The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-01-16
UNCLE SAM, PRINTER.
NEW G0VERHMENT PLANT TO BE
 THE WORLDS LARGES1.

| ,.,,,,,g wetrht of I20,000 oe0
 Pounaa--TotnI Cost Limited at S2'~ 429,000.
 In keeping with the national policy ot world wide expansion, Uncle sam ID now building at the capitl of the na- ton the most gigantic printing estap- lishment on the globe. Work upon tills huge structure commenced in the sum mer of 1899, and to-day is about tWo- thirds completed. The building IS To- cated at the northwest corner or NoIll Capitol and 6 streets, and its massive frame of stel, which Is filled in Wlth granite and brick as high as the hfth story, spreads itself over nine ana d half acres of ground.
 The edifce is 408 feet long by l7o feet 3 inches wide, and is seven stores hlsh' in addition to the basement ana an at tic. There is also storage vault eA- tending under the sidewalk along the entire length and width of the pulld- ing. ,o
 In the erection of this structure lz,- 100000 pounds of structural steel have been used, and when completed there will have been utilized in construction between il ,OOO,Qo0 and 12,O00,O0O bricks. There will also have been employed A. 100000 pounds of iron and brass ht- tings and over S00000 feet of hardwood flooring.
 The building is to be equipped Wlth it's own heating and lighting plants embracing within its walls power house from which could be generated sufficient heat illumination ana gen eraI commercial power for city or r. 900 inhabitants. There will be III thls structure 5000 incandescent llghts' while in the neighborhood of 100 arc lamps will be used in and around the building. Some idea of what this num- Der of electric lights means will be dls- closed when it is stated that clues Ike Richmond and Atlanta, with nearly ,0OO population each, illuminate thelr entire street systems with less than 3oo arc lights.
 The structure will be finished some time next fall. and within F months will house the 4,000 mechanical opera tiyes of that great branch of the Fed eral service known as the Government Printing Office. It will be more nearly fireproof than any building of its char acter in the world. It was found nec- essary that this should be the case, not only because of the thousands of tons of paper, cardboard and like material, and of oils and inks, but because of the fact that the Government desired to throw every element of safety around | It.. T ,r txyot will earn their livelihood within it's walls.
 It was decided in 1S9S after prolong- ed and bitter controversy, to erect the new Government Printing Office on the site where it is now building, and Con- gress, on March B. 1899, authorized it's erection, under the direction and super vision of the Chief of Engineers of the Army and the Public Printer. Congress at this time appropriated $35O,0oO to- ward the execution of the work, the to- tai cost of which was not to exceed $2,- 900, 900.
 In order to meet the increased prices of building material and of making the south end of the powerhouse extension the same height as the main building, the limit of cost was increased to s2,- 5000. The engineer in charge of the work yesterday made the statement that the glant edifice would be complet- ed within this sum. and that probably quite a fair-sZed amount would be left in the treasury from the appropriation.
 It can be said of the new Government Printing Office that 1t is being con- structed almost entirely of steel, stone, bricks and cement. The only wood work will be the flooring and the doors. All dor and window frames will be of cast-iron, and in the event of fire door could burn to the frame, but the flames could go no further. The whole in terior of the building is to be finished with glazed and pressed brick.
 The most remarkable feature of this edifice is that it is so substantially con- structed as to be capable of bearing a live load of 120000 pounds. In other words, if the entire population of the city of Philadelphia could be packed within it's walls at one time it would not cause the building to collapse. This includes every man, woman and child in the Quaker City, the average weight , of whom would be about 70 pounds. These figures are compiled from the of- ficial estimate made by Captain Sewall who says that the floors are designed for live load of 300 pounds per square foot, uniformly distributed
 In addition to steam, heat, electric light and power, interior telephone and alarm systems, elevators standpipes and water tanks, there will be installed in the structure every provision for the safe and speedy exit in case of fire oi panic and for the health and comfort of the employees.
 The employees will be provided witt which will be kept continuously circu
 lating through pipes, with taps at con venient points.
 The exterior finish of the building is of hand made red brick-a few pressed : but most of them not pressed-with q sand finish, except in the interior court where an almost white-faced brick is used to improve the light. The red brick will be trimmed with May nard sandstone and considerable amount of ornamental terra cotta } Inside the building the walls will be finished with Q dado of ornamental bricks about six feet high, and above that the white faced bricks. A few rooms. used for office purposes, will be plastered, and the main entrance will be finished in plaster and marble. Tn thbco 1o1pc pp tI1t ot,-