Travelling In Top Along The "Inky Way"

NZ Truth, Issue 1150, 15 December 1927, Page 1

Travelling In Top Along The "Inky Way"

(liii'oiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiM ii'"'- ■'",-■ if If ANE of'the least known" |§ l|; ■ and at the; same time [| | [ -most fascinating stories of § If modern business is hidden § || behind the romanbe of-the =| If Press. From 1 the initial | If the paper | j| upon whion ; the ; public's | l| news is'prinled up through | || the varying, to the v - H final prodrtciion) lies a, If story with * a wealth of 11 detail «of by ■j! 1! the man-in-the-street. .11' ... , . ' , ' - ' : 'iiiiimiiitiiiiiituiniititiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiititiiiniiuMiitiiiiiiiiiii! i nnt i imi imm

mmiimmmmVumiiimmiuimwiiinmmmiummmmmmuimmiimmimi TO talk'about ones-self v hiay be held to lie conceit, but;' it is witty, no Wish of obtruding • a -" suggestion "J of egotism,- A ;"N.Z. Truth" gives a short of modern newspaper production. > We are so susceptible to impressions that the world of comparison has always plenty to offer. It'is by comparison * only, that we can ■ show the ramifications* of the great Press machine.' >■■■• *'• A; paper is a paper, generally speaking, i whether, its; policy supports the uplift of South African pigmies, or the downfall of Soviet administration. In ,a.sense, therefore, we speak generally. "Of course, a newspaper that is so downright national ■- as,' say, "N.Z. Truth," with- a circulation that carries it to every conceivable corner of New Zealand, enables the argument to. be cogently put. Only because this paper happens to be the biggest in New Zealand (our contemporaries, even, will concede this irrefutable fact) is it cited. Otherwise, there is no need to stress the obvious. In a matter of fact world one too easily, sees the commonplace and forgets "the romance" existent in .all businesses. That to, which the public-give the least thought, however, is the romance of the Press; Pass your threepence for a copy of '!New Zealand Truth" to the boy at

the corner, go home and read it at your leisure moments and then try and realize the immensity of the organisation behind the building, top of this production, the work involved in providing week by week a blight paper, * the material used in each week's issue and, last but not least, the army, of-,people who take* New Zealand's only national paper by rail, car and steamer to each and every remote corner of the country. "A 'Truth" in .every home" would be a fairly safe assertion, . for after the 83,000 readers who buy each week have assimilated what a staff scattered from one.end of the Dominion to the other has' gathered for their benefit, the papers are passed on for others to read. But of all this vast army of readers few there are who give thought to the busy bees who are responsible for its compilation and orderly display. A busy staff in every town and centre throughout the country each week garner the news that a hungry Hoe Press might print and send out to the rest of their fellows all the news of the day. , • ■ ■ - ' . Take the minimum 16 page paper—about 1-8 inch in thickness —and place each copy of the 83,000 sold one upon the other, the resultant stack would i-each to the height of 830 feet. This is. quite an appreciable height vyhexi 'cpiriparejii l the Aorangi,. ,the JargeSt;',vessel^grading in iSt'e w"ssea - kfrid waters: •■■'"' This ; 21,000 tonrier is GOO feet in length, and on end she w.ould still be a matter of 230 feet snorter than "N.Z. Truth's weekly issue. A better appreciation of the huge stack made by these papers can be realized when comparing it with Wellington's Town Hall. The clock spire is 177 feet high—quite an appreciable drop, but an insignificant one compared with the fall from the top of "Truth's" stack. .And what of the paper used each week in turning out this huge issue for an appreciative public? It weighs just twelve tons! Unroll it and it would stretch from the capital city to Kaitoke, a dis--tance of twenty-seven miles. How many readers appreciate the significance of those simple figures—plain fact's, yet a wealth of romance is revealed in them.. . The average householder buys a of ink once every twelve months, unless his son and heir spills it over mother's carpet. But what of the.ink in producing an issue of a big paper? Each individual « issue of a paper takes its true proportion of ink and, as the, rotary press belches forth her papers arid they are stacked pile upon pile, so does the ink used gradually mount up into an appreciable item in the total cost of production. On a Thursday morning, when

