© TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 1919. {Fo It was Edmund Burke, the greatest of English orators, who remarked in the course of an address in the House of Commons that there were three estates in parliament, but in the re- riers' gallery yonder there sat a 'ourth. Estate more important far than they all. : That statement made years ago | 80 powerful as it is today has demon- strated its truth with the passing of years. No organ affects se univer- sally the moulding of public opinion, and newspepers have made and un- | made public men. One cannot con- template the influence which the Lon- don Times, for example, exercised in "years past, when it gained the repu- tation of being "The Thunderer," or during the war when Lord Northcliffe wielded tremendous power in state circles without realizing the powerful effect that the printed page has upon Ahe minds of men. Upon those who llow the profession of journalism 4 fallen the task of either elevating or debasing the thought of those to whom they cater, and, generall speaking, they have measured up their tremendous responsibilities. As in all professions there have been scamps and rogues and self- sécking demagogies, narrow and big- oted, who sought one special end for _self-gratification and in so doing de- lu their readers. ' On the whole, er, the press has been the uni- versal agent for raising the 'stand- ards of the people, for tempering their rash impulses, for presenting two sides of the controversies of the times, for leading the way along the paths of progress and for providing the me of stimulating and instructive enjoy- ment. The services of the press dur- ing the past five years when the col- umng of the néwspavers were devot- ed to the great consuming-task of win- the war canngt be reckoned in gold and the tributes of the greatest statesmen of the day indicate lofty place which the Fourth Estate holds in determining the fate of em- res. 1 14 Yet it is surprismg to note how lit- the general public understands the workings of the great daily news- 'papers. Each night ihegchtyies boys eave the sheets at thei doors, and | they are eagerly devoured and sean- 'med for the latest happenings, but 'there is not one nfan in fen who realizes the time and expense which have been expended to make the per attractive and interesting, Lis really funny to hear some of the [remarks that are' made by the un- nowing about the methods used in neéwspaperdom to compile the news, the chief impression being that the reat difficulty in issuing a sheet is to secure enough news to fill its col- umng dnd that, as a consequence, the { functions when the public press was not nearly | ated. the |, editors are like raving maniacs dur- ing office hours us they plead for stories, On the contrary there is scarcely any business that is more distinctly organized into departments and which uns more harmoniously than the average newspaper office if the Each employee has a definite ial 'task is accomplished everything runs smoothly. As the backbone of the news sper there are the report- ers, for i manifestly the primary function of a newspaper to bring be- fore the readers all the latest local events. It is their duty to set down the happenings without bias and with- out prejudice, and upon the editorial staff devolves the duty of forming opinions upon this or that subject, The duties of a reporter are inter- esting from the time the first item is set down early in the morning until the forms are locked up in the after- noon. The news gatherer is the enty-four-hour-a-day man on the spaper, for he must be ready at any time to respond to a eall from his chief to go forth with all speed to report some happening which will be of interest to the readers of the paper. He must be available to cover a wreck at ome o'clock in the morn- ing, a murder at three, a fire at five, an explosion at seven, an accident at nine, an interview at eleven, and so forth without end. Whether the oc- currence be in the early hours of the morning or late at night the reporter must be on hand to garner in the first news for his paper, and the serfbe is loyal to his own paper above everything else. There is probably no ealling « in which a man is better able to view all aspects of life than that of the profcseional news-gatherer. It is he who comes in touch first hand with those who throng the court rooms day y day, and plead for mercy for their crimes and misdemeanors; it is he who investigates the = complaints of trickery on the part of some selfish citizens; it is he who sees the sorrow when the word is brought of the déath of a dear ome; it is he whe follows the police in their searches in the lowest places of humanity, and in their rotten depths sees how far humanity can fall; it is he who is asoigned to interview the most high in public life; it is he who knows how to control himself when some