Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-04-10
OLD EwsPAPERs
curious Business of . metropolitan
10 Negro.

-,r,ou. Business of . Metropolitan
ne Negro.
Having occasion the other day to
ano, for some copies of daily news
aners of a certain date in 1875, 1 was
surprised to find that at the Offices
the newspapers 1 could buy no cop
Not one of the great dailies could
,,rnish a copy of the date which 1
coded, but 1 was referred in every case
man named Robert Budd, formerly
%hootblack, who makes a business of
o,line in back numbers of newspapers.
tound him, and in half an hour I had
bic papers.
pndd's history, or rather that of his
ns;ncss, is peculiar. Heis a coal-black
"aro- with an intelligent face and a
Variable faculty for estimating the
,luc of his + Although he has a
|"gular price list, his prices vary ac-
riding to what he thinks may be the
Eolue of the paper to the would-be
I,,rer. Some months ago there was a
aw case which required the present.
I,ent in court either of a certain news
bsner or of a certified copy of an arti-
kle covering several pages in small
rnc. Budd was the only man in the
;tv who could furnish the paper; he
sked 500 for it, although it was not
en- wears old, and had originally cost
i'm hut two cents, and the sum was
laid, for the certified copy would have
Eost still more.
Five years ago Budd had a boot
lacking stand on Broadway, near hir-
(;eth street, and at the same tine sold
bewspapers. He was struck with
he number of demands made p O
i'm for copies of newspapers two
r. three days, or a week, or even q
month old, and he had the idea of add
ns to his business that of old news
bapers. That there is a demand for
I'D newspapers is amply shown by tho
BUSINESS he has built up. Atpresent he
occupies a large cellar, the walls of
which are lined with newspapers tied
~ in bundles, each bundle containing
he copies of one month of each paper.
There is a tag attached to each bundle
living the months Of the year.
As he still keeps up his newspaper
tand he of course gets his papers at
ost price, and when a person really
rants a paper there is a fine chance for
|rutit. Every day Budd puts away
wenty copies of the The Herald, twenty
opies of Tile San, ten of the World,
Tines, and Tribune each, and five
opics of each of the evening news
apers. His schedule of prices is sup
|oscd to be as follows: For papers
lree days old, double the price; for pa
crs a week old, ten cents; for papers
month old, twenty-five cents; for pa
ers a year old, 81; for papers more
han a year old, $1.25 additional for
very year. But, as 1 said before, this
thcdule is no guide in case Budd dis
pvers that the paper is of great i'm
ortance. Soon after he began bust
css, he bought up complete files of
Fyeral newspapers running back in
bme cases to 1850. That he finds the
usiness a profitable M may be in
erred from his ability to keep two as
stants at work.
The number of persons who wish to
uy back copies of newspapers is larger
ian most people might suppose; in Che
ou>se of half an hour, during which 1
Farched through an old file, five per-
pns came into Budd'splace and bought
apers varying in age from two days to
X years.-M. Y. Cor. New Haven