Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-07-14
interesting Succession Of Pro-
cesses, Little Understood or
Appreciated by the Casual
Reader-Mechanical and HUI.
man Elements Enter Into
ASS smbling Of News

Lam an item. a specific class Of
Great array Of news which 10 COL
1eeted from every conceivable source
and gathered i into an issue q the
Ksnnebec Journal to be read at the
. breakfast table by many families.
and my brothers and sisters are
grouped under the special heading of
augusta Locals" We tell of the 60
4rrs and comings of people in our
liz interesting little gossipy
sketches of only few lines. but
which everybody likes to read.
Perhaps you'd be interested to
know Just how we get ourselves in
the paper?
Well. in the first place we may be
telophoned into the Journal once
where some reporter IN always ready,
day or night. 10 jot us down on a
mad. Then again, we may come in a
letter. perhaps just short note,
brought to the Office by someone.
Perhaps we are lying dormant in the
mind of somebody, ready to be
. brought out when one of the Jour-
nal reporters comes along and with
his nose for news proceeds to awak-
zen US to life by few questions.
Next, a long clean sheet of paper
"A. rolled on the platen Of a type
writer and we are written down in
one, two, three order in a newsy
manner. Lots Of times we must be
rewritten to be acceptable. for news
items have style all their own, must
be clearly written and tell a story"
This Is the secret of all news. It
must tell story, clearly, accurately
and briefly.
We are then placed on the City
Editors desk. He proceeds to peruse
us carefully for mistakes in punctua-
ton and English. If we do not suit
his hard to please" taste. he will
delight in using a blue pencil on us,
perhaps only changing a word here
and then again cutting out a whole
line II he sees At. Finally we are in
such fine shape that even the City
Editor can find no fault. We then
90 10 the Night Editors desk. This
managerial person passes a cold and
critical eye over us and upon his
superior Judgment depends whether
we shall meet the gaze of the reader
next morning. All, he passes us by,
thanks be. But no, he pauses, the big
blue pencil comes out and one OF our
number is slashed to unrecogniZa BILE
piN1N'' lhC paper We arc ID I0Gn
folded and we are put into a little
elevator box. A bell rings and we
are whisked away upstairs.
The clack and clatter of linotype
machines comes to us. This is the
news room" or Composing room"
where we must be set into type be-
fore being sent to the press. Some
one takes us and jabs us on a CODY
hook, there TO linger until the call
for copy" comes from one of the
linotype operators. Eventually we
are taken from the hook and 60 to
the operator OF one of the machines
IN the battery. We are placed be-
fore him and he proceeds, letter by
letter. TO click us into type. AS he
strikes each letter a 'lnatrix" drops
down from the fan shaped magazine
above and assemblies into an assem-
bly, box" until a whole line Is form
@ed He then presses n lever and we
ere lifted in an elevator, a line at
Il time, thence the name "lintoype",
to he squeezed against the casting
box whose jaws open up to take us
in, while at the same time a "justi-
flying bar" comes from beneath and
allgns us properly. The plunger in
tho pot then shoots downward and
a stream of molten metal flows into
the casting box against the faces of
the aligned matrixes. The metal
cools almost instantly into a solid
D" line of type, sharp knives shave off
the rough edges and at last the COM
rleted line is poked out through a
little slot and comes to rest beside
p the preceding line.
We are then put on a galley, a
sort of metal tray 50 that we may
te easily handled. An inky roller
slides over our faces and sheet OF
white paper laid over Us as we are
placed In the proof press. The
heavy roller OF the press passes over
and the imprint that we leave Is
called a proof" Into the elevator
asaln We go. downstairs this time,
and eventually come 60 rest on the
proof readers desk. He reads us
20 carefully with the original copy
right beside him IL he misses a
sinale wrong letter we shall reao
wrong when the paper goes TO press
II the linotype operator has mace
any mistakes. it is the proof readers
tch to correct them.
The poof reader has finished. into
the elevator again we go, again up
FNtllSs IL lllClc 81 2 oAS
corded on our proof they are cor
rtcted. IL one letter in line Is
WRONG the whole line must be set
over again.
We are ready now for the make
up man. He takes us one by one
= and places us in chase" which Is
a steel frame. the inside dimensions
of which hold exactly eight columns
or the width of the Journals prlnt-
Cd page. These "chases' rest upon
trucks" at such a height as Is easy
for the workman to work at, anu
the chase" anN truck" together
constitute turtle" AS each chase
is nlled with advertisements and
reading matter and locked" the
turtle" is wheeled on the large eie-
vator and taken down four f1ours TO
the press room.
The "stereotyper" then takes us IN
hand. He places specially pre-
pared wet cardboard over the lace
OF the Chase" This Is pressed on
until the face of the type Is I'M
Pressed on the cardboard. The
cardboard is dried until 1t Is very
stift and at the completion OF this
process 1t is called q mat" or mat
FIX" This matrix Is curled until II
almost circular in shape and
Placed In casting box" OF the same
shape and molten stereotype metai
poured in the box. When cooled the
Circular roll. smooth on the under
SIDE and the opposite OF a news
paper page on the outside. 10 taken
from the box. gone over Thoroughly
ior imperfections in casting ana
smoothed. 1t is then slippedson the