Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1895-04-13

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Cornelius Wendell said at the time
OF the sale Of the plant to the Govern.
ment that It's original cost to him was
$4,000.
At the time Of the purchase It was
thought that the building facilities were
ample. but within i've years Its enlarge
meut became necessary, and the con-
stantiy increasing growth Of the bust.
ness Of the establishment has neccssi-
Gated the construction Of three large
additions. all OF which were four stories
In height and Of the same style Of archi.
lecture as the original building. As 1t
now stands. exclusive OF the boiler and
coal houses and stables, the building Is
about four times its original size. 1t
covers an area Of more than 10000
square feet and gives floor space for
workmen and material Of nearly 101..
OOO square feet-ncarly four acres.
There are upwards Of 5000 employees
In the Government printing office. the
present force being 80 fewer than 1t
was when Public Printer Benedict took
charge. There are used In the cOmpos-
Eng room 100000 pounds OF type. 600
frames. $500 cases, 30 proof presses. 20
imposing stones. 5000 chascs. 1000 gal.
legs and 1000 composing sticks. besides
thousands Of pounds Of leads. rules.
quoins. furniture and other miscellanc.
Gus articles In daily use. Stereotypers
and ciectrotypers will have some Idea
OF the magnitude of the work Of the
Government foundry when they realize
that the average output Of this depart
nent Is 1000 pages Of electrotypc anu
stereotype matter every day, there be-
ing seventy men employed. divided into
. day and night force. As an illustra.
ton OF the rapidity with which the
work IL done II Is only necessary to call
attention to the issue of the daily Con-
xressional Record. This regular edi.
ton Is 1880 copies. and 1t varies In
size from 81 to 100 pages. Congress
may sit as late as IL o'clock ut night,
and the Record must go to press ut
o'clock every morning. From the time
the forms reach the foundry from the
composing room matrices nrc made
plates cast and finished. and forms sen,
% press within twenty minutes as III
average.
There are 225 employees In the main
press roof, and there are sixty.siS
presses In use, of which four are per
fecting. Fifteen Miehle presses are
used for book and job work. Daily and
bound editions Of the Congressional
Record are printed on the same Hoe
perfecting press. Il. Hoe & Co.. Cot
ereii & BabcOck, and Potter presses are
used for fine book work. During the
sessions Of Congress the press room
runs day and night, and In no printing
office In the world are finer results OBJ
sained.
The work Of the Government bindery
Is OF a substantial rather than an ornate
character. Library work for the differ
ent departments Is In half roam, hall
turkey morocco. half sheep, half Rus
sia, and half calf. General public doc
unients are In paper and cloth bindings
For beauty and durability the bes
style Of binding Is half turkey morocco
cloth sides, library style. Calf bindinS
II Objectionable because II becomes dry
and breaks In the joints.
An The Government bindery the ma
chlnery used Is us follows: Eight stamp
ing presses, twenty one ruling and sew
ing machines, one wire sewing machin,
for manifold and post Office work, TWEEN
ty-five standing presses, ten numbering
three paging. two perforating. eighteen
cutting, eight backing and two rotar!
board cutting machines.
Expenditures for public printing dur
Ing the fiscal years 1s6l-1s03 inclusive
aggregated $69,324 SOB. During thu
thirsy-three years from 1870 to 1852, In
elusive, the cost was S3,57i,3i3. an aver
age of SlOS,313. During the fiscal yea
1861 the amount expended was $50,
Sl4, while last year 1t aggregated SO,
$40, 222, the average annual eXpcndi
Itures for the thirty-three years ende,
June 20, 1893, being s2,I0O,75l. Durinj
the period embraced In the seven year
1SJ3-'59 the average was Sill, 100
There has been an increase Of 800 pc
cent. In the expenditures for publ
printing since 1860, and the estimate,
saving to the Government has beel
about 80 per cent. In other words,
would have cost 30 per cent. more unde
the contract system formerly In vogu
than under existing arrangements an
conditions.
Travellers and Foreign Coinage.
The difficulties of travel abroad ar
Just now little aggravated by the III