Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-21
NIGHT FORCES BUSY
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
HAS MUCH WORK.
Great Saving on Bills-Previous Rec
ords Notwithstanding of Con-
gress Kept Up to Date.

The strenuous work of the night forces
at the government printing office is now In
fun blast, the rush being such that there
Is frequently necessity for the employees
to put in more than the usual eight hours
II keep pace with the activities of Congress.
The night divisions of the big printery are
usually designated as the Record the bill
force and the night press room. The use
OF Mergenthaler typesetting machines on
the Record has reduced the human element
considerably. and renders its production q
matter of mechanical routine to a large ex-
tent, yet on rush nights the force Of this
division has a taste of the strenuous days
of hand composition. The Record division
assists the bill force when occasion requires
and the official publication of Congress Is
not too large.
The night bill force prints all bills docu-
ments, resolutions, amendments. committee
hearings. calendars and the hundred and
one other matters that are considered neceS-
sary by the two houses of Congress This
work must be printed and delivered at the
Capitol before Congress convenes the next
day, and at times the amount is so great
that the workers are still at their tasks
when the day force reports at o'clock in
the morning. If anything remains unfin-
ished, the day workers of the first division
complete it before starting on the regular
routine.
Enormous Number or Bills
Almost 5000 new bills have been printed
during the present session, besides over
LEGO House and Senate reports and docu-
ments. All previous records have also been
broken in the number of forms sent to the
press room, 80 having been imposed in a
single night. Apparently this would lead
to the conclusion that the greatest rush
was over, but the opposite is true The en-
crossed bills have just begun to make
their appearance, 1S2 having been sent
down in one day recently, and from now
on the major portion of the work will be
to print reported. engrossed and enrolled
bills and keep the supply or appropriation
bills up to date. These latter are thirteen
in number and are strictly confidential I'M
til they are reported to the House, the
type being kept under lock and key at the
office. They number several hundred pages
each, and are printed time after time at
the request of the committees OF the two
houses of Congress.
The daily calendars of the status of the
actions of Congress have grown to enor-
nous proportions, many of the important
committees requiring such record to en-
able their deliberations to be carried on IN
the order of precedence. Twenty-three cal
endars are handled almost daily, the major
ones filling many large pages of tabular
matter before the end of the session, the
action on airy matter being recorded and re-
printed to enable a comprehensive idea or
the work in hand.
To Learn Lanston Keyboard
Lists have been sent through the various
printing divisions asking for volunteers 10
learn to operate the Lanston keyboards.
Many printers express a preference for the
Mergenthaler but owing to the large num-
Der of employees that have a knowledge of
that machine there is not the same oppor-
tunity for learning the intricacies of it's
mechanism. II is said that sufficient
number of employees will be taught to oper-
ate the LanStonS to enable the torrectors
and assemblers and the operators to eS-
change places periodically, thereby having
experienced men to handle the machine
product. 1t is understood that by varying
the work in this manner the output OF the
machines will be materially increased.
Owing to slackness in the work of the
bindery some of the employees OF THIS branch
of the printing service are required TO
utilize unexpired leave of absence. 1t Is
understood that the bindery Is feeling he
reduction in the amount of the public print
ing more than any other branch or the
ONCE. the number of copies printed OF the
different official publications being greatly
reduced The composing divisions have not
as yet felt this slackneSs to any apprectable
extent, owing to the session of Congress
and the fact that as much work is required
of the printers for one copy as for many
thousand.
Personal Mention.
Mr.. Cornelius j. Lucy, assistant foreman
of the main press room, has received two
boxes of oranges from his fruit ranch in
California, which is just coming into bear
ing The oranges are of the navel type and
are particularly sweet and of a deep rich
color.
Mr. John A. Barr, lieutenant of the new
building watch force, has purchased pecan
plantation at Chronicle, Ala, where he ex-
poets to spend his declining days when the
place shall have been placed in good con-
dition.
w. j. Breed of the watch force Is at Sib-
ley Hospital for treatment of a severe case
of rheumatism. V. H. Dale of the same
force is also detained at home from the
same complaint.
Skaters Flowers Are in Evidence