Morning journal and courier., 1886-04-02
CHINESE NEWSPAPERS.
Not the Venerable Journals of tll Celestial Empire, But Sheets Printed i'm California;.

Net the Venerable Journals of the
 Celestial Empire, But Sheets Printed
 i'm California.
 From the San Francisco Chronicle
 The majority of of the Chinese merchants and business men in this, ,city well their clerks and bookkeepers, can read and write the English language, and quite number of them are subscribers to the daily papers.
 That those, however, who are not so gifted may have an opportunity of knowing what is transpiring in the busy world, there are ct the present time four newspapers printed in Chinese characters regularly published in San Francisco. They are all issued weekly and have an average circulation of 2,500 copies.
 The majority of these papers sent into the interior of this State, to Washington Terri tory, British Columbia, and the Sandwish Islands. Only about one-ffth of the whole number is taken in this city. The subscrip- tion price of each is $2.50 per annum, de- livered by carriers in the city, and $5 year if sent through the mails to the country or abroad.
 The oldest paper of the quartette is the Re corder, published by Nun Kee & Co. It has been in existence eighteen years, and has subscription list of 530, of which 80 are de- livered in the city and the r. <mainder mailed to the interior. Nun Kee, it's first editor and proprietor, made a fortune out of the Recorder Selling out three years ago, he returned to China to spend his declining years.
 The Oriental is published by Wah Kee & Co.,. It has been in existence five years, and has a circulation of about 400.
 The Weekly Occidental is now in it's fourth year, and Horn Hong 6 Co.,, it's pro-
 a1a 4I,o1 ie& has the 'sIargest circulation" It has 200 city subscribers and 800 in the country. Cum Shoo, it's translator and reporter, is we'll educated in English and Chinese, and nothing of interest occurs in the Chinese quarter that he does not report for the paper which he represents.
 The American and Chinese Commercial News, the latest asprant for journalistic hor- TOTS among the Chinese, was started by Suey Kee & Co.,, little over three years ago. Its proprietors intended to revolutioniZe the Chinese newspaper business in this city, and engaged large staff of reporters, etc. Their purse, however, was not as large as their ideas, and a year ago they gracefully retired bankrupt The present proprietors now have the paper on & paying basis, and claim circulation of TOO. The title of the paper is printed in old Roman text, and above it is a representation of flaming dragon.
 The staff of a Chinese newspaper consists usually of four persons, viz: an editor, editor, translator, and printer or pressman. The editor and the sub-editor are generally the proprietors, and each usu- ally edits one-half the paper.
 The translator is 8 most important per son. His duties are to pick up news around the Chinese quarters and read carefully the American daily papers. From these he culls the market reports, accounts of outrages on Chinese, the passage of any laws and ordi- nances particularly affecting the Chinese and other items which he thinks will inter est his countrymen. These he translates into Chinese characters, and hands them to the editors for insertion.
 The editors copy the characters so sup piled them with the ordinary Chinese pen and specially prepared ink on what is called transfer paper The sheet of transfer paper is the same size as the paper to be printed. When the editor has his sheet of transfer paper filled with characters his labor is done, and he hands the paper over to the printer
 This functionary has a Hthographlc stone already prepared, and to it he transfers the characters on the paper. After 'setting" the ink on the stone with nitric acid and gum he is ready for printing. After passing 6 wet sponge over the stone, he rolls over it an ink roller, the ink from which only ad- heres to the written characters. He then lays the sheet of paper to be printed on the stone, placing on top of it 8 metal cover. An iron bar is now passed across this cover and frightened down by lever worked by the foot of the operator. The frame on which the stone is set is then, by meass of strap and pulley worked by the printer, made to slide under the bar it's whole length. The pressure of the bar on the cover causes the impression of the inked characters to be trans ferred from the stone to the paper. The pro- cess is repeated until the required number of copies is printed. Then the stone is cleaned of and smoothed down, and the