St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-16


chimes in use. A great multitude of
presses occupy one floor. The book
binding establishment. conducted by p.
D. Giesen, is marvellously equipped.
and, in short, everything neces-
ary I'm the mechanical line to
accomplish the most work possible with
the labor employed is supplied in every
department. 1t is the largest lawbook
publishing house in the world. 1t has
branch editorial Office in Washington,
d. c., an immense selling and collecting
house in New York, another almost as
large in Chicago, and still third in San
francisco. Its business in Minnesota
alone is enormous. If any business
house in the country is in position to
be keenly sensitive to the so called de-
preston of the times it is this one.
AS stated by II. D. West. the senior
member OF the concern, yesterday, its
situation is about as follows:
When it became apparent that close
times were at hand. as matter of bust
ness precaution it was decided to make
no new extensions, such as getting out
entirely new books, and to place the
employees On shorter hours, discharging
none of them. 1t has been but two or
three weeks since they entered upon
this plan, and during the past week
they were compelled to increase the
hours of the employees, and from pres
ent indications every one will pc work.
ing at the original number of hours
within few days. Mr.. West says the
&c
pamphlets day, and that the freight
and express shipments of law books is
fully up to the average of the past two
years.
The collections, he says, are fully up
to the average on the outstanding in
debtedness. of what they were during
. the past two years. The business in
4 Minnesota ranks in every respect with
| any other state, and in st. Paul it is
surprisingly good. "The only place we
feel any cutting off business is in the
silver-producing states" were the
words of MIR. West. He has not called
in single travelling salesman, and
all are doing we'll on their
routes. Since the concern has a good
sized army of travelling men, the fact
that not one of them has been taken off.
SHOWS clearly that the concern is not
suffering any depression, for this is not
only one of the largest houses in the
country, but one or the most cautious
Business concerns in the world. 1t
keeps its hand continually upon the
business pulse, and notes carefully the
slightess decrease in collections, and
prudently shapes its operations accord
ing to the inflow OF money from It's out
put.
Mr.. West says that during the past
few weeks he has made no effort to ex-
tend the business by large credit sales:
out at the same time has made very
creditable number of large sales for
cash. and a few large ones on short
credit where the purchasers were extra
gilt-edged.
Mr.. Ames, the secretary of the COM
pany, said:
This is not time when prudent
man would go into new investments.
This means that we have postponed
some of our new publications. For
that reason we shut down some of the
mechanical departments to shorter
hours. From the rapidity with which
our business has picked up in the past
few days it is very safe to. believe that
the worst is past.
Both Mr.. West and Mr.. Ames COM
mented upon the most gratifying ease
with which ST. Paul has weathered the
storm. Not a bank has failed, said
they. There has not even been a bank
run, nor sign of one. Every business
Institution is sound, and from following
strictly business principles, as their
concern has done.
Going through the West Publishing
company's st. Paul establishment, it is
found teeming with life, and resembles
busy beehive.
The editorial department. is on the
seventh floor. To this the manuscripts
are sent. Here they are distributed
among the editors in the various rooms,
where legal luminarles make syllabi,
indices. digeSts and annotations Each
one is provided with an electrical call
bell and every convenience, that he
may remain at his work wit hout run
ming about.
Up another flight Of stairs is the COM
posing room. The annual of 1892 con-
tanned Is, 10000 lett ers-matter enough
to fill about twenty-five volumes, if set
like the ordinary state reports or text
books. 1t would take an average COM
poSitOr about seven years TO set it.
But this is only a small part of
the amount of. matter which is set in
these rooms. They are filled with type
setting machines, and considerable mat
ter is necessarily set by hand. The
proof reading room is handy by the
composing room, so that no time is lost
IN conveying proofs When the matter
is set and carefully proved it goes into
the stereotyping and electrOtyping
the press room. Here a long row of
presses are backed against the stone
wall. Each machine weighs several
tons, but the foundation is on soil drock
The folding machines in the same
room are marvel to behold
1t is not possible to give all
intelligible description of them:
they must be seen to realized. From
the press room the printed sheets go to
Giesen's :bookbinding rooms on the
fourth floor. In this place is a hy-
draulic pless in which few pints of
water give pressure of 800 tons. The
bookbindery is one of the largest in the
United States.
The mailing room is lined with
shelves that hold advance sheets. The
corps of mailing clerks get Off ten issues
every six days, W tn an extra when the
digest comes out. Then there are the
express and freight shipping rooms, and
the Office and sales room floors; and
many other places which it would take
much space to enumerate and describe
to any extent.
1t IS long and most interesting
journey to go through the building
when the employees are at work. No
manufacturing establishment in the