egotist rebuffs him harshly, and finally it is he whose primary business it is to maintain a cheery demeanour and be as popular as possible with everyone. Like poets, reporters are born, not made, There is an expression in journalistic circles that a professional news-gatherer must have been born with a nose for news. He must be have been carefully deline- |: . LIFE IN NEWSPAPER OFFICE A STRONG ATTRACTION i able to deduce small occurrences and ferret them out until he reaches the { big story. Sometimes this wil) lead | im into all sorts of jar situs- {tions but he must meet "them with { characteristic fearlessness, persuas- {iveness aad persistence for the appe- {tite of the public for something new never appeased. | Nevertheless, it is not to be sup- { work to do and as long #s that spec- | posed that a reporter has no definite {work to do, although the general {opinion js that a reporter simply { walks around the streets with hi {hands in his pockets and a cheery smile, dropping in here and there, {and trying always to stick the pro- { verbial nose for news into every- | body's business. On the contrary, each reporter on the staff has defin- |ite places which he must visit day {after day. For instance there is the | police reporter, v'ho attends the police {court, the superior courts and dred places in search of news day af- fer day. Another keeps his eye on the morgues-and hospitals. Another {will go only to hotels and public in- | stitutions. There will also be re- | porters to cover" the labor halls, prominent gentlemen, educational in- stitutions, the waterfront and so forth. Incidentally, of course, the re- porter is expected to keep his ears open and his mouth shut to learn of anything of general interest which is not likely to be found on the regular beats. Moreover, there is usdally one man on each staff whose special duty it ir to be ready to answer calls for big stories, He is the free-lance and is | generally the best qualified reporter, rzised from the cub stage to the point where he has a finely developed sense of mews value. It is he who interviews without 'end these "who Have any knowledge of a wreck, © a big business oa of specidl meet ings, or any of those stories which have the prominent and coveted posi- tions an the front page. Big scoops, that is, exclusive stories of happen- ings which have been missed by com- petitors, are the joys of 'a reporter's existence. It is this. unquenchable thirst for scoops that gives the zest to a journalist's existence; it is this that carriss him through all sorts of adventures in quest of a story which will mal\: his rivals green with envy, and raise him in the estim#tion of the big chief, the city editor. No twoklays in 4 reporter's life are {the same for asthe world moves around new happenings occur and ne {one can tell what is in store at the { beginning of the new day. Each morn- ing the reporters start out on their rounds and it is the universal rule that the short trips be made unless something hig happens to delay the scribe. At frequent intervals the re- porters retmin to the news room with their stories und the typewriters elick continually a$ the grist is turned out. The unceasing noise is interrupted oc- easionally by the ring of the tele: phone as some friend tips «off the reporter to a happening. These lit- tle acts of thoughtfulness are ap- preciated more than anything else by scribes, who are in constant ter- ror of a scoop béing secured by their live competitors. - When the news has been typed it is "stuck on the hook," that is, it is placed on the desk of the copy reader who checks it over, ctiates it, orders it to be rewritten J cases and generally ps it in shape for the paper. It is "headed" and after it has been completed in the hands of the news editor or city editor it is sent on to the managing editor along with the sheets of tele- phic mews which has been com n over the wires, It is the duty eo the managing editor to look over the' copy as it is sent through to see that it 0 attractively written with catchy headlines and He has 'the general supervision of the make-up of the paper. 4 From the managing editor's office the copy is sent on to the composing room where it is set up in type for the paper. In the Whig office there are five men who work at Linotype machines for this purpose and they handle all the copy that goes into the paper. The machines sre almost human in the work they accomplish, and there is no comparison between this method of machine-setfing and the old way of picking the type out of cases, The operators sit at a key- board and as the characters which are pressed bronze matrices slip down from a magazine above and are aligned to the desired width. ach magazine which holds the matrices, has two faces of type--light and black--but there are different sized letters: available for the magazines. There is the six-point type in two faces; there is the sight-poibt type such as that which is now being read and there gre also ten and fourteen point characters which are bigger still. Soppe machines are capable of holding a8 many as four magazines at the one time and replacements of other magazines can be* made. The Whig machines are capable of turning out copy in any character from six point to twenty-four point simply by turning a crank to bring the different magazines into action. +. 