The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1885-02-20
THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
The Largest Establishment of Its Kind In the
World-How sThe Congressional Rec
ord" is Prepared, Printed, and
Distributed.

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Distributed.
The late discussion in the senate as
to the publication of its debates led me
into the government printing office,
where The Congressional Record is
printed, says correspondent to The
Cleveland Leader. 1t is an immense
prison-like building, covering about
an acre of ground, and looking more
like a great factory than a govern
ment establishment. It's material is
brick, its color dirty white, and its
form that of a hollow square. 1t has
many windows and numerous entrance
doors. At each of the latter stands a
guard with silver badge on his
breast, and over the chief entrance
door is little, stony-eyed marble bust
of Ben Franklin, which looks stunted
under the four stories of drearv white
which rise above it. In this building
nearly the whole of the printing for
the government is done. 1t is said to
be the largest printing establishment
in the world. and it turns out some of
the worlds finest work. 1t employs
within its walls more than two thou
sand men all the year round, and it
makes the blank-books used in all the
govern ment offices in the United
States, not only in Washington, but in
the custom and post offices from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. Its daily pay
roll averages $4,000, and its total ex-
penditures during the past year aggre-
gated nearly three millions. The Con-
grcssionaL Record is in itself q big job,
and its printing during the last session
of congress cost in round numbers
1894, 000 This is $4,000 more than
The Record has cost at any session
since it has gone by the name of Con-
gressional Record, which first occurred
in 1878, and it is on the average over
$4,000 more than It's ordinary cost.
Congress seems to grow more and
more verbose from year to year, and
the debates and speeches OF the last
session fill seven large volumes twice
as big as the largest of family bibles,
and containing more than seven thou
sand pages, each filled with two col
umns of type the size of that of the
ordinary newspaper. This Congress-
ional Record is supposed to contain
every word uttered on the floors of
congress. 1t does contain much more.
Many men never deliver their speeches
at all They merely say ''Mr. Speak
er - and then ask leave TO print.
This congress generally gives, and this
talk which has never been uttered in
congress appears in The Record, and
the congressman sends his great
speech broadcast over his district.
The Record appears every morning,
and that of to-day always contains the
full proceedings of the house and SEN
ate of yesterday. These are taken
down in shorthand, and it costs about
1926, 200 year for each house to pay its
photographers. The shorthand men
take turns at taking notes, and when
they have written their work out into
long-hand 1t comes down to the gov
eminent printing office in long fools
cap sheets with every second line
written upon, SO that there is ample
room for interlineation. Some of the
speeches which the congressman write
out themselves are sent to the printers !
in their own handwriting, and the most
of this is rather illegible, and some of it
very poorly spelled. L saw two piles
of copy from which Yesterdays Record
was set up, and that belonging to the
congressman themselves would have |
frightened Horace Greeley's ghost.
The Record eats up greater amount |
OF manuscript, | suppose, than any |
other newspaper published in the
United States, and, as we nave the |
largest of newspapers, consequently in
the world. Each of its pages contains
about the same amount of reading
matter as four pages of an octave
novel. and many nights over one hun
dred pages have to be gotten out. This
would be equal to closely-printed
book of over four hundred pages, and
it will often contain as many as a mil
lion ems. Sometimes there are one
hundred pages of nonpareil to be
set up, and it should be remembered
that this, like the ordinary daily pa
per, has to be done at night and be
ready for the press early in the morn
ing.
1t takes eight proof-readers to look
over the proof of The Record. Each
piece is read twice, and is also sent to
the congressman who made the speech
for correction. 1t is again read be-
fore it goes into the bound volume,
and the best men of the kind in the
country are employed on this work.
1t requires about eighty printers to put
The Record in type, and all night long
they are busy at their cases under the
electric light. The room where the
type is set is large enough for market
garden. 1t is made up of three long
halls, separated from one another by
pillars and brick arches. The central
hall contains marble tables, where
the forms are made up, and in the
others are the type eases, ranged in
double rows from one end of the hall
to the other, and over each case a
bright, soft electric light with china
shade over it.. These men are paid in
to the amount of work they |
do, and the rate established by law is
80 cents per thousand ems.
The Record must go to press at 20 !
minutes to 5, in order to be ready for {
the 6 O'Clock mails, and when it is I'M {
usually large tins necessity makes the {
government printing office the busiest
place in the city in the early morning. {
Each congressman gets twenty one {