The Dolores star., 1922-06-16

and the price paid. This is straight official let
ter.
congressman are coming more and more to send
their quotas of seeds out, not to the voting lists
in their districts but to the school children to
civic organizations chambers of commerce, banks
and factories for workmen and n great deal to
miners
win the department opposed to the congression
ai SEED distribution. and with congress habitualy
for 1t, Oliver f. Jones' originally from Cincinnati
VINO Is In active charge of this work, has had an
unenvable job as buffer between the department
ana congress for about twenty years. He prob
ably knows all the members of congress more in.
uinately than any other man in Washington be-
cause he is calling upon them in their offices every
day In the year At present he is getting more
tliah 2oo telephone calls day from them, dictates
about lOO letters n day to them, and has 90 or 20
of them calling on him in his office each day.
The seed distribution is conducted under the
bureau or plant Industry, of which Dr. William A
Taylor is chief. Il. A. Oakley and j. E. W. Trncy
purchase under contract all the seed that enters
INTO the congressional distribution and supervise
the mechanical and physical work of filling the
packages and mailing them Mr. Tracy is in
charge of the seed warehouse located at 339 Penn.
sylFahia avenue, which Is not at all modern, well
ventilated or lighted. This building was erected
IN 1854 and was the scene of receptions. banGuets
and inaugural balls for Andrew Jackson Martin
Van Buren, and Abraham Lincoln This is not n
government-owned building but has been rented
by the department and used as u seed warehouse
for about ten years.
The hlling of the orders of congressman Is an
interesting part of the free-seed distribution The
members supply their franks in sheets of fen
They are cut up into single slips and counted into
bundles by expert counters from the bureau of
engraving ana printing. AS member sends in
an order blue slip is made out calling upon the
seed warehouse to deliver that quantity and This
is accompanied by the corresponding number of
mi hn nnl IN
office of the member of congress- If the franks are
not addressed. or are mailed out directly from
the seed warehouse If they are addressed
These franks are now coming in at the rate OF
20O,OO0 or 100000 Il day. Each member is entitled
to 10000 packages of vegetable seeds and 1000
packages of flower seeds AS each of these nock
ages contains five small papers of seeds. IT really
means that 10000 papers of seeds are sent out
by each member of the senate and house
The way in which these seeds are first put into
the small papers and sealed and then put one each
Of five different kinds into larger package and
sealed with the members frank pasted on e,cb
package for direct mailing is an Interesting mart
Of the congressional distribution system This
is done by contract and this year new contract
or is on the job, Frank Clarke of Waco, Tex who
has speeded up the work by devisng new gluipr
machine.
The seed envelopes are filled nv m,cb,nerr
which automatically weighs the contents OF eoch
envelope. Two girls work at of these ma.
chimes, one filling and the other sealing the little
envelopes on a revolving belt. Filling and sealing
$4,000 of these little envelopes Is considered good
days work. The girls get piecework over 2O.OO0
a dfy.
Other girls sit at big tables pastng the congress
slonal franks onto the contnlner on which are
printed the names of the five varieties of vega
tables or flowers that to be placed within. A
belt carrier runs beside huge bins into which the
small packages of seed have been dufnped. Az
the rirls finish pasting the franks on the bp on.
velopes they are carried, one at time along tllis
travelling belt roadway and in front of n hin at
regular intervals girls, each of whom sfina In
small envelope and the contalner proceeds To
an inspector and then past another girl, who seals
up the package by machinery.