The Washington times., 1901-11-10
THE ARABIAN NEWSPAPER.
Five Odd Publications Issued Reg
ularly In New York.

News Counts for Little and style of
Writing Is Bombastic-Hnve Wide
Circulation in the United States
Some of Their PecuIiarities.
1t is known to everybody that italian
and Jewish newspapers are printed in
this city. for they are exposed for sale
in public places. and are strange enough
In appearance to be remarked; but tho
newspapers printed In Arabic seldom
circulate beyond the quarter where they
are printed. and, therefore. never come
to the attention OF even those who go
about in quest of the picturesque FOR tho
quarter itself is in an out-of-the-way
corner of the city. There are four Arabic
newspapers and an Arabic magazine pub
lished not far from Battery Park. One
OF the newspapers nsad .s 1e a daily;
but when the editor determined 10 work
no longer from Il. thfie morning until
o'clock at night for his small stipend. and
resigned one day. Il was suddenly turned
into a semi-weekly: for they could find
no other scholar in the quarter capable
oil undertaking so much writing In 50
short space of time.
The circulation of these newspapers Is
not confined to the Syrian quarter: il 1t
were. there would be small profit in the
publication of them. The restaurant
| paper is common property. and II is
tattered. dirty sheet when the patrons
/ are through with 1t; in fact. ono paper.
| being passed from hand to hand. goes a
\ long way. The papers circulate in ali
| parts of this country and Canada. FOR this
| is the fountain head OF news for expatrf-
| ated Syrians. and find their way in num-
bers to Egypt. and, thoroughly censored.
TO the nome land. The circulation Is SUI
ficient, in fact, to make the business of
publishing profitable one; the Price of
each paper is much higher tEan that
charged for the American papers, which
are seldom: seen in the quarter
Very little news of New York. and vir-
tually none of the country at large, Is
printed; there is no space for it, the
editors say, and. at any rate, it is not
interesting to the subscribers The issue
of the last Presidential election. for IN
stance. would be announced as follows:
William Mckinley was again elected
President of the United States Most OF
the news space is taken up by fntelli-
gence of the Turks outrages against the
Christians at home. Such news. many
months old it may be, is displayed with
great care. and does more to incite the
news of the quarter is honored with pub
lication is gathered by the editor in per-
son In the evenings. and by men Of other
business, whose connection with the
newspaper is kept dark secret and never
betrayed on any account. European poll
ties are dealt with at great length, es-
peeially in so far as they relate to the
status of the Turkish Empire THIS is all
CLEANED from important publications in
all languages. which are faithfully read.
for the editors are good linguists.
Lofts are taken for offices; nobody
seems to care how far up OF how dilapi-
dated they are. The type is large and
heavy, for the Arabic characters and
their combinations are much larger than
the English; it is all imported. The type
is set by compositor. and, 1t may be,
an apprentices: sometimes the former, az
in all newspaper Offices, amends the
editors language. and then there Is great
trouble. for the editor is exceedingly par
ticular about style and grammar. and
counts it great crime to fail in either.
The presses are of the old style, and run
BY hand. whenever the copy is all set
up; it may be on time or it may be sew
eral hours late, it makes small difference
No editor is concerned about getting the
news before another; nor does any pub
Usher care whether he is beaten on the
street"
The matter of style is as has been
said. very important in the eyes OF the
readers. II a rival publishes ansinaecu-
rate statement. the other editors pass it
by; but if he slips up in his grammar. he
is sure to be ridiculed in the choicest Ian
guage at the command of his rontem-
porarfes- One proprietor for a time edit
cd his own newspaper; but he was an il
literate man. and he made haste to en-
gage a qualified editor after the first is
sue. for the paper was the laughing stock
of the street. The editors of the other
papers. it may be said. helped on the ridi-
cule. The editor of another paper was a
bachelor of arts. and at one time a tutor
in Arabic at Oxford; h. was cultivated
man, in a way. and could speak many
languages. The editors are well inform
ed SO far as concerns their own land. and
well versed in the literature of their own
language. Their editorials are sometimes
finely written; it is more essential that
they should be so than that they should
be sound in logic. The syrians love beau
tifuI words and beautiful sounds; that
seems to suffice for them.
An important department. of the paper
is the serial story. 1t has more to do
with circulation than anything else In
the quarter it was usually taken from
some weH-known Arabic book. and the
selection was the thing. But. not long
ago, an editor wrote Il serial of his own,
dealing with matters with which the
quarter WIS familiar, and so successful
was it that he was besousht on the street
and In the restaurants To tell the out
come. He wrote a second but. unhappi-
", when the crisis was approaching, he
else knows how the story turned cut
General information is another strong
point with the editors. one printed selec-
tons from the Encyclopedia Britannica.
from day to day. and won great fame for
knowledge and felicity of expression. 1t
may be added that the editors are highly
este emed, being the most influential men
in the quarter. Men of means may be
fawned upon; but knowIedib is regarded
more highly than money. and if an edi-
tor says anything 1t is accepted as al
most indisputable.-New York Telegraph
A DEMAND FOR ERMINE.