Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-05
HOW PAPERS ARE READ.
Different People Interested I'm Particular
Classes Of News.

II have been studying the matter some time"
said well-known druggist to STAR reporter
the other day, land 1 believe know some
thing about The STAR which you do not
mean as to the manner in which it is read" he
continued. "You see come into close con-
tact with the majority of the people in this
neighborhood, and when they come in here in
the evening or the next morning their CONVEX
satiori is mostly about what they have read in
The STAR. By careful observation 1 have
learned to tell exactly what portion Of the
paper each Of my customers reads.
In that four-story house over there" point
ing to an elegant residence on the other side of
the square, 'lives Mr.. -, whom you, of
course know. He has made a good deal of
money, which, by careful investments, has in
creased in amount so that now he is
very rich. He is one of the most obstinate
argue with you for an hour in order to carry
his point. Now that he has retired from active
business he takes life easy. As soon as
he gets his dinner he goes into
his library with The STAR. He reads
the editorials first, and although they are never
very long, he goes over them until he has alb
sorbed every view contained in them. Then
he goes for the political news, both domestic
and foreign. After he has read that he has no
more use for the paper. There might be the
to that containing a speech by Bayard or
Blaine, but he wouldn't look at il at all.
"a little after 8 o'clock, if he doesn't 60 to
the theater, this man will come into my store
get glass of vichy and q cigar, and then begin
to talk to me. He will
EXPRESS THE SAME VIEWS
contained in The STAR and frequently make
use of the same phraseology employed by the
paper. He doesn't give The STAR credit, how
ever, but presents these views as his own,
reached after careful consideration and mature
reflection. He usually stays half an hour, and
then slowly toddles across the street to his
home"
Don't the old fellow get to be considerable
OF bore2" asked the reporter.
JUST THE OPPOSITE
"Oh, yes; but have to stand it. don't
know as he bores me any more than the rest of
his family. There's his daughter, really a very
pretty young girl, who you will remember was
debutante last winter. She reads only the
society news in the paper and the items about
weddings and elopements. She wouldn't know
if the Treasury had been robbed of million
OF dollars, but she can tell you of every engage
ment or marriage in the city about which any
thing has been printed She reads the fashion
news, too, of course and makes the life of the
sad,eyed little seamstress in the house a good
deal of burden"
"Does the young lady come over here and air
her reading?"
mot in the evening, but she usually drops in
in the morning and buys some chewing gum,
and then I have little chat with her. Her
brother is the sporting member of the family.
He comes in and tells me about all the scrap
ping matches, the baseball games tennis
tournaments, boating news and horse races.
That's the class of news he reads. / know he
played the races at Ivy City, and he was pretty
hard hit at first, but think he made up his
losses. He keeps posted on all the election
bets and the odds that have been given at diff
ferent times during the campaign. 1 don't
think he has got any money up himself, but he
has wagered good many hats, boxes of cigars,
and things of that kind
There" said the druggist, as The STAR man
started to go, Il have given you sample fam
lily and have told you the class of news that
each member reads. I think 1 could do the
same with every family for whom put up pre-
scriptions. You said to me one day, some time
ago, that newspaper had to cater to the tastes
OF every kind of person, and that started me in
my observations. l used to wonder what some
items were printed for, but I've come to the
conclusion that there is never a single item of
news, no, nor a single advertisement that isn't
read by some one."