The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-11-05
PRINTING THE BALLOTS.
Seventy-FIve Million Tickets Printed in New
York City-How the Work Is Done.

seventy-FIve Million Tickets Printed in New
York City-HOw the Work Is Done.
New York Sun.
"How do the cket-peddlers get their tickets9'
was asked of the manager.
Easy enough" said the manager Here in
New York each particular shade Of political
opinion is governed by an organization like
Tammany Hall, Irving Hall, and so on. Each
organization employs one printer only to do the
printing of its votes. About five days before
election day the committee, or the boss, sends a
circular to each candidate who has been In,
dorsed by that organization, saying that so and
so is the official printer. At the same time the
printer gets an order to supply all the polling
districts with the general tickets, namely, this
year the electoral, the county, the judiciary
and the constitutional amendment tickets. The
candidates for Congress, for the Assembly and
for aldermen come in afterward and order the
tickets for their districts. The order from the
boss is for goo tickets for each of the four can
didates for each polling district in the city.
The other candidates order a like number for
each polling district in their respective districts,
and, therefore, there is a call for Fl, 900 tickets
of this particular stripe for each of the polling
places in this city, or las, 952, 900 all told, from
that one shade of political opinion. The various
shades follow that order, and 1T Is pretty SAFE TO
say that, for a starter, 5000, 0OO tickets are
printed to enable the voters of this city to give
expression to their opinions.
"a ticket is a small piece of paper with a few
names on it, bnt there is a deal of work IN print
lAS fO,ObO, U VI llCul. 4AO hhW BANoOAASNoN VA
tain kinds of type and certain kinds of paper. so
that all tickets must look alike. We set up the
headings of the tickets and names of the candl-
dates, place the names at the proper distance
apart, and then electrotype the form, so that
enough plates are made for each separate ticket
to cover a full sheet of paper 24x36 inches. The
forms are put on different presses and the re-
quisite number of sheets printed to fill the order
and about % per cent. more. The sheets are
then cut up by the cutting machine. In the mean
time we have advertised for whole families
to fold tickets, and the next morning
after the order is in there will be a mob of
women with baskets about our doors that looks
like a strike. We fill each basket with tickets
of one kind, and the women take them home
and with the aid of the children fold the tickets
so that only the head of the ticket appears.
They get fifteen cents a thousand for folding.
The tickets are brought back in bundles of lUO
or so, held together with rubber rings. Then
they are carried to the bunching-room and
dumped into big boxes, each box containing only
one kind of tickets. In this bunching-room the
most careful supervision begins In order that the
punching may be properly done. A member of
the Hall is always present. Inthe punching room
are long tables divided into little stalls, seven in
a set, by triangular boards. Each stall repre-
sents a ballot-box. and into each is placed a pile
of the tickets belonging to it Two girls sit be-
fore the seven stalls. One girl picks
up a ticket from each of four stalls
and hands them to the other, who punches
them with three tickets she has picked up from
the other three stalls, and puts a rubber ring
around the complete set of tickets. Over $50
girls are employed, and a more cheerful scene
would be hard to find. A man collects the
punched tickets and puts them into cotton bags,
each of which holds ), 900 tickets and is printed
with the lame of the Hall, the number Of
the assembly district, and the number of the
polling district at which it is to be used. We
bunch one assembly district at a time. The
bags of punched tickets for one district are put
into a big bag, and as an escort of police and of
members of the Hall take the big bag to head
quarters"
why policeq"
'New York is a very bad city. We have to
keep a large stock of extra tickets and a cart
on hand, so that if a mob or a political accident
destroyed any lot in any district we could furn-
ish q new supply"
"'What does it COST"
'"The Hall will have to put up about 81, 600,
The others pay when they order for what they
get, No Doodle, no tickets"
'Big expense, that"
'"That is not all. Each candidate always gets
a lot printed on his own account for his own
handling. The enterprising candidates get out
circulars, fold a bunch of tickets in each one,
put the whole in an envelope, and mail one to
each registered voter. A clerk is employed to
copy the registry. Nearly all the local candi-
dates do this. When to this you add the posters,
and other kinds of printing used, you will under
stand that, while elections may dampen all other
kinds of business, they bring a boom to the dis
ciples of Franklin"