The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-08-05

cancelled its order, as 1t found that there
was no profit in this branch.
Society news in the papers Is carefully
scanned. Notices Of engagements are
clipped for jewellers, florists, %stationers.
furniture dealers and hundreds Of other
merchants. The most profitable branch
of the business Is the commercial, but the
largest number Of customers Is made up OF
those who subscribe for personal mention.
Personal vanity plays little part in this,
however. 1t is dictated mostly by COM
mercial reasons.
On this list are playwrights, actors, prize
fighters, politicians, authors and all sorts
of men in public life. Some of them are
anxious for newspaper mention and some
are anxious for its absence.
The income from this source Is extremely
irregular. 1t has happened that a man
would not have an item for months, and
then suddenly in one month his bill at the
clipping bureau has leaped from nothing
to 81 900, This sudden bull movement may
be a source of pleasure or quite the opposite
to the subject-one never can tell.
Sometimes authors. subscribe for clip
pings on subjects which they intend to
write upon. One author has for two or
three years been collecting all clippings
which describe the heroism Of girls, as
shown in reports of fires, accidents and
the like. Then there are the obviously
crank collectors.
One man has for years collected every
thing printed on vegetarianism. His bill
this summer has been pretty heavy: An
other man pays for all items relating to
any rascality discovered among spiritual
lists, or among priests and ministers OF the
gospel. Periodically he publishes a deadly
parallel In a spiritualist paper, obviously
to the disoredit Of the church people, as
there are many more Of them than OF his
own cult.
Another man has collected for years
everything published on Lincoln, and an
Other. everything published against a @
cination.
lects statistics relating to injury and loss
of life at Fourth of July celebrations. The
principal Of a school in New England buys
all items concerning persons who have
made donations to schools or academies
in New England, with the obvious purpose
of affording them an opportunity to extend
their benevolence.
Interesting comparisons are supplied BY
the clipping bureau regarding the articles
printed in the newspapers about the deaths
Of prominent men,. No other man in
his death in the newspapers as Mckinley.
Carl Schurz has received thus far 10000
obituary notices, more than any other
man since Mckinley. John Hay and
Joseph jefferson had 1000 each, II Mark
Hanna, 5000.
1Ile IloSt tNIOIESlNo lining w oog ~ -
clipping bureau is a back Search q search
for the notices Of a past event. For that
a charge Of 10 cents for each paper read Is
made, whether anything is found or not:
The bill may easily run into thousands OF
dollars, and II is never entirely satisfactory,
as many papers are inevitably lost.
A month after the San Francisco catas.ro-
| phe the Southern Pacific road decided that
Il wanted everything that had been pub
lished on the subject, and turned IN all
order to that effect to a New York bureau.
| The bureau has just forwarded a dry goods
box containing $1,000 clippings.
One OF the most curious back searches
| ever ordered was started by HarInsworth,
the London newspaper owner. He began
| Ansecrs. He placed an order. with a
clipping bureau for all original Jokes aud
He was getting e pretty heavy service,
naturally. when one day q letter arrived
from him to the following effect; -.
LAST December you furnished ue with
the following joke:
-'Elnstein's place has burned down.
TOO much infammable material2'
ssNo. too much Insurance.