6 point Nght 6 point black 8 point light +s vw +.8 point black 1:10 point light 10 point-black Examples .:.. Characters Available .... ad FB Machines ....12 point light For ......... 12 point black Setting .. . 14 point light The . .... 14 point black WHIG......24 point black After the matrices have fallen into line they are lifted and carried along until they are directly in front of the lead pot wherein there is always mol- ten lead, of which the type-line is made. Here they are automatically spaced to the desired width and a lead acters is made. This impresssion, which can be either ome or two col- umns wide and less than an inch in height, is pressed to the width of one line and drops into & receiver. Mean- while the next line has ben set by the operator and the matrices that were | th, used have been lifted by a Jong arm and replaced in the magazine. FEack matrix has a different lock combina- tion and falls into the right position when a corresponding combination is found on an endless wheel whith ear- ries the matrices forward to their places. When a column of type has been set by the operator it is carried over to a galley where it reposes until a proof or impression is taken of it. These proofs are carried in most of- fices by the printers' devils, who are learning their trade, to the ' proof- readers. In the Whig office the proofs are delivered in compressed air tubes and the devils are relieved of what might be onerous duties. However, other errands are found for them, and it is recalled that some time ago one of the Whig's devils, who was being initiated into the mysteries of the composing room, was sent by the foreman to the city editor, thence to the m ing editor and then to the society dditress who forwarded him to the police station for a bucketful of electricity. Shortly after the de- luded lad returned to the foreman with the information that the police rgeant was very sorry that he could ot fill his pail as the last of their electricity has been used a few min- utes before his arrival. The proofs are corrected By the readers amt it is rare that an experi- enced proofreader permits an error to creep into the paper. The proofs are returned to the composing room, where a new line has to be set by the linotype operators wherever an in- accuracy occurs. The corrected ty, is then sent to the make-up man who has the duty of arranging the stories in the page forms. Each page has impression of the matrix char- | generally definite news to be placed pon 46 For i net: Jhers 250 the local; news pages, spo! ge, the ae for the theatres and military news, the district page wherein is placed the news sent in by country ecrrespondents, and finally the front page, for telegrgphic and other im- portant news, Making up a newspaper is an art in itself and requires considerable skill. As the s all laterally inverted practice needed before it can be read with the same facility as ordin- ary reading matter. The advertise: ments are placed in he paper before any news goes in and consequently there is a constanf demand that ad- vertising copy be sent in early so that the publishers may know how much space to allow for news on the page: After the advertisements have en placed in the forms the news type is inserted and made to fit to the ends of the column by lead spaces, After quotations and other fillers. e page has beén completely filled up it is locked by pressing inthe type closely on every side with blocks, and it is only on rare occasions that a page falls to pieces. At such times there is a general bad temper for it means holding up the issue 'of the paper and they are only equalled when an advertisement comes in late or when a story is sent out just at locking-up time. Many persons who have been kind enough to send in a story which they considered to be worthy of half a col- umn or more haye wondered why they found it "boiled Bown" to a few lines. { Generally the reason is that it either lacks news value and can be express- ed as well in five lines as in twenty- five or that it is too late to be set up by the linotype men. They have only a certain eapacity and if a story comes in late it means that it @annot be set | up when there are half a dozen others waiting on the hapls to be gobbled oy the operators. nerally speaking an editor's great task is mot to find news, but rather to cut down the neves he has found into small space. With the great new press