/.' 
 
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 THE 
 
 ^ DAILY NEAYSPAPEK: f? 
 
 I 
 
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 Sw> 
 
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 THE HISTORY 
 
 oh lis 
 
 d 1>1{()DUCTI0N AND DISTJIIBUTION. 
 
 f^e-prifiled f?'0?ti fhc ''.Yew 7)onii/ifo?i Mo?ithfy." 
 
 MON'IRKAI. : 
 
 JOHN DOUOALL AND SON, 3.3 TO 37 HONAVKNTURK STkKKT, 
 
 
 3t:j.-JAUVrf MtAltmMMLllT ' ^ 
 
 IH78. 
 
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ANNUAL PRIZE LIST. 
 
 OPEN KOK ('OMPE'l\TIt)N UNJ'li. JANUAKY 16th, 1879. 
 
 (rOI.I) WaTOII. 
 
 Skwjso Mach[ne. 
 
 Silver Watch. 
 
 i :> aildition t" thf winivUer luemiuniM which we offer and wliich every body may get, there is ji 
 prize of a La Wh or GentleinanV G(*Id Watch. a Newing Machine, SIBver Watch, 
 and a Hniall Patent Churn. 
 
 The pei-non Hi'cnrin<,' the largest huui in BiilworiptionH to tlie Witness Publications before Jan- 
 nary 15th, 1870, will receive a Folid (iold Watch, Huitable for either a lady or a gentleman. 
 
 The i>er8on sendin'; in the second largest amount in sulwcriptions to the Witnksk Publications 
 will receive a first-class Sewing Machine. 
 
 To the person thjrd on the list, a magnificent ''olid Silver watch will lie sent. 
 
 To the perstm fourth on the list will be sent a small jiafent churn, suitable for a farmer who 
 has a small ntimber of cows. 
 
 The Churn is most shnple in construction, and is therefore easilv worked, and is not apt to 
 get out of order. 
 
 Renewals, ua well as new subscriptions count in for the above nientioned jrtizes. 
 
 IN DOUGALL & SON, Montreal. 
 
 JOHi 
 
 in making; up imr Fall list of j)remiumr; wo j 
 have tried to introduce as many new articles as I 
 jM)S8ible, but owing to the request of many ..f j 
 our last year's workers who did not succee<l inji 
 gaining all the i)rizes that they wished f(»r. m*' 
 jigain offer some of the articles which l.%st year ; 
 were most sought after The Skates seem to 
 have been the favoiite.of the Young Folk., as 
 over 700 \)ii\vA havo been sent away to successful 
 competitors, and in every cvse, as far as we have ' 
 learned, gave entire satisfatition ; we, therefore, 
 for a short time only, offer the skates as pre- 
 nuaitw on the following terms ; 
 
 To ,\ Hoy or (Jirl sending us $9 in new sub- 
 scriptions to any of the Witness publications, 
 wo will send, securely packed and all cliai-ges 
 j)aid, one j)air of the CANADIAN CLUB 
 SK ATES, wortli $2.75 jwr pair. 
 
 TME tVT AI»I.\N ChVtt KRa:E. 
 
 EI:KEKA CXIB SKATE. 
 
 For flO m newH\ibscrii)tionN we will send the 
 all-.steel ETKEK V, CJ>UH SK iTE, which 
 retails at $2.7r.. For $ir> in new subscrijrtions 
 we will send l)y express n pair of the celebrated 
 steel and iron welrled EUREK \ ( '1 .UB SK ATE, 
 worth $4. 
 
 {CnnUtiiK'l ,t„ J', mi L".l. I 
 
THE 
 
 DAILY NEWSPAPEK: 
 
 
 ■^''■■'' . 
 
 THE HISTORY 
 
 
 OF ITS 
 
 PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 
 ^e-printed from the '^JVew Dominion Monthly, 
 
 >f 
 
 ■ r 
 
 MONTREAL : 
 
 JOHN DOUG.ALL AND SON, Jtl TO 37 BONAVENTURE STREET, 
 
 1878. 
 

 
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 ^■n ,,'■' i>. 1.'/ V. »■■,.' ': ,■." U.I '■' ■ ' ' 
 
 ':""' THE DAI T. Y N E W S P A P E R 
 
 THE "WITNESS HUILDING. 
 
 were good 
 
 Guttenburg and Faust 
 printers. Their beautiful work still re- 
 mains in proof that the moneyed partner 
 was. not in, league with the Evil 
 One, even were it not known that 
 the first book which issued from their 
 press was the Bible. Notwithstanding 
 that it has often been asserted, and may 
 be reiterated for centuries to come, 
 that the fruit of the printing press is 
 irreligion, the pages of the Mazarin 
 Bible — the earliest printed book known 
 — remain still perfect and bright as the 
 morn that work issued complete from the 
 
 press, four hundred years ago and more, 
 — an evidence that in the minds of the 
 pioneers of the art, good, and not evil, 
 was the controlling influence. 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. 
 
 Time had not reached its greatest 
 value in the anticipatory days of the 
 art ; the world had not then been 
 scoured to find the materials where- 
 
Thk Daily Nkwspapek. 
 
 with to make cheap ink and cheap 
 paper. The early printers, in their 
 work, had cither to rival the exquisite 
 manuscripts of the monkish tran- 
 scribers of written knowledge, or be 
 considered far behind in the " art 
 preservative of all arts." Everything 
 was done conscientiously in those days, 
 and with the greatest care. The in- 
 ventors were the printers, and their 
 hearts were in their work. Printers 
 then looked upon their productions as 
 Works of art. Their competition did 
 net come in the shape of speed in pro- 
 duction, nor lowness of price, but in 
 that of excellence of material and 
 beauty of execution ; and when a 
 man paid a fortune for a book, he ex- 
 pected that it would be an heirloom to 
 be handed from generation to genera- 
 tion, to the end of time, — the same vol- 
 ume telling its story to grandfather, 
 father, son, and grandson, gaining 
 value with each generation and sanctity 
 from the mere fact of age. 
 
 Now it is different. Rapidity of pro- 
 duction, novelty, and above all cheap- 
 ness, are the leading characteris- 
 tics to be aimed at by the publisher 
 who would reach the public. These 
 latter attainments are found in highest 
 combination in that wonder of the 
 present age, the daily newspaper. 
 
 There is probably nothing so com- 
 mon of which so little is known, or 
 about which there is so much curiosity, 
 as the newspaper. Men read it every 
 day ; they abuse it, threaten to give it 
 up, praise it, advertise their wants in 
 it, write to it, search it to see if their 
 letters are in it, call it hard names, pay 
 for it year after year, — and still to 
 ninety-nine out of a hundred of them 
 its production is a complete mystery. 
 To them it is a business office, a news- 
 boy, or a post-office, who are simply 
 carriers, and that is all. It is the ex- 
 emplification of effect without cause, — 
 an impersonal institution with plenty of 
 vitality, and sometimes even with 
 genius ; but it is always mysterious 
 
 I 
 
 even to those most intimately connected 
 with it. The whole of its secrets arc 
 known to no single individual. Its 
 personality is swallowed up in the 
 editorial wk, into whose depths no 
 man penetrates, and even the inquisi- 
 tion 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. 
 
 For the benefit of those who have no 
 opportunity of visiting a city print- 
 ing office and would know some- 
 thing of how such a one is a ranged 
 and regulated, and also for the further 
 satistaction 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 de 
 scribe the process of making a daily! 
 newspaper, taking for a special sub- 
 ject the Witness Printing House, 
 where this magazine is published. 
 
 The general appearance of a news- 
 paper has no little to do with its suc- 
 cess. It should be neatly and clearly 
 printed, so that it may be read with 
 ease and pleasure. This depends 
 chiefly on the mechanical workmanship. 
 Good paper is also a desideratum, but 
 then it must not be expensive, and 
 need not be made as if tc 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 nuch of 
 permanency about an established jour- 
 nal. 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 ; and to habitual 
 news readers news forty-eight hours be- 
 hind the date is almost as ancient 
 history, and only interesting as a mem- 
 orial of how the people lived so long ago. 
 
 There is hardly any portion of the 
 world which has not been ransacked 
 for material of which to make cheap 
 paper. The "American Encyclopaedia" 
 gives the following extensive, though 
 
r 
 
 »*' 
 
 The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 incomplete, list of substances from 
 which paper has been made : " Acacia, 
 althaea, American aloe or maguey, ar- 
 tichoke, asparagus, aspen, bamboo, 
 banana, basswood, bean vines, blue- 
 grass, broom, buckwheat straw, bul- 
 rushes, cane, cattail, cedar, china grass, 
 clematis, clover, cork, corn husks and 
 stalks, cottc " couch grass, elder, elm, 
 esparto grass, ferns, fir, flags, flax, 
 grape vine, many grasses, hemp, hop 
 vines, horse chestnut, indigo, jute, mul- 
 berry bark and wood ; mummy cloth, 
 oak, oakum and straw, osier, palm, 
 palmetto, pampas grass, papyrus, pea 
 vines, pine, plantain, poplar, jjotato 
 vines, rags of all kinds, reeds, rice 
 straw, ropes, rye straw, sedge grass, 
 silk, silk cotton (bombax), sorghum, 
 spruce, thistles, tobacco, wheat straw, 
 waste paper, willov,', and wool." The 
 principal materials are : " i , cotton and 
 linen rags ; 2, waste paper ; 3, straw ; 
 4, esparto grass; 5, wood ; 6, ca le ; 7, 
 jute and manilla." In Canada, the prin- 
 cipal ingredients used in the newspaper 
 are a mixture of cotton rags and bass- 
 wood ; although from a very prevalent 
 habit amongst some of chewing paper, it 
 might almost be presumed that tobacco 
 was also commonly used. The process 
 of converting these diff"erent ingredients 
 into pure white paper is a most interest- 
 ing one, but we shall pass on to other 
 materials used in making the newspaper 
 without further notice. 
 i The central idea in the printing pro- 
 cess 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. 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 opera- 
 tion, but one which adds greatly to the 
 durability of the letters. A type has 
 
 •* small pica," 
 then " long 
 
 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. 
 
 T3'pes are of a uniform height, 
 ninety-two hundredths of an inch 
 being the invariable height of all 
 types, and of everything used to 
 print along with types all over 
 the world. They are of various 
 sizes, from the letters two or more 
 feet across, used in pbsters, to the 
 minute type only seen in the very small- 
 est editions of the Bible, or in margi- 
 nal notes. The largest size commonly 
 used in the present day is " pica," 
 of which 71.27 lines go to a foot. 
 The next smaller is 
 with 80 lines to a foot 
 primer" (with which this article is 
 is printed), with 89.79 line to a foot ; 
 then "bourgeois," 1 00.79 linestoa foot ; 
 "brevier," 1 13.13 lines to a foot; 
 " minion " (with which the Witness is 
 principally printed), 126.99 lines to a 
 foot ; "nonpareil," half the size of 
 " pica ;" and " agate " (with which 
 the Witness advertisements are set), 
 160 lines to a foot. 
 
