Evening star., 1952-01-01

been entered upon when it was,
and by just such reSolute, ener-
] getic men, it would never have
Z been done. The city would have
!, ,Idrifted into a chronic, hopeless
state of seediness, unthrift and
/ premature decay; without pride,
!, self-respect or ambition, the Scoff
of visitors, receiving the cold
!, shoulder from Congress and invit-
| ing by its shabbiness a continual
Iagitation of the capital-moving
project to the detriment of busi-
{. ness and the utter prostration of
all real estate improvements from
want of confidence in, the future
of the CITY,"
Mr.. Shepherd Leaves Washington
| Alexander Shepherd sold his in
terest in The Star to its other
owners in 1874 and went to Texas
to drill for oil. The fight for the
city went on. What had been ac-
: complished in few years by the
drive of a few individuals had to
be placed on a permanent basis
| through a realistic sharing, OF
Washington's financial burden be-
tween the local and national gov
Iernments. The $3.50 partnership
which The Star advocated became
la reality in the Organic Act OF
1878. 1t provided a working ar
arrangement that was to last Az
: years, bringing about the develop
ment of the modern capital.
AS time passed, the city and Its
newspaper prospered and grew
In 1881, in search of larger quar-.
ters, The Star moved across Penn
lsylvania avenue to its present site
: The narrow, marble-fronted four
story old structure had served al
various times as a candy factory, a
drugstore and an Office building
Almost as soon as the move was
made. it was realized that more
room would be needed. Plans were
7 drawn up for an annex to house
the composing and press rooms
The marble section of the present
Star Building. fronting on Penn
Sylvania avenue, was built in 1900
1t was looked on. in that day, as
among the finest newspaper
plants in the world.
even this building became
, wholly inadequate in the course
of time. A nine story annex,
more than doubling the size of
the plant, was completed in
1929
II These tangible evidences of de.
!: velopment were brought about
i partly by the rapid growth of the
r city and partly by the revolution
in newspaper publishing methods
since 1852.
!, The Star had been born at the
; beginning of that revolution. Al
: mid-century, the telegraph was ir
r it's infancy. Before the opening
LOT the Civil War, it was in com.
mon use by newspapers and pres.
t associations. In replacing thu
slow mails. the telegraph did more
1 than just speed up news trans.
I mission. The high cost of mes.
lsages put a premium on terseness
> Expansive, long -winded essay.
2 type discussions of news events
r characteristic of more leisurely
EZRA, gradually disappeared.
l The first Star was printed by
! hand on flat-bed press. Eacl
). page had to be printed on on,
t side, turned over and printed
again. Within few years, tn,
i double cylinder, steam driver
e press speeded up the process
i greatly. And since both sides O
!. the sheet were printed simulta
] neously, late news. replacing lit
e erary items and advertising, coult
q be placed on the front and bacl
! In the last quarter of the cen
{ tury, the changes crowded In fast
9 The typewriter, perfected in 1874
! soon was put into use, despite tn
resistance of older reporters VIII
continued for many years t.
{ scrawl their copy out in longhand
The Star was an early custome
+ of the city's first telephone ex
change, established in 1879. With
$ in a short time, special lines con
+ nected the Office with the Capito
and City Hall. At first, however
t the telephone was used only fo
j emergencies. Reporters still has
& their own copy boys hustling sto.
sIries to the newsroom before dead
cline.
The revolution reached It's peal
Min 1886, when German watch
clmaker named Ottoman Mergen'
3 thaler demonstrated the linotyp'
: machine. Seven years later Thu
: Stars composing room wa
elequipped with a battery of thes,
omachines. Type that had takei
nlhours to set by hand could snov
tbe set in matter of minutes. B.
d the end of the century. The sta,
d with new high-speed presses scolllt
Il turn out 16-page papers at tn,
slrate of $4,000 an hour. JOSEPH
Tate's first. four-page edition
e|could have been set in less thar
{ an hour and printed. at las