News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-12-02
UNCLE SANS PRINTORIUM
WHAT 1T COSTS TO RUN THE IN
STITUTION.
A Few Details of The Office of an INTEREST
ing Nature,

At one time. during the winter of
1884, there were three thousand persons
on the pay roll of the Government
Printing Office in Washington, the larg
est number ever registered at one time.
The appropriation for running the
office this year is 50, 900, 900 Last year
it was 50, AS, 900, a portion of this
coming in under a deficiency. There is
800, 900 to add to the general appropri-
alton of 50, 900 900 which was a special
grant by Congress to cover the Leave of
Absence act which went into effect at
the beginning of the fiscal year The
volume of work is increasing each year
with the growth and prosperity of the
country 1t is doubtful whether the
appropriation made by the last Congress
will carry out the work already or
dered.
The chief work of the Office Is, of
course, typesetting. In this department
there are probably 800 men and women
employed. There are only about thir-
teen women out of this number how
ever, eight in one room and five in an
other. The work is divided up into de-
partments, six in all-two divisions of
the Document Room" the supreme
Court Room tfamiiiarly known as bot
any Bay"j, the Job Room," the "Patent
Specifications ROOM and during the
sessions of Congress the "Record Room"
The first division of the Document
Room and the Job Room employees are
paid at the rate of forty cents an hour,
the remainder at the rate of fifty cents
per /, $50 ems. The second division or
piece department of the Document
Room is considered the best room in the
bureau. During the greater part of the
year the average earnings is about 500
a month Those more fortunate in Sc
curing fat takes" run up their wages
from 1926 to $3.50 and $3.50 a month.
TIL largest bill ever run up in the office
was in this room by printer named
George Hammer, who drew $213.65 for
a twenty-six working day month.
The most rapid female compositor is a
Miss May Grove, of West Virginia, at
piece work. She has reached the hand
some sum of $3.50 in a twenty-six day
month. 1t astonishes visitors to see the
mountain of work turned out by the
Government Printing Office and the ac-
curacy and speed that is attained and
maintained all the year around. All
sorts of work is done, from the simplest
o the most intricate
The State Department sends in the
most difficult copy. Z he correspond
ence with foreign countries is printed in
Spanish, French and German. The
work of the Smithsonian Institution
comes next in the line of vexation. The
l E 81 I
it almost impossible to attain absolute
accuracy. The astronomical work is
nearly all done by one man, Mr.. Bo 6.
This knight of the stick is now well d
vanced in years. He is his own make
up" and Droof-reader.
From these rooms the work goes to
the stereotypers. Only matter requiring
more than one or an exceedingly large
edition is stereotyped. One man is
kept on duty all the while making dia-
grams and attending to other complex
demands.
The press room is the wonder and adj
miration of the visitors to the national
capital. Here they see whole blocks of
printing machines of every pattern and
dimension, and all Furnished bright as
parlor furniture. These machines must
do double duty in order to keep up with
the work required by Congress, and
they are kept going day and night.
From this division the sheets go to
the folding room at the top of the five
story building. This is probably the
most attractive room of all, to male WIS.,
itors at least for here are seen good
looking women in legions. They chat
and hum and work away. They are on
duty eight hours.
From this lofty beehive work goes to
the bindery, which presents a busy scene
at all times A large force of women
do the stitching. and there are binders,
tinishers, case-makers, gildCrs, ETC., too
numerous to mention. Every kind of
WORK needed by the Government in all
of its departments from ocean to ocean
is done here.
There are some clerkships in the Office
that pay from 81, 200 to 81, 800 year.
Proof readers get 90 cents an hour.
There are many foremen and assistants,
and they get So to : e a day. Laborers
and watchmen are paid So and $3.50 a
day Compositors, pressmen, binders
and stereGtypeTs are pad So. a day.
The working hours are from s a. N. to
p. m, and from 2 to 5 p. m.
1t is the largest printing house in the
world. Tons upon tons of paper are
consumed in year; type is bought by
the ton A book of 600 pages can be
set up into type, proof read, revised,
printed, folded and bound in twenty.
four hours. This has been done fire,
quently During the sessions of Con-
gress eighty men are employed ON the
Hccord. They go to their cases at 6
p. m, and oftentimes remain at their
post all night, and sometimes as late as
8 o'clock a. m. There are over 300 New
Workers at work in this branch of the
Government.