The Washington herald., 1909-05-15

mentioned which will give some idea OF
the vastness OF that number, however.
The waste paper sold last year brought
81, 900, and waste paper at the Govern
ment Printing Once is reduced 70 the
lowest possible minimum. Perhaps that
twenty-doIlar gold piece you gave away
last Christmas came from the Govern
ment Printing ONCE as a part Of its 81
555 worth Of waste gold leaf II sold 20
the mint last year. Even the leather
scraps from the boOk-binding department
IN & year are sold for more than $500
Il takes about $4,000 worth Of printers
ink, some 35000 pounds OF IL in all. 10 do
the printing Enough gold leaf Is used
20 pay for q fine farm. and thread that
costs as much as a good six-roon city
home Is required for sewing purposes
Even money spent on the fly and water
bug exterminator Is as much as would
be needed 10 buy an ordinary four-Pas-
sengeT touring car.
The paper used IN Uncle Sans big pub
fishing business costs more than Sl.o0o.o00
a year. $4,000 CT this being used al the
Government Printing Officer proper.
quarter million doIlars' worth Of stock is
always kept on hand The building and
equipment where all these things are
done On such g huge scale is commen-
surste with the great work carried on.
l. is Uncle Sans boast that he has the
finest printing Office in the world. and he
can reel OF figures by the yard 20 show
that he Is ready u make good against all
cOmers He points out that IN his new
seven-story building he has nine acres
OF foOT space, and six acres more n the
old building He tells you that the new
building cost S2.599.000, and that the ma
chinery put into Il cost S3,5o0o09 He
values his whole plant az sc. 90. 600. and
tells you that he has pay roll OF $500
4 day.
When he takes you through his big
print shop on a personally conducted tour
he has many things OF interest 70 show.
Cne room has seventy-nine linotype ma
chimes IN Il. the largest number in one
once IN the world. In another room ne
shows presses whose combined output is
more than 1.009.0o0 impressions every
eight-hour day. There are eighty-seven
presses. and there IS not q pulley or a
belt III sight. Each machine Is operated
by its own individual motor. which IS
placed out OF sight They eat I'D paper
al the rate Of forty tons q day and Ink al
the rate OF go pounds every eight hours I
The card press turns out $1,000 cards, I
printed on both sides. every day.
Getting down to the Job Office, the Wis /
itor is again reminded that he Is standing !
in the biggest place Of its kind in the
world. Il turns out more Job work every /
day IN the year than the average plant 4
turns out IN a week. Leaving this place
the visitor is told that the ofhce OF the /
Public Printer. located on the same floor, !
IS the most elegantly furnished Office the /
has. And any one who has /
had the opportunity to compare the Pub /
lie Printers Office with that OF Presi- 1
dent Taft's might think that M Taft's I
was a backwoOds law Office In compari- F!
son.
Uncle sam, Publisher, has finished some
big jobs. but that monumental. II Tot 4
highly useful work, the Rebellion Records. 1
with its 12S volumes and a I,2o0 page in
dex. VIII perhaps remain for genera
tons TO come the greatest single under /
taking in the printing line. Think OF Il. 4
Over 10000 pages Of history dealing with
= =
Of S0,000 reans OF white paper, and more /
than three billion ems OF type TO pub /
ish this great work. The whole edition /
comprised about million and a half 4
volumes
Il is said that the finest piece Of work /
Uncle sam ever executed was the his 4
tory Of the Capitol. That II is a fine 4
book may be inferred from the statement
that although nothing is charged for in
It's sale. but the bare cost after the plates 4
were made. IL sells for SO volume A 4
great many valuable works come from 4
the presses Of Uncle Sans big printery. /
but there is such an abundance Of chan
with The wheat that even the libraries
designed as repositories were surfeited 4
with government documents Perhaps the Il
greatest need that Uncle Sam as a pub
Usher has, IS a corps Of trained editors,
who are masters Of the art OF blue pencil
ng- An examination OF the average pub
&c document reveals the fact that half /
1f its contents might have been cut out 4
without the loss CT a single essential fact,
ind with the gain CT an inestimable de-
gree Of interest and serviceableness.
Not the least uniEteresting part Of In
.le Sans big publishing business is the
work Of the superintendent Of documents.
To be able to sell that which can be
had for nothing is an unusual accom-
1lishment But the present incumbent
las been able to do that very thing, and
o no inconsiderable extent. His success
las hinged on the doctrine that adveT-
ising pays. That there are documents
1y the tens Of thousands lying in the
storage rooms Of the government, which
ire invaluable il placed in proper hands,
s a well-known fact. But the public has
)een unconscious Of their existence and
II how TO set them. To inform them
Il the existence Of these documents and
u how 20 get them he secured from |
congress negligible appropriation for
advertising purposes. He issued a few
and newspaper advertising
statements, and then got out an attract
ve poster, which the Post-ofFice Depart
nent authorized him 10 have hung in
very post-office. In this he explained
uliy the scope Of public documents, their
'alue when intelligently selected. &c.
md gave descriptions Of several hun
lTed OF the most valuable and useful
mes. The result was that Uncle Sam.