 Pearl. 
 
 MHrhliiery now do«a nearly every pnrt of Ubor, thnii shyIiiv tlin 
 
 Agate. 
 MHohinery now does nearly every part of labor, thui ti%r- 
 
 Nonpareil. 
 Machinery now doea nearly every part of labor, tbas 
 
 Minion. 
 Machinery now does nearly every part of labor, 
 
 Brevier. 
 Machinery now does nearly every part of 
 
 Long Primer. 
 Machinery now does nearly every part 
 
 Small Pica. 
 
 Machinery ^w does nearly every 
 
 Pica. 
 
 Machinery now does nearly 
 
Thk Dah.v Newspapf.r. 
 
 There are also several smaller sizes 
 which are used for special purposes 
 only, as for Bibles. These are *' pearl," 
 "diamond," and "brilliant," Xhe last 
 almost a microscopic type. . 
 
 The difterent letters of the alpha- 
 
 equal to a thousand such square types. 
 A line of this article measures seven- 
 teen cms, and there are fifty-five lines 
 to a column, thus a full page contains 
 1,870 ems, for which a composi- 
 tor would usually be paid forty-four 
 
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 ■pact. 
 
 m ' 
 
 UPl'ER CASE. 
 
 
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 : 5 > III 4 cm 
 ■pace, space . 
 
 j 
 
 V 
 
 c 
 
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 £11 1 Km 
 quadi. 1 quadi. 
 
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 (Jiimlrats. 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
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 - 
 
 LOWER CASE. 
 
 bet vary in thicknes.s. The m, which, 
 whether capital, lower-case, or italic, 
 is nominally square in body, — that is, 
 just as broad as the line is deep, — is taken 
 in America as the basis of measuring 
 the quantity of matter in a page, and, 
 thus used, is written " em." The unit 
 of measurement is a thousand '* ems," 
 which means an amount of matter 
 
 cents. Every one who reads knows that 
 some letters are used more frequently 
 than others. For the ordinary class of 
 English work, the relative ratios of the 
 letters, as nearly as can be calculated, 
 are as follows : — y, 1, k, j, q, x — 3 ; b, v — 
 7 ; g. P» w, y— 10 ; c, f, u, m— 12 ; d, 1 — 
 10 , h, r— 30 ; a, i, n, o, s— 40 ; t — 45 ; e— 
 60; inall,532. The "fonts," or supplies 
 
Thk Daily Newspaper. 
 
 7 
 
 of single styles of type, are made of 
 all sizes, from two or three pounds to 
 thousands of pounds, according to the 
 
 plete lines at the end of a paragrpah, 
 while the " spaces," which vary from the 
 thickness of a hair to the width of the 
 letter «, make the spaces between words, 
 The larger spaces are all multiples of 
 the m, which is square, and are there- 
 fore called quadrats, or quads. 
 
 With a pair of these cases before 
 him, the compositor begins his work. 
 His " copy " (the reading matter lo be 
 set in type) lies before him on the right 
 hand side of the upper case, which is 
 very seldom used. He has in his mind 
 a phrase of the article he is setting, and 
 picks up the letters om by one, placing 
 them in turn in a composing " stick," 
 which he holds in his left hand. He 
 does not pick the letters from their 
 boxes at random, but, as a matter of 
 habit, his eye searches out a particular 
 letter that lies in a position to be grasp- 
 ed before his hand reaches it. He 
 never looks at ti.e face of a letter to be 
 
 SETTTNG TYPK. 
 
 quantity needed. Before the types are 
 used they are placed in two " cases," 
 called respectively the "upper" and 
 " lower," which are placed on a stand 
 or " frame." The upper case is d'vjded 
 into ninety-eight boxes of equal size, 
 in which are placed the CAPITAL 
 and SMALL CAPITAL letters, as in the 
 plan given, by which the position of 
 each letter and character may be seen. 
 The lower case has fifty-four compart- 
 ments of different sizes, in which are the 
 " lowercase " letters, spaces, quadrats — 
 commonly called " quads " — and other 
 prime necessities for a printing ofiice. 
 The quadrats are pieces of metal lower 
 than the type, and are used for filling 
 out blank spaces, such as the incom- 
 
 MAKING "PI.' 
 
 sur^ of what it is, but only at the notch, 
 or " nick," at one side at the bottom, 
 which must invariably be placed up- 
 
8 
 
 The Daily Newspaper 
 
 ward or towards his thumb in the stick. 
 With the nicks down the words would 
 look as follows : 
 
 j^o JI3BP ?qis Mi;q 8Bsa Xon mns) 
 sjBup ou Xonj IJOBp* 
 
 When a line is completed it is " jus- 
 tified," — that is, the spaces between the 
 words are increased or diminished, so 
 that each line will end with a word or 
 a syllable. An ordinary-sized stick will 
 contain thirteen lines of the size of type 
 in which this article is set ; and when 
 the stick is full, then comes one of the 
 most unsatisfactory duties for novices — 
 that of " emptying " it. There will be 
 in the stick some two hundred different 
 pieces of metal. Lifting them out of the 
 stick in one piece is a precarious pro- 
 ceeding. The boy in the illustration has 
 evidently failed in the attempt, as do 
 most beginners. 
 
 The result of such a slip is " pi," 
 which is made by no stated rules, but 
 in numberless ways. A common work 
 for beginners is setting up the " pi," 
 which, when set up, looks like this : 
 
 heq ae tti d, mc cu bah, tchi ooh hi jz. 
 vbcmwp ; " — Mkc 3 : - hx. i.r ta wsmt 
 Hmchzuo'zevflecf ^Oygsu ,s — qyukegoi'?h 
 fiy a/i;« br ,h ae6 ij gss off t'eer xo a 
 /pgt ro ,r<?nc oc thd adeo sir/ , ifofy 
 
 From the stick the type is transfer- 
 red to a " galley," a long metal or 
 wooden tray, against whose side and 
 end the type rests. It is usually placed 
 in an inclined position that there may 
 be no danger of the type " pying," or 
 becoming so mixed up as to be useless. 
 When the galley becomes filled it is 
 " locked up" — an operation made plain 
 by our illustration — and "proofs" 
 taken. This is done by " inking" the 
 type by means of a roller, then plac- 
 ing a sheet of damped paper upon 
 it and passing a heavy iron roller, 
 surrounded by a '* blanket," over it. 
 
 The proof is then sent to the proof- 
 reader, who goes over it carefully, com- 
 paring it with the copy, which is read 
 aloud to him by the "copy-holder." 
 
 Any corrections to be made are indi- 
 cated by certain hieroglyphical marks, 
 which, with slight variations, are recog- 
 nized by printers everywhere. 
 
 In daily papers, when great expedi- 
 tion is required, the proofs are read in 
 "takes," — which requires us to turn back 
 for a moment in this description. 
 Doubtless many of our readers have 
 desired to know why it is that news- 
 paper publishers are continually re- 
 quiring correspondents to write only 
 en one side of the paper, and thus 
 encouraging so much waste and addi- 
 
 TAKING A " PROOF." 
 
 tional postage. It is this : — the copy 
 is given out in "takes," or sections, of 
 a dozen lines, more or less. To do 
 this the sheets are often cut and re- 
 numbered. Thus, if the manuscript 
 were written on both sides, endless 
 confusion would ensue. The proofs 
 are often read in these "takes," the 
 the impression being obtained from the 
 type while in the stick. At times, when 
 the news arrives immediately before 
 the paper is sent to press, this reading 
 is the only one it receives. Ordinarily 
 they are read two or three times over, 
 or oftener ; first with the copy-hoider, 
 who reads the copy while the proof 
 reader compares it with the printed 
 proof before him, then " revised " by 
 the proof-ieader, who compares the 
 
The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 second impression, or *' revise " with 
 the one on which the errors or omis- 
 sions had been previously indicated, 
 and glanced over a third time, to see 
 that no mistakes have been over- 
 looked in the previous reading and with 
 more careful attention to the sense of 
 the passage. Then a proof goes to the 
 writer for further revision, if necessary. 
 
 The best proof-readers are usually 
 those who have had some experi- 
 ence as compositors, and thus know 
 from experience the errors most likely 
 to be made, and the manner of correct- 
 ing them ST as to cause the lease delay. 
 Proof-readir g requires a very unusual 
 association of qualifications. The really 
 good proof-reader must be perfectly ac- 
 quainted with his own language, and 
 have some general knowledge of al- 
 most all others, besides of the dialects 
 of his own. He must have a general ac- 
 quaintance with literature and be able 
 to confirm every quotation, and have 
 the dictionary and gazeteer at his 
 fingers' ends. He must have an eye 
 which nothing escapes (technically 
 called a typographical eye), and be able 
 to detect and correct the errors made 
 by both author and compositor, — and 
 the number by the former is usually not 
 inconsiderable. And withal he must 
 have a temper which nothing can ruffle, 
 a power of centring his attention on the 
 dryest matter read for the second and 
 third time, and determination sufficient 
 to see that every correction indicated is 
 duly made — and this last is by no means 
 the least of his necessary qualifications. 
 
 In the early days of printing, the 
 proof-readers were eminent scholars, 
 and it was no unusual thing for a proof 
 to pass through the hands of several of 
 the most learned men of the time and 
 neighborhood before the sheets were 
 printed. It is related of Raphelingus, a 
 distinguished scholar who was engaged 
 in reading proofs in Antwerp about 
 1558, that he declined the professorship 
 of Greek at Cambridge, preferring 
 to correct the text of the orien- 
 
 tal languages. Plantin, of Antwerp, 
 and Stephens, of Paris, used to expose 
 publicly the sheets of their books, 
 offering a reward to any who would 
 discover errors in them. But it is very 
 seldom, if ever, that a work is issued 
 from the press absolutely typographi- 
 cally perfect. In this respect the Ox- 
 ford edition of the Bible is said to be 
 the most successful work published. 
 
