Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1900-10-20
GOVERNMENT MATRIMoNIA BUREAU
Roinances That Occur In Uncle SANS
Money Printing shop.

Money Printing shop.
Gully 60 per cent. of the married
plate printers employed here have
married their assistants ut the presses,
or one of the girls who has worked IN
the bureau" said one of the forrhich
of the prcssroom of the bureau of en-
craving and printing
With its hundreds of employees
about equally divided between the
sexes, this makes Uncle Sans plant
for printing his notes of hand one OF
the greatest matrimonial marts IN the
country.
Bending over the presses, polishing
the plates so that they throw of II
perfect impression, Cupid Is busy Is
hours out of the ~,
II have not been here long said n
pretty guide, land know very little
of the romanccs of the burcau-thnt Is,
so far as others are concerned ms
she glanced down ut a sparkling dia-
mond ring on her finger But all the
girls | knew when ! first came are
married and am the old maid. or
course Il girl doesn't like to be called
that, and SOIL have to follow their
lead"
"What do I know about the ro-
manccs before / came here, but ! could
have been married 20 times over whvn
l was working on the prcsscs-;!ll OF
them good fellows. too.
"The girls come here, fresh, young
and pretty, and they have to learn
their work. The pay Is good and the
positions are II lch sought. Many of
the girls come from fine families.
well, they are put under some old
plate printer, married and probably
grabbed, and he makes life anything
but roses for them.
"Then they are transferred and
work with some young man. Well.
he's good looking, making splendid
wages, dresses well. and Is full of the
joy of life. lie treats the girl kind
ly, let's her rest when she seems tired,
talks to her, looks in her eyes and
laughs, their hands meet in their
work and then-a gentle pressure, and
the bureau has Il new romance.
ITS an uninteresting girl that does
not have an opportunity Of marrying
after she has been at the bureau
year of two. The young men. who
come from all parts of the country.
a. rri,nlx. thny
miss their home life. They squandcr
their earnings unless there is some one
for them to care for.
"They begin to think about this and
then the right girl comes along. They
meet outside and then the bureau
wakes up and finds that it has over
looked IL romance.
"There Is so much love making
going OH here that we are experts ON
the malady, and a glance of the eye
or an anxious look is enough. they
seldom escape detection
There are three classes of female
employees ut the bureau--those who
are assigned regularly to Il certain
printer or press; another set dubbed
trough riders" who are skilled and
work ut any Of the presses. and, in the
third class. the. girls W hu count money
and do clerical work.
A place among the trough riders
is eagerly sought. Here the girls are
thrown in contact with different prin-
tiers and every now and then one of
them is claimed and recruit is need
cd
Nothing more unrOmantic than the
surroundings mt the bureau could be
imagined. The pressrooms are hot al
most to suffOcation. 1t is noisy and
the smell of oil and ink pprmcates the
air. The printers, their hands covered
with ink, dressed in old clothes and
ofttimes with their faces smcared,
work steadily.
Their assistants, in old gowns. are
busy preparing clean sheets and talk
ing away the beautiful newly printed
ones. They are selected for this work
on account of their neatncsS; every
spoiled sheet is charged against the
printer, and the slightest mistake is
fatal.
"Yes. we loose many of our girls
through marriage to the men in the
bureau said Acting Director Sulli-
van. 'Somctimcs they go before they
are well trained, and we don't mind
that But to loose Il wclltrained girl
well. don't suppose we can offer any
objection
SO far as is known, the marriages
have almost invariably proved happy.
New York Journal.