The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1901-01-19
GOVERNMENT MATRIMONIAL BUREAU

GOVERNMENT MA iHlmONlHI OonGHS
Romances That Occur in Uncle Sans
Money Printing Shop.
''Fully 60 per cent. of the married
plate printers employed here have
married their assistants at the presses,
or one of the girls who has worked in
the bureau" said one of the foremen
of the pressroom of the bureau Of en-
craving and printing.
With it's 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
perfect impression, Cupid is busy Is
hours out of the a.
II have not been here long" said d
pretty guide, 'and know very little
of the romances of the bureau-that Is;
SO far as others are concerned" as
she glanced down at sparkling dia-
mond ring on her finger. But all the
girls 1 knew when 1 first came are
married and / am the old maid. OF
course girl doesn't like to be called
that, and so-I'l have to follow their
lead"
What do I know about the ro-
mances before 1 came here. but 1 could
have been married 20 times over when
l was working on the presses-all 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 much 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. He treats the girl kind
~, 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 a 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 ali parts of the country,
are anxious to make friends, as they
miss their home life. They squander
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 a romance.
'"There is SO much love making
going on here that we are experts on
the malady, and glance Of the eye
or an anxious look is enough. They
seldom escape detection"
There are three classes Of female
employees at the bureau-those who
are assigned regularly to a certain
printer or press; another set dubbed
trough riders" who are skilled and
work at any Of the presses, and, in the
third class, the girls who 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
ed.
Nothing more unromantic than the
surroundings at the bureau could be
imagined. The pressrooms are hot al
most to suffocation. 1t is noisy and
the smell of oil and ink permeates the
air. The printers, their hands covered
with ink, dressed in old clothes and
ofttimes with their faces smeared,
work steadily.
Their assistants, In old gowns, are
busy preparing clean sheets and TAX
ing away the beautiful newly printed
ones. They are selected for this work
on account of their neatness; every
spoiled sheet is charged against the
printer, and the slightest mistake is
fatal.
Eyes, we loose many Of our girls
through marriage to the men in the
bureau" said Acting Director Sulli-
van. Sometimes they go before they
are well trained, and we don't mind
that. But to loose a well-trained girl
well, I don't suppose we can offer any
objection"
So far as is known, the marriages
have almost invariably proved happy.