Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-01-03
Story Of
the Making
Of a Paper
OREG0NIAN'S NEW YEAR EDITION
WEIGHED 72 TONS, AND WOULD
MAKE A STRIP OF PAPER A
PAGE WIDE 17i4 MILES LONG.

If all the paper that was used in
printing the Oregonian's annual edi-
tion yesterday were stretched in a
straight line, the full width of the or
dinary newspaper page, it would reach
from Portland to Omaha on the east,
more than 250 miles beyond the Mexi-
can border on the south and to the
vicinity Of Juneau, Alaska, on the
north
The size of the paper and the vol
ume of the edition exceed that of all
previous pears, with the exception Of
the annual Of 1910, which was larger
and of greater number than usual be-
cause Of the commencement Of the
5Oth anniversary Of the founding Of
the Morning and Sunday Oregonian.
Yesterdays edition consisted Of 12O,-
900 papers. All will be sold and sent
to almost every corner of the globe.
People habitually buy the New Years
edition to inform their friends in other
places Of the progress and prosperity
Of Portland and Oregon. The great
bulk of the papers are sent by indi-
viduals to the individuals. In this way
they cover the widest expanse of ter
ritory and reach the greatest possible
number Of people. AS such the Ore
gonian has come to be called "the
timekeeper Of Oregon's progress"
721a Tons Of Paper Sold.
This years number consisted Of rs
pages, The paper weighed one pound
and four ounces EACH making the to-
tai weight of the edition $4,000
pounds, or 72lA tons
Now the blank paper from which all
newspapers Of standard size, such as
the Oregonian, secure their raw ma
terial" is made up in great rolls GS
inches wide. Each roll consists, then,
of one continuous sheet of paper.
Each sos feet of paper in these rolls
weigh 32 pounds. This scale of
weight and length therefore shows
that the paper used in printing the
edition, measured as it comes from
the roll, was 2,3O1,74S feet, or 436
miles long.
The width Of the roll paper Is split |
into four equal parts, giving the print
ed sheet the width of II inches. Thus, '
the full length Of the printed pages, If
placed end to end in q straight line,
would be four times that Of the blank
rolls, or 1744 miles. This is virtually !
the distance from Portland to Omaha,
to Juneau, and $50 miles more than
the distance to the Mexican border.
Enormous Work Required.
To prepare for printing and mailing
such an enormous amount of printed
paper required many months of hard
work on the part of many men. Ger
tain members of the regular Orego-
nian staff were detailed early in the
fall to begin the task Of assembling
the material. Accuracy in presenting
the review of the years progress and
stories that would be interesting to
the readers We're the principal objects
sought.
More than the ordinary attention
was given this year to the illustrations
and to the special pictorial section,
This section, which consists Of 1G
r1ges, was pronounced by many Port
land residents yesterday to be one Of
the most artistic pieces of newspaper
work over accomplished. The street
scenes and the sectional views of the
city present strikingly the growth and
the metropolitan appearance of Port
land Tho work was done entirely by
the Oregonian's regular staff of pho
tographers and artists-Oregonlan.