Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-12-01

ME whole world is in the lhrocS
or a paper famine. Every CON
tlnent il short of newsprint,
and the prices are reaching the
ski In Italy they have mounted TO
$3.50 Il ton, and here in the United
states the open-m market price of news
print is double what ii WAS at the out
break of the war; 1t is so high in Flu
rope that England has cut down the
size of it's newspapers, and France has
reduced its periodicals one half. For
two days of the week the French
dalies do not use more than two pages
each. Italy is also cutting on paper
and in Hungary the use of newsprint
is limited by law. Newspapers of the
highest price may publish eight pages,
only. Those of the next grade arc per-
mitted four pages, while those of the
lowest price can publish only two
pages per issue. There has been a ma
terial reduction in the size of our pa
pers, and the government has put all
newspaper sales and subscriptions
upon a cash basis. No complimentary
or silt copies can now be distributed
and the padding of circulation is not
permitted. The government itself is
using about five times as much paper
as 1t consumes in peace times. Rough
~ speaking, it will take this year one
pound out of every 100 pounds pro-
duced in the United States, and it is
urging tho people to save paper in
every possible way.
This famine is largely. due to. the
war. 1t is impossible to ship paper
from the United States and Canada to
Europe, and some of the big Canadian
mills which formerly supplied the
English periodicals are now sending
their product to us: This As so of the
lar ANa1o %
LORD Northc1iffe, which were estab-
iished by him to make newsprint for
the London Times. Mail and others OF
his periodicals. He is not able to get
shipped 1S,oaa.QQ0 pounds into this
country last year
* x
Another cause OF the famine is the
increased consumption of newsprint
all over the world. New papers arc
springing up in every locality. Japan
is now printing almost as many
periodicals as any western country
of similar size. China has its dailies,
and there has been IL great growth of
newspapers in all parts of the far
east. South America is using moro
and more paper, and it has now one
or, two journals whose crculations
compare favorably with those of
our great city dailies Australia has
more papers in proportion to its
population than England, and the
number of periodical in tho United
States is steadily increasing. Taking
the whole world into account there
are now published something like
10000 periodicals. and their total
year. We have in the United States
dozen cities the dailies of each of
which have subscription list of
more than half million copies daily.
In New. York the daily copies issued
of Philadelphia, Chicago and Boston
have each 100000 and upward. In
1914 the circulation of the Boston
papers was 2,225,0O0 copies per day.
and that city. led Philadelphia and
New York is now issuing four daily
papers for every family liz that city.
Let us stop moment and think
what the above figures mean. The
New York Times has figured that its
average circulation Of 100000 would
make a strip Of paper about 1880 miles
long. Using that average as the
unit of calculation the daily output
of Boston would require newsprint
enough to carpet pathway the
$3.50 miles long. The strip of paper
would reach from Boston 10 Chicago,
and on to San Francisco, and across
the Pacific ocean to Shanghai, and
up the Yangtse river to somewhere
near Hankow in China. Turn it the
other way and 1t would go across the
Atlantic ocean to our troops in France,
and from there to Berlin. and OIL across
Russia to somewhere, in Siberia. II you
could bore right through the earth from
Boston to the other side of the globe
this days output Of newspapers
would more than carpet tho tunnel
to where it came out on the other
side somewhere in Siam or further
India.
But that is the paper output Of only
ono city, and proportlonate demands
are made day in and day out all the
year through In all the cities Of the
United States. and for the 10000
periodicals read by the world The pa
per used Is news print and it. is all
made Of wood pulp of one kind or an
Wood pulp is needed for our weeks
Hes and monthlies as we'll as the dali
lies. The former. have a circulation of
oO.000,000 copies and the latter one Of
100000 copies per issue. The books
and pamphlets we print number about
S7.OO0,0O0 q year. and in addition we
are turning out seven or eight million
pieces Of sheet and book music. Every
pit OF the paper 80 used comes from
the forests. 1t requires men to get