Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-09


and made ready for delivery there is force
| of workers wrapping, pasting and directing
Take for instance, in the bindery depart
ment from whence the largest output OF
printing is delivered there is a fine system
| in vogue. The books are wrapped and
pasted and piled upon large trucks, carry
ing 300 or 400 books, and some a great
| many more. A receipt is made out by the
man in charge, and it goes down stairs to
| the shipping room along with the Install
ment of books. Here they are transferred
| to the delivery wagon and conveyed to
there proper destination.
That is the general way of putting the
| matter to the reader, but to particularize:
He Delivers the Goods.
The shipping department occupies the
most unpretentious quarters In the printery
and is probably the most inaccessible and
| inconvenient for the prosecution Of its
work 1t does not require the commodou
| quarters of some of the divisions in the Of
| flee, but to an observer who has looked
| into the cramped space allotted to it and
| taken the long and clrcuitous trip from one
| building to the other, through corridors, up
elevators and underground, it would seem
| that it merits larger quarters than are now
, afforded.
| The shipping room is on the ground floor
| of the old building, and has for Its superin-
tendent Mr.. II. P. Marston who appears to
fully know his business. He belongs to the
| list of old-timers around the office.
If it wasn't my busy day." he remarked
to The Star man, Il would ask you to st
down. But if you wish to see what is
going on around here, you will have to get
busy with me. Come along with me- he
continued opening the big door leading to
the platform outside, where number of de-
livery wagons were backed up and being
loaded
Much Work in Limited Space.
There are sixteen wagons and about
thirty-five men connected with the work of
my department" said Mr. Marston, land
they deliver all the printed matter Of the
office to the various departments of the
government"
DO you mean to say ventured the re-
porter, that all the product of the office
comes down to this doll house for ship
ment?"
You have the correct SPIEL he replied,
but of course large Fart of the printing
comes down In designated lots that mini
mizes considerably the work of separating
or asserting. If this didn't happen" he
ADDED, "a man would wish he were in He
lenan'
Mr.. Marston has a good working force of
men. When a big pile of documents comes
down from some section of the bindery di-
vision with any number of hurry-up Jobs,
the modest quarters Of his office look like
the floor of an express company during
Christmas week. There is no room for any
thing else but hustle and emphatic orders
and diagram of the latter in print would
look like the ScreamerS in a Fourth of July
speech.
Something Doing All the Time.
The jobs will run up as high as thou
sand day, and they must be handled and
placed in the wagons to facilitate the
c;o md
of the work done in the new building must
be brought down on elevators to the base
ment, trundled along corridors, and thence
brought through the tunnel to the shipping
room in the old building.
Out of a bunch of 600 packages there will
be at least 10 per cent 20 be assorted for de-
livery to designated places This takes time,
and, with department officials looking for
the shipment and convenient telephones
jingling, there is something doing in the
shipping room from morning until night.
See that pile of mail sacks" said Mr.
Marston. pointing to a corner in the base
ment of the new building, well, there are
about 1000 lying there, and they represent
about three days mail We use in the
neighborhood of seven hundred mail sacks
day in dispatching the Congressional
Record and other documents, and you can
bet your life they don't get chance to get
dusty or moldy from disuse."
Hope for More Room in New Building
There is an atmosphere of hopefulness
about the shipping room that when the
present old building gives place to a new
structure to comport with the finely ar
ranged new building particular attention
will be given surely to better shipping IA
clites, and much of the discomfort and
loss of time experienced now in getting
hi
prntery to the shipping room and platform
materially remedied. The wonderful growth
OF the business of the printing office Is
quite naturally shown in the shipping room,
and more commodious quarters and accessi-
bility are matters that should demand
prominent consideration in the arrange
ment of the contemplated new structure.
You might jot down an important item,"
remarked Mr.. Marston, as the reporter was
about to put away his note book. when
the office of the superintendent of docu-
ments. specifications and gazette divisions
and the blank bindery were removed from
the Union building on G street to the
printing office buildings there were over
1,4OO loads of books and material. Aside
from the transfer of the big Safes printing
presses and machines by the express and
transfer drays, all the hauling was done by
the government printing office wagons, in
addition to their regular work. Did it keep
US busy? Well, / reckon. If you don't be-
lieve it, just ask the hosters, and you
won't get horse laugh, either!'
Women's Auxiliary Entertainment.
The public reception in honor of the first
anniversary of the organization of the
Womans Auxiliary of Columbia Typograph-
zeal Union, at the Temple on street, this
evening promises to be a largely attended
affair. An invitation has been extended
to all the printer employees of the building
and their families. There will be dancing
and refreshments at the conclusion of the
musical and literary exercises. The num-
bers on the latter program promise a great
treat. Mrs. l.. c. Hover will sing j. L.
Rodier's Not Then, But Now" of which
the music was written by Mrs. Bessie N
Wild. and Mascheronis For All Eternity"
There will be piano solos by Miss Daphne
Thompson and MRS. Bessie n. Wild; violin
solos by Miss Jessie Boomer with Miss
Jessie Prosser as accompanist, and violon-
cello Solos by Prof. William C. Oats j. A
Finnegan, Wiley Fl. Davis and a number of
other gentlemen will contribute some vocal
numbers The entertainment is free
Mr.. A. w. Bowen of the first division has
withdrawn as a candidate for president of
the union.
Mr.. James e. Myers has been transferred
from the second division to the Record
All the chapels in the printing office are
collecting ten cents per month from each