The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-02-22
THE PRF ss-cLIPPING BUSINESS.
The Growth of New Industry--Wha lis
REQUIRED of the Professional Newspaper
Reader-The Many Patrons of a Burea
and heir Varied Wants.
New York Post.)


There are many men and women whose
business. social, professional, or political
interests make it necessary for them to
knew what the newspapers are saying
abo:t them and their work, or about
other workers in the same line. But the
enormous grow til of the newspapers mas
made it impossible for any man or.woman
to glance through even the several nun
dred leading journals of the great cities.
Hence to fill this need the professional
newsnaper reader has come into being,
and in the past ten years be has grown to
be quite a factor in the public life of all
classes of men and women.
The professional reader may be man
or woman, and is employed by bureaus
who make business of furnishing clip
pings of newspaper notices to all who
apply for them. The founder of this pecu-
liar business was a Frenchman, who
started a bureau on a small scale in Paris
some ten years ago, and then opened a
New York branch. Today there are six
different newspaper clipping bureaus in
New York, four in Chicago, two in Bos-
ton. one each in San Francisco, Denver,
Philadelphia. and Cincinnati, four IN
London. and two in Paris. These bureaus
keep public men and women acquainted
with the news that is published about
them at home and abroad, supply libra
ries with information on any timely sub
isct they desire. furnish trade papers with
news on their particular subjects, and
sell clippings on all topics under the sun
to literary and journalistic people. In
ten years the business has grown to such
importance, that one cannot we'll see how
the present generation would get along
without the professional newspaper read
ers.
A glance at this peculiar business is
interesting. Most of the readers are young
women or girls, whose services have been
found to be of more value than those OF
the average man. They are quicker in
glancing over the. papers and anderson
ing the subjects they are hunting TOT.
1t req uires peculiarly adaptable MIND,
and q retentiye and active memory, &c
become an expert reader, for the work is
Before each reader bulletin is pasted,
with the names of the people and subjects
to be clipped. One reader will often carry
several hundred to q thousand SUBJECTS III
the mind, and then go through paper
after paper without missing single Item
that she is looking for. A girl who hat
become an expert in the Work Will reac
from one hundred to two hundred papers
a day. A great deal depends upon the
size OF the papers Sixty to one hundred
of. the large Sunday CABLES OF our cities
would be big days work; but the same
reader may go through two hundred Of
the ordinary country papers with less
mental and nervous strain.
The readers do not clip; that work i
left for others. Theysmerely mark witt
a blue pencil any item that is to be. GU
out Certain catch words are employed
by the readers to make their work easy
Thus the word thrust" is kept IN mlne
for anytting relating to the sugar trust
Rubber Trust, or dozens OF other popuial
subjects along this line. Wherever thu
word tTrust" in capitals is printed, thf
eye halts q moment to see II there Is any
thing of value in the item.
The renders begin at the top OF the nrsl
column, and go down it rapidly, scanning
every headline, and skipping lnechani
cally all advertisements and irrelevant
matter. So we'll does the mind become
accustomed to this Y ork that probes.
sional reader will go through paper and
mark a hundred subjects while an ordi
nary person is looking upon ore or two
small items for his personal use. More
over, the readers have to be very partlcu-
lar not to overlook any item. Patrons OF
the bureau are apt to detect any such
error. and few complaints like this
make trouble for a reader.
After the reading and marking, the
items are clipped out and pasted Oh Slips
nrenared for the work These are then
sorted and shipped off to the patrons,
The clippings are sold in variety nl
ways. A man who wishes to knnW foi
short time all that is said about him OF
his works will order the clippings by the
thousand or hundred. If he is public
character, who expects to be written
about for long time, he will order the
clippings by the month, paying probably
S. per month, unless he receives grea1
number. The clippings are delivered II
the cities by special messenger, and out
side orders are sent by mail or express
One bureau sends out about 10, 0O'
clippings. day, and during a presiden
doubled, and extra readers have to be EN-
ployed at such times to keep abreast o
the orders 1t is estimated that the six
teen bureaus in this country send GU
over 10, 900. GOO clippings annually. The.
90 to all parts of the country, and tt
many foreign countries, and to all classe
of people, and as the advantages OF tht
system are better appreciated, the mum
bers of patrons increase.
Originally the founders of this bushes
worked merely for musicians, artists, an
literary people, and it was intended t
provide them with all the notices of thei
works and performances. But the posi-
bilities of the business were gradually I'M
folded to the pioneers, and there has Gee
steady development OF 1T In every dlrec
ton. Everything is indexed nowadays
and newspapers, business concerns, libra
ries. and various other private and publ
institutions collect all the information
possible on their particular interests, an
iile it away for future reference. But tn