The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-12-14

ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF BOOKS.
copy producers. don't know, and don't
believe any one knGws. how many separate
publications Uncle Sam gets out in a year,
but it must be an enormous number, en-
bracing everything in the book and pam
phlet line you can think Of, from little half
page pension bills to huge tones of thou
sands of pages each. full of maps and
charts
Let us try TO gain an idea of the magni-
tude of Uncle Sans operations in the pub
fishing line by looking over his output for
a single year. OF course we shall be able
TO mention only some of the more impor-
tant books just 10 show how the pages pile
up and the fat volumes accumulate by the
hundreds of thousands. Abridgment of
message and documents, go pages, 5000
copies, cost $4,000 Report of the commits
sion of education, 81, 600 copies, cost $27, 900.
Report of chief of engineers, $500 copies,
cost $4,000 This looks like very expen-
sive book for Uncle Sam to print and give
away at 81 copy, but it must be remem-
bered that it consists of tour volumes, or
nearly 5000 pages. 1t is one of the largest
books which the government issues every
year and one of the most important, show
ing the progress of the engineering work of
the government in all the rivers and har-
bors of the country.
Thousands of citizens throughout the
union have been favored with copies of the
annual report of the secretary of the
treasury, a book of more than a thousand
pages. Receivers often use these volumes
with reckless indifference, unmindful
of the fact that every book cost Uncle
Sam s.. Is. Another big work which comes
out every year is the Commercial Rela-
tions of the United States" usually in two
volumes of thousand pages each. Only
$500 copies arc printed, but they cost near
ly $ apiece The most expensive book
per copy of the regular publications is the
Biennial Register" or blue Book"
which contains list of all the employees of
the government, their salaries, whence ap-
pointed, where employed, etc 1t is in two
volumes, each almost as large as Web
ster's unabridged, and though only 1890
copies are printed the cost is $26, 500, or IS
for each set of two volumes IL costs more
than $4,000 to set the tspe alone. The an
nual report of the Smithsonian Institution
usually costs $4,000 for $1,000 copies, and
it is one of the few books Of which Uncle
Sam does not print nearly enough.
These are few of the regular publica-
tons. After Gen. Greedy returned from
his i'll fated north pole expedition he
wrote report for the government to print.
He also wrote u book for private publish
ing house. The latter came out about a
year before the official publication, but
when this did come out y was a very fine
affair. IL was in two volumes, and the
5, 900 copies of each printed cost Uncle Sam
just $4,000. Uncle sam has spent a small
on books descriptive and illus
tTative of Alaska. One came out a few
days ago, 6,0O0 copies; cost $1,000. Every
time senator or representative dies his
colleagues make speeches about MIN, and
TO print and bind these speeches in beauti-
full little books puts Uncle Sam to an ex-
pense of about 81 900. Railway switchmen
have whole libraries az them in their
shanties, and thus revel in stories of pathos
and eloquence, and get little sentiment
in their lives, otherwise so commonplace.
a book much priced by farmers and |
stock raisers is the report Of the bureau Of /.
animal industry. 1t usually has about !
500 pages, contains s.. 900 worth Of engrav /
ing, and the 10000 copies printed cost near !
" $4,000 IL must be admitted that in the .
way of giving information on special sub !
jects to the people, free Of cost to them, /
Uncle Sam is doing a great work. He Is I
printing the Rebellion records, OF which I