Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-18
OUT OF DATE TITLES
IMPROVEMENT NOTED AT GOV
EMINENT PRINTING OFFICE. !.


pages of government publications is be-
ing gradually brought about. and the APP
pointment of committees in each of the
executive departments is expected 20 re-
move the last vcstige of~fhe out-of- date
titles. Mr. c. p Brown OF the first di-
vision has been detailed on this work for
almost thirty years. and today some OF
the departments are insisting on the same
type faces that were. i'm vogue at that
| early date, the reason being assigned that
certain types of publications can be more
easily identified by the appearance OF the
title than by reading the inscription In .
| library of general literature the publ-
cations of some departments and bureaus
can be selected by the general appearance
of the titles. The resuIt'of this system is
that the big printery is given the reputa-
ton of not being in touch with modern
Typography.
Mr.. Ricketts, endeavored last fall to
bring about a change. bur with only mar
t'Hi results, the prevailing argument be-
ing that what was good enough IS good
enough The formation of a central bu-
reau TO handle all government printing
and dictate matters of STYLE and bindings
Is said TO be the only action that will en-
tifely do away with the differences of
OPINION regarding Uncle Sans printing.
Uniformity Lacking.
The government printing Office is fire.
qaehtly criticised for the lack of uni
formity of the "style"-in vogue regard
less of the fact that in many cases the
copy comes in marked follow literally"
This prevents change in punctuation,
capitalization and spelling, regardless of
absGrdities in the copy. An instance OF
tue practice of compelling the office to
FOL lit on certain of the work han
DG1Gu several q yerbo i,b
was sent to the office. evidently without
revising The matter had been dictated
ana When there was occasion for punctu-
aton the author had said comma" or
period, is the case might be This was
perfectly proper, but the manipulation of
Tie typewriter had spelled out everything
dictated, INCLUDING the punctuation
pcl9ts. There was no way of reaching the
author before printing the matter and
the foreman is alleged TO have said:
ahead with it
II is said that frequently in Tearing
before congressional committee il will
be found desirable g. incorporate long ex-
tracts OF other publications. and the print
ing once sends to the plate vault for the
pages This matter may be loaded or
solid, the fluctuations either solid en- quad
ded or with an en- space between the
lines. and the part of The hca.irg which is
original is printed in the regular office
style. of course. any resulting tncongruty
IS blamed On the office if the hearing should
tier De printed as congressional uUcu-
ment and be given out for general distribu-
ton. The government saves thousands of
dollars yearly in the composition account
by the use ef these plates. y centralized
printing bureau would. IL is said. ObvlIte
all these abSurdities and produce printing
that would be u credit TO the government,
similarity of typoSra phical style not neces-
sarily limiting the use of distinctive head
ings title pages or bindings.
The Term Duplication.
A misapprehensiou of the term 'duplica-
ton" is said to exist in regard to The print
ing of public documents, the Impression
having been repeatedly given that some
Volumes are printed several times in their
original form. IN a great majority of cases
the term is used to indicate a volume in
which a portion is a reprint of other pub
locations; or. in other words extensive quo
tatiOnS from reports and writings Of other
bureaus and departments. Ii has become
the practice Tor government writer's to en-
body matter relative to. the subject under
discussion rather than refer the reader to
some other publication, and hence Il hap
pens that frequently a report of more than
ordinary significance finds It's way into sew
eral volumes.
Employees often comment on the lightness
of the type cast ny the lanston typesettng
machines in the government print-y. An
ordinary page of foundry type weighs sew
eral pounds more than the output Of the
iron printer. The typecasting machines are
so arranged that the larger letters are
practically hollow, which renders the made
up page lighter to handle and enables the
machines TO run at a greater speed A
record run at the rate of 223 letters per
minute for nearly hour was made re-
Gently a rush job.
The eastern end of the huge basement Of
the new building IS filled with hundreds
of sets of cases containing sorts and old
type available in case of an emergency.
Last fall several tons of the old type were
solS, but enough remains to fit out several
large printing establishments. The office is
a good customer of the type loundries ma
teral being purchased by the ton and not
by the pound
Brief Mention.
The Congressional Record is said TO he
greatly improved in typographical appear
ance this winter. Several years ago mem
bers of the Senate complained that the type