A PRESS CURIOSITY.
One of the curiosities of Printing-House Square is the huge engine which runs so many presses. This is owned by a firm in Spruce street between William and Nassau, and occupies the basement of their building. There is a large one hundred and fifty horse-power engine which runs during the day, and a seventy-five horse-power which relieves it at night. From this shafting and belting distribute the power in every direction. One shaft runs to and across Frankfort street, supplying THE MAIL and other offices, another crosses William street and runs the six cylinder presses which pile the three hundred thousand copies of the Ledger in its beautiful press-room. Another shaft crosses Spruce street, runs through and across Beekman, and even supplies presses in Ann street.
Altogether these engines supply over one hundred and twenty-five presses—each being estimated and charged so much per horse-power according to this estimate. It runs three quarters of a mile of main shafting, beside a mile or more connecting shafts and as much belting. One of these belts, an india-rubber one, one hundred and twenty feet long, connects a fifth-story press on Nassau street with the main shafting on Spruce, across the intervening yards, and another leather one on Beekman street, one hundred and forty feet long, perfectly perpendicular, connects the sub-cellar and attic.
"This engine prints all McLaughlin's toy books, runs the immense establishments of Bradstreet and J. W. Oliver, besides many other job printers, a hoop-skirt manufactory and several binderies, and prints nearly fifty papers, besides magazines and books innumerable; among them, the 'Mail,' the 'Independent,' 'Dispatch,' 'Leader,' 'Star,' 'Examiner and Chronicle,' 'Observer,' 'Courier,' 'Clipper,' 'Wilkes' Spirit,' 'Turf, Field and Farm,' 'Police Gazette,' 'La Crosse Democrat,' 'Ledger,' 'New York Weekly,' 'Literary Album,' 'Sunday Times,' 'New Yorker Democrat,' 'Commonwealth,' 'Scottish American,' 'Freeman's Journal,' 'Tablet,' 'Emerald,' 'Irish American,' 'Irish People,' etc., etc. Truly a power in the world."
[Illustration: View of Wall Street.]