Anonymous

“ The whole of its secrets are known to no single individual. Its personality is swallowed up in the editorial we, into whose depths no man penetrates, and even the inquisition of the law never gets behind the innermost curtain. The only name pertaining to it is that of the publisher, the accoucheur, who becomes responsible for its daily birth. ”

“ A newspaper office is the centre of information on current topics. The news gravitates to this centre as naturally as riches to a wealthy man. Thus the writer should be well-informed and be the best able to give a correct judgment on matters of general interest. Then the fact that the argus-eyed press the country over is watching his utterances closely has a tendency to cause much greater care in the expression of views than is the case in ordinary conversation, or in public addresses which will be heard and forgotten. ”

“ Good paper is also a desideratum, but then it must not be expensive, and need not be made as if to last for all time, as from its nature the life of any single number of a newspaper is short, although in the continual succession of numbers, day after day, there is much of permanency about an established journal. A daily newspaper is the world's history of one day to be read on the same day or the next, and too often forgotten on the third ”

“ To do this properly is a matter of great difficulty. "Bulls" and "bears" are not over-scrupulous in playing a joke on a reporter sometimes, when they have an end in view, and unless the commercial editor of a paper is well up to his work he and his constituents will be often lead astray. He is supposed to be well versed in every topic of the commercial world, in stocks and produce, railroads, steamboats, dry-goods, hardware, and everything whereby men make gain.
The exchange editor of a newspaper is a man with an eye which just covers a page of print, no matter what the size. ”

“ Although unkempt looking, rough in manner, boisterous and unmannerly in speech, there is often much that is good in the newsboy, and Mr. Beatty, of the Witness office, keeps a sharp eye after their character and interests. About once a year the office gives them a dinner, or something of the sort, which they attend as one man, or, more properly, as one boy or girl, for some of the "newsboys" are girls. ”

“ The ubiquitous members of a daily newspaper staff are the city reporters. The education of habit can hardly go further than is shown in their lives. Unconsciously they are drawn to where some event is happening, or about to happen, and if the reporters are on the qui vive, but little need escape them. ”

“ A new and growing department in the Witness office, but quite unique as regards daily newspapers, is the one where the wood-engravings are made. Next to the reporter, whose materials, except those carried in the head, consist of a cedar lead-pencil, a few sheets of paper and a penknife, his are the least troublesome and expensive used in almost any line of business. To bring out all the beautiful effects obtainable in wood-engraving the only tools used are about thirty "gravers' tools," most of them triangular in shape, ground down to a sharp point. ”

“ He is the "paste and scissors" editor so much talked and read about, but has no little responsibility in making a paper readable and "newsy." From the force of education or habit he knows exactly where to look for the kind of information he requires, and a single rapid glance over a page tells him at once if there is anything there for him. He is naturally well-informed in all matters interesting the country outside the city he is in, and thus becomes an authority on local politics. ”

“ When the proofs have been read and the errors corrected, or supposed to have been corrected, the "matter" is placed in the forms. Those, for the "rotary" press used in the Witness office, form segments of the central cylinder of the press, and from their resemblance to a turtle shell are called "turtles." The type is placed in the form piece by piece, the different kinds of matter each in its proper place. This is a matter requiring both skill, care and ability, so that paragraphs are all placed under their proper headings, and that two articles do not become "mixed up," as sometimes happens. ”

“ Sitting up till midnight or daylight to make a good resume of some dry speech is not pleasant work; digesting long and complicated reports, and many other duties, are mere drudgery, and form no small fraction of his duties. To these, however, are added the excitement belonging to the work of a detective who is employed in searching out hidden things; that of a lawyer examining and cross-examining a witness in order to arrive at the truth ”

“ Thus having disposed of the mechanical branch of printing, we will next resort to another matter of the greatest importance to a daily newspaper—that of advertising. The Daily Witness is sold at a cent a number, a sum which hardly pays the cost of paper alone; so that out of the advertisements inserted must be met the expenses for printing, publishing, editing, etc. ”

“ If purchasers are disappointed, the more attention drawn to the goods the worse for the business,—those swindling concerns that live on first transactions always excepted. Another thing is that it is better to have an advertisement where it will be looked for by those wanting the article than to have to draw the attention of everybody to it. To get people into the habit of looking into certain quarters for certain things should be the primary object of all advertisers and advertising mediums. ”

“ For the benefit of those who have no opportunity of visiting a city printing office and would know something of how such a one is arranged and regulated, and also for the further satisfaction of those who have visited an office of this description and learned only enough to make them desire to know more, we will endeavor to describe the process of making a daily newspaper, taking for a special subject the Witness Printing House, where this magazine is published.
The general appearance of a newspaper has no little to do with its success. ”

“ Usually the busiest looking man on the editorial staff in a newspaper office is the managing editor, on a morning paper known as the night editor. Every item which appears in the paper except the advertisements must pass through his hands. It is his duty to see that the copy is sent in in good form and grammatically correct. ”