 Many are the ludicrous and mortify- 
 ing mistakes made in printing. Erasmus, 
 rather unfortunately for himself, cor- 
 rected his own proofs, with such a 
 result that he declared that either the 
 devil presided over typography or that 
 there was diabolical malice on the 
 part of the printers. Perhaps the most 
 astonishing example of bad proof- 
 reading was the edition of the vuigate 
 edited by Pope Sixtus V. His Holi- 
 ness carefully supervised every sheet of 
 this wonderful edition before it was 
 sent to the press, and to stamp it with 
 his authority fulminated a bull that any 
 printer who, in reprinting the work, 
 should make any alteration in the text 
 would be excommunicated. This was 
 printed as a preface to the first volume 
 of the work. Isaac Disraeli, in his 
 " Curiosities of Literature," says, in 
 referring to this circumstance, that 
 "To the amazement of the world, the 
 work remained without a rival — it 
 literally swarired with errata. A 
 multitude of scraps were printed to 
 paste over the erroneous passages in 
 order to give the true text. The book 
 makes a .vhimsical appearance with 
 these patches ; and the heretics exulted 
 in this demonstration of papal infalli- 
 bility ! The copies were called in, 
 and violent attempts made to suppress 
 it ; a few still remain for the raptures 
 of the Bible collectors. Not long ago 
 the Bible of Sixtus V. fetched above 
 sixty guineas— not too much for a 
 mere book of blunders." 
 
 Another historical erratum was an 
 intentional one made by a printer's 
 widow in Germany, at whose house a 
 
10 
 
 Thk Daily Nr;wsi'APKR. 
 
 new edition of the Bible was being 
 printed. At night she stole into the 
 office and altered the passage — Genesis 
 III., 1 6 — which makes Eve subject to 
 Adam, by taking out the two first letters 
 of the word Herr, used in German, and 
 substituting in their place Na. The 
 passage thus improved read : "and he 
 shall be thy fool," instead of, " and he 
 shall be thy lord," as it should have 
 been. It is said that this woman v/as 
 
 I'LACING "MATTER" IN "TURTLE." 
 
 punished by decapitation. Perhaps the 
 most striking error of all in any edition 
 of the Bible was the omission of the 
 negation in the seventh commandment 
 in one instance. This editiou was very 
 effectively suppressed. 
 
 In reporting Parliament some ten 
 years age, one of our morning papers 
 contained a statement to the effect 
 that the Hon. Mr. Holton said he'hadno 
 
 doubt that Mr. Morris was tight (right), 
 a single letter proving very derogatory 
 both to the speaker and to the very 
 highly respected gentleman to whom 
 he referred. 
 
 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 
 " mi.xed up," as sometimes happens. 
 There have been many illustrations of 
 the evil effects of such a medley, but 
 none hardly equal to that given by Max 
 Adder, which, we presume, has been 
 subjected to some ingenious improve- 
 ment. He says : 
 
 " The Argus is in complete disgrace with all 
 the people who attend our church. Some of the 
 admirers of Rev. Dr. Hopkins, the clergyman, 
 gave him a gold-headed cane a few days ago, 
 and a reporter of the Argus was invited to be 
 present. Nobody knows whether the reporter 
 was temporarily insane, or whether the foreman, 
 in giving out the 'copy,' mixed it accidently 
 with an account of a patent hog-killing machine 
 which was tried in Wilmington on that same 
 day, but the appalling result was that i\\^ Argus, 
 next morning, contained the following obscure 
 but very dreadful narrative : 
 
 " ' Several of Rev. Dr. Hopkins friends called 
 upon him yesterday, and after a brief conversa- 
 tion the unsuspicious hog was seized by the 
 hind legs and slid along a beam until he reached 
 the hot water tank. His friends explained the 
 object of their visit, and presented iiim with 
 a very handsome gold-headed butcher, who 
 grabbed him by the tail, swung him round, slit 
 his throat from ear to hear, and in less than a 
 minute the carcass was in the water. Thereupon 
 he came forward and said that there were times 
 when the feelings overpowered one, and for that 
 reason he would not attempt to do more than 
 thank those around him, for the manner in which 
 such a huge animal was cut into fragments was 
 simply astonishing. The doctor concluded his 
 remarks, when the machine seized him, and in 
 less time than it takes to write it the hog was 
 
Th'-; Daily Newsp\pek. 
 
 II 
 
 cut into frarraents ami worked np into delicious 
 sausage, i'he occasion will long be remembered 
 by the aoctor's friends as one of the most de- 
 lightful of their lives. The best pieces can be 
 procured for fifteen c.nls a pound, and we are 
 sure that those who have sat so long under his 
 ministry still rejoice that he has been treated so 
 handsomely.' " 
 
 In the recent number of an English 
 religious paper a somewhat similar 
 mistake took place, the report of a 
 meeting for the conversion of the 
 Jews and an item on the advantages of 
 phosphates as manure being pretty well 
 shaken up together. 
 
 The matter all being properly placed 
 in the " turtles," of which there are 
 eight for the Daily Witness, the latter 
 are"lockedup" by means of screws at the 
 ends, by tightening which pressure is 
 brought to bear on all sides of the 
 matter, and it becomes as one mass, 
 so solid that it would not fall to pieces 
 though it fell from one floor to an- 
 other. It will be noticed that a section 
 of the turtle forms the arc of a circle, 
 while the sides of the type are parallel. 
 How to make the matter close firmly 
 under these circumstances was the sub- 
 ject of much study. One inventor made 
 his type wedge-shaped, but that did not 
 answer, and the difficulty was at length 
 overcome by making the rules which 
 divide the columns so much larger to- 
 wards the top than the bottom that 
 the column rule sits into the arch of 
 types after the same fashion as a key- 
 stone in masonry. 
 
 The " turtles," when being made 
 up, are placed on stands made for the 
 purpose, which are wheeled along to 
 the hoist and lowered to the press 
 room. 
 
 . The hoist used in the Witness office 
 has some peculiarities which distin- 
 guish it from others. Where so many 
 young people were working together, 
 it was considered unsafe to have a 
 a hole in the floor with no protection. 
 The mechanical manager, Mr. John 
 Beatty, therefore set his mind to work 
 10 invent attachments whereby the hoist 
 would automatically open and close, 
 
 as required. He was entirely suc- 
 cessful, and now the machinery is so 
 arranged that whenever the hoist is at 
 any particular flat the gate opposite it 
 is raised so that free access may be had 
 to the platform ; at all other times the 
 gate is closed, so that no one can fali 
 into what is, too often, little more 
 than a man-trap. 
 
 Descending with the " turtles'' to the 
 ground floor, we arrive at the press- 
 room, where the forms are hoisted on 
 to one of Hoe's mammoth eight-cylin- 
 der rotary presses. The turtles are fast- 
 ened, or " locked," on to an immense 
 cylinder and form a portion of its cir- 
 cumference, the rest of its surface being 
 used for distributing the ink. Surround- 
 ing this cylinder, and acting in con- 
 junction .with it, are eight other cylin- 
 ders, very much smaller than the one 
 bearing the type. At each of them 
 stands a man, whose duty it is to 
 " feed " the press — that is, place the 
 sheets, one by one, so that at the 
 proper time they will be clutched by 
 the automatic fingers by which they 
 are drawn around the smaller cylinder, 
 at the same time being pressed by the 
 one bearing the type, so that a clear 
 impression is made. The sheets are 
 then carried away by means of tapes, 
 and deposited evenly on tables at the 
 rear of the press. This machine will 
 print sixteen thousand copies an hour, 
 and is often run beyond that speed in the 
 Witness office. Its catalogue price 
 is thirty thousand dollars. 
 
 A word may be said about the pro- 
 gress of the printing press towards 
 perfection. The changes have all been 
 from direct or reciprocating to rotary 
 or revolving motion. At first the type 
 was inked by "ink balls," and the paper 
 was pressed on it by a flat platen 
 brought down upon it with pressure by 
 means of a spring or screw. Inking is 
 now invariably done by rollers, but the 
 direct action of a flat platen pressing 
 against a flat bed is still preserved, 
 not only in all the smaller and simplei 
 
IS 
 
 The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 presses, but in those which do the 
 very finest work. The first great step 
 towards increased speed was made 
 when the paper was pressed against 
 the type by a cylinder or drum. This 
 is the character of most newspaper 
 presses, and of a good number in the 
 
 rotary presses in the picture of the 
 press-room, one of which, the four- 
 cylinder, has just been removed to 
 make way for presses adapted to finer 
 magazine work. There is still in the 
 rotary press the necessity of feeding 
 bv hand. A number of machines have 
 
 HOISTINr. "TURTLE" ON THE PRESS 
 
 WiTNESvS press-room. In these presses 
 the types still travel backwards and 
 forwards on a flat bed, which has to 
 stop and reverse its motion twice for 
 every impression. The next step in 
 advance was that which placed the 
 types also on a cylinder, so that there 
 might be for them only one continuous 
 motion round and round in one direc- 
 tion. This is illustrated by the large 
 
 been invented to feed themselves from 
 a roll of paper, thus introducing an- 
 other rotary motion, and to " deliver" 
 the paper by still another rotary pro- 
 cess. 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 im- 
 proving in construction. Such presses 
 
The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 «i 
 
 nave, of course, to print one side of 
 the paper and then the other before 
 the sheet leaves the press, and would 
 have to deliver these perfected sheets 
 as fast from one exit as the rotary does 
 from eight or ten. It is in these 
 points where the difficulty is found, as 
 one side has to be printed before the 
 ink is dry on the other, and the rapid 
 disposal of the finished papers requires 
 very ingenious machinery. There are 
 further improvements still in the future. 
 We can imagine lithography completely 
 supplanting type or stereotype print- 
 ing, — iis it has begun to do, — the impres- 
 sion of the type being transferred to 
 stone, or some other lithographic 
 enrface. If lithographic surfaces could 
 be made cylindrical they could, being 
 smooth, work against each other, and 
 so print both sides of the paper at 
 the same time. The whole press would 
 thus consist of two impression rollers 
 and two more to ink them going round 
 just as fast as the chemical character 
 of the ink would permit. The Witness 
 has had to purchase a new machine 
 about every five years to keep up 
 with the times, and it is not prob- 
 able that it will be otherwise in the 
 future. 
 
 As the sheets are printed they are 
 gathered from each of the eight re- 
 ceiving tables and carried off to the 
 folding machines, of which there are 
 four on the same flat. These are un- 
 able to do all Lthe work as quickly as 
 required, so that some are sent up to 
 the bindery above, and folded by hand. 
 
 Let us, for a moment, consider the 
 amount of paper which goes through 
 the presses on this floor in a year. 
 There are, devoted to papers, an 
 eight-cylinder rotary for the Daily, 
 a two-cylinder for the Weekly Wit- 
 ness, and a single-feeder for the 
 Messenger. There are also several 
 presses for job work, one of which, 
 however, prints L'Aurore, and another 
 the New Domtnion Monthly, which 
 need not now be referred to in detail. 
 
