Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1903-08-05

ent great success possible and in sus,
tanning the Argus and w%arranting IT,
rapid advancement, brought increased
profits to themselves, a well as ma.
~terially assisted in the prosperity ot
the entire county, for the Argus has
been no mean factor in the building
up of Fergus county.
OF the part it has taken in the adj,
vancement of the varied and wonder
full resources of the county il has res-
son to be proud and cheerlully and
justly shares this with the advertiser
and subscriber.
More Room is Required.
But to return to the text and Incl
dentally my notes. The floor space
occupied by the All is today 225G
square feet, including business office,
editorial room, composing and job
room and press room. Each depart
ment is much cramped and in less
than two years it will be necessary
to withdraw from lease a portion of
the upper floor of the building and
there install at least the editorial and
local departments and the linotype
machine. Accompanying this article
appears a picture of n corner of the
composing room, showing imposing
stones, linotype machine, two job
presses and the folding machine.
Ten Thousand a Year.
Ten employees are now upon the pay
roll, which in the past twelve months
amounts to over ten thousand dol
lars. A group of these employees,
emitting the janitor, appears in this
issue. Ten thousand dollars within a
year paid in weekly installments to
the employees of "a country weekly"
Is a big figure in itself and one which
might be questioned by many an own
er of "a country weekly" in the east.
And it is a fact, sustained by every
employee, that upon every Saturday
night pay checks are given for the
full amount due. II requires a lot Of
hustling and close collections to meet
this weekly demand, but "the ghost
always walks" and an Argus check
Is never questioned.
AS foreman of the mechanical de.
partment of the work. newspaper and
job, is Mr.. Harry j. Kelly, well known
for many years in the offices in the
Bitter Root valley, Butte and Great
Falls. A first rate job printer, of good
executive ability and able to Sub" or
the linotype machine when required
he is a valuable employee.
Accounting Department.
The keeping of the accounts in the
Argus is no mean task, accuracy in
detail being demanded, for at the end
of a year both manager and proprie
tor desire to know what proportion
of the whole profit each department
has earned and what changes, il an.
require to be made, as well as to what
extent rates can in emergency be cut
to meet persistent competition. Close
collections are insisted upon as nee
essary to success and if at times somC
patron has thought us harshly per
s~istent. they should realize that al
are treated alike. Short accounts
make long friends" Mrs. w. l.. Reed
er has been in charge of the account
ing for some months.
Circulation Steadily Increased.
What the circulation of the Argus
was when it started, or what IL wa:
ten years ago, cannot now be recall
ed, but in the past two years it hal
made marked advances and is nov
1,40O copies a week-not free copie,
sent broadcast without orders, will
bills to follow later, but to paid sub
scribers, to exchanges or to new:
stands and dealers. Since the middle
of last May Mr.. John B. Ritch, form
erly of the Lewistown Democrat, AM
a particularly successful solicitor, a.
well as good business man and gifte'
writer, has been in the field for TIL
Argus and he has gone through som,
towns with a fine tooth comb. judg
ing from the number of names he ha'
added to the list. Expecting to cove
: the entire county and portions of 1