Evening star., 1935-10-13
By John Clageh Proctor.

IF THE writer's memory bears him
out. when he wrote about Estreet
northwest, few weeks ago, he
i stopped at Eleventh street, just
beyond which, as lad, he worked for
the Maurice Joyce Engraving Co. in
1884. But the record Of this neigh
borhood runs back for many years
before this date, when, about 1900, the
Voss brothers conducted brick yard
in the block bounded by Pennsylvania
avenue, E, Eleventh and Twelfth
streets.
One of the more recent business
houses conducted in e street between
Eleventh and Twelfth streets, was the
printing Office of Thomas McGill, To-
Gated for many years in large build
ing at what is now numbered 1105. and
which stands on the north side OF the
street. As early as 1865. We find this
firm, then known as McGill & Withe-
row, carrying on the printing business
on or near this site, then known as
$3.50 E street. BY 1873 the firm had
changed to Thomas McGill g. Co.,
the company being H. l.. Mcqueen
Its advertisement, printed in the city
directory for that year, reads:
Thomas McGill g. Co.,
Successors to McGill g. Witherow,
Printers and Stereotypers,
No. 1107 E Street N. w.,
Washington, D. c.
Thomas McGill. H. L. Mcqueen"
In its day this was one of the larg-
est printing Offices in the city. en-
ploying at times large number OF
hands-especially when Congress and
the courts were in session. Naturally,
included in its force were a number
of printers, pressmen, feeders and
folders, many of whom, no doubt, are
still living and will recall with pleas
ure, not only the time they were en-
ployed there, but also Mr.. McGill, for
whom they worked, who is said to
have been a kindly and considerate
employer.
There are at least three men who
formerly worked for this firm, who are
now members of the Association OF
the Oldest Inhabitants-John F.
Woodworth, c. J. MacMurray and T.
L. McEneany. Mr.. Woodwork is
pleasant little man whose years rest
lightly, and delights to talk of the
days he set type at McGill's office.
This was before the typeSetting ma
chine had become common and when
every new boy in the offlce-whose
trade name was the printers devil
was introduced to the type louise or
given a wheelbarrow and sent to some
other Office to borrow load of ltalic
hair spaces, thing. of course, which
did not exist. The joke, perhaps, is
so old as to have been played on
ben" Franklin when he was an ap-
prentice boy.
IN THOSE days it was customary
= for printers to sit on a high stool
when setting type, and another trick
played on the unsuspecting-though
not necessarily upon beginner (pro-
vided you thought you could whip
him)-was to ask the compositor when
thus engaged, tor an asterisk CT some
other character in the extreme upper
part of his type case. However, in
order to do this, the unSuSpecting and
obliging printer had to raise himself
up, and when he did so, sponge,
filled to capacity with water, was
placed upon the seat. When he re-
sumed his position on the stool,
naturally, a contact was made which
he was not expecting. Being printer,
he had a fluent supply of words, but
what was said upon such occasions is
not repeatable here.
Mr.. Woodwork, though very con-
genial, rarely refers to himself. though
his friends are aware that he is quite
proud of the fact that he is a nephew
If another printer, Samuel Woodworth,
who wrote the words to that endearing
home song, THE Old Oaken Bucket"
which in days gone by was one OF the
most popular of the quartet numbers.
You will recall it; it goes like this:
'How dear to my heart are the scenes
of my childhood,
When fond recollections present
them to view!
The orchard, the meadow, the deep
tangled wildwood,
And ev'ry loved spot which my in
fancy knew;
The wide-spreading pond. and the
= mill that stood by it,
The bridge and the rock where the
cataract fell:
The cot of my father, the dairy house
nigh it,
And cen the rude bucket that hung
in the well.
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound
bucket,
The moss-covered bucket that hung
in the well.