Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-02
UNCLE SAM'S PRINTERY
SOMETHING ABOUT THE MAKING
81 II
OF GOVERNMENT BLANK BOOKS.
Ruling Machines Silent Workers
Women Sewers DO Fine Work
Giant Paper Cutter That Cuts.

portant and high class of work. 1t Is the
| division of the bindery where the ruling Of
blanks Is done. Here one looks into the
largest and best-equipped ruling room in
| the world where but sixty skilled employees
| rule nearly all the blanks and blank books
| used by the government both in Washing
| ton as well as throughout the United States
| and Uncle Sans new possessions.
| The ruling room occupies bright and COM
| modious quarters on the fourth floor of the
| new building. 1t is presided over by Mr..
Thos. J. Hardester, who has been in the
service thirty-one years, having learned his
| trade as bookbinder and ruler in the gov
| eminent Office. There are twenty-six ruling
machines of the up-to-date pattern, and
each machine requires skilled ruler and
an assistant to feed the sheets into the
machine. The assistants invariably
| women and they embrace about half of the
number employed. They receive $50
| working day of eight hours, and the men
get the regulation union wage of "a per day
Equipped With Modern Appliances.
| This division is very busy one and one
of the quietest places in the big office. The
ruling machines occupy both sides of the
big room and operate noiselessly all day
long. They are equipped with all the i'm
proved appliances for the most complicated
and difficult ruling. For instance, one bit
of their mechanism for breaking ruled
line is valued at SD. Some of the machines
are equipped with duplicate ruling at
tachment which permits of ruling dou-
BILE blank on one sheet.
Foreman Hardester is a practical wor &
man and there is a general appearance of
thrift and business about the room. I. Is
estima ted that the machines handle about
nine thousand acquisitions for blanks dur
ing a year. and these blanks range from an
order for so to 900 900 and from one book
up to $4,000. Here one can see some very
fine complicated ruling, especially in the
blank books for the controller, sixth au-
ditor and other officials of the Treasury
Department. The rulers come from every
section of the United States. and are re-
garded as the best opponents of the art.
Some have seen many years service in the
office, one man having been employed here
for fortythree years.
feature of the ruling work is the quail
ity of paper used The blank books being
books of record the best paper is required
some of 1t being heavy and expensive
Quite often a requisition for blanks for
record books will call for $50 reams OF
heavy paper, and anybody who has ever
had occasion to buy fiat papers knows how
quickly purchases for any large amount
runs up to big money. When the requisi-
ton for order for ruling is completed
the work is forwarded to the blank sewing
department. where 1t is handled by another
force of people, ~ H.
Where Blanks Are Sewed Into Books
The blank sewing, department occupies
the same floor }of the new building as the
ruling room-the Ceast end of the room.
Here there are 1l2i people employed, of
whom there aret only nine journeymen book
binders. The women are experts at sewing,
both by hand andLo on the machines They
are among the brightest In the army of
women employed In the big printery One
woman, who is among the most active, has
been an semploye of the Office since 1865.
Some of them have grown gray in the serv-
Ice of Uncle Sam?t and are very intelligent
and well posted in many details of the va
rious departments Of work in the office.
This department IS under the charge of
| Mr.. ]. A, B., EsueY, who is something of a
printinsSoffice yetera NIL himself having start
ed in at the big printery as, an apprentice
in the bindefy in February, 1865 His work
is of the superior class, and he expresses
himself highly pleased with the efficiency
OF his 1O3 women employees.
There are quite q number of machines
used here, among which are five Singer
sewing machines. three Smyth sewing ma
chimes. four numbering machines. five per-
forators, three wire stitchers, two stabbing
machines, one Latham folder, one Latham
book and one Brown &c Carver cutting
machine Much. could be written about
these machines. They are of the latest and
most improved patterns and are great time
savers in forwarding large orders of blanks
to the binders and the finishers. They are
mostly operated by the women and in the
language of the street, they are ION to the
job"
A Very Fine Paper Cutter.
Some idea of the extent of work done
here is shown in the estimate that from
600, 900 to 100000 blank books pass through
this department in year, and the labor on
the books costs from a cent to 80 book
The work comes from the press room or
the ruling room in fiat sheets Here 1t Is
cut on paper cutter that makes all
other paper cutters fade away. 1t has q
knife that would make the lord high execu-
toner of his mikadoship turn green with
envy, being sixty-four inches long and will
cut pile Of sheets as slick as razor: The
cutter is operated by electricity and d.
rected by a young man who knows his
business. He will cut up more books In
an hour than man with an ordinary cut
ter can do in many hours.
After sheets have been cut into the lengths
and proportions required by the order they
are folded made into books and sewed
according to style of binding to be used.
Some are sewed by hand and others are
sewed on the Smyth machines In the
better class of blank books the work Is
done by sewing guards to the signatures
"a certain number of pages IN 1olded
Sheet and then whip-stitching the guards
by hand This makes the well-known and
popular free-opener, commonly called Phil
adelphia patent back.
Uncle Sam Wants the Best.
There is nothing too good for your Uncle
Samuel when it comes to blank BOOKS, and
some of the finest come from the plnuery
of the big print shop
Work for all of the executive depart
ments OF the government and the islands
under United States domination is done
here and 1T runs into many thousands or
dollars during the year.
This department Is now doing the mani
fold work which has formerly been done on
contract with the Franklin Company. at
Franklin, Pa. at "a considerable saving to
the government. Manifold work Is simply
the insertion of b. duplicated page of rec
ord blank. printed on thin paper. which Is
retained in the sbook instead OF the Gus |
tomary stub This work is done by women |
and requires accuracy and dizziness. for |
which government printing Office women |
are noted. 3 {H |
es Notes.
Mrs Jane E.yiMinor. who has been an |
employee of the bindery in the old building |
for a great manyiyears. Is confined to her |
home with serious attack Of grip. Mrs. |
Minor is the .forewoman of the largest |
working room ofawemen in the big print |
cry. She is quite naturally endeared to |
great many Of the employees. and particu- |
larry those who ,ha We been many years con-