PUBLISHING A NEWSPAPER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 38

PUBLISHING A NEWSPAPER.

TVHIRLING REELS AND FLYING

WHEELS.

Br H. J. A.

' Mind, your heads-!" and we dodge aside as a big reel weighing nearly- 7001b ewings> past on the aerial tramway. With a light touch the man regulates its speed and' brings it to a stand as it reaches the rear of the big Hoe machine, standing quiescent aaid dignified. Chains rattle and the bale drops to the floor. A heasry steel, spindle is run through its core,, it is hoisted to its bearings, and is adr vanced a- stage in. its, evolution into newspapers. The machinist, oilcan in hand, flits, lightly round the massive bulk, squirting here a drop and there a drop, ■while* •with greasy cotton-waste he wipes the shining steel. The room is a large, high'--oafllnged, .and" airy Basement. Along, the Teaxward wall are stacked' rows of bales-T-eady for printing. In" the adjoining ■ cellar, piled to- the ceiling, there' aie' more bales, bales upon, bales — a- huge supply. In the centre of the floor of the room: stand two machines; one- I—the1 — the larger — stripped for its work, while- the other,°protected from the dust by stout canvas covers, stands idle. From one end 1 of thfc room, rises the persistent rattler of the damper. All' the paper before being used, is. run over tins damper to moisten the surface and to re-wind it after its rough handling on the voyage from Canada* Ink does not give a good impression on- a perfectly dry sheet, so the .paper is slightly? dampened. It is- early morning; Daylight will Soon render unnecessary the -electric globes hanging round tire- room. The clock on the- wall indicates 15 minutes to 4. Ere the hour is reached the lift should rattle down with the las,t l stereo-plate. Most of the plates *re already on the cylinders,, and there is now only the* cable page to come. That, of course, is always the last. Two storeys above, the stereo-room staff -is sweating, and toiling. The room is hot as an oven. On one side there bubbles and Seethes an immense cauldron of metal. This metal is- a composition of lead, tin, and antimony. Close to the- furnace isstacked a, heap of coal and coke, and a> watchful eye is kept that th£» fire is main- *" tamed at> the proper standard. Just outside the door two or three "stone hands" 'bustle 1 over tire last forme, this being the expeefeedc cable, page. The screw is fastened home; the forme- is hurried -through, placed upon an- iron-topped' table, all foreign matter — dust,, etc. — removed, and a thick layer of "ifong" (a number of sheets of tissue and- blotting paper pasted together) is- laid' over -it. A brawnyirmed giant seizes a bristly brush and* with a steady, even,, consistent sfeoke belabours the soft mould. His. object is .'toobtain, a clear impression of the face of .the- type.. When, every inch' of, suTfac&Tias duly received- its share of flail-like blows, and each letter stands out distinctly,, the 1 forme is run under a- heavy iron, mangle 1 to complete- the moulding process. Then the soft matrix is lifted, placed ia> » semicircular sieve-like frame, and thrust into an oven above the big? roaming- furnace-.' The fire burns and glows furiously, andcasts through, every crevice in 1 the door a lurid light which' dances gleaming on the fton-bound floor. The heat is roasting. A few minutes suffice to dry out all moisture, and the now dry, crisp, and stiff matrix is run over, with a hot. iron erebeing. finally, clapped into the casting, box. A nuga two-handled dipper is. thrust into the seething pot, and its hissing contents' are poured delicately into the mouft- of the mould.. Hhe composite metal quickly cooia. > The plate-^-almost an! exact halfcircle — is taken-- out, chiselled and trimmed, and sent down the- lift to the; waiting machinists .below.

But before that shining plate, fluted andneat, could come into existence men havewrought and- toiled — wires in endless ramifications have ( ticked and fluttered;, the lonely operator ua> the isolated caMe station lias received' and" transmitted"

messages, of weighty import ; special co--respondents have pursued, elusive copy ; the innumerable agenis. of the- Press Association, hare gleaned news from town. and. country, from hall and cottage ; reporters, cave drivea the- sweating pencil far into the night; the "su&," engaged in the< brain-rafcking, task of. compressing; twocolumns^ o£ matter 'into one column of. space, itas wieldedi the metaphorical blue; pencil — metaphorical because, being axihumble individual (desoite his autocratic - powers) he- is usually content with- an. tsrdihary H.B. And' through the- muggy lilght the linotype operators have fingered the complex keyboard, intnced to° the deafening clatter of their ' machines ; readers have checked the orthography of author and machine,, have searched for " literals,"' transpositions, and' the thou-«r.d-and-one ""other typographical errors produced' by a> record-breaking, operator aftd. refractory mechanism. In. short, in that close-packed sheet which, graces the> breakfast table of the public is represented the Jabour of a vast army — an. army vhose work is- to» gather, and glean, to sift «od winnow, the harvest of the world's iWIVii. ' —

