Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 86, Number 5, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 2 August 1962 — Page 13

Newspaper Pats Out New Product Every Week

The Advance-News is in reality a manufacturing company, putting out anew product three times each week. The steps by which this is done may be interesting to some of our readers.

The Advance-News is printed and mailed on Wednesdays. Then begins the scramble to print next week’s edition. The page forms from the Advance-News are “killed” and ads or news features which will go into another edition are saved. The rest of the metalseveral tons of it are melted down into “pigs” for use during the coming week. At this point, the editor and the rest of the staff wonder if they’ll have any news for next week. Thursday and Friday are spent setting the ads for the next papers. The newspaper owns two linotype machines, one of which sets the larger type used in advertising, and the other the straight news matter. It is on Thursday and Friday when the shop is busy with "job work”. They print cards, tickets, circulars, announcements, stationery. The extra job work helps a newspaper meet its payroll and keeps its machines busy all through the week. The success of a newspaper, as any other plant, depends on trying to keep all the high priced equipment in constant operation.

On Monday morning, we begin to assemble the advertising for the East Farm and Home. This is a free publication which is mailed to 5,700 people in the Lake area of Syracuse, Milford, North Webster, etc. Advertisers find that the pulling power of this publication is most satisfactory, helping to bring traffic into their stores and supplementing their regular advertising program. The East Farm and Home consumes most of Monday’s activity. The many bundles are usually ready for the Post Office Monday night. Then begins the work on the West Farm and Home, which goes to 7,600 readers as far west as Walkerton and up to the rural routes. Some areas to which no local weekly paper reaches depend on the West Farm and Home as an important source of news and advertising. The West Farm and Home usually is all “locked up” ready for the mail Tuesday night. During this time, news articles from various clubs and organizations has been seeping in for the Advance-News. On Tuesday noon, the deluge comes. It takes a good typesetter on our equipment an hour to set a galley of news. By Tuesday, Advance-News linotype operators may have twenty gallies to be set. The staff is always grateful when someone brings in his news before the deluge, when there is more time to work on it. In making up the pages for the Advance-News, arithmetic plays a part. To conform to postal regulations, a newspaper must not publish a newspaper with over 70% of its contents advertising. This puts a strain on a small weekly. Much of the news is old before the paper goes to press, and there are some weeks in which more happens than in others. This is why a weekly newspaper often has to insert matter which is c os little local interest. This is why occasionally, news stories are ommitted when the paper is “tight”. If there is only enough advertising for a ten page paper, then there must only be enough news for that size. Often then some news must be left out. But if there is enough advertising for a large paper (14 or 16 pages), then the staff must really comb every source for enough news to fill all the pages. When it is decided how many pages the Advance-News will be, then the job of dummying the paper comes. Each advertisement must be fit into place, with an attempt to leave each one open enough so thaty ng ad is “buried” by another. TBp-ads are placed first in the page forms. Then the news is set in to fit. Many have wondered why the AdvanceNews doesn’t sectionalize its news have the sports on a sports page, the sosiety news on another. This is hard to do in a small paper. The front page must be filled exclusively with news —some 160 inches of it. If you were to put death notices on another page, wedding stories on still another, etc., what would you use to fill the front page? When the page forms are *U filled, they are loaded on the press. Press time on each of the three printing days is a busy one for everyone. Everyone has to help carry the papers up and stuff the back section into the front. Then the frantic dish fb th* Post Office to get them mailed. /\ Then the ptiftst *Utt #** with mother Wednesday closing

Newspapers Are Necessary As Bread, Milk, Meat By Frank A. White Hoosiers regard newspapers as necessary a part of life as is a loaf of bread or bottle of milk in the home, Elihu Stout ferried what was described as a “shirt tail full of type” to Vincennes on a flat boat to start Indiana’s first newspaper. Lincoln enroule to New Orleans on a flat boat is reported to have seen his first printing plant in Vincennes. Hoosiers should be the best read people in the world, according to newspaper circulation figures compiled by The Hoosier State Press Association. These figures for 1960 show 87 daily. 16 Sunday, 236 weekly, 7 semi-weekly, 3 tri-weekly and 5 college newspapers in the state. Sworn government affidavits of

circulation and Audit Bureau of Circulation reports, show Indiana newspapers have a total circulation of 3,077.004. Maurice C. Gronendyke, Administrative Assistant, Indiana State Chamber of Commerce, a reader of The Hoosier Day in the New Castle Courier-Times, sent me a clipping. It was from the New York. Times, and based on a study of newspapers made by the National Geography Society. The following facts are drawn from this study. FREE PRESS HARD EARNED HISTORY HAS RECORDED The world has about 30,000 newspapers including 8,000 dailies with a total circulation of more than 250 million copies. At onetime however, only three newspapers existed, and they were merely hand written daily notices posted in public places in ancient Rome. The Acta Diurna, Acta Seritatus and Acta Publics : -gave l official news to the late ROthan Republic and earty Empire. The first Chinese newspaper was a court gazette founded in the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 638-907). It survived until the 1930’5, spanning the ages from handwriting to printing from blocks and then moveable type. The introduction of printing from movable type in the mid15th Century spurred the development of newspapers in Europe. News sheets were issued irregularly in Nuremberg, Augsburg and Cologne early in the 16th Century.

