The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-30
CHINESE PRESS.

CHINESE PRESS.
 The Four Papers Published in San Francisco.
 Scientific AmerIcan.
 In roaming through the famous China town of San Francisco. it's lanes and al- leys, the stroller will perhaps observe over a narrow door a mystical sign, and beneath 1t the words Chung Sai Tat Pc, the daily newspaper: and if curSsp he may ascend the narrow stair and reach the editorial rooms of one of the sev- eral Chinese papers published in this Chi nese-American city, Little Canton. as it is sometimes called This paper was first started as a weekly, but was fin ally changed to a daily, and is now an influential organ of what might be term cd the Americanized Chinese. or the New Chinaman, as the editor is Chinese minister of the Presbyterian Church--a man of high civilization from the Amer. ican standpoint He is the Rev. Ng Chew and one. of his literary advisers and aids is John Prayer, LL. D., wno fills the chair of Chinese literature at the University of California: but the type setters, the clerks-in fact, ell the em- pioyes--are Chinamen. some of whom are graduates of American schools In the business office and editorial room there Is little to attract attention. American desks and chairs and telephone are the appliances of the workers; but when the visitor enters the composing room a high, cheerless wall-inclosed room. he is confronted with the fact that here as we'll as elsewhere in China, things are upside down. The typesetter Is quite as important a factor as 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 he familiar with 26 letters, 10 figures and a few signs and symbols, as periods, dol lar marks, etc, but the Chinese compos- itor must be familiar with 11.000 char acters of this archaic language. ahout which Prof. R. K. Douglas says: "Ev- cry word is a root. every root is word. It is without infexion or even aggluti- nation; it's substantvas are indeclinable, and it's verbs are not to be conjugated; it is destitute of an alphabet. and 1t finds it's expression on paper in thousands of distinct symbols"
 It is needless to go into a description of this marvellous language to explain the difficulties of the Chinese corhpositor,
 but one illustration Is sufficient. Ger tain sounds often stand for several hun dred words. the difference, often vital
 to an intelligent presentation of an idea, depending on certain diacritical marks accompanying each word. There are thousands of these symbols which are en- graved, each one representing type. but a well-regulated newspaper will require but u,000 spaces, and in the large and spacious racks here shown each word. in- stead of each letter, as in English, has
 place for itself. There is also a peculiar olo caif Of groups to further facilitate the mental
 labors of the typesetters Thus in the immediate vicinity Of the symbol for fish would be found he symbol for scales, net, fins, tail, gills. This simplifies the
 labor, which, in any event, must be so strenuous that 1t Is evident that the com-
 positors end of the Chinese newspaper should. if perfect justice ruled. be the highest paid. 's. ..,
 The compositor is a staid and digni- fled individual, and as he slowly walks from symbol to symbol, picking up those which he requires with provoking calm ness, the American compositor might we'll wonder when the work would be completed; end to set up the limited type required for. a small fourteen page daily paper the constant labors of eight or nine skilled Chiaamen are required for twelve or thirteen hours, the entire work in every departm snt being the antipodes of the rush and whirl and marvellous celerity of the modern American publi- cation.
 When the paper is set up it is printed on an American press, but the type, the symbols, are all made in China.
 There are three other newspapers pub lished in San Francisco besides the one described-The Chinese World, The Ori- ental News, and The Commercial News. Nearly all have special objects in view. Thus The World is a reform paper. vir- tually the organ of the Empire Reform Assoclation, a club or society which is very influential in Chinese circles in San Francisco and said to include fourth of the entire population. The World op- poses Boxers, is pro-American in it's ideas: its editor is Tong Chong. friend of the late missionary. MT. Masters; a man of high culture and many attain ments, who has. by the aid of the society of which he is secretary. attempted to reform the entire Chinese nation. He hopes Go accomplish this by educating the people up to a point where they will overthrow the Manchu power seated by the Empress, and with the Emperor on the throne literally open China to re- forms of all kinds. Tong Chong has found that even in America the path of the reformer is not over bed of roses, as having aroused the enmity of the Manchu party. or that of the conserv- atives of the Chinese, the ultra a-intoler- ants of reform, he has been confronted with the mailed hand of China more than once; and finally, unable to reach him directly, his relatives in China were thrown into prison. charged with his crime-a lever by which the Empress hoped to change the policy of the Ch!- nese-American journal, which Is virtually the organ of the muzzled Emperor of China. Native journalism In China is still in its infancy. so far as perfection of appliances is concerned, yet The Peki Gazette is the oldest newspaper known, having begun publication nearly 1000 years ago; so long in the past that the 'originai copy has disappeared: but the many modern newspapers published in the great cities of China suggest that the beginning of a new era has dawned.
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