INSIDE THE TIMES OFFICE. (National Review.)

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 300, 19 September 1888, Page 2

INSIDE THE TIMES OFFICE. (National Review.)

Till comparatively lately The Times ' leisurely printed its outer sheet in the course of the day. Now everything is left to the last moment, when it is forced ahead at high pressure, m the paper is whirled through the machinery afc the rate of more than 70,000 copies per hour. The Tiroes goes to press with it 3 inner sheet at 3.45., and the publication must come to an end about 5.15, for the vans and carts are waiting by the dozen to gallop off with the packages to the early trains. The paper is always being edited against time ; seven columns and a half may bfc transmitted by the special wire from Paris,, and Paris*": 0 connected, in its turn, with the capitals of Eastern Europe. But the foreign news, which is continually coming in, is only a single item. Reporters may be at worlc from Cape Wrath to the Land's End transmitting speeches which must be scrutinised and condensed. Telegraphs connect the office with the Houses of Parliament. Fast as the reports are sent in, they are set up by composing ; machines, on which the operator deftly plays as on the keys of 'a cottage piano ; and by pneumatic tubes, tl % e " slips " are transmitted to the printing- room, thus dispensing with hand-carrying, and diminishing labour. All the latest ; modern improvements are to be found in a self-sufficing establishment. The Times may be said to make everything for itself, except the paper antl ink. When the new printing presses, invented by the present manager were adopted in 1862,, it was decided to execute the engineering on the premises. Now the Times constructs its pressps, and its casting and composing machines as well. Its conductors, with their characteristic independence, have declared against tbe tyranny of trade unions. And naturally they have had no difficulty in finding skilled workmen, for the pay is high and the treatment liberal, but they have led the way in a philanthropical regard for the health and comfort of their dependants. The old newspaper printing offices were dismal and unwholesome dens ; and the most that could be said in their favour was that the rooms consecrated to the head of the establishment were little better. Long ago The Times revolutionised all that, and the present offices rebuilt some fifteen years ago-^-with bricks, by the way, from Mr Walter's brick-field at Bearwood, after designs of his own, and under his personal superintend an ce — are a model of all the comforts that are attainable under the circumstances. The conscious sense of perpetual motion and ceaseless unrest cannot be got rid of ; lights are gleaming from all the windows, through the river foss and the small hours ; the solid buildings are shaken by the violent vibration of theironprpssefthrobbinginthebasements; the warning bells of the telegraphs are ringing continually ; despatches and messages, marked " immediate," are perpetually being shot in at the doors. Editors and busy leader- witers are toiling in spacious and comparatively quiet chambers. Compositors are setting up the type in lofty, well- lighted, and we Iventilated halls ; of course the reporters are equally well treated ; the busy printing machines are being driven below ground by the cool and clear electric lighr, in air as wholesome as any in London. And, to all intents and purposes, the premises are a comfortable club, Each man has his own compartment, where he can keep a change of clothes and boots, with a peg for his hat and overcoat. Ho can have any refreshment he needs in a spacious refectory at any hour of the night or morning, the provisions being served to him at cost price. No doubt nothing pays better, in the long run, than keeping skilled employe's healthful and contented. None the less does The Times deserve infinite credit for being the first to break with the sordid old practices and set a generous example of wise liberality.