OUR NEW QUARTERS

Evening Star, Issue 20057, 24 December 1928, Page 8

OUR NEW QUARTERS

IN STUART STREET BUILDING TRANSFER MORE EXPEDITIOUS THAN EXPECTED Shifting a newspaper’s homo is a prodigious task. To the householder, shifting from one residence to another ■is a nightmare; and those who have worried over the rolling up of linoleus and the problems of furniture lilting will readily visualise the magnitude qf the job that lay ahead of the ‘ Evening Star ’ 1 Company on Saturday. Tons of machinery and office equipment for the managerial, literary, and commercial staffs, had to be transported from the old premises in Bond street to * tho commodious new home of the ‘Star ’ in Stuart street. And as much of the machinery was: cumberspine, the , prospects lor a speedy change-over.did.not look good. The expectations of _ the company, were to transport sufficient plant and (equipment from Bond street to ensure The production of the “’’Star ’ on ■■ Hon'd ay. Even with a minimum of plant, tail'd working under entirely different conditions from those they had been •accustomed, the staff could be . relied jpn to produce the paper up to time. All expectations were more than ful-:-fillcd. Most members of the staff offered their services, and they tackled the job of shifting! with so hearty a will that it became apparent late on Saturday that practically the whole of '‘the plant from Bond street would he pi vail able for service in the new building on Monday morning. , e After the paper was published on Saturday many members of the staff doffed their coats and helped the cartage contractors in. carrying tables, chairs, and heavy cases from tho upper floors to Bon'd street, where they were loaded on fleets of lorries. With the engineering staff worked' members ol the: commercial and literary staff’s and the directors, too, shouldered a very considerable . share' of the strenuous work.

From Bond street to the'new .building there was a constant procession of vans and lorries. As each piece ol machinery was hoisted to .the various floors,' the engineers, mechanics, electricians and plumbers made quick work of placing it in .'position, while the others kept loading the goods lifts with equipment for the many departments. The moving was carried out in a wonderful spirit of co-operation. One director operated the good lift, meanwhile carrying tables and cases of books and files to the various rooms. Another, working in conjunction with the jobbing compositors, appeared to revel in the., strenuous ..labouring;, a third saw to the general transferring of- the office equipment, and the managing director controlled all the machinery installation. The printer and departmental .managers, if unfamilafly clad in their labouring clothes, nevertheless did full justice to them. That is an ilustration of the heartiness and enthusiasm with which all employees of the company helped to accomplish the shift within the . minimum _ of time,"and with' the' maximum of efficiency and’ organisation. Tho whole operations worked true to schedule, and bear tribute to the ingenuity. and forethought which ■ for mouths previously ,liad ..-been given ,to the details of the “change over” by the controlling powers. On Saturday the staff worked till 10.30 p.m., and in tho big dining room they were entertained to supper by the company. Work was resumed at 9 a.m. on Sunday, and by 5 p.m. all the stereotype plant, and most of the job printing .machinery was in position. Linotypes were: erected; y and everything was in readiness for the full staff to commence duties the following morning as if nothing so difficult as shifting ' the complete .equipment necessary for the ■■■production--of a metropolitan evening newspaper, between two consecutive , issues, had taken place. .Difficulties arose, hut they were cheerfully surmounted. Already the stand-by electricity generating plant in the new building had been put. to a test, and showed its efficiency. With the arrival at' the Stuart street premises on Saturday afternoon of the first load of equipment, the Waipori power supply failed, and the linotypes installed and the electric hoisting gear were thrown out of action. Within a tow minutes the Diesel engine, with its generator, was brought’ into operation, and work was proceeded with. Power from Waipori was cut off from midnight until 9 a.m. yesterday, although it had been announced that supply would be resumed at 8 a.m. The staff were on tho job, and the Diesel t was again started up. /By means of the stand-by plant, the building was supplied with current, and by the time Waipori again energised the wires, many tons .of machinery had been lifted to the; department floors. . • Naturally, the organisation in the new building to-day is not as perfect as even in the .old building, but the progress this morning indicated that the. ‘Star ’ will he well settled,in its new homo in a' day or so. Until the whole of the new plant is ' thoroughly tested'out and the difficulties of altering the size of the paper' are ■ surmounted, no attempt .will be made to give any regular photographic illustrations of tjie day’s news, as the company proposes to do later, now that it has a process block making department. ■

The directors of the. ‘ Evening Star ’ Company wish to take this opportunity of expressing their appreciation of the manner in which ail employees co-operated in the arduous work of changing over into new premises. Owiritj to the cheerful manner in which the whole , staff undertook unaccustomed duties, practically the whole plant and equipment was transferred during the weekend. Their thanks are also, due to those who were employed temporarily for the change-over, and specially to those in charge of the lorries and motor vans. -