The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1915-06-11
HOW OCALA WILL LOOK
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS HENCE
Continued from Yesterday


l told him l should like to see the
paper printed, and he at once led me
to an elevator in which we dropped
to the first floor. The press room
filled the entire northwest quarter of
this floor, and before we could enter
it we had to pass the inspection of a
very large and dark-complected per-
son, some fifty years old with a gold
toothed smile that reminded me of
Jack Johnson, the darkey who was
heavy weight champion of the world
from 1911 to 1915. In him recogniz-
ed James Strange, otherwise called
SNOWFALL, y janitor and pressman for
the Star in the distant past. He had
been with the paper 80 years, and had
the light and easy job of seeing to it
that no unauthorized person entered
the press room.
Three great presses stood side by
side, and as we entered, the foreman
of the press room nodded his head at
young man standing by one of the
machines-the young man pulled
back lever, and with that throb-
bing, singing roar that is like that of
no other machinery, the press started.
The huge spools of paper that fed it
were rolled m from the north side, and
the printed, cut and folded sheets
were pushed down long chute at the
south end of the press into the dis
tributing room. Here they were
seized by active men who placed them
in autos which waited in the passage
just beyond, and as soon as each auto
had its portion it was out on the
street and away for its station in the
city or suburbs. In minute or two
after the first press started, another
joined in the laundering tune, and it's
papers were pushed into the mailing
room, where they were swiftly made
into packages and thrown on auto
trucks that rushed away to the union
station.
4 This great pressrom was neat as a
lady's parlor-and the machinery in
it was all clean and polished. / miss
ed, however, the familiar smell OF
ink, neither could 1 see any signs
of it.
; My guide led me to the superintend-
ent4of the department, a gentleman o1
some so years old, but alert and ac-
tive, and introduced him to me as Mr.
Yonce. I congratulated him on the
good looks of his department, but
H0xr 1,a Io s,oIr
of evidence.
eve don't use ink any more" he
{ replied. eve have been printing with
: electricity the last twelve years."
? Then he showed me how. an cleo
trio current was sent thru the type
into the paper, making a clean dry
f print at a fraction of the cost of the
old system.
; Big papers of twenty or more page!
l were no longer the rule. The Star:
r morning, noon and afternoon edition:
: were of 8, II and Is pages respec
r lively. During the baseball season, 1
four-page extra, with report of tn,
games, was issued at z p. m. Like ev
cry other big paper in the country, i
kept electric bulletin boards, all Owe
the city and surrounding country
into which the more important items
of news were sent as fast as they oc
Cured. These bulletins were sent b!
a single operator, whose typewrite,
was connected with all the bulletin
boards, the messages appearing mile
away as fast as he wrote them.
The big newspaper Office had n,
doors on the outside. 1t was entered
entirely by the double tunnel, which
ran thru the lower floor, one from
north to south, the other from east t,
west. Reporters came and went by tn
north entrance, mail and deliver,
autos went out at the west, the east
ern entrance was sacred to the big
wigs, and the general public used tn
south. As / emerged from the pres
room, big auto came in from tn
east and stopped by an elevator shat
marked private" A prosperous look
ing gentleman, of some sixty year
stepped out of the auto, threw
comprehensive look around, entere
the elevator and was shot toward tn
L top of the building.
'fThat's Mr.. Carroll, president of tn
Star publishing company" said M
t guide.
AS he spoke the auto moved on, an