A monthy printed newspaper, Notizie Scritte, appeared In Venice in 1562 as an expansion of the old daily notices. The Venetian paper sold for one small coin, a gazzetta, a word that soon became synonym for newspaper. Seventeenth century authorities did not look kindly upon newspapers. The AllemeiHe Zeitung appeared consecutively in Leipsig, Tuebingen, Stuttgart, Ulm and Augsburg, in its efforts to keep one jump ahead of the censor. HEAVY CENSORSHIP OP 00% EARLY NEWSPAPERS The first newspaper published in colonial America also ran into censorship problems. On sept. 25, 1690, Benjamin Harris inued in Boston his Publick Occurences. Both foreign and Domestick to be “furnished once a month (or if any glut of occurence happen, oftener.”) Four days later the Governor banned the first and only number because it contained “reflections of a very high nature” and “sundry doubtful and uncertain reports.” The first continuously published American newspaper was the Boston News-Letter started by John Campbell in 1704. In that day of personal journalism, Mr. Campbell could write of a rival. “I pity the readers of the new paper, its sheets smell stranger of beer than midnight oil. It is not reading fit for people.” Hie Tory News-Letter expired in |7T6. Colonial taverns kept newspig>ert on hand as amenities. They ajso served as aids to literacy. For more than three centuries Newspapers were turned out labofrotisly in small numbers op hand presses. |n 1914 the Lofcdon Times installed the ftrtt steampowered printing press. LOT* OF MILES Last week, the Advance-News and. the Farm. end . Home Mews consisted of 42 pages gfaiitt to mm nm tm*. * • page wore laid end to end, they'd slr ? tch 242 ptilf?.

Seventeen People Work On The Advance - News

The Advance-News employes 17 persons. All of them live Ift Nappanee. Counting wives and children, there are 47 persons living here who depend on weekly paychecks from the local newspaper. Three men, Joe Zally, Larry Segraves, and Ted Fairfield, handle the advertising for the Ad-vance-News and the two editions of the Farm and Home News. This entails the selling of the ads and the laying out of most of the copy, for proper presentation to the typesetters. Don Nichols is the editor, whose job it is to gather, edit, compile the news. Barbara Stouder and Carol Burris work in the office, keeping the records, taking the news over the phone and placing the classified ads. Mrs. Feme Long assists, especially on Saturdays, and Rosalie Hepler helps with the mailing of the papers. In the back shop, Lloyd Becker is foreman. Marvin Schmucker, Wayne Becker, Chuck McFall set up the ads after the type has been set, work on the presses. Wally Dluzneski, Bill Lancaster, and Ron Vice are the main linotype operators, setting both t|ie news and the ads. Joe Schmeltz works on the big press, and Phil Honeycutt casts the mats ahd melts up the lead. All are capable of a variety of jobs, making for a good team operation.

Equipment Os Newspaper Is Fairly Complete The Advance-News has a fairly new press. It was purchased new from the Goss Printing Company (for about $20,000) seven years ago. It is a flat-bed press. This means that the page forms are not cylinders but lie flat on the press bed. Rollers then cross these forms for each impression. The Advance-News can print eight standard sized pages at a time. Thus, if the newspaper contains more pages, it is necessary to run two sections. The press prints about 3,000 papers an hour. The Advance-News buys its newsprint in roll form which, at the present time, comes from Arkansas. It arrives on the B&O in a freight car three or four times a year. Some 50 tons arrive at once. There are different sized rolls, one for a Mo page section, four page, six page, or eight. Most of the newsprint rolls are stored presently at Curtis TV. The Advance-News has two other presses. One is a “Kelly”, which is older than most persons in Nappanee. The Kelly is an old reliable press which can print single sheets. The AdvanceNews uses its Kelly for printing of page circulars. However, there are still some small weekly newspapers which are being printed in their entirety by a Kelly. The other press is a small hand fed press, useful for printing stationery, cards, posters, etc. In addition the Advance-News equipment includes a Kastor, which transforms the molten lead into plates cast from mats. Two new pieces oL equipment which the present owners have purchased are a folder, which saves time folding circulars, etc., automatically, fend a Scan-A-Graver, which is an electronic device to make plates from prints of pictures.