the wheels of the Hoe have at last 'ceased to turn and the week's issue , of "Truth" is out, something like five hundredweight of ink has passed over the rollers of the machine. The enormous volume of paper used to print one issue of a one inch adyt. can be hardly realized. It requires 470 pages of the size of the one on Avhich the advertisement appears for this purpose. This can easily be estimated when it is known that there are 176 single column inches to a page

cial experts arid special writers devote their time and earnest attention to the task, of presenting to the reader something new and brighter in the way of news each-week. The. news in its final stages comes to the linotypes, where the operators turn it from ' the written word on paper to the written woyd in metal. Here again • extra work is involved in the -reading; and proofing and the Editors final O.K. - before the pages go on their, last journey to the rotary press.- •

Comparisons Tell the Tale

and 83,000 of those inches arc issued in each issue of the paper. The cost of this paper alone would be many times the actual cost of the advertisement. That is but one phase of the "Romance of the Press." There is the question of the potash and other'articles required in the manufacture of the ink, the lumber camps where the timber is felled, the mills that,saw the logs into lengths and cubes and the masticators that ..reduce the wood to pulp ; in the final stages before the manufacture of the paper: But »>; getting, khoine,to the ;«&tualipr.o4t^ work involved; there isi'a.i^ealth < of;der tail and romance" that escapes the eye of the man-in-the-street. •Oh' the great diversity of subjects upori which ''Truth""deals there is an orderly and systematic array of connecting links which go towards .building up the paper. The army of readers who buy "Truth" for its bright' sporting and racing news do ,n&t realize the workers who, from,.;'' /$ till late, are ever on the \<cning out and'analysing iteD?' <r~interest for their news value/ '_,--''""" Track notes do not develop out of imagination, but mean early visits to the training tracks when the average person \s still safe in bed. Years of careful study and painstaking thought and knowledge of horses is required to give those items of news to the public. "Form at a. Glance" is not the work of a moment as in the reading. It possibly has involved many tedious hours of travel about the country. And so the work goes on through each' branch of the paper. Careful and capable men in their own particular line deal with the work allotted to them. ' From the North Cape to the Bluff each day comes a regular stream of news—converging on one point where capable hands and brains dress it for its ultimate reception by the public. '/'•'" Reporters, artists, legal men, finan-

The final job is not done with the printing of "Truth." The man in Tuatapere in the tail end of Southland and the gum-digger in the far North wants his "Truth" just the same as the man who buys his copy at the corner stall in Wellington. '..' Willing , hands wrap . the copies up into bundles: for each district, ther,e are mail trains 'to,catch, service cars

Clock tower of Wellington Town Hall.

THE TRUTH IS OUT: LONG LIVE THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH—WHERE FACT IS STRANGER THAN FICTION

to be brought into operation ana steamers which carry in their holds a big proportion of each week's issue to readers across the sea. • , And anywhere within New Zealand, "Truth" is on the street or in .the book stall .regularly every' Thursday morning for the reader to pick liis copy up. "A 'Truth' niister?" And a small boy takes'your threepence, .and you pass on and read. Pld you realize the work time, money and material, behind those sheets of 'ink.'.'" Truly there is .Romance in a big newspaper.

RMS. Aorangi, the latest vessel ';'... ' trading in N.Z. waters.

ll»illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllin^ 1| "JsJ.Z. TRUTH" giveWj| If ' but a short summary If || of t the work and the f[ j| material required in giving || || to the people each week f! fl its issue of the paper. It • H |I will perhaps convey' some ; || II idea of those silent work- || |f "ers whose duty it is to |f || gather news that all may ■■;] l If read. The profession of ll 11 journalism is indeed a fas- If || cinating callingf-r-it is a || (( duty in the service oj: || II mankind. , if II '.'"' •■ • ' =§ = f,pHiiiiniiiniiinii!ii'iiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiii]iiiiiiiiiiilriii!iiimi]iiiiiiiuiniiii]iii{iiiiiiiiiiiiMimill VuiiuiiiiHiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiuuiniiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiuiiui'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuuiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiuHUuiiii?