New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-06-07
TRIBUNE RECONSTRUCTION.
THE CHANGE OF BASE.


yere decided upon it was mOoted question whether
tbo establishment should remove TO another site
bollv changing its base temporarily or whether 1t
Nonld concentrate its forces and withdraw from the
cant half Of the building las seen from City HAL
park, and continue work in the rear half fronting
on Srr71ce-st. question Of leases TO be paid and
uucapceed ones to be purchased together with bust
NESS considerations of the disadvantages and diff
c,rltes Of a removal to another site, finally decided
the managers TO remain 1t found that the front
half Of the new building could DO con-
structed at once, leaving the other half to DO
added next year when the lease Of the building on
Fankfort-st will have expired. Ihereupon II be-
came necessary TO cOndcnse the business which hau
occupied two buildings into the space afforded by
single one This is problem which has only Just
been satisfactorily solved. al the tenants were re-
Quosted to from both buildings and the space
occupied by them was devoted to the editorial
rooms business offices, and other uSes The work OF
moving and adapting the building to the purpose
for which it is to be used during tue next year mas
gone on without hesitation OF delay, although dur
ing the time In which these changes have been made
the larger Of the two buildings has disappeared en-
firely, and the builders now occupied in digging
the cellar and laying the foundation OF the new
building having begun work yesterday.
Very few persons who knew of THE TRIBUNE build
Ing Oily ny Nlidb tiitN saw AA"lH ivy Ian "i va
Park-place supposed that it was of such Dimensions
as have been revealed in the demolition of the front
part Of It. Still fewer knew that in the rear of the
6uilding now fronting on Prnting-house-square
there was another Of nearly equal dimensions, and
OF the same number of stOues in which large part
of the work Of the establishment was conducted
This building is now visible from Printng-housc
SQUARE and it is a common remark heard from the
hundreds Of lookers-on at the work of destruction
that they had no idea that the old TRIBUNE
building was so large. The rear half of
the old building IN which the business
IS now conducted Is a fre-prOOf structure
which at the time Of its erection was looked upon as
q remarkable piece of architecture, and was visited
by the curious in all such subjects from all parts of
the city. 1t is not too much to say that at the
present time it would generally DO considered.
INTELLECTUALLY, q rather shabby building, and in
comparison with that which is now about to be
constructed il is positively contemplate. 1t will be
thought that it a difficult undertaking to
condcnse the daily increasing business of the Office
into this space and certainly it not done with
out remarkable ingenuity and economy of space.
description Of it win probably interest thousands of
practical printers and many more thousands Of
TRIBUNE readers
In the first place 1t became necessary TO put about
20 compositors into less than half the space which
tipping rOOm which had formerly been on the same
floor with the composing ROOM was removed one
story lower down. and placed on the same floor with
Che prOOf-readers and the storage room for the
duplicate materials 1t is probably worth mention
ing, not being generally known, that The
TRIBUNE keeps constantly on hand duplicate sup
py Of all the printing materials used in its cOmpOs-
ing room, so that in the event of fire damaging
destroying the composing rOom the resetting of the
paper could 60 without interruption in a few
hours Still, the removal of the stereOtypers from
che composing room did not afford sufficient space
and only through the ingenuity of Messrs. Robert
Hoe g. Co. was this difficult problem solved. This
firm has patented "typeclse stand" the first
manufacture Of which is now in in this Office.
These stands are constructed of gas-ppes one inch
in diameter and racks formed of wrought iron are
made under the frame to hold the leases " from
which the compositOr sets his type. Each stand
holds full set of cases of every type in USE any one
Of which can be placed in second the top of the
stand The various joints are connected by screws,
with heads 8imar To those of bolts, to which
wrench may be attached, by which means the sec
lions can be fastened tOgehermore firmly than they
could be if the heads were like those of ordinary
screws that is, notched. BY this means, too, they
can DO taken apart and packed in very small space
or be put together with great facility. The stands
are great improvement on the old wooden ones, in
asmucb as they occupy much less roomare very little
heavier and can be manufactured almost as cheaply
rs the others. Eight men can now work in space
formerly allotted TO four men. The cOmpOsing-rOOm
S. of course closely crowded but not much so that
work is iuterfered with. The present quarters are
not as we'll ventilated the old were, but this
defect is not seriously complained of by the COM
positOTs
The editorial rooms have been removed one floor
lower than the one formerly occupied, and the new
quarters are really hot so contracted as formerly
the whole floor being now devoted to the Of the
writers The rooms are not yet fully completed and
arranged and appear to the visitor to be in a very
disOrganized condition, but the work has gone on
without interruption. and the inconvenience of
removal and reconstruction have been matters of
amusement rather than of distress.
The new publication Office is in every sense
superior TO the old one. The front is Spruce-s,
with a southern exposure, and consequently more
light and ventilation are had. So far as possible
che room has been made a duplicate of the old
The publishers room faces upon Spruoest., instead
of looking out upon Printing House-square, as
formerly; but in every other respect it has much
the look Of the old one, the same familiar engrav
ings hanging upon the wall and the busts of Lin .
coin and Greeley looking down from elevations
above the main entrance. The walls and ceilings
have been freshly painted and frescoed, and much
more cheerful look prevails than accustomed to
greet advertisers aud subscribers in the old room.
1t was found impossible to crowd any more Of the
machinery into the press-rOom, which has always
been i'm the building occupied by The TRIBUNE
on Spruce-st than was already there, and arrange
ments had to be made TO dispose Of the engines
boilers, pumps and other motive power. Two of
en- 1,s.vu