Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-28
Public Printer.

private business affairs, and few minutes
after he had been sworn in he left the
printing office for hour or two in charge
of Mr.. Ricketts,
All was expectancy tbs morning at Uncle
Sans big print shop. as word had gone
around that the new public printer would
surely put in his appearance during the
forenoon and assume the duties of his Of
flee, which was vacated several weeks ago
by Gen. Frank Palmer. and has since been
filled pro tempore by Mr.. Oscar j. Rick
etts.
In anticipation of Mr.. Stillings' coming
there was a general air of tdiness obserV-
able everywhere.
Finally, one minute after ST. Aloysius
bells had tolled for 1920 o'clock the doors
leading into the public printers office were
swung open and Public Printer Stillings
came into the room. He was accompanied
by Col Worthington. a former representa-
tive In Congress from Nevada and South
Carolina, and Mr.. George Judd a personal
friend, whose name had been used though
without authority, in connection with the
chief clerkship of the printing office.
The Oath Administered.
The party was ushered at once into the
inner office, where Mr.. Ricketts, was await
ing the coming of the new chief. After
words of greeting had been exchanged
Capt. Henry T. Brian, veteran in the
service of the government printing office.
as we'll as of the civil war. came in and
administered the oath of office to Mr. Still
ings The new public printer then turned
TO the former acting public printer and
said:
Mr.. Ricketts,, you are appointed foreman
of printing"
The oath of office was next administered
In turn to Mr. Ricketts, and Capt. Brian,
who was similarly appointed chief clerk
AT the conclusion of the brief and SIM
pie ceremony Mr.. Ricketts, invited the i'm
mediate force of the office of the public
printer TO come in and meet their new
chlef. Those who We're presented were
f. A. Collins, private secretary; j. H.
Butcher, clerk; w. =. Smith, Congressional
Record clerk at the Capitol; Louis Wolf
clerk, and Theodore Jackson, the trusted
messenger to the public printer
In conversation with a Star reporter at
the conclusion of the ceremony Mr. Still
ings said he and Mr.. Ricketts, will togeth-
er continue the splendid work of reform"
Mr. Ricketts, had inaugurated
Mr.. Ricketts, has been doing some
wheelhorse work. added the new public
printer.
When asked as to his probable future
policy as head of Uncle Sans big printing
establishment Mr.. Stillings said he was in
the habit of going slowly and giving every
matter due consideration before taking de-
cided action. He indicated that no precip-
itate nor radical changes were yet in view.
Reception to Heads of Divisions.
The reception by Public Printer Stillings
of the heads of divisions, which was to
have taken place today, was deferred until
tomorrow forenoon. The several foremen
and others will then go down into the
front office" and be presented by Mr..
Ricketts,.
Will Meet Employees.
II iS not Cd IN ba,ra a oanaraI
presentation of all the employees of the big
printery to the new public printer but it
is thought the hundreds of workers in the
great typographical beehive will have an
opportunity to know Mr.. Stillings by sight
pretty soon, for he will acquant himself
with the details of the plant as rapidly as
possible. Mr.. Stillings has the reputation
of being very practical man, and he will
want to know personally of the workings
of the office which he will control for sew
eral years
1t Is not expected by officials of the office
that Mr.. Stilings will make many changes
IN the plans for carrying on the work Of
Congress, for the officials who are direct
Ing the work so far have had years of ex-
perience and have made special study of
the subject. Mr.. Charles E. Young, the
superintendent of the night bill force has
been in charge Of that branch of the work
for number of years and has perfected to
large extent the handling of that class
of work by the hand compositors Mr.
Berg, foreman of the Congressional Record
force, has been connected with the official
publication of Congress for length of time
sufficient to enable him to get the work
performed in a credltable manner. The
Record was set by the battery of forty
eight Mergenthaler typesetting machines
for the first time last winter. and the re-
suits attained are said to have been very
satisfactory.
Need Of Superintendent.
There has been considerable talk among
tho employees regarding the advisabiiity or
having a general superintendent to oversee
the operation of the government printing
Office as whole, and IL this position Is Gre
ated there Is hope expressed that Mr..
Stillngs will sVe fit to appoint Mr.. Rick
etts to the place 1T Is said that no man In
the Office has such a thorough knowledge
OF the work of the plant as Mr.. Ricketts,
and that he would be enabled to remove
considerable of the friction which in the
past has resulted in the forming of cliqucs
among both employees and foremen.
III Is understood that the name foreman
OF printing Is a mssnomer, and that tac