office of silver bromide emulsion to produce monochrome screen half-tones. Only 1 camera stop

and 1 exposure may be employed in making silver bromide emulsion negatives

instead of the 3 stops and 3 exposures used with plain collodion.
Report of the Technical Director 39

Variations in the teclinic of offset procedure were introduced simultaneously

with variations in photographic procedure.

Improved copy for type matter and half-tones.—Special attention was also given to the preparation of type matter to be photographed by process film. It was found that offset paper presented a better surface for taking the ink with

sharp impression than the 25-percent-rag bond paper heretofore used for obtain- ing photographic copy of type matter. The improved sharpness of impression of type faces on this paper resulted in marked improvement in the sharpness of the negatives prepared for offset reproduction. The " thins " in the type face were

faithfully reproduced by refraining from chemically cutting the negatives with

potassium ferricyanide hypo-reducer (Fanner's solution).

Considerable attention was given to the photographic copy for half-tone re- production by retouching original photographs in order to facilitate obtaining

better high-light effects in the negatives for offset printing.

Temperature-control Mth for development of process film.—^The critical sensitivity of certain process films to temperature variations during develop- ment necessitated the construction of a temperature-control bath for the development of offset negatives.

This apparatus consisted essentially of a water bath equipped with perforated

brass pipes bearing roller rings to facilitate the movement of the developing

trays. The trays were fabricated from stainless steel, an alloy of approximately

10 percent nickel, 20 percent chromium, and 70 percent steel, which has proved

Tery resistant to corrosion by the developer used. To prevent corrosion it is necessary to avoid bimetallic elements which form electrolytic couples re- sulting in chemical decomposition of the developers. Therefore, the trays were made seamless by folding in the corners, thus avoiding the necessity of using

other metals in forming joints.

The temperature of the developer is maintained at 69° to 70° F. by rapid

thermal transfer through the metal trays to the water bath in which they are partly immersed. The temperature of the bath is maintained a few de> grees below 70° F. by means of a continuous circulation through a thermostatic valve control of the diaphragm type, attached to both the warm-water

-and the ice-water pipe lines. This bath has proved an invaluable aid in improving the quality of litho- graphic negatives made during the hot summer months.

Graining of offset plates.—A microscopic study was made of various types of graining produced on zinc press plates in an automatic graining machine by means of quartz sands of varying granulations. This investigation resulted

in materially reducing the size of the plate grain, largely eliminating the microscopic scratches which proved detrimental to fine half-tone printing.

This finer and more porous grain secured better adsorption of water, permitting a marked reduction of the water-ink ratio, with consequent improvement in the quality of the final print. Excessive water on the press plate tends to deaden the blackness and tonal quality of ink. This improved quality of plate

grain also effected sharper and more colorful printing through avoidance of the formation of an ink emulsion caused by excessive amounts of water on

the press plate.

LithograpMc grainiyig sand.—A scientific study has been undertaken to standardize flint and quartz sands employed for graining zinc offset plates.

A preliminary investigation of the commercial grades on the market has

revealed a great lack of uniformity in granulation and classification of particle sizes of sands supplied for this purpose. Microscopic examination has

also revealed that there is a wider variety of crystalline structure than should
40 Annual Report of the Public Printer

be permitted for graining zinc plates. The granular form has been found to vary within the same sample from slivers and platy crystals to those which

possess no sharp cutting edges. Some sands have been found to possess even

spherical and smooth surfaces. In order to obtain uniformity of graining and accurately standardize the time required for the graining process, it is necessary to maintain as a

constant the structural form and granulation of the sand used. It is with

this end in view that the investigation has led to formulating the following

tentative specifications for two of the grades of lithographic graining sand:

NO. 0 FLINT SAND

Quality.—Natural crystal quartz, containing not more than a trace of mineral salts, such a-s iron compounds, and free from foreign matter.

Crystalline structure.—Microscopically sharp cutting edges, reasonably

free from platy crystals and slivers. Granulation.—Not less than 90 percent shall pass through a lOO-mesh

screen and not more than 15 percent through a 200-mesh screen. NO. 1 FLINT SAND

Quality.—Natural crystal quartz, containing not more than a trace of mineral salts, such as iron compounds, and free from foreign matter.

