The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1899-07-20
RACE FOR CLIPPINGS,
SPREAD OF A BUSINESS THAT
BEGAN WITH FIFTY CENTS.

BEGAN WITH FIFTY CENTS.
An American IDEA that Has Beer
Universally Adopted.
Selected.
Eighteen years ago man had al
idea, which he develorci with sc
cents, the last money in his pocket
Less than a month ago half a dozer
firms engaged III tie business resulting z
from that idea coalesced, and capitaIiz
ed their joint undertaking at IS COO
900. The story has been toll s.aa,e
than once OF how a young Russian.
American at the end Of his resources.
saw a famous French artist pay hand
someLy 1Or papers several days old, con
tanning notices Of his pictures, and
was inspired by the sight with the
thought of making business of fur
nishlng such notices to whoever had
need of them. To day $4,000 persons
and $5O, 100000 are employed in the
business of making and distributing G
newspaper clippings. There are be-
tween fifty and one hundred bureaus
in the United States, nearly as many
in England and on the Continent OF
Of Europe. others at Melbourne, Sgd
ney, Calcutta, Yokahoma, Hong Kong,
johannesburg, Natal, Buenos Ayres
and Rio de Janerlo. The biggest of
these are i'll effect International. If
they have not branches they have in
stead a sort of traffic arrangement, af.
ter the manner OF the big banks, by
which their foreign correspondents fill
cabled orders quite as If they were re-
ceiyed over their own counters.
Even this does not mark the full
spread of the idea. Railway, telegraph
and express companies have gone into
the business on their own account.
At first sight they were among the
best customers of the regular bureaus,
but presently they began ordering To-
cal agents to clip and file every line of
railway matter appearing in local
sheets and to send the clippings to
the main Office, where they are index
ed and put away. Several times an
item so kept has proved to he worth
a good many dollars to the company
keeping it.
Among clippings as elsewhere, spe
cialization works. Some bureaus give
their whole attention to literary mat
ters. The minute book is out-some-
times even earller-the writer of it
receives their circular letter, lnclosing
a sample clipping notice OF himself
or his book, and asking his subscrip-
ton. The rate is S. hundred clip
pings, or if the writer be little known,
SIS q year. Where competition is keen
figures are often lowered one half. In
case the author has already engaged
another bureau it Is not uncommon
to ask that the late conner be allowed
to send clippings also. receiving pay
only for such as are not duplicates OF
those already received Besides no.
tices and views, the literary bureau will,
Ill Of
intelligence.
Emperor WiIiian n is much too busy
to read the papers, yet needs to know
wha. this world Is saying Of particular
things. So he has 4 scrap-bOok, in
charge of court officer. w. T. Stead
is said to possess whole library made
up of clippings. Il fills three dingy
rooms in London house. Some bu-
reaus concern themselves mainly with
business affairs. They give to their
subscribers all that appears in print
concerning the subscribers lines of
business, such as the letting OF con-
tracts, the adoption o. building plans,
new materials, inventions, discoveries,
les1+decisions affecting commercial
interests and legislation. The latest
development is the bureau Of medical
intelligence.
One needs imagination to see any
thing picturesque In the mechanics
of clipping. One establishment With
more than hundred employees shows
TO the casual eye only ranks and rows
of men and women reading, blue pen
Cling, clipping, pasting and stamping.
This bureaus usual output Is 10000
clippings week. Under rush order
it could clip and mail 100000. There
is an elaborate system Of card classifi-
cation. The cards are hung on hooks
in a rack some four feet across, and
running the whole length Of a very
long room. Nearly every hook IS
filed.
Queen Victoria subscrlbes to more
than one bureau, but never sees the
clippings until they have been pus in
books under the editing of some Of her
family, which means, of course, the
Il otaf