Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-08-25
During the second session Of the sixty
second Congress the business coming be-

second Congress the business coming be-
| fore both houses was so
Report OF great that 1900 pages were
| c.: required to report 1t, that
Se0SAon' constituting the size of the
Congressional Record. This years per-
manent Record, the bound edition Of the
proceedings, win number twelve or thir-
teen volumes. the largest ever printed.
| Getting out the Congressional Record
constitutes one OF the most important
| and enormous tasks confronting those
| who work to keep the wheels Of the gov
eminent going. Its real beginning, Of
course. Is in the minds Of the senators
| and representatives, whose words, sert-
| Gus or jocular. go to make up the ma
terial for this report Of the proceedings
of our legislature. But the actual work
Of reproducing these words in the daily
| account Of the happenings on 1.-The Hill
| requires the aid Of several score Of alert,
Quick-witted persons. who are ready to
do strenuous hustling at all times.
The first step in the making of the Con-
gressional Record, after that Of the &C
| tual remarks of senators or representa-
| tives, is taken by the congressional re-
porters. Six Of these In each branch of
Congress carry the burden Of taking
down every word uttered on the floor,
up with the rapidly flying words. From
the second that the gavel falls in the
| hands of Vice President Sherman or
| Speaker Clark they are at their posts.
| and remain there until the last syllable
has been uttered, which brings about the
days adjournment.
Each corps works in shifts. Number
one works from five to ten minutes, and
is then relieved by number
Work in two. and so on. AS soon as
c,.e number one Is relieved he
0AAtS. hurries from the floor to the
TRANSFERRING room, where he reads on
his copy into a photograph. In the Or
binary course OF events reporter takes
down from 1000 to 1000 words during
his shift, which is sufficient to I'LL ABOUT
one wax photograph cylinder and one
column of the Record. During busy
session the shifts are cut to five or SIX
minutes, which gives number one just
thirty minutes before he must take MS
place on the floor again. In that time ne
must not only read his copy into the
photograph. but correct the copy OF ms
previous shift, which typewriter mas
been engaged in copying from the oicta-
ton Of his photograph record.
Even in times Of ordinary routine ousl-
ness a reporter must be both quick
witted and quick-footed. But in times of
stress he must be doubly quick He must
be ready to hasten from spot to spot on
the floor, writing as he goes IN order TO
be near the person speaking. Reporting on
| the floor of either branch OF Congress
runs from 125 to as high as $50 words
| minute. At this rate single days pro-
ceedings will amount to about 6O,OOO
words That means that each reporter is
accountable for 10000 words, which he
must not only have taken down. but re-
vised in their typewriter state. The
number of typewriter pages each day
amounts to from $50 to 800. although as
many as $50 have been written in time
of necessity. The average rate of speed
in taking the dictation from the phono-
graph is about sixty words a minute.
Like a daily newspaper, not even death
can stop the work Of getting out the Rec
ord. And to insure this
Getting Ont absolutely a chain has
been formed of many
Tic AecOIu. links, each important
in the work of Transforming each days
work at the Capitol into the printed copy
of the Record In the southwest corner
of Statuary Hall Is a small office, in
which is to be found Andrew Smith.
Alert, ever on the rush, but ever cour-
teous. Andy" as he is popularity called.
is the representative of the government
printing office at the Capitol. He acts
much as lubricant to q huge pulley
strap, for it is he who sees that all goes
smoothly at that end. Whatever the clog
may be, he is apt to know more about 1t
than any one else, and to be able to
straighten it out, for Mr.. Smith has held
his position for almost forty years. He
is also a bureau of information. for to
him come senator's representatives. mes
sengers and a horde of merely idly GU
rious people, each with some question or
other that must be intelligently answered.
After Mr.. Smith come Sam" Robinson
and BILLY" Madden. the two bicycle mes
from tie Capitol to the government print
ing Office. They also are important links
in the chain. for beginning at about 5
O clock in the afternoon they start to
carry the copy from one building to the
other. But that does not constitute their
whole duty, nor really the most strenuous
part of it. AS soon as copy is received
at the printing office 1t is sent to the
Jacket room,' where the time of it's ar
rival is noted and it's future progress as
sured. It then goes to the linotype room,
where it is taken by operators who set 1t
in type. AS soon as it is set up proofs
are taken. 1t is at this point that the
troubles Of Sam Robinson and Billy"
Madden really begin. Usually, senators and
representatives desire to look over their
remarks of the day to see that they are
correct or to alter the phraSeOlogy Slight
ly, and in order that this may be done
proofs are sent to them. The corrections,
however. may not be made at once. as
banquetS or addresses are often the
means of stopping this work. And so it
happens that the messengers may have
to chase around after some member in
order to get the corrected proof back to
the printing office in time to correct the
type and otherwise get the work of pro-
ducing the Record to the point where the
big presses can start. And sometimes the
presses start without the speech of Sena-
tor Jones or Representative Brown, uSu-
ally to his disappointment, but the Rec
ord must be issued each day. In the
event of a speech being left out note
to that effect is inserted where 1t would
properly have appeared and few days
later the speech itself Is printed as an
appendix to another copy Of the Record.
Beyond this point the work of getting
| out each days edition of the Record Is
merely matter of routine printing.
When the corrected proof comes back
| from member the necessary corrections
are made in TIE type, which is then sent
| to the stereotyping room, from which 1t
comes forth In the form of a metal plate.
| ready to be placed in position on the
press.
Special presses are used in printing the
Record The largest is capable of print
ing and folding a sixty-four-
Printing page Record. and is so large
hat he rolls Of naDer are