The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-07-16
LONDON's DAILY PRESS.
Methods OF the Thundcrer and Some
Others
W. e. Curtis in the Chicago Record.

ONneFS.
w. e. Curtis in the Chicago Record
The laws of Great Britain reouire that
copy of every newspaper and periodi-
cal issued in the United KINGDOM shall no
sent to the British museum. where they
are all preserved in bound volumes and
filed away. The storage Of the newspa-
per files is a serious problem to the mana
gers OF the museum, and is becoming
more serious as the pile accumulates and
the number of periodicals increases. The
bound volumes are preserved in presses
chat slide on rollers into the dark vaults
of the basement under the sidewalk Each
press viii contain from $50 to 500 volumes
weighing half ton. The London news
papers and periodicals. some of those
printed in the other large cities of Eng
land and the leading foreign journals.
are kept in more convenient quarters. II
requires 1857 feet of shelving to contain
the bound volumes of the London publica-
tons and $3.50 feet to contain all the
newspapers that are kept for ready ref
erence. The accumulation. is increasing
at the rate of 1888 feet year. or one mile
in sixteen years.
In 1887 there were $50 regular pubHca-
tons in Great Britain, Of which l0l were
issued in London. In 1891 the mum )er had
increased to 3,S43 for the United Kingdom
and 1924 for London, with a total of 20 .
S44 issues during the year an average of
67S newspapers and periodicals daily.
These publications are not only preserved
in the British museum. but they are all
examined and the important contents in
dexed, a gigantic task at which between
twenty and thirty persons are constantly
employed and each writes upwards OF
100000 titles every year.
The oldest newspapers on file in the Brit
ish museum are the London Gazette. 1860:
the Edinburgh Gazette. 1889: Pue's Occur
rences, 1904, and the Stamford Mercury.
ms. The London Gazette is the oldest
newspaper in the world but one. The Pc
king Gazette antedates it about 1900 years.
The London Gazette is published twice
a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, and
there is a tradition that il has never fail
ed to appear promptly on time since the
first number was issued 232 years ago last
November. Sometimes it consists of only
iOUI pages oIlen II mas as many as forty
pages and about Nov. ] and May ! each
year it appears in the form of great vol
ume of 400 or 900 pages which are neces-
sary to contain the notices for the ensuing
session of Parliament, the tax list and
other voluminous announcements.
The London Gazette is an official publ
cation. Mr., Bernard Harrison. the editor,
never writes anything himself, but is re-
sponsible for the proper editing of all the
matter submitted to him. He does not
have to bother about contributors, and the
countng-room people do not have to work
up the circulation or solicit advertisements
1t is as Independent as the Congressional
Record and about as interesting. II con-
tains no editorials, but a good deal Of i'm
pOrtant news, which is anticipated with
the greatest eagerness by persons interest
ed, and it's pages are anXiously scanned.
The paper is supported by the government
and contains nothing but official matter.
1t costs siXpence a copy, and has circu-
lation varying from 1900 to 10000 copies.
You find il in the office of every public
functionary, in every club in the reading
rooms Of all the large hotels, in every Ii
brary, board of trade and other CONNER
cial organizations, in every bank ana in
the Office of every insurance company. on
board Of every man-of-war in the British
navy and in every military barracks of
that empire whose drum beat is heard
around the world. 1t is kept in the office
of the clerk of every court, and many a
lovely young woman scans the pages OF
every issue to see the announcements of
goings on at the palaces, the engagements
of the royal family, tne appointments 10 Of
flee and the naval and military orders.
Hence comes the familiar term that you
hear everywhere in England. When a no
Bile youth has been "gazetted' as honor
airy attache al the British embassy at
Nrac chi "a of nj ar
nouncement of his appointment has APP
peared in the columns of this venerable
journal. When an army officer is ga
zetted" 10 India or a prosperous brewer is
"gazetted" as a baronet the paper as
sumes personal Importance
The London Gazette is an epitome OF
court life each day. Every ceremonial
at buckingham palace or Windsor Castle
IS Officially described, and the programme
of every future function Is published. The
account of the Queens jubilee filled sew
eral pages and the name OF every man
and woman who appeared officially in the
procession or took part in the ceremonies
was mentioned with the full titles. Every
thing the Queen does is solenmly record
ed, whether she goes to drive and who
goes with her, the names of her daily
guests and the hour at which dinner was
served.
Official dispatches to the government
from all parts of the world diplomatic,
naval and military reports and correspond
ence which the ministry desire the public
to read are printed In the Gazette. Dur
ing the Crimean war, when the ncwspa-
pers did not receive kilograms and had
few correspondents IN the field, the Ca
zette was the great purveyor Of intell-
gence, and its Office was besieged daily
by crowds of people anxious for news
from the East. But nowadays the con-
tents of the Gazette are usually discount
ed by the private dailies, which arrange
to secure early copies and crib everything
worth reading.
The advertising columns are fled with
government notices and announcements,
court calendars. partnership agreements
and dissolutions bankruptcies Invitations
for proposals for government work ana
supplies.
During the great plague, when the seat
of government was removed TO Oxford.
the Gazette went also, and for a time
bore the name of the oxford Gazette. The
paper has been printed by Messrs. Harri-
son & Son, who have had the contract as
printers in ordinary to the sovereign since