This page has been validated.

a saw-tooth roof, so that the maximum of daylight is assured. In the old and new buildings there are over 60 presses constantly running. They vary in size and in make, and are used according to the special conditions required in a general printing-house where a great variety of work is turned out. There are big presses on which are printed large editions of books in great demand, and others adapted for the smallest job work. In the new building where the large cylinder presses are placed, each press is equipped with an electric motor; and all such modern inventions as automatic feeders, appliances for neutralizing the electricity in the paper, and so forth, are utilized for gaining the best results. The building was designed so that by setting the presses on a concrete foundation all possible vibration could be avoided.

The Adams and job press-rooms are in the old Press Building, together with the make-up rooms, cut rooms, etc. The Adams presses, smaller and slower running than the cylinder presses, are used for printing the smaller editions, and much of the finest letter-press work is done on them; nearly all the work is printed on dampened paper. One of the distinctive features of this building is the private apartment for the women press-feeders. This is a cheerful, well-lighted room, provided with suitable furniture, where the women may occupy themselves with sewing, conversation, or lunch in the intervals of the work.

The plates ready for printing are taken through a subway which connects the main building with the press-rooms. They are made up into forms of eight pages or multiples and placed on the bed of a suitable press. The ink is carried over the face of the plates by rollers. The paper is supplied either by hand or by a mechanical feeder, and after going through the press and receiving the impression, it emerges at the opposite end, printed on one side. The same routine applies to the other side of the sheet. The famous printers of the old days found that by moistening the paper before printing on it, a clearer, better impression of the type was made, and in the highest grade of letter-press work done at Riverside this process is still in vogue, although it involves additional work and expense.

After sufficient time for the ink to dry, the sheets are generally put

15