 Some fourteen thousand five hundred 
 copies of the Daily Witness are 
 printed daily, or 4,509,500 a year, ex- 
 cluding from the calculation Sundays 
 and legal holidays. The circulation of 
 the Weekly Witness averages twenty- 
 "<ix thousand copies, or 1,4.12,000 in a 
 
 A FELLOW I.ABCRER. 
 
 year. Some fifty thousand copies of the 
 Northern Messenger are issued 
 semi-monthly, or 1,200,000 sheets a 
 year. Thus the total mounts up to 
 more than seven million papers which 
 are printed on these premises during a 
 year. A few statistics with this num- 
 ber as a basis would prove interesting. 
 Piled in reams these papers would 
 form a column 3,560 feet high, or 
 more than two-thirds of a mile. Stretch- 
 ed out and pasted together they would 
 
The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 '5 
 
 reach four thousand four hundred and 
 twenty-one miles. But such figures 
 as these simply daze one, and we 
 will leave them and follow the papers 
 a little farther. 
 
 These take two courses. Some go 
 upstairs to the mailing room, while 
 others are counted out to the newsboys 
 
 whom has his particular beat or stand 
 in the city. Some, with more enter- 
 prise or capital than others, buy by 
 wholesa'e, and sell to others with less 
 capital, A few, standing on the street 
 corners, have regular customers who 
 pay or not, as the case may be, each 
 night ; and as the business men pass, 
 
 ■J.,.. 
 
 THE newsboy's KKSTIVAI.. 
 
 for street sale and to the dealers 
 throughout the city. 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, un- 
 til the papers are ready. This time they 
 occupy in quarrelling, cutting their 
 names on the sides of the deal parti- 
 tions, and calling out to " Miss Gray," 
 thetraditiot>al name given to every young 
 lady who has had charge of that depart- 
 ment for the last ten years or more. 
 Should a gentleman take her place for 
 :he nonce, he is called Mr. Gray. As 
 soon as the papers are ready they are 
 counted out to the newsboys, each of 
 
 one after another, the paper* are handed 
 to them almost as rapidly as tickets at 
 a crowded concert-room. Often they 
 are snatched from under the boy's arm ; 
 but no matter, without any system of 
 book-keeping, or even a book of origi- 
 nal entry, each customer will be told 
 the exact amount he owes at any time, 
 and without a moment's hesitation. 
 These newsboys sell from one to twenty 
 dozen copies daily. They pay for the 
 Witness eight cents a dozea, and sell 
 thematacent each. Thus the newsboy's 
 income will average from four cents to 
 eighty cents per day — the latter no" in- 
 considerable sum in these hard times. 
 
i6 
 
 The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 Although unkempt looking, rough 
 in manner, boisterous and unmannnly 
 in speech, thfire 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. 
 It is one of these occasions which is 
 shown in the picture. The boy stand- 
 ing with his arms full and legs crossed 
 has just been informed that he could 
 "pocket," and now wants to have his 
 picture taken. 
 
 Much of the business once done by 
 the newsboys has been taken away by 
 the fruit dealers, grocers, and confection- 
 ers throughout the city, most of whom 
 have regular customers to supply. To 
 these the papers are sent by four carts 
 built for the purpose. They are shown in 
 the picture of the building, some of 
 them in process of being laden and 
 others departing with their loads. 
 During the day the number of papers 
 to be sent to each dealer is plainly 
 marked on prepared labels, on which 
 are printed the name and address. 
 These are arranged in order according 
 to the route they are to be taken. 
 As soon as the papers are printed, 
 they are rapidly and securely tied 
 up in bundles, with the label exposed, 
 for tr . carrier ; and in a few minutes 
 after the paper is sent to the press the 
 four carts are swiftly carr^ ing them to 
 all corners of the city. Each driver 
 has a shrill and peculiarly sounding 
 whistle, which is blown immediately 
 before each dealer's door is reached ; 
 the bundle is thrown on the sidewalk 
 as the horse dashes by unchecked, 
 and the contents distributed amongst 
 the crowd of customers sure to be 
 waiting for their Witness. 
 
 Again, some of the parcels have to 
 be made up for the towns, to which 
 they are sent by railway, through the 
 
 agency of the Express office. Almost 
 every tov. n in C'^nada on the ra.iwa/ 
 rec nves its bundle of papers, and as 
 each new railroad is opened the de- 
 mand for ihe Daily Witness to be 
 sent in this manner increases. A large 
 number also go by mail to the re- 
 mote parts of the country, and in 
 glancing over the mailing lists the per- 
 son most conversant with the geogra- 
 phy 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 manner of addressing papers 
 adopted in the Witness office is to 
 print the names and addresses, with 
 the date when the subscriptions expire, 
 directly on the papers themselves, 
 in red ink. This method has several 
 disadvantages, but these are counter- 
 balanced by the fact that when once 
 the name is printed it can never come 
 off, as is the case when addresses are 
 printed on little slips of colored paper, 
 and then pasted on. In either method 
 the subscribers' names are first set up 
 in columns, under their respective post- 
 offices, these offices being arranged 
 alphabetically for facility of reference. 
 It will be noticed that the post-office 
 is only printed once, and then in large 
 heavy type, the subscribers' names 
 following it in the column. Five of 
 these columns, containing on an aver- 
 age two hundred names, are placed in 
 a "chase" and locked up. There are 
 altogether in the office some three 
 hundred ana fifty of these chases 
 constantly in use. They have to 
 be continually revised, at which from 
 iwo to ten men are constantly engaged. 
 When the mailing time comes the chase 
 which is to be used is inked and placed 
 in the mailing machine, which is shown 
 in the engraving. The machine is 
 worked by the operator's foot. A 
 paper is put under the hammer, as 
 shown, and the treadle being pressed 
 the name in the chase beneath is 
 plainly stamped on the paper. Only the 
 
The Daily Nf.wspapkk. 
 
 «7 
 
 first paper of each parcel has the name 
 of the post-office as well as that of the 
 subscriber. When all the papers going 
 to one post-office have been stamped, 
 they are tied in one parcel and that 
 with the name of the post-office being 
 uppermost, the general address of the 
 vvholc is known. When the parcel 
 arrives there it is opened, and the 
 postmaster makes the further distribu- 
 tion. 
 
 ADDRKSSING MACHINE. 
 
 Those who read this account will 
 imderstand how it is that sometimes 
 papers go astray. It would be won- 
 derful if, out of nearly a hundred 
 thousand names always in type at the 
 Witness office, while changes are 
 constantly I sing made in the lists, there 
 were not some mistakes, and it is 
 creditable to the system adopted by 
 newspaper publishers that the number 
 is comparatively so small. 
 
 As V U have been observed, the 
 type from which the Witness is printed 
 when in the turtles assumes a round- 
 ed shape. Readers of that paper know 
 that on many occasions it is embellished 
 with \v6od cuts, and that wood engrav- 
 ings are ordinarily cut on a flat surface. 
 
 1 hey may have wondered how the dif- 
 ficulty is got over. In the Witness all 
 the engravings arc elcctrotyped. To 
 perform this operation an impression 
 of the engraving is first made in a sheet 
 of wax by means of a powerful press. 
 The wax is so fine and the pressure so 
 great that the finest lines are repro- 
 duced The wax is then blackleaded 
 with graphite, made especially fine for 
 the purpose, and the waxen plate is in- 
 serted in an battery in which is 
 a strong solution of copper. In a few 
 hours a thin film of copper, the exact 
 counterpart of the engraving, is formed. 
 This is laid on its face in a hot iron 
 pan and over the back a covering of 
 tin foil is placed to give it consistency, 
 the heat causing it to melt and fill all 
 the finer interstices of the engraving. 
 Over this again is poured a " backing" 
 of lead or type metal, which is shaved 
 down to the exact thickness required. 
 This is again backed with wood, to raise 
 it to the height necessary for printing. 
 This wood has been curved to the shape 
 of the press and the electrotype is bent 
 to correspond. Some papers stereotype 
 the whole form — a shorter process, but 
 one impracticable for an afternoon 
 paper in editions, as, in the latter case, 
 even fifteen minutes' delay would be 
 more than could be spared. 
 
 Thus having disposed of the mechan- 
 ical 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 advertisem.ents inserted 
 must be met the expenses for printing, 
 publishing, editing, etc. If an ordi- 
 nary newspaper, published in a small 
 city such as Montreal practically was 
 twenty years ago, be examined, it will 
 be found that nine-tenths of the adver- 
 tisements, measured by the space oc- 
 cupied, come under one of the following 
 categories : advertisements of liquors 
 and tobacco, of groceries including 
 
Id 
 
 The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 liquors and tobacco, or of places selling 
 liquors; advertisenjents of theatres and 
 other questionable amusements ; adver- 
 tisements of questiorable medicines ; 
 advertisements of questionable reading 
 matter ; advertisements of other quack- 
 eries. To avoid all such was the firm 
 determination of the Witness from the 
 beginning, so that it had, as it were, to 
 create its own advertising business. 
 Another custom against which it set its 
 face was that of using large and varied 
 type in advertisements, seeinp that 
 when all do this they neutralize each 
 other in point of prominence, and get 
 much less value out of their space, — be- 
 sides making a very ugly and vulgar 
 looking paper. It was held that 
 among advertisements printed in uni- 
 form type, a small number print- 
 ed prominently would be worth a 
 great deal to those who chose to pay 
 for them, and more in proportion to the 
 fewness of them. This end was gained 
 by charging double to all who thought 
 the prominence worth the price. In- 
 stead of putting difficulties in the way 
 of making changes in advertisements, 
 the Witness does its best to get the 
 advertisers to put in new advertise- 
 ments every day, believing that were 
 this to become universal the advertis- 
 ing 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 advan- 
 tage to draw attention to commodities 
 that are not worth th noney they are 
 sold for. If purchase!., are disappoint- 
 ed, the more attention drawn to the 
 goods the worse for the business, — those 
 swindling concerns that live on first 
 transactions always excepted. An- 
 other thing is that it is better to have 
 an advertisement where it will be look- 
 ed for by those wanting the article than 
 to have to draw the attention of every- 
 body to it. To get people into the 
 habit of looking into certain quarters 
 for certain things should be the pri- 
 mary object of all advertisers and ad- 
 
 vertising mediums. Some Montreal 
 men are proving adepts in the art of 
 advertising and making it very profit- 
 able, 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, 
 
 ANSWERING AN ADVERTISEMENT^ 
 
 one of the dull years, twenty-four thou- 
 sand two hundred and ninety advertise- 
 ments were received in the Witness 
 office, a daily average of seventy-nine. 
 This was obtained almost without any 
 canvassing. A business that depends 
 largely on canvassing must necessarily 
 adopt prices that will cover canvassers* 
 commission. 
 