What Kind Os Man Was He, This Tom Myers By D. E. Nichole It Is Interesting and a little bewildering to follow a man ybu never knew. We purchased this newspaper as a result of the death of Tom Myers. So all we know about him is the many varied reports from people who admired him or disliked him. We know his widow well. She has been a great friend to us. Through her we are certain that Tom Myers was a fascinating person. Her life with him was one of constant stimuljatipji., She needed nothing else as lon| as yho haH l|im Checking through correspondence and files left we are Struck fay hi* business aeemen. Hi knew hew to Sake, money, something all of : us, whether we admit it or not; admire. We wish we could develop his ability to operate a Newspaper property as profitably as he did. But what kind Os person was to? Therer* eum jw ptt nto controversy, for Tom Myers apparently thrived on cuptroy^.

People recall his clothes—different than anyone else’s in Nappanee. Did he wear different outfits for effect? Probably. Did he roll his own cigarettes for effect? Possibly. We’ve read his first newspapers in Nappanee. The shameful school situation, was one in which he delighted. He built up the controversy and .encouraged it. Apparently the circulation of Ids paper soared. He was ja - {great promote!*. He was able, tq help the merchants by the various gimmicks he worked out. Many give him credit for the Successful Sidewalk Days promotion. V , There were many Who were mad at him. When we first came here, there were a few that resubscribed to papers cancelled because of their, feelings toward this man. On the other hand, many say “The Advance-News isn’t nearly as interesting as it was when Tom Myers had it.” We’ve tried to analyze this, and the analysis is frustrating, Is it beoause we don’t print the fact that so-and-so was arrested for drunken driving? That’s part of it. .

One thing we know about this man is that he was a prodigious worker. To be a newspaper man, you have to work hard. He could work at preparing the news, laying out the ads, running the presses. His hours, people recall, were strange. He seldom got started until noon and then might spend all night at the shop. Every day someone comes jnto this office and talks about Tom Myers. The present publishers only wish they could have been as interesting to as many people. Some regard him as a “character”, some feel that he was their fearless champion, some hated his guts. It was not until he died that many people realized just how varied was his career and what a full and varied life he had led. The ghost of this man still haunts us. Hundreds of people have told us good and bad things about him. Their reports are full of conflict. He appears as different persons in various reports. We used to bristle when someone would say, “Tom Myers would have done differently” Now we wonder if we would have liked him. Probably. Would we have admired him? Partially. We’ve pieced so many different versions of his character together, and the whole effect is a gigantic puzzle, full of conttadictions. r -•* We still ask, “What kind of a man was he?”

Advance - News Is 83 Years Old The Advance-News has been in business in Nappanee for 8$ years. A result of a merger between two newspapers, it has enjoyed continuous publication all that time. A recent publisher of the newspaper, Harvey Field, is still the owner of the present building. Ife sold the newspaper to Tom and Rita Myers in 1952. Mr. Field had an advantage over both Mr. Myers and the present owners in that he could effectively operate every piece of equipment in his plant. Mr. Myers and the present owners had to depend a great deal more on trained help. After the death of Tom Myeras, in December of 1960, Mrs. Rita Myers offered the newspaper for sale. There were several interest?ed people including the present owners who moved from Chicago' and purchased the paper in March, 1961.

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PRINTING • ti For invitations and announcements that are always socially correct and perfectly printed, see NAPPANEE NEWS 156 W. Motet St. Pbom 27 ■ 'Ui. i

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Phil Honeycutt shown beside the press. This particular roil of i-■ " ' ' ' •'. piper shown is enough for six pages at a time.

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Joe Schmeltz runs the press and takes off the new papers as they are cut and folded. This press runs about 3,000 papers an hour.

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Walter Dluzneski sets the type for the ads. This includes the larger type found in tbe big grocery ads.

WISE SHOPPERS TURN TO THE Tin ■ _ ADVANCE-NEWS WANT ADS I ] \ MRST!

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Ads nearly always mean bigger savings. The easy way to shop? You bet —as easy as sitting in your armchair and talking on the telephone. Be wise —shop our Want Ads this very day!

WISE SELLERS TURN TO OUR WANT ADS, TOO! Wise people who have something to sell know that when wise people want to buy, they check our Classified Section first so wise sellers just naturally turn to Advance-News and place their "For Sale" ads here! Besides, our Want Ads cost so very little for such very fast results!

No matter what it is you want to buy ... a 1908 auto or a 1962 automatic appliance . . . you'll probably find it faster if you check our Classified Section first. And, what's more, items sold through the Want

THORS. AUG. 2,1962

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Chuck McFall is putting a page together prior & printing.

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Foremen Lloyd Becker shown with his brother Wayne as they prepare one of the large advertisements.

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Ron Vice works at the keyboard of the smaller linotype machine. This one is used primarily for setting of the news.

If For fast Results J pIREADandUSE PpWfINTftDS., ||yTOULARjY!|

NAPPANtt ADVANCE-NEWS

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