The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-12-17
door q mystical sign. and beneath II
the words ChupC.sai.Y Yat-Po, the daily

door q mystical sign. and beneath IL
the words Chung-sai-Yat-Po. the daily
newspaper: and II curious he may as
cend the narrow stair and reach the
editorial and other rooms OF one or the
several Chinese papers published IN
this Chinese-American city. Little Can
ton, rs 1t Is sometimes called. This pa
per was first started as n weekly. but
was changed to a daily. and Is now
an influential organ Of what might
be termed the Americanized Chinese.
or the New Chinaman. rs the editor
Is a Chinese minister Of the Presby-
terian Church. n man Of high cultiVa-
ton from the American standpoint
He Is the Rev. Ng PoOn Thew. and one
of his literary advisers and aids IS
John Fryer. LID. who fills the chair
of Chinese literature at the University
OF California;: but the typesetters. the
clerks, in fact all the employees. are
Cinnamon. some Of whom are gradu-
ates of American schools. In the busi-
ness office and editorial room there Is
little to attract the attention. Amer
lean desks and chairs and telephone
are the appliances Of .he workers: hut
when the visitor enters the composing
room, a high. cherries brick-wall-ln-
closed room. he Is confronted with the
fact that here as well as elsewhere In
China things are upside down. In n
word, the typesetter Is Qnite as I'M
portant q factor rs the editor: at least
such Is the impression gained by the
observer who faces the extraordinary
cases of the Chinese cOmpositor
The American typesetter Is obliged
to be familiar with twenty-six letters.
ten figures and a few signs and SYM
bols, rs periods. dollar marks. etc. but
the Chinese compositor must be ia
miliar with 1000 characters Of this
archaic language. Ibout which Profes-
sor r. X. Douglas says: Every root
Is a word, every word IL a root. 1t Is
without inflexion or even agglutInation:
Its substantives are indeclinable. and
Its verbs are not to be conjugated; 1t
is destitute OF an alphabet. and finds
its expression on paper in thousands
Of distinct symbols"
1t Is needless to go into description
of this marvellous language to explain
the difficulties Of the Chinese compos-
itor; but one illustration Is sufficient.
Certain sounds often stand for several
hundred words. the difference. often
vital to IN intelligent presentation Of
an idea, depending on certain diacrit-
ical marks accompanying each word.
There are thousands of these symbols
which are engraved. each one repre-
sentIng q type. but a well-regulated
newspaper will require but 11.OOO char
acters: IL others are needed they are
made in the office. A font Of type In
the Chinese language requires 1l.OOO
spaces, and In the large and spacious
racks here shown Zach word instead
Of each letter. as In English. has n
place for itself. There Is also a Pc
culiar grouping or classification Of
symbols into groups to further facili-
tate the mental labors Of the tvpese:-
ters. Thus in the immediate vicinity
Of the symbol for FISH would be found
the symbols for scales. net. fins. tail.
gills. This simpllfes the labor. which
In any event must he SO strenuous that
It Is evident that the compositor's end
of the Chinese newspaper should. II
perfect justice ruled. be the highest
paid.
The compositor Is staid and dig
nified individual. and as he slowly
walks from symbol to symbol. picking
ND those -hlch ne requires with pro-
voking ca,mness. the American COM
positor might we'll wonder when the
work would be completed: and to set