 There are many traditions in the 
 Witness office in regard to remark- 
 able answers to advertisements. A 
 gentleman, one bright summer's day, 
 lost a favorite canary, and hurried 
 to the Witness office to make his 
 loss known. His advertisement was 
 immediately sent up to the composi- 
 tors' room to be set up, and while 
 this was being done the bird flew 
 in through the window and perched 
 himself on the case immediately in 
 front of the young man who was 
 putting the advertisement into type. 
 Birdie was caught, and soon the 
 
The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 19 
 
 owner was happy again. It is well 
 that all lost articles do not, in a 
 similar manner, find their way into 
 printing offices, as the character of 
 the profession might then be subject 
 to suspicion. , 
 
 The subject of curious advertisements 
 is an endless one, and has been fully 
 entered into in Sampson's " History 
 of Advertising." There is the kind in 
 which the sentences are, to say the 
 least, ambigious, as that of the lady who 
 advertised for a husband "with a Roman 
 nose having strong religious ten- 
 dencies." Then there was " to be 
 sold cheap, a splendid gray horse, 
 calculated for a charger, or would carry 
 a lady with a switch tail," — hardly as 
 curious an individual as the one spoken 
 of in the following announcement : 
 " To be sold cheap, a mail phaeton, 
 the property of a gentleman with a 
 movable head as good as new." A 
 travelling companion to these would 
 be the following : " To be sold an 
 Erard grand piano, the property of a 
 lady, about to travel in a walnut wood 
 case with carved legs." But what can 
 compare with the specimen of humani- 
 ty referred to by a chemist in the 
 request that " the gentleman who left 
 his stomach for analysis will please 
 call and get it, together with the result! " 
 
 The insertion of marriages is of early 
 date, they first appearing as news, and 
 in certain respects were much more 
 satisfactory than those now given, as 
 for instance, the one in the Daily Post j 
 Boy of February zist, 1774: 
 
 "Married, yesterday at St. James' church, by 
 the Right Rev. Dr. Hen. Egerton, Lord Bishop 
 of Hereford, the Hon. Francis Godolphin, Esq., 
 of Scotland Yard, to the third daughter of 
 the Countess of Portland, a beautiful lady of 
 ;^So,ocx> fortune." 
 
 Sometimes the papers in those days 
 disputed as to the matters of marriages 
 and deaths. The London Evening Post, 
 in April, 1734, said : 
 
 ' ' Married, — A few days since — Price, a Buck- 
 inghamshire gentleman of near ;^2,ooo per an- 
 
 num, to Miss Robinson, oi the Theatre Koyal, 
 Drury-lane." 
 
 At this the Daily Advertiser remarks, 
 a few days later, " Mr. Price's marriage 
 is entirely false and groundless " — a 
 peculiar kind of marriage that. The 
 Daily Journal about the same time as- 
 serts : 
 
 "Died. — On Tuesday, in Tavistock -street, Mr. 
 Mooring, an eminent mercer, that kept Levy'* 
 warehouse, said to have died worth ;^6o,ooa" 
 
 But the Daily Post informs the public 
 that " this was five days before he did 
 die, and ^^40,000 more than be died 
 worth." 
 
 That the principle of protection was 
 known in 1 804 is clearly shown by the 
 following important advertisement : 
 
 "To be disposed of, for the benefit of the 
 poor widow, a Blind Man's Walk in a charitable 
 neighborhood, the comings-in between twenty- 
 five and twenty-six shillings a week, with a dog 
 well drilled, and a staff in good repair. A hand- 
 some premium will be expected. For further 
 particulars inquire at No. 40, Chiswell street." 
 
 We will conclude this branch of ad- 
 
 vestising by one of more recent date 
 
 from a United States paper, whose 
 
 frankness is charming : 
 
 " About two years and a half ago we took 
 possession of this paper. It was then in the 
 very act of pegging out, having neither friends, 
 money, nor credit. We tried to breathe into it 
 the breath of life ; we put into it all our own 
 money, and everybody else's we could get hold 
 of ; but it was no go ; either the people of 
 Keilhsburg don't appreciate our eflforts, or we 
 don't know how to run a paper. We went into 
 the business with confidence, determined to run 
 it or burst. We have busted. During our con- 
 nection with the Observer we have made some 
 friends and numerous enemies. The former will 
 have our gratitude while life lasts." 
 
 This was inserted in the ^ace re- 
 served for death notices, and really 
 deserved some obituary poetry. 
 
 During December and January the 
 department in a newspaper office busy 
 above all others is the one where the 
 subscriptions are received and the lists 
 attended to. 
 
 The immense amount of work which 
 comes under this head has been pre- 
 viously referred to. A few statistics 
 will render it more clear. During the 
 
TiiK Daily Nkwsi'AI'kk. 
 
 COUNTING ROOM. 
 
 „',*' I, 
 
 year ending February, 1877, twenty-two 
 thousand seven hundred and seventy- 
 three money letters passed through this 
 department in the Witness office, while 
 as many more, having reference to 
 changes, instructions, giving advice, 
 
 . etc., were attended to. Some of these 
 letters are of an extraordinary nature. 
 
 , In one instance, on a day when some 
 eight hundred money letters poured 
 into the department, the writer signed 
 his name after the manner of an enigma. 
 
 . It was interesting, but out of place. 
 People sometimes send letters with the 
 statement, " Of course you know my 
 name, as you sent me a circular," or 
 something similar. Others sign their 
 names without giving any post-office 
 address, while many again give two 
 addresses, one at the head and the 
 other at the foot of their letters. Some- 
 times the amount required to be sent is 
 enclosed with no other intimation ; but 
 more frequently still the letters, names 
 and all, are sent without the money. 
 
 By an ingenious method all money 
 letters which 'c<^me into this depart- 
 ment are numbered, the amount received 
 and the page of cash book where enter- 
 ed marked upon them, and then filed away 
 in books of one hundred, which are 
 bound together, so that any particular 
 letter can be turned up in an instant 
 and referred to. The cash book is 
 ruled so as to give a column for the 
 Daily Witness, Weekly Witness, 
 Northern Messenger, New Do- 
 minion Monthly, and Aurore, and 
 the total amount ; and sometimes one 
 single letter contains a subscription ' 
 for every one of the papers enumerated, . 
 while a very large proportion have at 
 least two of them. There are a very large 
 number of subscribers who, year after 
 year, take these papers, and not satis- 
 fied with this evidence of good-will, 
 make a point of sending several other 
 subscriptions along with their own. It 
 is always pleasant to the publisher to 
 hear from these, and their letters con- 
 
The Daily Newsi'apkr. 
 
 II 
 
 stantly recurring, year by year, are like 
 the visits of old friends. 
 
 It would be impossible to leave this 
 department without a reference to a 
 minor one partially connected with it — 
 that having charge of the premiums. 
 It is desired, as far as possible, to give 
 some return for all favors done. But 
 here arises a difliculty. Most of these 
 favors arc simply because of the good- 
 will of the performers, and any direct re- 
 turn would be anything but pleasing to 
 them. Thus the rule has been made that 
 those who desire to work for prizes 
 must, in some way, indicate their 
 desire, and the manner considered most 
 satisfactory is to have the words " In 
 competition " written on the top of all 
 letters containing money intended for 
 the prizes. The names of those who 
 send such letters are entered in a sepa- 
 rate book ruled in columns, and the 
 remittances are recorded one after the 
 other, so that when the last is sent in 
 the total can. be checked in an instant. 
 The number of prizes given in a 
 year is nothing inconsiderable. The 
 following is merely a partial list of what 
 were sent outin the winter of 1 877-78 : — 
 236 pairs of skates ; 30 gold lockets; 
 125 gold rings ; 40 photograph albums; 
 82 Pool's weather glass and thermome- 
 ter combined ; 6 magic lanterns ; 4 
 McKinnon pens ; 298 chromos of Lady 
 DufFerin and 327 of the Earl of Dufferin. 
 
 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. 
 Ne^ct to the reporter, whose materials, 
 except those carried in the head, con- 
 sist 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 ob- 
 tainable in wood-engraving the only 
 tools used are about thirty " gravers* 
 tools," most of them triangular in shape, 
 ground down to a sharp point. The 
 material used is boxwood, cut across 
 
 the log, joined in small pieces so perfect- 
 ly that the place of junction cannot be 
 distinguished, and polished to a perfect 
 state. On this the design to be follow- 
 ed is drawn. The engraver may either 
 be an artist or not. If an artist, he 
 
 GRAVER. lOOLS 
 
 will, as he pursues his work, alter and 
 improve an imperfect drawing in its 
 minor and imperfect details, as may be 
 necessary ; putting in a little light here, 
 darkening a shade there, and almost in- 
 variably turning out a pleasing picture. 
 I*" not an artist, he will " follow his copy, 
 even if it goes out of the window," as a 
 compositor would say, copying beauties 
 and defects with the same unconcern, 
 and producing a picture even from a 
 good drawing with as little spirit or 
 soul as the block on which he works — 
 a " wood-cut, " not an " engraving." 
 It will be understood that all wood- 
 engravings are made in relief, that 
 which is to be printed being allowed 
 to remain, the lights being cut away. 
 If this were merely all, the work would 
 not be very difficult ; but more is 
 required. The block must be lowered 
 at places to give very light and delicate 
 shades and that the edges of the shades 
 may not be harsh and coarse, for the 
 press is not naturally a discriminating 
 machine, and unless everything is very 
 near perfection, little aid can be given 
 by it. But, nevertheless, the press- 
 man is required to assist the engraver, 
 and to do this properly he also must be 
 an artist. By placing small pieces of 
 tissue paper, or, sometimes, something 
 coarser, under the electrotype here and 
 
ftS 
 
 The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 there where needed, he will cause it to 
 rise and greater pressure to come on 
 some portions where greater distinctness 
 is required than at others. This is call- 
 ed "underlaying." More perfect work 
 than is possible in newspapers is ob- 
 tained by "patches," as they are called, 
 pasted on the " tympan," or the sheet 
 which presses on the face of the engrav- 
 ing, a process called, in contradistinction 
 to the other, " overlaying." There are 
 now three engravers in the employ of 
 the Witness office, and by one of these, 
 Charles Wilson, a deaf-mute, the 
 sketches which illustrate this article 
 were made, with three exceptions, which 
 the reader will have no difficulty in de- 
 termining. Most of the pictures were 
 engraved by him and his confreres^ others 
 being executed by an etching process 
 on zinc without the use of wood at all, 
 or, indeed, of any engraving process, 
 which we cannot now further refer to. 
 
 All matters in regard to the news- 
 paper are in interest subordinate to the 
 editing, to which everything is in all 
 ways subsidiary. Who or what is the 
 mysterious "We" whose opinions have 
 such weight, and who appears to be pos- 
 sessed of all knowledge .'' Sometimes 
 there is little mystery about it, as when 
 the public are informed that "yester- 
 day we received the finest cucumbers 
 We ever ate from Mr. Gardner ; " or 
 when it is announced that "the public 
 must excuse the small quantity of edi- 
 torial matter and the mistakes in our 
 paper of last week, as we were laid up 
 With rheumatism." There is no poetry 
 about a " we" who eats cucumbers or 
 is ttoubled with rheumatism. But the 
 candid impersonal opinions of a news- 
 paper are usually of great weight and 
 value, and enhanced by the imperson- 
 «ility of the writer. 
 
