MACHINERY. Fig. 1. The Bullock Press.─This press is fully described elsewhere in this chapter. Fig. 2. Cottrell & Babcock's New Two-Revolution Cylinder Press.— Three of these presses are now in use in the Government Printing Office. These presses, which are considered superior to any other press in the office, were manufactured expressly for its use, and were designed especially for printing the Congressional Record. They will accommodate 32 pages of ordinary octavo matter, or 16 pages of the Record, and are, perhaps, the most useful, durable, and beautiful presses ever built. The great advantage of these machines is the speed and facility with which they can be handled for all kinds of work. The impression among printers, heretofore, has been that a small cylinder was very destructive to type, or at least more so than large drums; but the success that has attended the introduction of Stop Cylinders has completely removed that impression, and has created a demand for Two-Revolution presses that promises in time to drive large drums, above certain sizes, entirely out of the market. In these times of low prices, and consequently small profits, speed combined with good work is an advantage, the value of which cannot be overestimated. This press, as its name indicates, revolves twice: first, in a raised position to clear the form; the second time, in contact with the form while giving the impression. The largest illustrated forms are printed at a speed of from 1,800 to 2,000 per hour, with perfect safety. Indeed, the speed is limited only by the capacity of the feeder. This press is capable of doing the finest quality of illustrated and color work, in the highest style of the art, and has proved to be the most economical and profitable press yet introduced. In addition to the above, there are in use in the Government Printing Office three Cap Cylinder, one Four-Roller, and seven Double Medium Cylinder presses, manufactured by Cottrell & Babcock (now C. B. Cottrell & Co.). Fig. 3 is a small illustration of R. Hoe & Co.'s Cylinder Presses, and represents their super-royal and double medium cylinders-twentyfive of which are in use in the Government Printing Office. Fig. 4. Gill's Hot Rolling or Calendering Machine.-This is a new machine for the printing office, which will instantaneously dry and press sheets wet from the press, imparting at the same time a fine gloss to the work, thus dispensing with the old system of dry-pressing. It is stated that the claims of this machine have been fully sustained by experience; and that, with the aid of a feeder and a taker-off, from 1,200 to 1,500 sheets, direct from the printing machine, can be dried and hot-rolled in an hour—an advantage not to be at present otherwise obtained. The main features of this machine are a pair of highlyfinished chilled metal rollers, and an apparatus for cleaning or taking away the set-off. The rollers are fitted parallel to each other in a frame, and steam is introduced through the axles. The danger of set-off is obviated by a cleaning apparatus, consisting of a trough under each roller, filled with a solution of alkali, and in which are placed long pads made of strong cloth, containing small pieces of sponge, which press closely to the surface of the roller as it revolves. By these means, ink and other substances calculated to soil the paper are effectually removed. Behind the pads is fitted a rubber scraper, which cleans off any moisture left on the rollers, so that when these are in a position to receive the sheet which follows, they are perfectly clean and free from set-off. The sheets pass between two highly-polished steel cylinders, which are heated by steam introduced through the axles; and when they leave the cylinders, are carried by means of endless tapes underneath to the taking-off board, etc. FOLDING ROOM. Up to 1871, the Folding Room occupied 60 by 200 feet of the fourth floor. In the fall of that year, after the completion of the wing fronting on North Capitol street, additional space to the extent of 60 by 113 feet was added; and again, in 1879, 60 by 60 feet more was allotted to its use; but notwithstanding these additions, the increase of work in this department has been so great that it has been found necessary, at times, to use all the available space in the halls and passages of the entire building for the storage and preservation of the work. The pay-rolls for July, 1871, show the number of persons then employed to have been 190; while for the month of June, 1880, between 300 and 350 were employed, although the introduction of new machinery enabled the office to dispense with the services of about 100 employés in this room in that month. In attempting to give the reader a view of this room, I shall not enter into any elaborate technical description of the different processes of treating printed matter in this establishment, as understood by the term "folding," any further than is necessary to a proper understanding of its workings; but will endeavor to show, as briefly as possible, more 'particularly the extent of this part of the business of the Government Printing Office. The folding of sheets, maps, or illustrations, the pasting, gathering, collating, etc., are all separate and distinct operations, requiring special care and patience, and, in some cases, a great deal of severe labor. The work is transferred by elevators from the Press Room on the first floor to the Folding Room on the fourth floor, upon trucks. Two of these elevators have a capacity of 1,500 pounds each, and one small box elevator, of about 300 pounds. They are each in charge of a man, whose duty it is to place and replace the trucks upon them, and to deliver printed matter to its proper destination in the Folding Room. Upon the arrival of the work in the room, it is taken to the respective divisions, to be folded, etc. All large volumes, or jobs, are delivered to the regular folders, or to the folding machines, as the nature of the work demands; all bills, reports, documents, the journals of both houses of Congress, and the printing generally pertaining to the current business of Congress, are delivered to divisions specially provided for them; and all other matter, to another division. A brief description of each division will be found further on. After the work is folded, it is examined by competent employés specially designated for that purpose, whose duty it is to see that the work has been properly performed. It is then taken to the pressing machines, and after being pressed, is tied up in bundles of 500 sheets each, and thence removed to the store-room to remain until the volume is completed, when it is again placed upon the trucks and transferred to the gathering tables, where it is gathered and collated, and thence forwarded to the Bindery to be bound. Before the introduction of the Jones Pressing Machines, the work was dry-pressed before being delivered to the Folding Room. Some classes of work, however, are still subjected to pressing in the old style hydraulic presses. In all printing establishments except the Government Printing Office, the folding constitutes a part of the binding and not the printing division of the business; but an old law (under which the binding was given out by contract) provided that the sheets should be furnished the binder in a certain condition, which involved the folding ; and this law, although it invaded a long-standing custom of the trade, was duly respected, and this is still the custom under which this work is divided in this establishment. Pasting Illustrations, Diagrams, etc.-During the year 1871, the illustrations pasted in the various documents, reports of committees, etc., amounted in round numbers to 12,000,000, and in the year 1879 to about 26,000,000, showing an increase of over 100 per cent. Job Work.-The job work, under which head may be classed card work, printing for the Supreme Court, Court of Claims, small pamphlets, etc., for the Departments, and the blanks sent to the Folding Room, is also on the increase. In 871, it was performed by one man and ten girls, with one small hand-power card machine. It now requires twenty |