The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-27
LEE THICK PRINTS CHINESE DAILY
 NEWS
They Have 70 Gases Bat Use weeden BIocia as Each Word is Repre- sented by Caracter and no
 Types gre Needed.

Hlocka ag Each Word ts Repre-
 sented by a caracter and no
 Types gre Needed.
 Dan De ouilIe in the Printing Trade
 News.
 Down in Catham Square right fn the heart of New York's printing district there is a printing office which tho. organizers Of no Typographical Union has ever tried to gather Into the fold, although 1t is but a short distance from the headquarters of Big Six, and is in plain sight of Mike Calla- hans celebrated palace of joy Tor thirsty printers. Neither has It come thetae or the Printers League, dis wunder the jurisdiction of the Typo bite the fact that 1t is probably the largest establishment of its king m the United States Indeed. so far outside the ordinary printing trade channel does 1t 1ie that its name does not even appear upon the subscription list of this magazine. which fact Is in itself more than enough to stamp # as distinctly extraordinary amonsst New York establishments. The pro- prfctor Is a small. slender and ex- ceedingly alert individual who answers to the name of Lee Thick, which name probably, explains at once the reason for the aioofness just described. He runs a Chinese printing ofiice.
 This Chinese printer has figured con- spicuously in the American newspapers during the past month. The day these journals announced to the public that the Chinese Emperor and Dowager Empress had died a reporter. was sen. 10 interview some of the merchants or Chinatown and be found that the news was already in that quarter. The chsrese Reform News, published in Chinese every Thursday and saturday by the Mfr. Thick hereinbefore men toned. had told it's readers all about the matter two days before the news haa reached the American newspapers TfA discovery that the so-called sleepy Celestials had scored a beat m matter of supreme worldwide impoI- tance was sufficiently remarkanie .o elicit universal comment, ana lneld. entally. gave most American tnerr n1sl intiuation that there Is chinese neyvspaper in this country.
 Whfie his newspaper absorbs most of Lee Thicks personal attention, II does not by any means constitute the whole or the most lucrative part or ms h,,aiuess.. He is a book and job printer "a tha broadest sense. and his estap- iiahrnent has a greater constituency than most printers can boast or. he prints laundry tickets and nercan.lie stationery, anj this year IS getlIns out a novelty in the shope or Cnlnese posteards, which are proving as popa. lar with his compatriots as they navy with all other nationalities.
 The urinting of1ice of the Chinese peeoru News presents curious ap- rsarance to an American printers eye. h fact. except for the pcrvasive smell of ink he would never recognize it aR A .'print shop" ct all. Thefe ae none. of the familiar eases" in the rovnnoainx roomA-nothing but Ions racks upon which are piled large wood en characters. Tho American case would be useless here, because there ts no Chinese alphabet. each word peihs a character by Itself are. therefore, all 1arga There is no such thing as agate or nonpareil in Chinese type. There are not SO many words in the Chinese language as in the English. but there are necessarily many more than there 1 ara letters in our alphabet and the 1 r,binese composftor must know them ali and their location In the oface. As Lee Thick expresses it, How many thousand word we user Tousand' many t'ousand. How many2 on. two, tree t'ousand. He must learn. .ss. as study. It take long time. I pay sixty dollar a month"
 Sixty dollars a month Is large salary in Chinatown. In his native 1 country 1t costs the workman only l two cents A day to live. Even in China l competitors are hard to find, because l outside of the educated class few ever learn the two, tree tousand" char acters necessary for the printing busi- ness. Tn this country the diniculty oi securing a sufficient supply Of laDor ia | -.a FnF the | importation of Chinese printers con- 1 diets with both the Chinese imnfigra- 1 tiou and contract labor laws. For this reason the few typesetters are always busy. working thirteen hours daily.
 pesides The Chinese Reform News Iee Thick also publishes law books limited States law translated into | Chinese. At New Years time he also prints calendars and the customary red visiting cards bearing the name, m three black scawls. Every Chtnaman 6as to have his set of New Years cards. with his name printed in the corner. Just now Lee Thick Is con cerned over the labor problem. Three of the old typesetters have left. and he anticipates with dread the rush of extra work which this New Years printing will bring. Inasmuch as that important holiday does not occur until our February 2, he has hope that he may still secure some men in time. A visitor to the printing office of The Chinese Reform News will find 1t on the floor below a malodorous sweatshop. One may bang for some time on the closed doors before they are opened by a green -shlrted China man in native dress. He opens the door three inches and says. 'Hulioa." ]" It Is the only English he speaks. but by placing ones foot in the crack of