Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-08-10

ana, as a consequence, whatever atmosphere
gets in with the workers in the morning at
o'clock is pretty thoroughly impregnated- be-
fore the whistle blows at / o'clock, with
the odor of glue and with the choking smell OF
the stamping presses-heated by steam con-
tlnuously. Fans have been placed in here and
they make an equable distribution of all the
sweet smells which belong peculiarly to the
sewing room. If any member of Congress
wants to be convinced OF the necessity for
new building for the use OF Public Printer
Palmer and his successors let him 60 into that
sewing room and remain there for an hour or
two. His eloquence will fail him il he attempts
to describe what he saw and suffered.
ABOUT THE ONLY VENTILATED ROOM
in the building is that now known as the speci-
hcation room. 1t is partially lighted and
wholly ventilated from the roof and would be
very pleasant room to work in were it not for
the overcrowding. In the three divisions of
the document room and in the job room each
compositor has what is technically known as
double frame. This gives him elbow room and
he can set type out of one pair of cases. while
on the other frame he may keep a galley on
which to empty his stick. In the specification
room there Is no such luxury as a double frame
and the compositors are packed in the ''alleys"
90 closely that 1t Is but a slight stretching Of
the fact to say that their condition resembles
that OF sardines in box. When one of the
men desires to empty his stick he has to do SO
on galley which Is beneath his single frame,
and while he il performing this necessary oper-
alton he obstructs the narrow passageway
through which the men in his alley have in
gress and egress In this room there are 151
men. The room is large enough to properly
accommodate about rs. The ventilation is the
only redeeming feature.
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE.
The present administration of the Office has
done and is doing all in its power to find more
suitable quarters for these crowded people,
but it can do nothing; the building is too small.
Additional structures may relieve but they will
never make the old building more comfortable
or less unhealthy. Increased cleanliness has
done much to make the interior air more
nearly pure than it used to be. Where once
there was filth now everything is clean. There
is an abundance of whitevash wherever white
wash ls necessary, and dirt is no longer allowed
to accumulate beneath frames or in out-of-the-
way corners; even the type which is stacked
up-three, four, or five tons on tablets not
allowed to rest beneath loads of dust. This is
great step forward in sanitary point of view,
for but few things do more damage to the
human throat and lungs than type dust; raw
anthony is not conducive to health.
DREAD OF FIRE.
But, while satisfied that he has done as much
to make the shell safe as is possible, Public
Printer Palmer still breads one contingency, and
that is fire. Herealizes that confagration when
a horror that might secure more victims than
any catastrophe in American history, Johns
town alone excepted. The amateur fire de-
partment of the Office has been recognized
and rejuvenated; it is ready for business at any
time. In the days OF ''auld lang syne" the
standpipe keys rusted in their places while the
antique rubber hose dried up and cracked in
its appointed corner. Now, the hose-new and
strong-is always connected with the sources
OF water supply, and a score of streams can be
turned on IN half minute. Twenty connec-
tions-four on each foor-have been made
is forced by powerful steam pump.
This steam pump is ready for
action at any minute in the twenty-four hours
to respond to the alarm which may be turned in
from any of the crimson electric automatic
signal boxes which dot the whitewashed walls;
just break the glass and then the big gong
strikes on each floor .denoting by the number of
its strokes tine location of the blaze. In addi-
ton to the twenty steam connections there are
four large connections-one on each foor-with
huge standpipes always full of Potomac water.
The natural pressure in this part of the city is
considerable and the hose throws q heavy
stream. Each of these connections is assigned
to certain designated men and they are drilled
to act promptly.
Immediate exterior communication between
the roof and street is had by five iron ladders
and three broad, easy-stepped iron stairways.
The ladders are for the use of fremen who
want TO climb up; the stairs are for the use Of
the employees who are anxious to get down.
Isolated cases, where one or two persons might
be cut off from the stairways, can be attended
to by metal basket escape which can be run
around the north and east fronts over a species
OF elevated railroad. In the press room are a
few lines OF iron pipe which are called auto
matte sprinklers. A fusble plug is the main
feature of this invention which could throw but
little water on fire.
PROXIMITY OF BOILERS.
One Of the great but, under the circumstances,
unavoidable mistakes is the placing so near the
building of the huge boilers which run the ma
chinery of the building. They ought to be as
far away possible. An explosion would
wreck the entire structure and kill a couple of
thousand people. for the boiler house is in the
court yard, with the main building all around it.
More room is evidently needed in the yard So
many additions and sheds and temporary
smokestacks have been put up that it is now
barely possible to turn a wagon around inside
the gateway. The new Sullivan d Eher 200
horsepower engine is now being put in place
and IN about two weeks will be at work 1t will
displace an engine which has been running day
and night for seventeen years without losing
half day in all that time. The old engine will
be Overhauled and will be held in reserve to be
used IN case of accident to its successor. II the
engine broke down now not a single piece of
machinery in the building could be run until it
was repaired or displaced by another.
WHAT Is REQUIRED.
Public Printer Palmer is going to do everything
possible to convince Congress that more room
and better buildings are absolutely necessary.
He will formulate two plans and place them in
his report; one will ask for an entirely new
building in another location and the other will
request Congress to purchase the necessary
ground on the same square that now par
TALLY occupied by the Office and to erect
thereon the buildings which are requisite. The
Senate has twice passed the bill to purchase
2SS additional front feet on street and 594
feet of front by It's feet deep on G. street. but
the House has done nothing in the matter.
There will be a big fire or a great collapse in
the present building some day and then Con-
gress, after gazing mournfully upon the smok-
ing ruins and the hundreds of murdered peo-
pie, will appropriate large sum OF money with
which to erect a fire-proof building in which
human beings can live without endangering
their health.
Bound to Know How 1t Worked.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer
A man created q sensation on a Delaware