Los Angeles herald., 1909-05-19


zach The Year Book of the depart
ment of agriculture starts the list with
half a million copies a year. Each
book weighs about three pounds. one
and a half million pounds, seven nun
dred and fifty tons, twenty-five car
loads-that is what Uncle Sam gives
to his farmer friends as starter. AS
the birthplace of the millions of pup
lie documents the number of pieces
turned out annually is so great that
even the much discussed audlt SYSTEM
kicked out unceremoniously by Presl-
dent Roosevelt, lost track of the count;
In 1907. however, there were 55,0O0,OoO
nieces turned out, with $4,000 pages OF
type to set.
There are many items that might pc
mentioned which will give some lOlea
Of the vastness of that number, now
ever. The waste paper sold last year
brought $31 900, and waste paper AT the
government printing office is reduceu
70 the lowest possible minimum. Per-
hans that twenty dollar gold piece
1roi, cave away last Christmas came
from the government printing ottlce as
a part of it's $4555 worth OF waste gnu
leaf it sold to the mint last year. ENeh
the leather scraps from the DOCK plls ~
ing department in year are SOLD Ior
more than $4,000. 1t takes about $l4,O wv
worth of printers ink, some So,oOo
mounds of it in all, to do the printing
Enough gold leaf is used to pay Tor d
fine farm and thread that costs as
much as a good six-room city nome Is
required for sewing purposes. Even
money spent on the fly and WateIpus
exterminator is as much as woulu pe
needed to buy an ordinary loui pas
senger touring car. , x,..
Uncle
furnishing business costs more than a
million dollars a year, $9OO,00O or TINS
being used at the government printing
office proper A quarter million dol-
lars worth of stock is always Kept on
hand. The building and equlpnenC
where all these things are done on sucil
a. huge scale is commensurate WIN tEe
great work carried on. 1t is Ohcle
SANS boast that he has the finest
nrintine office in the world, and he can
reel off figures by the yard TO snow
that he is ready to make good against
ali corners. He points out that In MS
new seven-story building he has nine
acres Of floor space, and six acres more
in the old building. He tells you that
the new building cost $2,500,OOO and that
the machinery put into 1t cost $5'oV0'ooo'
He values his whole plant at o,OOO, ooU,
and tells YOU that he has pay roll OF
Yl4,UUO u udy
When he takes you through his Dig
print shop on a personally conducted
tour he has many things of interest to
show. One room has seventy-nine limo
type machines in it, the largest NUMBER
in one office in the world. In another
place are the melting pots, holding M
teen tons of metal at time. In an
other room he shows presses whose
combined output is more than a million
impressions every eight-hour day.
There are Aghty-seven presses, and
there is not pulley or belt in sight.
Zach machine is operated by its own
Individual motor, which is placed out
Of sight. They eat up paper at the rate
of forty tons a day, and ink at the rate
of $50 pounds every eight hours. The
card press turns out half million
cards printed on both sides every day.
Getting down to the job office, the Wis
itor is again reminded that he is stand
ing in the biggest place of its kind
in the world. 1t turns out more job
work every day in the year than the
average plant turns out in week
Leaving this place. the visitor is told
that the office of the public printer
located on the same floor, is the most
elegantly furnished office the govern
ment has. And any one who has had
the opportunity to compare the public
yrintar'e office with that of President