Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-28
U.S.PR|NT|NG PLANT
S4,OlO,0ln) IN VALUE.
Establishment Which at First
Cost S135 600 Now Gov
erS II Acres of Space.

SiXtv-five years ago. on March a,
1861. the Federal Government invest
ed S135, 900 and acquired ITS hrst
printing plant. Today this institution
occupies II acres of floor space and
buildings worth 81 ZOO, 900, operates
three and quarter million dollars
worth of equipment, employs more
than 4 900 Workmen and turns out an
annual product worth more than VIZ
0,000
Thursday, March 4, the Govern
rnent Printing Office will commend
rate the transaction of So years ago
when Cornelius Wendell turned over
his building and equipment to the
custody of John Heart, the first super
tntendent of public printing. The
anniversary celebrat ton will be held
in Harding Hall, one of the social
service centers of this enormous en-
terprise, which has now expanded into
the largest and most versatile printing
plant in the world.
This vast establishment. which
never is completely closed down, is in
charge of George II. Carter, whose
selection as public printer April 8.
1921. was one of the earliest appoint
nents of the late President Harding
Having been a congressional employe
since 1910 in capacities connected
with Congress printing, Mr.. Garter
was accorded the distinction OF being
confirmed in open session OF the Sen
ate, an honor that heretofore had only
been extended to members of the
Senate who were appointed TO some
other high office.
Big Jobs Listed.
Two of the biggest jobs of the
printing office is the daily publication
o. the Congressional Record and the
weekly issuance of the Patent once
Gazette The printing which repre-
sents the largest value i'll money.
however, is done for the Post once
Department in the manufacture OF
money orders and postal cards. Print
ing matter issued by the Government
during the past year required the
setting of o.12S,394, 200 ems of type.
This type was made up into 1886
6SS pages, and the total number OF
comics printed of these pages was
1919 1913. 364. 1t took 275 proofreaderS
a wear to read all this printed matter.
An individual who aspired to read all
the literature of the Government
would have TO outlive Methuselah, and
even then in few years he would be
hopelessly behind the current publ
cations of the vast army of Govern
ment writers and speakers.
Aside from the Congressional Rec
ord and the Patent Office Gazette, the
most active users of the Government
Printing Office are the half-hundred
Government or executive depart
ments, which require the annual print
Ing of millions of documents. The
Department of Agriculture heads the
list of executive branches of the Gov
eminent, with last years output to-
falling 26,371, 90l copies. NOtwith-
standing the Conference on the Limi-
tation of Armament, the League of
Nations, the World Court and other
agencies striving TO restrict the ac-
tivities of the War Department, H.
1884, $50 copies of Army orders and
other printed matter was required
by that department. 1t may be the
Armament Conference had some ef
feet on the Navy Department. for
its publications for the year dropped
262 ,248 copies. with a total for the
year of 1.766, 1886. The Treasury and
White House showed real Coolidge
economy during the year, with the
Treasury getting 4,961,246 fewer
copies than in 1925. and the White
House saving $771.0S in its printing
expenses for the year.
Regarded Stupendous Task.
The printing Of the Congressional
Record is a bigger job than any daily
paper in the world for several rea-
sons, and yet is merely one item in
the days work at the big printery.
The production of the Record is an
eXasperating job which calls for the
greatest amount of elasticity of eff
fort. 1t may consist of eight pages.
or IT may run to 200. In either event
Il must be produced on the same
basis, to meet the same time limits.
The average size is so pages and the
average edition is So, 500 The largest
daily Record ever printed consisted Of
366 pages of railroad records which
The late Senator Robert La Toilette
inserted in the Senate proceedings of
May 6, 1914.
Copy for the Record is supposed to
he In hand by midnight. This must be
set up, stereotype plates made, print
ed gathered, stitched and mailed by 5
o'clock in the morning. The stereo-
type plates are made in the foundry
as the type pages rush in from the
linotype room and they are whisked
away to the presses, which are es-
pecially designed and built for the
printing of the Record and pubica-
ions of similar size. There are two
f4page Hoe presses so constructed to
print signatures of to "a pages, and
n fold. gather and paste or wire
stitch the separate signatures at the
rate OF 1000 copies per hour. From
the gathering machine the copies go
70 a continuous trimmer, and the