DIYISrOX OF PUBLICATIONS. 403 



applicants, as well as placing them in touch with officials in this 

 and other departments to secure additional information. In handling 

 this correspondence it was necessary to issue 1H0,G84 orders on the 

 Superintendent of Documents for miscellaneous publications, and 

 374,605 for Farmers' Bulletins, while 43,022 form letters were sent 

 to persons requesting publications. Reference to other offices was 

 made of 37,800 requests for information. In cooperation with other 

 bureaus 10,455 addresses were written by the correspondence unit. 

 Addresses to which the Yearbook for 1918 was sent were indexed, 

 numbering 17,000. 



CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENCE. 



During the year 36.406 communications were received from Sen- 

 ators and Representatives requesting publications. In addition to 

 the addressing and counting of franks, the checking of lists, and 

 the interpreting of requests, it was necessary to fde 33,296 orders 

 with the office of the Superintendent of Documents of the Govern- 

 ment Printing Office. It was also necessary to count millions of 

 franks and checked lists to ascertain the aggregate number of bulle- 

 tins requested and chargeable to the accounts of Senators. Represen- 

 tatives, and Delegates. The work also involves in many instances 

 the selection of the proper publications to be sent. 



In connection with the correspondence incident to distributing 

 publications, much stenographic and typewriting work is required. 

 Although thousands of blank forms and fill-in letters are used in 

 handling the great bulk of the correspondence, 15,289 letters were 

 dictated and 4,395 were composed and Avritten by the stenographic 

 force, while 36,931 form letters were filled in and sent out. In ;KlJi- 

 tion to this, 3,173 letters originally routed to this office were re- 

 ferred to other bureaus and departments, making an aggregate of 

 59,789 communications handled by the stenographic force. Two 

 hundred and seventeen stencils were cut in the stenographic room 

 for use in connection with the work of supplying data for the press. 



MAILING LIST RECORDS. 



There was much activity in revising mailing lists during the year, 

 many lists maintained both here and at the office of the Superin- 

 tendent of Documents being revised, and a number of others that 

 had become obsolete being discontinued. The work of revising mail- 

 ing lists is ^oing on constantly. 



The distribution work was in charge of Francis J. P. Cleary. super- 

 intendent of distribution. 



ADDRESSING AND DUPLICATING SECTION. 



The multigraph work increased 26.5 per cent over the preceding 

 year, 4,014,842 pages of such matter being run off. The number of 

 mimeograph pages run off was 2,176,298. This was an increase of 3.88 

 per cent. IMiscellaneous work corpprising addressograph, grapho- 

 type. paper cutting, folding, as.sembling sheets of duplicated matter, 

 stapling, round-hole cutting, etc., increased 44 per cent. 



The task of transferring the permanent mailing lists to the ad- 

 dressograph system was completed during tlie year. The number of 



