The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-03-13
NEWSPAPER COST
INCREASED BY WAR
Every Item in the Publishers,
List Up From Ten TO
Fifty Per Cent.
EVEN TIE INK Is SCARCE

One could scarcely be blamed Sor
jumping at conclusions and .ayine.
some distracted housewife has lost her
shopping list" upon finding on tho side.
walk a scrap OF paper on which was
scrubbed. BLANKETS. felt. elycerlnc, rub.
Der blanket. paper and ink. muslin"
Nevertheless the finder might he alto
gether wrong-perhaps the shopping List
belonged to the boss buyer tor the
mechanical department OF a newspaper.
Most newspaper readers ma wonder
! what blankets, muslin. felt, rubber sheets
| and other items that are handy things 10
| have about the house have 10 do with
the mechanical end OF a newspaper. bu,
Just at this time the buyer who dropped
his shopping list has more seriou things
to wonder about. As the cost Of the ar.
ticles listed and other Items too many
to mention continues to climb day by
day he is devoting what little time lie
| has for subjective exercises to wondering
when the boosting of newspaper eA.
penses Is going to stop.
Ever since the rofnentous August 81
l914-especiaily during uhe past six
| months--the skyrocketing Of the prices
OF necessities around a newspaper plant
has gone on with a beauty OF cons stcncy
which arOuses absolutely no Enthusiasm
among publishers throughout the coun.
try who have TO foot the bills. Products
essential to the publication OF news.
papers have jumped In price all the way
from 10 or Is to 5000 and more per
cent.
Prices Going sim Higher.
War, directly or indirectly. is given as
the reason for the enormous Increase IN
the publishers bills. And ~ war seems
likely to continue for some time, so too
the market skyrocketing promises to so
to heights even be! ond the Present
astounding prices. Nowadays II i next
to impossible To obtain market quota
tons for even so short "A time ahead a.
next week."
1t should 10 remembered also that con-
crete INSTANCES of the hish COS, If pub.
fishing given here are the lowest prices
o~btainable, because the publisher buys In
large bulk. He cannot eat in quantity
In fact. war and rumors of moe wa
mean the printing OF papers far f. cNccS
of the output of normal times, which 81"
one. merely one. item OF wa time IN
crease in expenses that the ~thouEut'ess
and uniformed overlook whcu utterr'
the fallacy 80 often heard. 'hc news
I'il"IS Ndl -hIlL AA' tAhAH|Hrs
does not cut IN quality OF material.
Before the war. to begin with, tho '-i'
portant item OF tons upon tons ~ meal
used by the stereotyping and l'no'ynirc
departments In "a great m~etropol.tdh dam
newspaper plant. tho metal. which IS q
composition Of lead. tin and antimory
cost sd cents "A pound. a week ago -.
day II cost lei. cents during tho fore
noon. In tho afternoon the cost was =
cents. A few day later last week q
Was boosted to l3a. cents a pound. t0r
So the kitins goes on. the Increase n cnS'
alone amounting TO thousands OF dollar
"A wear.
The various editions OF nevSpt7e-
cannot, to use "A shop expression, ~
put 10 bed" without blankets arv :n"-
than humans can, And the new spar"
presses must have the blankets 10 s.~.
mer as well as winter--rubber hidi set
hat are wrapped around the press rol.
ers first. Eel; blankets wound ..oyc
on top OF tn. rubber blankets and ,.s'
muslin b%dndaging covering rubber ~
felt. this padding being Necessary j
rectly under the fast moving pupcr .
clean cut printing is 10 Obtain As
quantities % the ordinary army 1~'1,>,'
must he bough: and cut INTO given S4e
for the s%tereuts pers' use,