Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1871-11-29
TIE LARGEST. PRINTING OFTICBxN
sSAAA&sTHE WORLD. 81 'A&1A
some Facts About the Government Print
lug establishments NJ Washing tou-The
Amount aud Cost of the work Done.

some Facts About the Government Print
lug Embellishments at washing tou-The
Amount aud Cost of the work Done.
WASHINGTON, D. c., Nov. 20.
Uncle Sam's numerous family are all
given to boast freely of the way things are
done in their country. We have heard lin
fourth of July orations about the extent of
his territory, of the vast value and variety
of his resources, of the wonderful energy
and enterprise of his children, and of the
unsurpassed growth in population and
wealth of his country. / have visited to-
day one of the departments of his Govern
ment which, considering its magnitude
and wonderful capacity to perform the
work assigned to it, affords Just cause for
something of a boast. rs.
The Government printing Office in this
city is, beyond question, the most complete
and largest establishment for that kind of
work in the world. In its arrangement,
its outfit and its results, it is something of
which the county can justly boast. L
made hurried visit to it this morning,
and gathered some fact about it that will
prove of general interest, / know It has
three departments--the composing, the
printing and the binding departments.
In the composing room, which is long
and well lighted, some 200xS0 feet, are en-
ployed two hundred and eighty-fou1men
mostly composers. Some of these work
by the piece, some by the day. The form
er are paid sixty cents per thousand ems,
the latter four dollars per day of eight
hours. The force compose on an average
four hundred thousand ems per day. The
outfit of this room is, in every way, COM
plete. Mr.. Bryan, the foreman, informed
me that he had on hand about ten tons of
long primer, six tons of brewer and four
tons of nonpareil type. Bruce, the Type
Founder, filled for this office the largest
order for type ever given to any establish
ment.
The next division in natural order is the
press room. This is on the ground floor,
and there is no other place in the
world where another such q sight
can be SEEM There are over sixty large
presses in this room in constant use. Two
large engines furnish the motive power.
When in full operation, over two hundred
thousand impressions are made every hour
on these presses. The wonder of this room
is one of Bullock's presses that prints from
n continuous sheet of paper mile long,
making impressions on tao sides and cut
ting the paper all at the same time and at
the rate of one hundred thousand impress
sions every eight hours. The browning
feature of this wonderful piece of ma
chinery is that it aceOmplishes its great
work with the aid of but two hands. The
paper for this press is re-rolled and wet by
machinery. The process of wettng is by
sprinkling the paper as fast as it can be
rolled by large number of jets that throw
out light spray of water. The presses
used are all of the most improved styles
and the work is done economically, but
well.
The bindery room is the largest of the
kind in existence. Here machinery OF
every kind and of the best pattern is to be
found.
The room is under the charge of Mr.
Roberts, who has employed about three
mn rod md ftxyr mo nd
ruling, folding and stitching is mostly
done by ladies, who work by the day OF
piece. They do this work better and fast
-er than men, and are paid good prices
The amount of work dene in the bindery
may be better understood when say that
they are now at work binding too hundred
AMI bOenty-tiOe thousand copies of the Ag-
ricultural Report for 1870.
Hundreds of thousands of blanks, letter
heads, checks, receipts, post office money
orders, envelopes, &c, are printed in addi-
ton to all the reports, messages, &c, thai
are bound. All the blank books used in
the various departments and offices of the
government are made at the lowest prices
and in the best style of workmanship.
There is connected with this great office
q stereotype foundry, where such work as
the Agricultural Report are stereotoped.
The whole establishment is under the
control of Hon. A. NJ. Clapp, the Con.
under perfect control, and conducts it with
admirable system.
So complete and extensive are the resour.
.ces of the office that after proper notice
and with all the manuscript furnished, he
could, IN two days, compose, print bind
and deliver thousand copies of q book o.
four hundred pages. The total force en-
ployed is one thousand. The expenses o.
the establishment last year was 81 ,609
.S59.92. This same work, if gi zen out un
der contract, would have cost the govern
ment at least two millions. The amount
expended for paper alone exceeds three
hundred thousand dollars per annum. The
cost of the work is by good management
reduced to minimum figures. Thus the cost
of the agricultural reports, a large book
well printed on good paper and bound in
usual government style is tritle ovel
Gtty cents per volume. This is proof sutii
cient of the good management of this de
parment. AS / said at the beginning, 1t is
the largest printing office in the world anC
is necessarily Increasing Ia size every
year. II,
An old bachelor looks at it in this way
to HaA