Evening star., 1914-12-27

the m n n g
Care for Workers until they leave
While in Building a. dnas,,'c n.gnt swift s1a
vators carry them to the floors where
there are locker rooms. with attendants,
separate lockers for each employe,
/, shower baths and every other sanitary
convenience. Thence they go to tho
various departments where they work.
Owing to the nature of the product, the
most careful supervision must be kept
Of every employe. He Is not allowed
to leave his department during the day
without written permit from the su-
perintendent of the division. certifying
that his work is correct. For this rea-
son every department is complete in it
self. and includes lunchroom.
In addition to these department
)lunchrooms, there, is a cooperative
vides excellent food at an almost in
credibly small cost. All of the fixtures
are provided by the government, and
the employees are organized for the pur-
cooked. An excellent dinner is served
at noon in these lunchrooms, consist
ing OF two vegetables, meat or fish,
bread and butter and a dessert, for Is
cents. and extra dishes upon the bill of
fare are and 10 cents each. The din
Ing rooms run the full length of the
top of the building, and are thronged
three times day. Brilliantly lighted
and scrupulously clean, with uniformed
servants, they present an extremely at
opens upon a roof garden, where the
employees spend much of their spare
time during the summer. There are
monographs upon these roof gardens,
and dancing is frequently indulged in.
1t Is a significant fact that in the
new bureau of engraving and printing
there Is two and one-half times as much
working space as in the old one, and
nve times as much space devoted to the
welfare of the employees. Mr.. Ralph
considers that his locker rooms, shower
paths, roof gardens and dining rooms
pay an even better interest upon the in
vestment than the modern machinery
ana other equipment Of his workrooms
The bureau Of engraving and printing
Is democracy. You may see any off,
cial IN the bureau and ask him any rea-
sonable ques-
Bureau Is Example tion without
Of Real Democracy. nointmsn1 mantng an 1pr fpr
a week ahead and then running
gauntlet of secretaries and office boys.
who seem to suspect that you have a
bomb under your coat. If you want to
know anything about cooperative
lunchrooms for factories Mr.. Ralph
himself will take you upstairs and
show you his. On the way he will greet
the elevator boy, the cook and the
scullion by their first names. He will
show you the workings of that lunch
room from A to lizard, and throw in a
little lecture on the philosophy of well
fare work in factories.
No one waits very long In the ante
room Of Mr.. Ralph's office, but a short
sojourn there is decidedly interesting,
especially during the half hour at noon
when the employees are free. Brawny
printers in their shirt sleeves. girls
from the counting room, grimy ap-
prentices, all manner of employees come
in and ask If the director Is busy, and,
without ceremony. walk into his office.
1t is very evident fact that Mr.. Ralph
has realized in one of the largest fac
tories in the country, employing over
1000 men and women, the personal re-
lationship between the executive desk
and the workroom which has been cited
as the greatest good Of the era Of
small factories and the most valuable
thing that has been lost by the growth
of industries.
The proof that all of this attention to
the comfort and well-being of the en-