which has been installed by the British Whig, conditions will be greatly remedied. It will now be possible to insert valu- able late news almost up to the last moment that the press rums, as the new mats, the making of which is described elsewhere, can be made without pulling the forms off the uress for the reinsertion of news. Formerly it was necessary to stop the press, bring the forms up on an clevator to ths composing room, in- sert the important news and then ship the forms back to the press 100m: After the paper has been run off k 4 w= x the press iho copies arc forwarded to the 'mailing department and to the nowsboys. The mailers have autos natic machines which place the dames: and addresses upon the papers which | are despatched in bundles to all parts of the world. The mailing. lists are! regularly revised by special clerks in! the circulation department, whose duty it is to insert the names of new subscribers, withdraw others, and generally keep the lists up-to-date. The profession of journalism has its drawbacks, but-there is some-' thing romantic about it which keeps its servants plodding.along day after day. There is the incessant call to put forth one's best efforts in order that one's reputation amongst the profession may be enhanced. A posi- tion "on the desk" or as special wri is the goal to which every y newspaperman aspires, and it'is the possibility of climbing through the positions to the top that induces every reporter to exert himself to the'uts most, The nose for mews lasts as long as life itself, and the public men who get along best are generally those who have had some trai in newspaper work. It is they who ~ understand the situations at a glance and they seldom "ges in wrong," be cause they know just what to give out to the general public. Any reporter' worthy of the name never gives up a story until he gets to thé bottom of it. He carries it to its logical end and only extraordinary circumstances will keep it out of the paper. No one has 2 better sense of honour than the newspaper reporter, and if he consid- ers that a story, no matter how great its news value, is better out of print, his good judgment will not Jermit him, to place it on the hook. He that a newspaper is not the organ of local scandal where reputations ma be raked in the muck and sullied the judgment day. He may I good naturedly at the man whose o sense of news is to ask why the pa- per does not give this fellow a rub or take a shot at that fellow, or de velop into a scandabiongering sheet, but the reporter's duty is merely to, set down facts and not editorial ions. The reporter ks only the truth, and the harder it is for him to get the more steadily he works, It § ge seldom ' is a profession of which one tires, although the incessant days ¢% toil bring their tired moments whey the one desire is to' get away from it all. But once in it there is i that news sense which cannot stifled and which continually calls ope back to the noise of the news room, the printers' ink in the com room and the paper-littered floors the editorial sanctum. After all the Fourth Estate is greatest in more than one sense. - ¥ 5 A LLL EE EN A A NEN ARE EE NAN EEN NEN AANA E NAAN NENA AANA RENNES is A @ueen's Huiversity ii | HF | (Incorporated by Royal Charter in 1841) Bil FACULTY OF ARTS. ge | | FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCE. FACULTY OF MEDICINE, FACULTY OF EDUCATION. THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE. SUMMER SCHOOL. EXTRA-MURAL INSTRUCTION. . Courses are offered leading to the fol- i lowing degrees: ; © ARTS: B.A, M.A, Ph.D. SCIENCE; B.Sc, M.Sc, D.Se. COMMERCE: B.Com. M.Com. | MEDICINE: M.D., C.M., D.P.H.,, D.S¢. EDUCATION: B. Paed., D. Paed. : THEOLOGY: B.D, Ph.D. . < Part of the work in Arts and Education may be carried on by correspondence, and | students in Arts unable to attend the | iter sessions may satisfy the minimum residence lasses at four summer sessions. . The Summer Sohool an 856s Bre open tall stu aan Ll i.e T i Mae aa a St ~ 'ihe equipment ls modern and" constantly expanding: and is, together with certain natural advantages of situation, in- aniple opportnnities for the highest class of work in all ments. oe : " ' By agresment with the Kingston School Board, students _ Twelve fine bulidings, three of which are here shown, in Education are given full opportunities for practice and ob- Tovide abundant facilities for the work of classroom, library, 'servation of methods in the Kingston Collegiate Institute'snd laboratory, The library, contaifing over 76,000 bou +1 Vistorla School, ) lumes and many pamphlets, is one of the best in Canada. The health and physical 'Clinical material for medical students available at four ar af concurs fe fhe ! 'hospitals: Kingston General Hospital, Hotel Dieu, Rock- ad : ations of their profedsiol oro Metallurgical Works, 8 largest In Ontario), the