The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1868-05-26

::'s 81: 81: e: 3:
The Largest Printing once in tho World.
| The special correspondent Of the Chi
cago Tribune writes . long. letter to that
paper. giving an account or the Gov
eminent Office at. Washington, fsom
which We take the following:
The building 10 fifty By threehundred
feet, and four stories high; it is situated
on North Capitol street, about mile
north of the Capitol The building is
an immense narrow structure, full of
small windows, and looks like the pic.
lures of independence Hall in the old
biographies ,asA.ta = s,f1xSg la.
| The composition-room is. on the Sec
ond story, and occupies the whole iengsh
of the building, except . few feet at the
cast end, divideI of for the Office of the
Superintendent. In this room. during
the session of Congress, over one hun
dred and fifty compositors are employed.
In this room all the types are set for
the whole of the Government printing
All the Department reports, which are
distributed broadcast throughout the
country, the blanks, Executive docu-
ments. Census. Agricultural, Patent Of
| fee, Internal revenue, and hundred
other reports, beside all the printing for
both Houses of Congress, are put in
tpye in this room. The fonts of type
used are very large, some Of them suff1-
cient to set up five hundred pages, royal
octave As an evidence Of the rapidity
Of work of which this office 10 capable,
q royal octave volume of five hundred
pages, can be put in type in three days.
1t is safe to say that this office turns
out more copies of books every year.
than any dozen publishing houses in the
country, and the largest share of the
work is not bound, and cannot be
counted as "books.' Some of the re-
ports-the Agricultural, for instance
are printed to the extent of two hundred
thousand copies. This report, for 1860
contains six hundred and ninety two
pages, including thirty-six full pages Of
illustrations. r.ss+..s s.s.-..
The pay of the compositor is four
dollars per day for eight hours work, or
sixty cents for 1000 ems, the prices fixed
by the Columbia Typographical Union.
The employees are all paid monthly.
A stereotype foundry is connected
with the composing room, and all the
works requiring over twenty thousand
copies are stereotyped. cse
| The third floor is occupied entirely as
bindery, and the fourth as a folding
room. In the bindery there are EN-.
ployed one hundred males, and about
the same number of females. The ma
chinery used is all of the latest and
most approved pattern. The amount Of
work done is immense. Besides the
Congressional binding, all the binding
for the Executive Departments Of the
Government are executed here; includ-
| ing blank books, account books, blanks,
&c. which are all ruled and bound in
this room.
In the folding room there are eleven
folding machines, very perfect and au-
tomato, each of which folds sixteen
| pages with one action. There are less
hands employed in this room than any
other, and these are mostly females.
The press room and drying room are
on the first floor. In the press- room
there are twenty Eve Adams presses,
six Hoe single cylinder presses, num-
ber Of small job presses, and one Of the
remarkable Bullock presses, in all iifty-
two. 49,
The Bullock press is certainly most
remarkable piece Of mechanism. This
machine Was introduced into the Gov.
ernment printing office about year
ago. and Mr. Defrees, the Superintend.
ent of Public Printing, and the foreman
of the press room, speak of it in the
highest terms. In given time, with
two hands, it did the work of twenty
Adams presses, and thirty. i've hands.
The cost of the Bullock press was e25,-
600, and Of the Adams press, $4,000,
The Agricultural report, l89, ,55C copies,
was the first and only book yet printed
on this press. It has run more consec-
utive hours than any press known. In
less than four months, at eight hours .
day, with two men and laborer, il
printed eight millions of distinet i'm.
pressions. without any effort to crowd
its capacity. The paper for the use OF
this press comes from the mill in rolls
containing thousands Of sheets when cut
into proper size. The roll h 'placed on
areel, aud the press started; II nnwinds
the paper, cuts on the required sixe.