Crystalline structure.—Microscopically sharp cutting edges, reasonably

free from platy crystals and slivers. Granulation.—Not less than 100 percent shall pass through a 40-mesh

screen, not less than 85 percent through a 60-mesh screen, not more than

25 percent through an 80-mesh screen, and not more than 5 percent through

a 100-mesh screen. AWumen coating.—A thinner coating of bichromated albumen upon the

zinc plate was obtained by reduction of the viscosity of coating solution and by increasing the speed of whirling the plate during the coating and

drying operation. The increased fineness of plate graining was also a factor in the reduction of thickness of the light-sensitive film. This reduction

in the thickness of the albumen film resulted in increased susceptibility to actinic light, producing a very hard image under normal exposure without

a tendency to swell and thicken up the work and one which endured longer

press runs. These factors, combined with increased vacuum, which afforded

better contact between the negative and printing plate, were responsible

for reproducing by means of albumen coatings the patterns of the negatives

with greater fidelity. The greatly improved quality over previous offset half-tone printing in this^ Office resulted from the above outlined technical study and changes intro- duced into the processes during the past year. The practicality of this^ technical investigation was demonstrated in the recent publication, by the

offset process, of 18 scenic booklets illustrating and describing national parks.

These booklets comprise the 1934 series issued by the National Park Board

of the Department of the Interior. Lithographic etches.—Several formulas for lithographic plate etches have

been compounded and their effects observed. An excellent formula, known

as " white etch ", has been supplied by this division. This etch has given

uniformly satisfactory results for use on the plates while under operation.

A chemical substitute for turpentine, which has displaced the use of that

skin-irritant compound, has also been supplied. These two formulas have

almost completely eliminated the use of chromic acid and turpentine, and
Report of the Technical Director 41

have resulted in more comfortable operating conditions and avoidance of industrial poisoning of press operators. MarNed paper designs by offset printing.—By means of tricolor photography new designs were printed for use as end sheets in bookbinding. These designs Included fine-comb marble, Italian marble, and peacock patterns. The printing was highly satisfactory. However, the red color of the pattern was some- what degraded toward an orange shade, owing to the necessity of printing red

over a yellow background. To avoid this procedure, a camera study of actual marbling with a view to separation of the red from the yellow by means of panchromatic emulsion and absorption filters was made.

It was determined that dyes of certain chroma (magenta, hansa yellow, and

peacock blue) reflected light which was selectively absorbed by appropriate Wratten filters and thus completely separated upon the negatives. To obtain the yellow printing plate desired, it was necessary to photograph both the blue and the red ends of the spectrum and " drop out the middle region of the

yellow. This was possible in the case of dyes because of the definite wave

length of light reflected, but could not be accomplished with the more complex

pigments. Therefore, a new pigment which possesses the required photographic

possibilities combined with the physical properties necessary to permit its use

for flotation upon the gum baths employed in the marbling process was sought.

An alizarine aluminum lake, a magenta pigment, was obtained as a substitute

for the paranitraniline red used in the marbling process. Preliminary tests indicate that this pigment, employed together with hansa

yellow and peacock blue, will permit complete photographic separation, thus

leading to a better reproduction of the original red colors by the elimination

of the necessity of printing them over a yellow foundation. BOOKBINDING RESEARCH

Bookbinding research was conducted by the Government Printing OflBce in cooperation with the Employing Bookbinders of America under the research

associate plan.

Pyroxylin-treated fadrics.—Research on the pyroxylin-treated fabrics was

continued during the past year, special attention being paid to the pyroxylinimpregnated fabrics. Comparable grades were secured from various manufacturers and tested for the purpose of securing data concerning their physical

characteristics. As a result, the Division of Tests and Technical Control devel- oped purchase specifications covering various qualities of pyroxylin-impregnated

fabrics. Texas specifications.—In October 1932 the State of Texas developed specifica- tions for the materials entering into the manufacture of their State textbooks. The Research Division of the Employing Bookbinders of America has been

testing such items as book paper, book cloth, binder's board, thread, super, drill,

etc., for book manufacturers, in order to assist them in purchasing materials

which will satisfactorily conform to the Texas specifications.

Laminated hoard.—Various substitutes for binder's board were subjected to technical and practical tests in the laboratory and bindery.

