Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-11
Becomes Bank Cashier.

monia, but is now improved He is
| practicing law In Denver.
Uncle Sam to Have
a Model Factory
| WHEN one thinks of Uncle Sam in the
" sense of the United States govern
| ment it is scarcely with the thought of
| his being manufacturer. And yet, with
| the completion of the new bureau of ell
craving and printing. the erection of
which will be begun shortly, it will be
| IAN ideal factory" according to the
statement of Director Ralph, head of
that branch of the Treasury Department.
| 1t is that idea which will be carried
out as far as possible in the plans which
Director Ralph formulated, and which he
endeavored in every way possible to have
| carried out in the finished drawings for
| the building.
1T is my greatest hope and fondest
| DESIRE" SAID me director, Ito have this
new building an ideal of everything that
| a factory should be. | want the forty-
two hundred men and women who are
now forced to work i'm the cramped build
| ing we are occupying to have all the
conveniences and modern equipment
which the very best equipped factory
anywhere in this country has.
And behind the wish that Director
| Ralph is expressing stand the forty-tWO
hundred men and women he mentioned,
| all of whom are adding their wish to MS.
| And the wish is by no means new one
but one which has grown and grown Win
the passing years until many who are
working there began to think that there
| was no such thing as fairy godmother
| in the world after all, and that wishing
was an extinct custom so far as results
were concerned.
| 1t was back in 1906 when Mr.
| Leslie NJ. Shaw, then Secretary of the
| Treasury, called attention to the con-
ditions in the present bureau of en-
craving and printing in his annual re-
port, and urged Congress to provide for
d new and proper building for the eX-
ecutiOn of the important work which
| had to be done there. In letter from
the Secretary Of the Treasury to-
Speaker Cannon, the former wrote on
| one occasion:
THE present facilities are entirely in
| adequate. / doubt if "A worse sweat
shop exists on the earth than the fac
| tory in which the government manu-
features it's money, it's bonds, its in
ternal revenue and post office stamps.
| And in 1907 the Secretary of the
Treasury, Mr.. George b. Cortelyou, in
his report, said:
! Il found the most deplorabe over
crowding of men and women in every
part of the building In addition to the
! overcrowding Of the employees, l found
/ that it was necessary to work part
of the force beyond the regular hours.
and a considerable number of men and
women at night.
In the following year Speaker Cannon
| made a visit to the bureau to lnvestl-
| gate the labor conditions, and CHAR
acterized them in the most forcible
and condemnatory manner. In l9o'
Congress passed bill authorizing the
PREPARATION of plans, specifications and
estimates for the construction of u new
building. In 1905 a bill was passed
enabling the Secretary of the treasury
to purchase land for the purpose OF
erecting building. IN Isos iul'he .a
| procure plans and specifications Tor the
mech anical and electrical equipment OF
the new bureau. On October 20. 19lo,
the specifications were gwen out anu
opened this month. That means that
| the first part of 1911 will see the actual
work of erecting the new bureau OF
engraving and printing begun
date factory The plans have already
been approved by the commission OF
fine arts. The cost Of the building ana
| ground will be more than two mlilioh
| dollars 1t will take in two docks.
facing 18th street. running along Z
| street southwest the two DOCKS, anu
running back one block to 14th street.
projecting from the front portlo.
of the building. which VIII De ooU iee &c,
In length. will be four wings running al
right angles with it. The principal 1ea.
ture of the whole building VIII be the
fact that, except for the space necessary
| for the structural work, the entire space
will be given over TO "n 'i1 III ,,s sh,
on three sides. A system OF artincla
ventilation will keep the air In the rooms
constantly changing. while the area CIV
en- to each employe Will be ample , ao o,
healthful conditions. Each OF the "hs'
| will be 60 by 11o feet.
One of the features which Director
Ralph himself has been working for Is
that of having ample rest, wash, luncf
and cloak room space in each wing anc
on each floor Almost one-third OF th'
floor space of each of the wings will b.
given over to these rooms. thus provid
ing separate rest and lunch rooms for thu
mon and women. This will make 1t pos
sible for each division to have it's owl
rooms.
1t is Director Ralph'S plan TO nav
two physicians, one male and one female
to look after all cases of sickness which
may occur during working hours.
first aid hospital to the injured and
first aid nurse Is another innovation
J which will bring comfort to the tired an
weary when the new building is com
pleted A sufficient number of matron
are also to be in charge Of the rest
rooms.
A feature which will no doubt appea
to those who will occupy the new build
ing will be the plans which Directo
Ralph has concerning the lunchroon
This will be worked on the co-operativ
> plan, with each employee giving a quar-
} ter Considering the forty odd hundre
people. that would mean over thousan
: dollars with which to start the enter
prise Once started the price OF tn
iuncheons would be simply equal to tn
cost. Any employe leaving the servic
would be entitled to have his quartz
, refunded. In that way it would be pos
sible to obtain for the employees goot
, food at reasonable rates.
One part of the project which D4ecto
: Ralph hoped for. but failed to secure
was a roof garden. 1t was one of hi
, ambitions to have a pleasant place mad'
out Of the roof where the employees coul(
20 in summer and find relief from tn,
heat. Even though he failed to hav
IL