 That this should be the case requires 
 no discussion. 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 for- 
 gotten. But let a writer in a paper 
 which has the reputation of being im- 
 partial 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." It is strange that 
 such papers are often blindly followed, 
 although the followers generally ima- 
 gine that they are the leaders. 
 
 Suffice it to say, while on this mat- 
 ter, that the editor of a metropolitan 
 daily newspaper is an impersonal in- 
 dividual, or individuals, who never can 
 be seen. His functions, however, are 
 divided, and every one who visits a 
 newspaper may find the person he 
 wants. The reception of visitors is 
 one of the most engrossing duties of 
 the editorial chair. Almost daily they 
 come in throngs, for business or for 
 pleasure — to receive advice, but more 
 often to give it — to compliment, but 
 more frequently to complain — some- 
 times, but proportionately seldom, to 
 give valuable information. But the 
 last they do, Sometimes, and all such 
 visitors are gladly welcomed. 
 
 Usually the busiest looking man on 
 the editorial staff in a newspaper 
 office is the managing editor, on a 
 morning paper known a« 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. 
 He prepares the telegrams for publi- 
 
The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 2J 
 
 CONNECTING BRIDGE. 
 
 cation, no inconsiderable duty, requir- 
 ing an extended knowledge, exact and 
 varied information, carefulness, tact 
 and experience, to be properly done. 
 No message, however ambiguous when 
 he receives it, must be ambiguous when 
 it leaves his hands. The contractions 
 must be extended, the wrongly-spelled 
 proper names put right and verified by 
 means of atlas, directory or gazetteer, 
 and on his zeal and ability in no slight 
 measure depends the acceptability of 
 the newspaper to the public. 
 
 A man of no little consequence in 
 most daily papers is the commercial 
 editor. He needs discretion, shrewd- 
 ness, sound judgment, and above all to 
 possess the highest sense of honor and 
 responsibility. In these days when for- 
 tunes 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. 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 com-> 
 mercial 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 pro- 
 duce, 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. 
 Through his hands pass all the news- 
 papers received at the office, except, 
 perhaps, those on special subjects, 
 which may go to the different editors. 
 He is usually armed with a huge pair of 
 shears, and as he rapidly opens one 
 paper after another, falling on some- 
 thing here and there of interest or prob- 
 able interest, it is cut out for revision 
 and perhaps republication. He is the 
 " paste and scissors " editor so much 
 talked and read about, but has no little 
 responsibility in making a paper read- 
 able and " news)." From the force of 
 education or habit he knows exactly 
 where to look for the kind of infor- 
 mation 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. 
 
 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 vtve, but little need escape 
 them. Gathering information is as 
 much a matter of habit as the duties of 
 the table. A reporter cannot stray 
 along the street without finding some- 
 thing to make a note of, and the note 
 is made in his mind if not in his book. 
 
' ■ ; '. .■ 
 
 «4 
 
 The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 WAITING FOR THE EDITOR. 
 
 His perseverance is unmeasurable, his 
 tact perfect, his courage undoubted, and 
 his audacity — perhaps '\e least said of 
 this the better ! But i ..ust be of a 
 very peculiar nature — there must be no 
 swagger about it. A reporter should 
 not be what is best described by the vul- 
 gar term " cheeky." Such a one will 
 never succeed. He must rather have 
 a quiet determination which will over- 
 come all obstacles, together with a mod- 
 est demeanor and sufficient self-con- 
 fidence " not to stand any nonsense ; " 
 be fluent of speech and speak with 
 authority when he has anything to say; 
 have a perfect knowledge of men and 
 things of interest, and be an easy, rapid 
 and fluent writer. It may be said that 
 such a man would be a pa igon of ex- 
 cellencies. However this may be, a 
 first-class reporter is not often met, and 
 seldom remains a reporter very long, 
 except under specially favorable cir- 
 cumstances, 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 occupa- 
 tion is so full of variety and interest, 
 that the mind constantly reverts to 
 it. He has plenty of drudgery also. 
 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 ex- • 
 citement belonging to the work of a de- 
 tective who is employed in searching" 
 out hidden things ; that of a lawyer ex- 
 amining and cross-examining a witness 
 in order to arrive at the truth ; of a judge 
 weighing the evidence from all sides to 
 come to something like a satisfactory 
 decision on troublesome questions. 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 Wit- 
 ness there have laeen connected with ft 
 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. There is one thing 
 
The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 «S 
 
 (fonnectied witli reporting which always 
 has had a tendency to lower it in the 
 public estimation. It has been con- 
 sidered a means of providing men of 
 ability, but lax in morals and irregular 
 in habits, a means of obtaining a pre- 
 carious livelihood. This has made the 
 dangers to be met with in this course 
 of life very great, because of the associ- 
 ations surrounding those engaged in it, 
 and at one time it was supposed to be 
 almost impossible to be a reporter and 
 a well-living man. But the days of 
 " Bohemianism " have passed in Can- 
 ada, and for years there has but very 
 seldom been a reporter on the Witness 
 who was not at the same time a total ab- 
 stainer from all that intoxicates. 
 
 We might mention very many inter- 
 esting instances, showing under what 
 difficulties information is sometimes 
 obtained, how " secret" meetings are 
 reported in full, and how but very little 
 that reporters want to know is hid, but 
 space will not permit. 
 
 We will now rapidly run through the 
 Witness office. It occupies two large, 
 three-story buildings, onefronting on St. 
 Bonaventure street, Montreal, and the 
 other extending back almost to Craig 
 street in the rear. These two build 
 ings are united by an enclosed space, 
 which is utilized as an engine-room 
 
 and storehouse. This portion is cover- 
 ed with a glass roof to give light to 
 both of the buildings, which are con- 
 nected by bridges ornamented with 
 flowers and musical with the songs of 
 birds, as suggested by the engraving. 
 Entering by the front door from St. 
 Bonaventure street is the business office. 
 Ascending the large staircase shown, 
 the editorial and reporting rooms are 
 reached. In the latter is the library 
 for the use of the Witness employees, 
 containing over one thousand volumes. 
 These books are lent free to all engaged 
 in the office desirous of reading them. 
 The principal English, American and 
 Canadian papers are also kept on fyle. 
 On the same flat is the correspon- 
 dence department, — in which young 
 ladies do most of the work, — the en- 
 graving department, the editor of the 
 AuRORE, and the desk of the me- 
 chanical manager. Going up stairs still 
 higher, the " news" room is reached, 
 where the compositors of the Daily 
 Witness perform their duties. The 
 managing editor and the proof- 
 readers monopolize a corner of this 
 room. Crossing one of the bridges 
 previously referred to, the electrotyping 
 department is seen occupying a par- 
 titioned-off corner of the very large and 
 airy "job" office, where rret'ie com- 
 
 
 THE MHRAPY. 
 
a6 
 
 The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 JOHN DOUGALL. 
 
 positors of the Dominion Monthly, 
 and where any amount of panaphlets, 
 books, and of job work is turned out 
 each year. Taking the hoist we 
 descend to the next floor, which is 
 occupied by the binding and folding 
 room. Here also the mailing lists are 
 kept and scores of "chases" full of 
 names are to be seen, as well as the ma- 
 chines for mailing the papers. This 
 room is the one shown in the illustration 
 of the dinner to the newsboys, the tables, 
 however being covered with something, 
 to them, more attractive than sheets 
 of pamphlets, while the walls are draped 
 with the national flags. This room has 
 been formally devoted to any reunions 
 the employees may decide to hold for 
 their own entertainment. Descending 
 still another story, we reach the press- 
 room, where the huge eight feeder, nine- 
 teen feet high, thirty feet long and six 
 broad, is turning out sixteen thousand 
 printed sheets an hour. The double 
 
 building occupies 7,300 
 feet of ground and 20,400 
 feet of flooring, besides 
 cellarage. 
 
 In all there are one 
 hundred and twenty-eight 
 persons employed within 
 these walls. In the busi- 
 ness department there are 
 ten ; in the editorial and 
 reporting thirteen ; three 
 engravers ; four in the pro- 
 motion and correspon- 
 dence department ; thirty- 
 five compositors on the 
 Daily Witness, including 
 foremen ; four proof-read- 
 ers and copy-holders ; two 
 electrotypers ; thirteen job 
 printers ; eighteen folders 
 and binders ; four despatch- 
 ers; three compositors 
 to keep the mailing lists 
 in order; fifteen pressmen; 
 one engineer, and four 
 drivers for delivery to 
 city dealers. 
 Besides these there are a host of 
 others, a part of whose sustenance is 
 obtained from the Witness. News- 
 boys, carriers, dealers, correspondents, 
 telegraphic operators, writers, agents 
 and others, all make a list of no little 
 importance. Female labor is exten- 
 sively used in the offices, there being 
 no less than thirty-seven young women 
 employed. Amongst all the employees 
 there has grown up a commendable 
 esprit de corps, which is much to be 
 admired. There are but few changes 
 in the personnel of any department, 
 and the good feeling amongst all has 
 much to do with the general efficiency 
 of the establishment, and will conduce 
 to make it still more prosperous and 
 useful. 
 
 So much has been said about'the Wit- 
 ness office that there is little room for 
 the Witness itself. It will remain a 
 lasting monument to the zeal of Mr. 
 John Dougall, who is now in New 
 
The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 if ork, endeavoring to engineer the New 
 York Witness to success. Its history 
 has been one of trial, perseverance, but 
 ultimate success all through. It was 
 started in Montreal as a weekly in 
 January, 1846, on a basis then en- 
 tirely novel in Canada. It was de- 
 voted to the advance of religion, reli- 
 gious liberty, temperance, and of all 
 moral and social reforms, and to the 
 education of the people in matters 
 affecting their moral or material well- 
 being, standing entirely alone on many 
 questions. The following, from the 
 opening article in the first number, 
 shows the object for which the paper 
 was started, and the course marked out 
 for it to pursue. 
 
 * * * "We say good papers, for assuredly 
 the utmost of care should be exercised to keep 
 such sheets as have a demoralizing tendency 
 away from the hallowed precincts of the family 
 •circle. 
 
 " The Canadian field is comparatively unoc- 
 cupied at present, and, therefore, the importance 
 of sowing good seed early and plentifully can 
 scarcely be over-rated, otherwise it will, doubt- 
 less, soon be filled with tares and thistles." 
 