At two minutes to the hour the machinist glances at tne clock, and as ie does so. hears fchpe premonitory shaking of the suspending chadn in the lift. The tubs whistles, the lower cage ascends and the descending trap contains the last plate. Eager, hands- grasp it, lift it to the- cylinders, securely fasten it in its place among its waiting "fellows. The ■paper is run along from the bale, a. lever is: pulled, and the- vast mass of wheels,, cogs, cylinders, ink Tollers, tapes, starts into, flying motion.. The power k switched on gently. Like a& machinery, the Hoe flnust be coaxed into its bestpaco. /The ,oig- machine starts slowly as though, halfJoubtfuJ of its strength ; but soon, with a. .jpowing roar, speed is gained, and the lfoom is filled with the monotone of flyTng, whirling machinery. What a noise ! Wheels race, tapes fly, cylinders whirl,

ths perforator coolly Bites' the oncoming stream of printed paper into digestible mouthfuls. The nrsfc- sheet as it drops to the receiver is -seized, and the machinist glances over its pages to assure him&eli that all the plates' are on correctly, that none is upside down or -out of the due order. Bat no, they are quite correct. The machine has a good start, and, barring accidents, the paper will be out in good time. The- most common and most provoking accident is that of the paper breaking. Reels vary slightly in quality. One reel may run fight through, without trouble, and' the nest may snap and break and snap again, until the patience of the jstafE yields to the strain,, and it. mutters deeply 1 under ite breath. This reel seems good. I Its length, milk-white, flies lip over a> guiding cylinder in a continuous- stream ;. , along to another cylinder and down ; I passes round a big blanketed roller against i which it is pressed by one set of plates printing one side ; a little further along, it. is similarly treated on the other side. It meets the. perforator, is cut off to the exact inch, and the separate sheets dash up into the folder.' See them flick up lhatr rise there, chasing each other like | dancing- demons ;• the eye can scarcely catch the % break in their continuity. They hurry along- guiding tapes, turn- corners, 1 shoot into a groove, and drop down in a rapid 1 stream into the receiver below, all neatly folded- and ready for despatch. j They do not accumulate. An active boy quickly- grasps them and packs them in ! growing: piles. Adjoining is the publishing-room. Hereall is- haste and hurry, dash and bustlev i 'Everything, is done at express speed. But : over all the utmost system presides. All i is done- in due order and in its 'proper , turn. The rough bundles, of papers are ; knocked into an. even smoothness with a j quick sleight-of-hand movement. But, fast j I as that is done, the completed pile by the publisher's side does not increase in volume. To bis right is placed in orderly array a Bundle of brown paper wrappers, j each neatly labelled, and bearing the j number each agent requires. With speed the publisher's flying fingers flick down the pile at his side, count in? by threes. The wrapper is ready, the pile is lifted to it, the wrapper tied with incredible swiffrI ness, and a watchful assistant places the parcel among the others near the door ready to be rushed' off to the early trains. The publisher makes up all the largerparcels-. Oh a side . bench is an assistant rattling; through a long list of • lesser agents- . The' wrappers of these project one beyond the other, perhaps a couple of. inches; this* surface is pasted, and with a rapid- roll parcel after parcel, is. completed, and joins its waiting companions. On another bench the single subscriber's copies are being- prepared for the post. The same system is employed. The end. of. each, wrapper projects a- trifle, the- paste stick, runs down the length, and, Hey, presto! watch that pile of papers^ vanish. Then the runners — town delivery — begin, to drop- in-. The publisher notes each one and- places within his reach the- file containing the new orders, the cancellations^ and the alterations of addresses .received' during the previous day. "The outlying runners, are served, first. Fifty is piled on. fifty, hundred on. hundred, and the 'counting' runs- on,, accurate, almost infallible . The* early trains are away, mostof the- runners have "departed) on their rounds, and the big Hoe machine has almost finished : its task. Machine , versus- man, and the machine has won. A- huge' pile of papers stands ready. Fast ac the members of the publishing staff fly at ' that bulk— and* they don't dawdle — in. their efforts to diminish it,, the machine, with a clatter of triumph, whirls faster and drops its product unceasingly in the. receiver. Reel after reeL has been eaten through, and this is now the last. The rush for the machinists is over. There have, been no Breakdowns, and the paper is out in< splendid time. The head machinist stands by,, keeping a watchful and alleonrprehending eye on the revolving mechanism. The reel dwindles. Its ■ revolutions' quicken, in inverse ratio 1 as its diameter lessens.. The machinist notes, signs to his assistant. The lever is palled- and the big machine- pauses in its whirl, checks, and dies with a sobbing sigh. Life has gone from it.