The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1919-04-15
WARNS AGAINST PRINTER FAM
BY W. J. Calvin,
Publisher Lima (0.) Times-Democrat


are they taking any steps to remedy
the situation7
About 20 years back, when / was
first working at the trade seriously,
every boy in jamestown loafed at
the Journal office and became more
or less a printer. We have dozens
of good printers working over the
country today who learned their
trade in the old Journal office. Some
of them hold high positions; can
think of two or three who are man
aging editors of big papers; one who
is national celebrity and drawing a
$25, 900 salary besides fat commits
sion on his business; and many good
printers, one of them employed on a
newspaper in Dayton making good,
as he has always done.
Yet we haven't had a boy learn
the trade in the past five or six years.
Now the boys of the village hang
around the garages; they earn a
couple Of dollars a day driving for
someone who is too timid to drive
car himeslf, or for some reason can
use boy temporarily. They earn
much more money, but never learn
a good trade, for few of them be-
come mechanics.
In Lima we have had a regular
famine in printers in the past year.
1t wasn't all due to the printers 60
ing to war, for out of our own plant
not man in the mechanical depart |
ment went, because most of our men
have been with the company many
years and their average age is
little higher, perhaps than the mil
itary age.
The unions insist on there being
no more than one apprentice to each |
four men in any department, and
there are few boys anyhow who want
to learn. 1t is up to the country
offices, therefore, to make their own
printers. l want to call this to the
attention of country publishers be-
cause have seen it coming for some
time-this shortage of printers. We
must do something to get the boys
interested as they used to be, and in
return we will be able to teach them
trade that is today second to none.
Also | want to urge every publish
er of a weekly paper to get the
money Charge a decent price for
your space. Make subscribers pay
for their paper. We had a regular
housekeeping in our jamestown
plant about a year ago when paper
got so high. We went over our sub
scription lists, sent out six letters,
about two weeks apart, and as a re-
suit cleaned up our list until today
there isn't such thing as delin-
quent subscriber. We lost some,
tits true, but they gradually came
back and notice in the reports our
subscription cash account is getting
a little better right along
1t seems hardly necessary to say
all these things to the country pub
Usher of Ohio. In Northwestern Ono !
there are a bunch of weekly news
paper publishers making money.
Paul Cochran, of Spencerville Journ-
al News; young Biery, of the Bluff
trade that is today second to none. I,
ton News; Ben Yale, and Others; all
are handling their business on bust
ness basisf charging for what they
do and standing as marked success
es in their community. / envy them.
The happiest times ever had were
spent on the old Journal at James
town; worked for years promising
myself that if ever got to a GER
tain point financially, l will go back
to that old weekly paper and again
get away from the thousand and one
cares of managing a daily newspaper.
Don't let anyone ever convince the
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