Specifications for the various grades of cover board used in bookbinding were drawn and have been adopted as commercial standards. Book cloth.—The results of several years' cooperative research on book

cloth have been published in Government Printing Office Technical Bulletin No. 21.
42 Annual Report of the Public Printer

PUBLICATIONS The following reports were prepared during the year by the Division of Tests and Technical Control:

1. Classification of United States Patents on Electrotyping, Technical Bulletin No. 19. This classification gives brief abstracts of 270 patents on electrotyping issued from 1790 to January 1, 1934. Appreciation of the value of this publication to the electrotyping industry is expressed in a letter from the

International Association of Electrotypers as follows : " Please be assured

that this information will be of a great deal of value and your painstaking

efforts will be appreciated by every member of our industry."

2. Rapid Methods for the Determination of Bleached and Unbleached Fibers

in Pulp and Paper, Technical Bulletin No. 20. Three rapid methods for the determination of percentages of bleached and unbleached fibers in pulp or paper are outlined. The results of the determinations made using these methods and the official bright stain are

discussed.

3. Starch-Filled Book Cloth, Technical Bulletin No. 21. Covers the research conducted by the Government Printing Office in the development of its specifications for book cloth and buckram and also the work done by the Employing Bookbinders of America in comparing various

commercial grades of cloth. The Employing Bookbinders' cooperative phase

of the work resulted in tentative commercial standards for the highly

competitive grades of book cloth and buckram. The tentative specifications are subject to revision at a joint meeting to be held with the manufacturers

of starch-filled bookbinding fabrics.

4. Government Printing Office Paper Tests and Their Significance, address by

the Technical Director at annual meeting of American Pulp and Paper

Mill Superintendents' Association. Testing of paper for compliance with specifications adopted by the Joint Committee on Printing is one of the most important duties of the Division

of Tests and Technical Control of the Government Printing Office. It consists of technical testing covering the microscopical, physical, and

chemical requirements and the visual examination for comparison of the paper with standard samples, which show color, finish, formation, and

cleanliness desired. The significance of tlie tests is discussed. Copies of these publications may be obtained gratis upon request. OTHER ACTIVITIES As in previous years, the Division of Tests and Technical Control has

rendered valuable assistance to the various Government departments in con- nection with paper, ink, glue, and other technical problems.

Detection of fraudulent visas.—The value of one phase of this service was

demonstrated in a lawsuit of the United States against Samuel David Held

and Jacob Katzkowitz, who were convicted in the United States district court

at Brooklyn, N.Y., of perjury in entering the United States on fraudulent visas. The Division of Tests and Technical Control was requested by the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization to test the paper of Hold's visa. The Technical Director testified at the trial that the paper used in printing the visa was not of the same grade and quality as that used at alleged time of issue for printing visas by the Government Printing Office. The Government Printing Office also offered evidence that the printing of Hold's visa was not from the type used by the Office in printing United States

visa.
Report of the Technical Director 43

This testimony, with that of the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, was so complete that on the second day of the trial the defendant changed

his plea to " guilty." After hearing the testimony against Held, Jacob Katzkowitz, whose trial immediately followed, pleaded guilty.

Assistance rendered the American Xewspaper Publishers' Association.—Since

the cooperative research on newsprint and news ink with the mechanical

department of the American Xewspaper Publishers' Association was brought

to a close April 30, 1933, the Division of Tests and Technical Control con- tinued to assist this mechanical department with tests of newsprint, news

inks, and type metals. During the fiscal year 1934, 85 samples, including

newsprint, news ink, type metals and flux, were tested for members of the

association. Correspondence.—Numerous requests for information concerning a wide range

of technical and trade subjects were made by commercial firms. The value of furnishing such information is reflected in numerous letters of appreciation.

Committee meinliership.—The Technical Director is a member of the paper

specifications committee of the Joint Committee on Printing, the paper testing

committee of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industiy, the advisory committee of the Lithographic Technical Foundation on lithographic

papers, and the advisory committee of the National Research Council on permanent papers. The Technical Director is also the representative of the Government Printing Office on the Standards Council of the American Standards

Association, the Federal Specifications Board, and numerous Federal specifica- tions committees.

Respectfully submitted. M. S. KANTKOWI'ra,

Technical Director. o