Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-14
MOTORS MAY NOT DO
IN DELIVERY OF WORK FROM
THE PRINTING OFFICE.

hc Wd6oiifAch diId StipAOsSS VI tifo VI
ing office stables express apprehension OF
the results of the introduction of electric
wagons In handling the delivery of the
products of the big work shop. Nine wagons
are in constant use, with three held in re-
serve in cases OF accident or rush Of or
ders. The four large vehicles have a ca
pacity of somewhat more than four tons
each when loaded with books or other COM
pact material, while the five light delivery
wagons carry about two tons each. Two
men are detailed to each wagon, and their
work Is said to be heavy and constant, par
tlcularly when unloading al some OF the de-
partments having frequently to carry and
truck the deliveries considerable distance
from the street.
At the printing office stables nine men
are detailed to care for the twenty-three
horses and the various vehicles owned by
the government. Two men report at 3
o'clock to feed, water, harness and hitch up
the teams, that the drivers may start to
work at the sound Of the whistle. and other
men are on duty in the evening to feed and
care for the animals after the days work
is done. The cost per head for keeping the
horses Is understood to be about $14 per
month. The entire force connected with
the delivery department is about thirty-two
men. Three very modest carriages are kept
for the use of the officials of the office
when making the rounds of the branches.
Reduction of Printing.
Reduction In the amount of public print
ing is slowly but surely making an impress
sion on the workings of the government
printing office. The report of the controller
of the currency has been condensed in one
volume and consists of less than 800 pages
reduction of over 2200 from the number
contained in the three volumes printed last
year. The number Of copies has also been
cut 10000. The Post Office Department Is
said to be closely scrutinizing everything in
the printing line from that branch of the
government service. 1t is said that for
merly it was the practice to bind from 300
to 400 copies of the reports of the bureau
chiefs in fine leather and have the names
of the persons for whom they were intended
stamped on each volume, but the number
of these editions de luxe have been reduced
to thirty and the gold names have disap-
peared.
A vast variety of the typograp hical work
OF a scientific and technical nature at the
government printing office is done In the
fourth division, the working force of which
consists of about 100 men. The tasks as
signed to the compoSitors are very intricate
and require long experience and study. For
this reason when men become accustomed
to the work in the fourth division very few
transfers are made to other branches OF
the printing service. The composition or
tho naval observatory weather bureau.
coast and geodetic survey, nautical alma
nae surgeon generals catalogue and much
else of a technical character enters into the
daily routine of this division. The printers
are continually confronted by equations,
algebraic symbols, stellar observations and
a thousand and one different mathematical
formulas. Men of experience. alert minds
and a superabundance of caution are re-
quired to successfully cope with this class
OF work.
Paying Employees.
The system of payment of the employees
he printing office pSiler-
ing the number on the pay rolls and the
fact that the loss of half an hours time by
a worker involves a deduction from the
regular pay account is said to be one of
the best evolved by the fduciary agencies
of the government. Employees of the big
printery are paid every two weeks, the
force being so divided that one-half Will re-
ceiye their wages every week. This is due
in part to the fact that the paymaster or
cashier" as he is termed. can only draw
a limited sum from the treasury at one
time, and therefore Cashier Bennett is COM
PEELED to arrange pay days In SUCH a man
ner that the money will be conveniently
distributed.
Payrolls at Uncle Sans workshop are made
out and signed on Thursday and Friday
of the preceding week, the 'turn-in" pay
period ending every second Wednesday
evening. The cashiers force is supplied with
envelopes on which the employees names
are printed on a mailing machine slip and
are placed in these receptacles. E. ]. VIII
yer of the cashiers office has been detailed
to call off the names and hand out these
envelopes for a number OF years, and
knows practically all the workers by sight
AS soon as the call of ''Paymaster'' is sent
ringing through a division the employees
swing into line in the same order that they
have signed the pay rolls, and inside of five
minutes several hundred men have received
their pay envelopes and resumed their
tasks.
Government printing office employees have
organized a team to enter the departmental
chess tourney now going on at the Wash
ington Chess Club. The first game was play
ed Wednesday evening against the strong
Interior A team, resulting in q victory for
the Interiors by score of 3 to 2. The men,
bers of the team are not experienced in club
play and enter the tourney for the expert
ence and pleasure. but, nevertheless, ex-
press confidence that they will not be the
bottom team at the end of the tournament.
John T. Mccormick, the real estate bro
ker and contractor, whose disappearance
was mentioned a few days ago, is well
known at the government printing office,
where he was employed for number Of
years. Hope is freely expressed by his
friends that Mac" as he was known, will
yet turn up alive and well.
Charles H. Cove, chairman Of the fifth
division chapel for nearly five consecutive
years, is the first announced candidate for
the Office of delegate to represent Columbia
Typographical Union at the international
convention next summer.
Supt A. A. Bundy OF the carpenter shop
is reported to be rapidly improving from the
results of a fall which fractured the knee
cap and lacerated the tendons of the knee
joint.
Foreman L. C. Hay of the job division Is
taking a short vacation.
Notably Beautiful Table Decorations,