National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-11-08
PRINTERS IN PARIS.
A Nice Place for Type-stickcrs TO
Move Away From-The Wages and
Methods OF Work In the French

A Nice Place for Type-sticl<crs to
Move Away From-The Wages and
Methods OF Work In the French
Capital.
There are about $500 compositors of all
kinds in Paris, and, as q general thing.
ten hours make days work. but there is
wide difference in this respect among
the newspaper offices. In fairly good
times competitors are paid, if on time,
10 cents an hour; If by tho job, the Same
price, on the average, per thousand letters
set up. In most of the Offices tho type
sotters can earn, on an average, $1.40 a
day. The wages of tho prcssmen vary
from $l.40 to SO q day, according to the
nature of the work done and the skill of
the workman. Tho feeders earn from 80
cents to $l.10 per day; those who take the
papers from the press, so to 60 cents q day.
Before 1870 therNwere only seventy
licensed printing Offices in Paris; to-day
there are over 300. This has drawn q
great many workmen to Paris from the
provinces and from foreign countries, aud
many former customers of printing offices
now do their own work. The competition
of women Is also a source of complaint
with the compositors, not because female
type settlers work at lower rates than the
men, but BECAUSE being more industrious,
more sober, aud much neater, to say moth
ing Of their manual skill, they are able to
earn more. Finally, tho taxes which
affect the trade are of nature to encour-
age foreign competition. Printed books
are allowed to enter the country free OF
duty; in order to avoid the payment of
duty on paper, foreigners send papers into
France with tickets, labels, &C., printed
along the edges.
There are 500 lithographic printing
offices in Paris, giving employment to
5000 men, women, and children. The
wages vary from 81 to So for men and
from 60 cents to 81 for women. These
wages are about one-fourth higher than
those of twenty years ago. The national
printing house ana the municipal print
ing Office greatly injure the trade, aud
private printers urge that they should be
abolished and the public work given out
by contract.
There is no "phat" in Partisan newspa-
per offices. Big heads, rule aud figure
work, tables of all kinds, and display
ads" arc measured quite differently
from what they are in America. When
q paper Is established the printers union
and the publishers agree as to the mum.
Der of letters of each size type that tho
line shall count for. The type are known
not by name, but by numbers, and 1t is
the larger sizes, the equivalents of min
ion, bonrgeoise, and long primer, that are
generally used. The body of tho paper
is set in long primer and bourgeoiso, and
French compositor has holy horror of
small type. have known them to quit
an office in body because the boss i'll
sisted upon introducing nonpareil. When
the type is up it is counted line by line
and number by number. A large-sized
line in the body of an article in smaller
type is never counted, except In the
MEASUREMENT of its own sized type.
Each size is paid for at different rate,
and leads are never counted. Lines in
italics, as well rs lines Of figures, are en-
titled to certain sum extra.
The prot, as he Is called, occupies a
position somewhat similar to that Of
day foreman; he gives out the copy. pulls
the proofs, and gives ''dupo" to each
man, and, at the end of the week, meas
ures up. When French printer works
on timo-that is to say, by the hour
they call it putting him on conscience"
and the conscience Of some OF them is not
as moral as 1t might be, Conscience work
10 paid for at the same ratio per hour that
the compositor would receive per thou
sand. When job office hands Uieient-that
10 to say, set type at night-they arc paid
about one-fourth extra. In some offices
tho printers are guaranteed that they
shall earn certain sum.