The times., 1899-10-29

the IntervieWers. the "Ordinaries the leg
islative and court reporters. and those
charged with looking after the government
offices all routine men. the fats diver
siers, the local men on police and other
criminal cases and happenings OF the
street. All these reporters are cut out of
the same block. They have a dress which
is nearly a uniform-silk hats with wide,
fat brims. very long frock coats and flow
ing neckties They all wear the hair long,
sport sticks. and carry flowers in their
buttonhole. have boards fashioned to
point, and wear yellow kid gloves through
out the year. Their great dream IS to be
mistaken for boulevardier
The method of these gentlemen is odd If
they receive an assignmeHt-say sensa-
tional murder case-thsy all go to a cafe
on the boulevards and draw lots to see
which shall be the man to 90 TO the police
station Of the quarter in which the event
occurred. The UnIucky one finally goes,
stTolljGg as far along the boulevards as pos
sible. At the station he receives a written
slip perhaps thirty lines telling all that
the police care to have known. Seldom IS
the name of victim or OF murderer given
out. and the reporter has 10 be satisfied
with the initials. He returns leisureiy 10
the cafe. and all the others copy the slip
when they have time All the papers print
the paragraph next morning and the public
is satisfied. Sometimes one or more OF the
papers gets beaten on the item because
their reporters had another engagement at
the time of the grand meeting of the re-
porters- Then the beaten paper cheerfully
reprints the item on the following day
making the event occur one day late.
An instance of this slipshod way of doing
business occurred in August One Tuesday
morning a man killed his wife and COM
mitted suicide. All the papers Of Wednes-
day had the news excepting the "Eclair'
and the journal" On Thursday these
two papers. seeing that they were beaten,
printed the item, but made the event occur
on Wednesday morning. On Friday morn
ing all the papers printed it again, under
the Misrepresentation that they had been
beaten the day before, but made the killing
and suicide happen on Thursday. OF course
this was all the fault of the secretaries de
reduction. But they are hard worked.
1t IS curious to know how a paper like
the Petit Journal can sell daily 100000
copies. 1t is the typical paper of the
French masses and contains less real news
than two stickfuls of the Suns" "Jottings
About Town" Its success can only be
ascTibed to its hold on the lower orders of
intelligence with its lood-and-thunder
continued stories. The Petit Parisian,'
$4,000 copies daily, makes pretensions and
is better only in comparison: yet the stock
of the Petit Journal" is quoted at $245 on
a par value of $780, and that of the Petit
Partisan" at $3.50 on a par value of $50
The former pays a dividend of II per cent,
and the latter one of l6 per cent. and the
stock of each has been handsomely waterei
In other words, the net profits of the first
average $700, 000 yearly. and of the second
S37E fnEiugy pnngilprq-
tion the extremely high cost of paper in
France, and the many onerous taxes
newspaper is subjected to by the govern
ment.
The advertising in a French paper is Lot
profitable. As rule, il does not take
up one-fourth of one of its pages 1t is
not the custom to advertise. Aside from
the posters and handbills pasted on dead
walls nearly all the advertising is done
in small pamphlet called the journal
des Petites Afiiches." which one cOn5ults
in the cafes. The paternalism of the gov.
eminent, too supplies the place of adver-
tising. 1t not only sells you matches and
cigars and lends you money on your watch,
but it takes you under its wing when you
want a servant or a midwife, and has lists
OF almost everything that you can need,
which lists you can consult free of charge.
Then there is a great deal Of free ad
vertising done by the newspapers in the
way of puffs. If one has not the influence
TO procure a puff it is notorious that the
financial and theatrical columns Of all the
papers but two or three are open to any
body at a fixed price. Puffs in other parts
Of the paper cost from So to SIS line, in
all except the Petit Journal which is
more virtuous and charges $50. For this
price the papers will say anything you
want them TO say, 50 long as it is not con-
trary to law. For ordinary advertising.
printed as such. the rate varies from 20
cents line in the papers Of small circu a
ton 10 $1.20 in the Figaro" the Petit
Journal" and a few others.
The cost of producing the Paris paper is
much larger than its printed appearance
would seem to warrant. The reporters get
from $40 to $l0O a month, the editorial
writer's from 5000 to $500. The cost Of the
telegraph service is small and nearly all
the expense is in the actual printing The
Petit Journal, for instance, gives its
yearly expense account as follows:
Editorial staff and telegraph tolls......., $4,000
iNpesetlhE .'---.-....- -3't'y
SleTEJryulug l1,iJb
Paper 441,VJJ
PrtssWOrE S+.DpJ
Ink, oil, fuel, etc 5000
Total -SDJJJJ3
As these figures are for l.1C00 600 copies.
the cost Of the average French newspaper
which Circulates not more than $4,000,
would be about $14O0G.-New York Sun.