 * * * " The power of the press is incalcu- 
 lable ; it is, probablv, the very first element, next 
 to the living voice, ^f general influence ; should 
 not, then the Lord's people make every effort to 
 wield it on His side, and njt tamely abandon it 
 to the god of this world. " 
 
 " By occupying the field for the Lord, we do 
 
 not mean, however, the publication exclusively, 
 or even chiefly, of what is called religious matter. 
 We mean that every subject, — History, Science, 
 Education, Agriculture, News, and in a word, all 
 the affairs of life, — should be treated and illus- 
 trated as part and parcel of the Moral and 
 Providential Government of an infinitely great, 
 just, wise, and good (iod, whose crowning mercy 
 is displayed on the cross of Christ. 
 
 "'I have never wanted articles on religious 
 subjects half so much as articles on common sub- 
 jects written with a decidedly religious tone, ' were 
 the words of Di . Arnold, one of the mister 
 minds of the age, words which the Religious 
 Tract Society of London has appropriately 
 chosen as the motto of a series of volume pub- 
 lications intended to supply the Christian family, 
 and in fact, the world, with the requisite in- 
 formation upon important secular subjects, 
 tinged, or rather embued, with the spirit of pure, 
 undefiled religion, instead of the spirit of infi- 
 delity or licentiousness which has too often per- 
 vaded popular publications hitherto. In fact, 
 they seek to efface the brand of Satan from popu- 
 lar literature, and substitute the stamp of Cnrist ; 
 and is this not a worthy object of Christian am- 
 bition ? For ourselves we would sa_, , that our 
 highest aim is to spend, and be spent, in humbly 
 endeavoring to contribute to the attainment of 
 such an object." 
 
 \ 
 
 LOCKING UP " DOMINION " FORM. 
 
7« 
 
 The Daily Newspaper. 
 
 At the close of the year the following 
 course was laid down : 
 
 " It is our intention to carry on the ' Witness ' 
 substantially as it has been carried on during the 
 past year — testifying for great truths as occasions 
 may arise ; acknowledging no sect but Christian- 
 ity, and regarding no politics but those of the 
 kingdom of God ; yet devoting much attention 
 to everything that regards the physical welfare 
 and social improvement of the people of 
 Canada. " 
 
 This was no idle expression of inten- 
 tion, as the history of the paper to the 
 present time gives evidence. As it was 
 instituted it remains to-day. It is amus- 
 ing to read that in 1864 it began agitat- 
 ing for public baths — which it is agitat- 
 ing for now — and that it began working 
 for a reduction in postage, which soon 
 after it was successful in obtaining. It 
 began publishing pictures in the second 
 number issued, and still gives more 
 space to them than other journals. 
 For several of its early years appeals 
 were made to subscribers to assist it 
 so that it might be able to live and 
 become a success. But the crisis once 
 past it grew rapidly and firmly. It be- 
 came a semi-weekly at the time itadopt- 
 ed first in Canada the cash system 
 of payments, by which it was able to 
 give just twice as much for the money. 
 On the visit of the Prince of Wales 
 in i860, a daily was commenced e.t- 
 perimentally. It was so popular from 
 the first that it was continued. Its cir- 
 culation, which began with hundreds, 
 rapidly grew to thousands. As it be- 
 came prosperous its production be- 
 came expensive. First it was a very 
 small sheet which might easily be sold 
 for a cent with some profit. But as it 
 grew older the necessity for improve- 
 ment became more pressing until it 
 now, in interest and the quantity and 
 value of its contents, excels papers 
 which attain to the proud dignity of 
 
 selling fewer copies at three cents or 
 more. 
 
 At first it was printed on a single 
 feeder press in a back office ; now it 
 is printed on the gigantic eight feeder 
 spoken of above. In i860 the weekly 
 pay list amounted to $80, which was 
 paid to sixteen employees ; now it 
 amounts to $925, paid to one hundred 
 and twenty-eight employees. , =: 
 
 The Northern Messenger was 
 commenced in 1865, as a four-paged 
 semi-monthly, under the title, Cana- 
 dian Messenger. Its circulation then 
 was small, but now it has attained to 
 nearly fifty thousand copies. The New 
 Dominion Monthly began its exis- 
 tence contemporaneously with the Do- 
 minion of Canada, on July ist, 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 Wit- 
 ness publications is L'Aurore, a child 
 of adoption, which is pubished in 
 French, — the only Protestant paper in 
 America in that language. It is under- 
 going its struggle for existence and 
 is weathering the storm bravely, and 
 every day adds to its chance of ultimate 
 success. All these publications are 
 sent forth in the hope that they will 
 be the instruments of good and bless- 
 ing to many. Unless this object had 
 been in some measure fulfilled, it is 
 most likely that none of them would 
 have lived any length of time. They 
 were all, at starting, losing ventures in a 
 monetary point of view, and in that 
 respect have thus far little more than 
 made ends meet ; but in the higher re- 
 ward sought — that of becoming engines 
 of usefulness, they have exceeded all 
 expectation. G. H. F. 
 
THE WITNESS PREMIUM LIST. 
 
 {Continued from second jxi ye of cover.) 
 
 '9 
 
 WHAT KIND 
 
 POOL'S 
 
 OF WEATHER WlfX WE 
 HAVE TO-MOUROW ? 
 
 This question can be Holved by 
 the possessor of one of 
 
 Pool's Signal Service Barometers 
 
 with thermometer attached. If not 
 already the possessor of one of these 
 valuable weather indicators, send us 
 $6 in new subscriptions to any of 
 the Witness publications and we 
 will send you one by express with 
 all charges paid. 
 
 MUSIC HATH CHARMS. 
 By sending us $10 in new sub- 
 scriptions we will send a very good 
 concertina by express, with all 
 charge.! paid. 
 
 OPERA GLASSES. 
 
 For f 10 in new subscriptions we will send you 
 Ji first-class Opera Glass. 
 
 For $13'and$16 in new subscriptions we have 
 two sizes of beautifully finished 
 
 VIIRE BIRD CAGES | 
 prettily painted and fitted up with perches. 
 
 We still offer the 
 
 DOUBIiE-EDGED L.IGHTMNG 
 SAW 
 
 which, on account of its size and use- 
 fulness, is well adapted for household 
 and general purposes. It is so ar- 
 ranged with holes in the handle that 
 a pole can easily be attached with 
 bolts, so that it may be used for saw- 
 \ ; I ing off the superfluous branches and 
 ^^,; ii^ twigs of a tree . Send us $7 in new 
 subscriptions to the Witness publi- 
 cations and receive the above men* 
 tioned valuable implement. 
 
 A most necessary article in the kit- 
 chen is an Apple Corer. For one new 
 subscriber to the Weekly Witness, 
 at $1.10, or four new subscribers to 
 the Messenger at 30c. each, we will 
 Bend a 
 SOIilD IVORY APPI.E CORER. 
 
 FOR YOUR HOUSE WIVES AND 
 DAUGHTERS. 
 
 If you want to make your wife happy, send us 
 $17 in new subscriptions, and we will send you 
 by express a set of FLUTING, CRIMPING 
 AND SMOOTHING IRONS. 
 
 WHO WOULD NOT HAVE A PHOTOGRAPH 
 ALBUM f 
 
 When you can get a mag- 
 nificent one by sending 
 in $7 in new subscrip- 
 tions to the Witness 
 publications, or for $6 
 you can get one not 
 so finely bound. 
 
 For $7 we will send 
 something new in the shape of a pretty little 
 ALBUM RESTING UPON AN EASEL. 
 
 Every boy has a longing for a box of tools, so 
 that on a rainy day he can exercise his ingenuity 
 in making or repairing some article of furniture. 
 For such we now offer a 
 
 A NO. 1 FAMILY TOOL CHEST 
 v/hich contains Gauges, Screw-drivers, Chisels, 
 Gimlets, a small saw. Tack-lifter, Pruning Knife, 
 an Inch Square, a Measure, &c., &c., all of which 
 fit into one strong handle, and when packed in 
 the box may be carried in the pocket. This val- 
 uable assortment of tools will be sent to any per- 
 son sending us $20 in new subscriptions to the 
 Witness publications. 
 
 DO YOU PAINT ? 
 
 By this question we do not mean painting your 
 cheeks, but do you paint pictures? If you d', 
 and have not a good box of paints, send us $6 in 
 new subscriptions to the Witness publications, 
 and we will send you a 
 
 BOX OF PAINTS, 
 fitted up with all the necessary requirements to 
 fit you to fill the position of head artist to the 
 family. For $7 in new subscriptions we will 
 send you a better box. 
 
 RINGS WITH STONES. 
 
 A handsome and most appropriate present for 
 a birthday or New Year'ii gift is a gold ring. 
 For $5 in new subscriptions to the Witness 
 publications we will send a SOLID GOLD 
 KEEPER, while for $10 in new subscriptions 
 we will send a GOLD RING, with PEARLS 
 and C ARNETS, and which reUils at $4. If the 
 
30 
 
 THE WITNESS PREMIUM LIST. 
 
 comiietltonj prefer they can obtain Rings of 
 greater value on equally otlvantageuuit wr jih. \ 
 lady in Bending for any of these BingH should 
 send a piece of thread or pai>er the size of her 
 finger, so that one to fit may be obtained. 
 
 THE POCKET KNIFE OPEN AND CLOSED. 
 THE "EVER READY" POCKET KNIFE. 
 
 Fathers and Brothers Read This. 
 
 The desideratum of every living male is to be- 
 come the possessor of a well stocked and thor- 
 oughly reliable pocket knife. The article which 
 we now offer on such advantageous terms is not 
 only a double bladed knife, but also contains 
 several tools, which will be found to be very 
 handy, and just the thing wanted in an emer- 
 gency. The two engravings will show our 
 readers the appearance and number of blades 
 which the knife contains. The very effective 
 and convenient SCREW DRIVER is hidden by 
 the opened large blade, but is shown in the pic. 
 ture of the knife as closed. The HOOK, can be 
 made useful in sundry ways, such a3 to clean a 
 horse's hoof, pull on the boots, lift a stove cover* 
 &c. The back of the Hook makes a good tack 
 hammer ; while the inside of the Hook forms a 
 small but strong nut cracker. The Punch makes 
 holes in harness, wood, &c., which can be en- 
 larged by its sharp corners. All close into a 
 strong and compact handle. This POCKET- 
 FUL OF TOOLS will be sent to any person 
 who sends us 95 in new subscriptions to the 
 Witness publications. 
 
 THE LliOYD COMBINATION PEN.HOT.OER 
 
 is the best, and only practicable combination in 
 the market. It is heavily nickel-plated, and I 
 
 with ordinary care will Ir st a lifetime. It contains 
 twelve articles in one. Pencil, pen-holder and a 
 patent fountain pen, eraser, penknife, enveloi>e 
 opener, paper cutter, rubber and thread cutter. 
 The knife is made of steel, firmly fastened 
 in place, and can be used for ripping seams, 
 cutting of hooks, eyes and buttons, for erasing 
 blots, and many other purposes. The Combina- 
 tion has no open slots or ends, nor slides, to wear' 
 off the plating and get out of order. When not. 
 in use, the Lloyd may be so closed as to leave 
 nothing but the rubber opened— even the point 
 of the pencil may be turned in and protected ; 
 this could not be accomplished if the pen-holder 
 was oi)en at the ends or sides, as any opening 
 would allow dust, dirt, moisture, &c., to enter. 
 This handy Combination will be sent to any per- 
 son sending us $2 in new subscriptions to any of 
 the Witness publications. 
 