“ But let a writer in a paper which has the reputation of being impartial make a mistake of consequence, and he has many correctors before the day is over. On the other hand, there is a very great disadvantage under which many papers labor. They are the "organs" of some political party, and instead of being advocates of truth, are advocates of truth only when it suits the "party." ”

“ Doubtless many of our readers have desired to know why it is that newspaper publishers are continually requiring correspondents to write only on one side of the paper, and thus encouraging so much waste and additional postage. ”

“ Almost every town in Canada on the railway receives its bundle of papers, and as each new railroad is opened the demand for the Daily Witness to be sent in this manner increases. A large number also go by mail to the remote parts of the country, and in glancing over the mailing lists the person most conversant with the geography of Canada would be obliged to confess that a very large percentage of the names he would there meet was entirely unfamiliar to him. ”

“ The process of converting these different ingredients into pure white paper is a most interesting one, but we shall pass on to other materials used in making the newspaper without further notice.
The central idea in the printing process is the movable type from which the impression, which we call printing, is made. Types are composed from an alloy known as type metal. Its chief ingredient is lead; antimony is added to make it more stiff, and tin to give it toughness. ”

“ However this may be, a first-class reporter is not often met, and seldom remains a reporter very long, except under specially favorable circumstances, for the opportunities to pursue other occupations, if he be a man of good character, are not few. But once a reporter, the reporting spirit never leaves him. The occupation is so full of variety and interest, that the mind constantly reverts to it. ”

“ There is still in the rotary press the necessity of feeding by hand. A number of machines have been invented to feed themselves from a roll of paper, thus introducing another rotary motion, and to "deliver" the paper by still another rotary process. None of these presses, so far, have come to such perfection as to print from type as well and as fast as the great rotary press now used by the Witness, but they are constantly improving in construction. ”

“ A very small quantity of copper is sometimes added to give it a still greater degree of tenacity, and in some cases the ordinary type is faced with copper through the agency of the galvanic battery,—an expensive operation, but one which adds greatly to the durability of the letters. A type has been described as a small bar of metal, with the letter in relief upon one end, as in the illustration, by which, also, it will be seen that the letter on the type is reversed, so that the impression will appear on the paper as we see it. ”

“ It may be thought that this is an ideal view of a reporter, and that the reality is never met with in real life. But the ideal has often been reached, and during the comparatively short life of the Witness there have been connected with it in this and other capacities gentlemen whose names rank with the highest in commercial and professional life. The ranks of the press in England, France, and the United States, as well as Canada, are constantly being infringed on to fill those of legislators, business men and authors. ”

“ The New Dominion Monthly began its existence contemporaneously with the Dominion of Canada, on July 1st, 1867. It has not had a very vigorous life until late years, but it seems to have overcome all its hinderances. It is now enjoying much popularity, and a long and useful career is looked forward to for it. The youngest of the Witness publications is L'Aurore, a child of adoption, which is published in French,—the only Protestant paper in America in that language. ”

“ Instead of putting difficulties in the way of making changes in advertisements, the Witness does its best to get the advertisers to put in new advertisements every day, believing that were this to become universal the advertising columns would be as much studied as the reading columns. Here are one or two points not understood by all advertisers: one, that it is of no advantage to draw attention to commodities that are not worth the money they are sold for. ”

“ In these days when fortunes are made and lost in an hour, when farmers consult the newspapers as to the time to sell, and business is conducted at a feverish heat, it is necessary that all important commercial transactions be promptly and correctly reported in the daily papers. ”

“ Some Montreal men are proving adepts in the art of advertising and making it very profitable, while, on the other hand, there is no way of throwing away money faster than by unwise advertising.
Some idea of the amount of business which is done in advertising may be obtained from the fact that in 1877-78, one of the dull years, twenty-four thousand two hundred and ninety advertisements were received in the Witness office, a daily average of seventy-nine. ”

“ There is no poetry about a "we" who eats cucumbers or is troubled with rheumatism. But the candid impersonal opinions of a newspaper are usually of great weight and value, and enhanced by the impersonality of the writer. ”

“ It is the exemplification of effect without cause,—an impersonal institution with plenty of vitality, and sometimes even with genius; but it is always mysterious even to those most intimately connected with it. ”

“ And the history of printing ever since, shows that the bright days of the art, in any part of the world whatsoever, have been ever contemporaneous with increasing prosperity, intelligence and progress in the more important things of life. ”

“ To any one sending us $6 in new subscriptions to the Witness publications we will send one of the above described platform scales.
FOR THE LITTLE GIRLS ONLY.
Every little girl has an intense longing for a beautiful doll. Those little girls who desire a large and handsome wax doll to act as head of their doll family can easily earn one for themselves by canvassing for subscribers to our paper among their friends and relations. ”

“ The newsboys are a most unruly lot, and to be kept under control are compelled to wait in a room, built on purpose for them, until the papers are ready. This time they occupy in quarrelling, cutting their names on the sides of the deal partitions, and calling out to "Miss Gray," the traditional name given to every young lady who has had charge of that department for the last ten years or more. Should a gentleman take her place for the nonce, he is called Mr. Gray. As soon as the papers are ready they are counted out to the newsboys, each of whom has his particular beat or stand in the city. ”