 THESE CUTS REPRESENT THB LLOTD COMBINATION 
 PEN-HOLDER IN ITS VARIOUS FORMS. 
 
THE WITNESS PREMIUM LIST. 
 
 3» 
 
 A HOVABIlOIiO NKOE0MITY. 
 
 ^ii<:.' 
 
 iV ■■■'■.l^ '; 
 
 THE AMERICAN HOUSEKEEPER'S SCAI^E 
 WEIGHS UP TO St4 L.BS. 
 
 A pair of reliable scales is what every house- 
 keeper should have. The Ghrutian Union says 
 of it: "American Housekeeper's Scale — the 
 most convenient scale we have yet seen for 
 housekeepers is that advertised in this week's 
 issue. It is simple, accurate and cannot readily 
 get out of order. The platform bears directly 
 over the spring, and the nut is adjustable, so that 
 the tare of the dish is had without the use of 
 weights." To any one sending us 86 in new sub- 
 scriptions to the Witness publications we will 
 send one of the above described platform scales. 
 FOR THE LITTLE CtlRLS ONLT. 
 
 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 them- 
 selves by canvassing for subscribers to our paper 
 among their friends and relations. 
 
 SPECIAL OFFER. 
 
 To any Kttle girl sending us ?6 in new sub- 
 scriptions to the Witness publications, we will 
 send a large and 
 
 HANDSOME WAX DOLL. 
 
 This doll is the acme of perfection, and is pos- 
 sessed of all of the virtues that a good little girl's 
 doll should possess. Its hair is of a light golden 
 hue, done up in the latest Parisian style ; the 
 eyes are as blue as the summer sky, its cheeks 
 are suffused with the most modest blushes, and 
 to crown all— wonder of all wonders- from its 
 tiny and well shaped ears hang a pair of the 
 tiniest earings. 
 
 After obtainiog the doll, of course, you will 
 require to set to work and provide it with a 
 ••trousseau." 
 
 Now, as a suitable article to accompany the 
 doll in its travels around the nursery, we have a 
 
 BEAUTIFUL WORK BOX. 
 
 lined with silk, and fitted ut> with the reciuired 
 scissors, spool and needle case, thimble, &c. 
 This can be obtained by sending us t8 in new 
 subscriptions. 
 
 Go to work at once and become the happy 
 f)08Hesssor of these pretty articles. (Jet your 
 father or *' big " brother to take you around, and 
 with a few days* work you will obtain the re- 
 quired number of new subscribers to obtain the 
 doll and woA box. 
 
 MAKE TOUR HOMES BEAUTIFUL. 
 
 Send us ^■lO in new subscriptions to any of the 
 Witness publications, and we will send you by 
 express a handsomely chased and satin finished 
 electro-plated 
 
 ICE PITCHER. 
 
 The pitcher is treble plated, and manufactured 
 by Simpson, Hall & Millar, With ordinary use 
 this article will last a lifetime. 
 
 PATENT BUTTER COOLER. 
 
 For 825 in new subscriptions we will send a 
 very heavy plated and elaborately finished butter 
 cooler, forming altogether a most nsefnl as well 
 as ornamental piece of table ware. 
 
3* 
 
 THE WITNESS PREMIUM LIST. 
 
 liAST. THOUOH BY WO MBANH LBAHT, 
 
 ia the Htandard WoRnasTEii Qijakto Diction- 
 ary, illuMtrated and unabridged. It is a massive 
 volume of 1,854 quarto-pages, handsomely lx)und 
 n library Hheep, and is enriched by more than a 
 thounanil excellent articles on synonymes, in 
 which five thousand synonymous words are 
 treated, and accurately and conciHely illustrated 
 by Hhort and well chosen examples ; it contains 
 more than one hundred thousand words in its 
 vocabulary, with their pronunciation, definition 
 «nd etymology. 
 
 To anyone sending us ten new subscribers for 
 one year to the New Dominion Monthly at $2 
 each (ler annnm, we will send by mail or express 
 his famous and world renowned Dictionary. 
 This offer we make specially to STUDENTS, 
 MINISTERS and TEACHERS, and is one of 
 the most advantageous offers we have ever made. 
 
 For those who are not acquainted with our 
 paper.i we will state that the prices of the WlT- 
 NEHa publications are as follows : 
 
 Daily Witness at $3.00 per an. 
 
 " to ministers and teachers. 2.30 " 
 
 Weekly Witness 1.10 " 
 
 " to ministers and teachers. 85 " 
 
 l^Ew Dominion Monthly 2.00 " 
 
 " to ministers and teachers. 1.50 " 
 
 New Dominion Monthly and 1 o 60 ♦' 
 Weekly Witness to one address | " 
 
 L'AuROUE, (French Weekly) .... 1.00 '' 
 
 .Northern Messenger 30 " 
 
 " 10 copies to one address 2.60 " 
 
 " 25 " " " 6.00 " 
 
 50 " " " 11.50 " 
 
 GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 
 
 IMPORTANT. 
 
 Every letter for these prizes must be marked 
 " In Competition." 
 The money in all cases must accompany the 
 
 order. 
 
 Send full prices for publications, deducting no 
 commissions . 
 
 Ministers' and teachers' subscriptions are not 
 received in competition for any of the prizes. 
 
 Send at once for samples and instructions. 
 
 JOHN DOUGALL 6l SON, 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 FREE PAPERS TO ALL. 
 
 ThB WITNESS JPubUcatlons to tht 
 
 close of the year Free to New 
 Subacrihera for one year. 
 
 To give our workers every opportunity to gain 
 one or more of the prizes mentioned above, wf 
 make the following offer : We will send our pub- 
 lications from the date of the subscription to th( 
 end of the year» 1878, free to all new subscribers. 
 Thus, every person paying f 1.10 for a year's sub- 
 scription to the Weekly Witness will receive 
 the paper from now to January Ist, 1880, fot 
 
 that amount. 
 
 GENERAL OFFER. 
 
 Any person sending us two new subscribers to 
 the New Dominion Monthly at $2 each will 
 get a third copy for himself or herself. 
 
 Any ijerson sending us four new subscribers 
 to the Weekly Witness at $1.10 each, will re- 
 ceive an extra copy for one year. 
 
 Any person sending us one new subscriber to 
 the Weekly Witness together with his own 
 subscription will receive both copies for $2. 
 
 Any person sending in one new subscriber to 
 the Weekly Witness at 1.10, or five new sub- 
 scribers to the Northern Messenger at 30c., 
 each, will receive an extra copy of the Nobthkbn 
 Messenger. 
 
 TO SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 
 
 Any .Sunday-school that does not now take 
 the Northern Messenger can procure a suffi- 
 cient number of copies to supply one copy to 
 each family attending the school FREE to the 
 end of the year, 1878. 
 
 yVlTlS(ESS P'REE JjiECTURES 
 
 ON AGRICULTURE. 
 
 The publishers of the Witness have conceived 
 the plan of establishing a Winter Course of Lec- 
 tures on Agriculture. For this purpose they 
 have secured the services of Mr. W. F. Clarke, 
 of Lindenbank, Guelph, formerly editor of the 
 Canada Farmer and of the Ontario Farmer, who 
 will lecture in such parts of the country as may 
 offer him the best openings. The first lecture of 
 the course, entitled '* The Nobility of Agricul- 
 ture," was delivered in the Ontario School of 
 Agriculture, Guelph, Ont. This lecture, and 
 ones which will follow, we propose issuing in 
 the form of an eight paged pamphlet. Those 
 who wish to procure this instructive course of 
 lectures will do well to send a one cent stamp 
 for return postage, and we will send them tke 
 first lecture of the course. 
 
 JOHN DOUGALL & SON, 
 
 Montreal. 
 
Jin Oven Lei 
 
 To ihcsc TVorking for c-Jtr Frises. 
 
 The WiTN KSf:i publications arc favorites with the best people in the 
 community, and on this account are tbo most easily canvjussed for. 
 
 In prc)»aring our prize list we have tried to introduce articles to suit 
 both younjj^ and old, male and female. 
 
 The premiums are all of good manufacture, no common trash or worth- 
 less articles having a place on our list. 
 
 If you can act as canvasser for us do so, but if not please oblige us by 
 handing this to some h»mest, intelligent pei-son, of your acquaintance, whom 
 you think will bo willing to act in your stead. 
 
 Send money by Post Office Money Order or by Registered Letter. 
 Money may be sent by registered lettoi- at our risk. 
 
 ( anada [V)stage Stamps taken in small ([uantities, if in good order ; 
 lUT JKJXEY is PiiKKEluiEi), as wc havt> to s:ell the stamps at a loss. 
 
 Ilemit as often as po.s.sible, as the sooner you remit the sooner will 
 your subscribers it'ceive their papers, and thus they, hy receiving their 
 papers pr(>m])tly, will become an assistance to you. 
 
 We desire vour aid. and feel confident that there is something in the 
 Diecedinff list that each and every reader can ol)tain with a few hours 
 determined work. 
 
 Yours, res}>ectfully, 
 
 JOHN DOUGALL & SON, 
 
 MONTUKAL, QVBBKV. 
 
.'IIMU'CA f. 1)l'l'hiU> 
 
 •WE -A.K.E isro^w OFrET^iisro-, ^-».s a. i>r,eiviixji^, 
 
 THE STANDARD 
 
 WORCESTER 
 
 (JUAHTO DICTIONARY, 
 
 ILLUSTRATED AND UNABRIDGED, 
 
 ffjurn hi:tails at $1000. 
 
 TO Ji^is^^z: ZPEIE^/Sonsr 
 
 Sending us ten NEW subscribers to our 
 
 mil ^fitmmffi tiw#f?fif; 
 
 An Illustrated Magazine rf 128 pages, at $2.00 per Annum, 
 
 ve ri-ni m-jnI a eopl) of -thl^ J>lCTJCj>NABY, ivhU'h.for j}uim:i yearSf 
 ?.afi been the Stimdnrd in jmQJjAND as well n.-^ in AMEjEilCA, 
 ■wiiJi nil Jr;.T/^/V'.s.s I'hitrge.^ pou^paid. 
 
 (f^SAMPLES, and any rurther ini-okmation desired, will be furnished 
 on application by a postal card addressed to 
 
 JOHN DOUG ALL & SON, 
 
 MONTREAL. QUEBEC.