FOURTEEN MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
Sunday, October 6, 1957
omi
Firsi Publication
In Uniied Stales
Was in Boston
National Newspaper Week is
being observed from Oct. 1
through 8. This week has been
set aside to recognize the news
paper which has become so
much a part of daily living.
The newspaper, defined by
Webster as "a paper printed and
distributed to convey news." is
now so familiar to everyone that
the average newspaper reader
does not think of it as anything
cut of the ordinary.
The newspaper has not always
been with us. The first newspa
per was printed in the United
States was at Boston in 1690
but it was not until the "penny"
4 ' t ,
... ... viv. n 4' - --.
NEWS ROOM Jo Cowley (center), Mail
Tribune reporter, discusses a news story with
City Editor Earl H. Adams (right) in the news
room prior to leaving on his beat to the
county courthouse. In the background is Wire
Editor Harry Chipman who checks all of the
copy released by United Press and comes to
ra - s . ... .. ;'f!f
PAGE MAKE-UP One of the staff in the the size of a newspaper page, the news stories
composing room at the Mail Tribune is Wil- are fitted in to fill the page. The type is then
liam G. Reed, here checking a galley of stories securely locked in and the page is sent to the
in type. Once the ads have been made up in stereotyping department,
tvne and placed in the chase, a steel frame
I J lurn-
I -STAL CYLINDER Don Wetherbee in the of type. The page mat was placed in a cylin-
J.Iail Tribune's printing department, removes drical casting box where hot molten metal
a metal cylinder from the press at the end of was pumped against it. Once locked onto the
a run of 'i".200 newspapers. The metal cylin- press ink was distributed over rollers which
der was cast from a wood fiber and clay mat convey the ink to the page cylinders and then
which contained the impressions from a paga to the paper.
papers of the early 19th cen
tury that newspapers were made
available to the masses.
A newspaper today includes
news from all parts of the
world foreign, domestic, state,
local. Comments on the news are
found in the editorials and
signed columns, with other news
included in sections devoted to
agriculture, religion, society or
sports. News pictures are scat
tered through the entire paper
and advertising occupies from
40 to 60 per cent of the paper.
Step by Step Process
The step by step process that
must be followed before a news
paper is received by the family
includes a marvel of machinery,
business organization, news cov
erage, and fast and clear writ
ing. Gathering, writing, process
ing, photographing and inter
preting the news are the func
tions of the news and editorial
staff of the Mail Tribune. Ten
the Mail Tribune news room by wire teletype.
Chipman edits between 45,000 and 50,000
words of copy and feature material on an
average day and then supervises the make-up
of the newspaper. All local general news
stories flow to the city editor's desk where it
is checked, edited, and receives a headline.
r n
ujewspope!r
persons perform these tasks at
the Mail Tribune.
l. he material produced or
processed in the news depart
ment includes all world, nation-
al, state and local news, photo
graphs, feature articles and col
umns, editorials, communica
tions, reports from Mail Tribune
community correspondents
church directory notices and
stories, grange reports, and a
variety of other material to in
form and entertain the Mail
Tribune's more than 16.000 sub
scribers and their families.
Local Stories
Although the Mail Tribune
has the United Press wire tele
type, many local stories are ob
tained by "beat" reporters who
gather information at the source
and write the story when they
return to the office.
All general news stories flow
to the city editor's desk where
it is checked and edited. Wom
en's news, sports, agriculture
and church, news have depart
ments of their own where the
news is edited by a staff mem
ber in charge of that particular
division in the news room.
From th city . editor's desk
where the story's headline is
written, the news is sent to the
composing room.
Similar Process
A similar process is under way
in the advertising department
where a staff of eight sell space
for advertising in the newspa
per, design and layout the ad
vertisements. In this department
staff members assist the adver
tisers in presenting their mes
sage to the newspaper's sub
scribers in the most attractive
appealing manner.
This, too, is the paper's chief
revenue-producer, enabling all
the other departments to oper
ate.
Classified and legal advertis
ing is handled in a different de
partment from the display ad
vertising. Here the ads are re
ceived either in person or by
telephone.
Business Offic
Another important depart
ment at the Mail Tribune is the
business office. A business man
ager, in charge of the office, co
ordinates the operation of the
news, business, advertising and
production departments, and or
ders supplies and equipment for
the entire newspaper operation.
The bookkeeping department
handles all financial records and
incoming money of the Medford
Printing company which oper
ates the Mail Tribune and radio
station KYJC.
After the news has been writ
ten and the ads completed, it
takes about seven-man hours per
page in the composing room to
get the Mail Tribune ready for
the press.
Never-Ending
The production of news is
never-ending, as soon as one
edition goes to press, work on
the next day's issue starts. In
the composing room personnel
are responsible for setting the
material into type, checking the
tjrpe for corrections (proof read
ing), correcting and assembling
type, and placing It in page
forms.
The first step in the process
is for the linotype operators to
set it into type. The Mail Trib
une has 10 typesetting machines.
In setting the type, operators
press a. series of keys, somewhat
similar to keys on a typewriter
keyboard, and the machine
pumps hot metal against a line
of mats, or matrices, to cast a
line of type.
betting advertisements is a
more complex process. For this
reason advertising copy must be
in the composing room almost 24
hours earlier than news. The
size and variety of type must
first be determined and if a pic
ture is to be used, it must be
made according to certain speci
fications. Assemble Type
Once the type is set it is proof
read and corrected, then make
up men assemble the type ac
cording to plan into a form the
size of a newspaper page.
The Mail Tribune's final
phases of production are stereo
typing and printing. After the
type has been tightly locked
into form a "mat" is made of
each page. This is done by plac
ing a moist, blotterlike cover
over the type and running
heavy rollers over it. This cover
or mat consists of wood fiber,
clay and about 18 per cent wa
ter. After the impressions have
been made, the mats are dried
in a scorcher where temperature
ranges from 350 to 400 degrees.
The mat then goes into the cylin
drical casting box, where hot
molten metal is pumped against
it. It is here that a metal cylin
der impression of the mat is
formed. This is then trimmed
and cut to fit the press cylinder.
Placed on Press
The metal cylinders are placed
on . the press cylinders, where
they are securely locked. As the
press run begins, ink is distrib
uted over form rollers and idling
rollers, which convey the ink to
the page cylinders and so. to
the paper.
The cylinder type press used
by the Mail Tribune is capable
of printing 27,000 papers per
hour when running at maxi
mum speed. The press enables a
a run of 17,200 papers of up to
16 pages to be completed in
about one hour. WTien the Mail
Tribune has two sections it is
printed in two separate runs.
one about 10:45 a.m. and the fi
nal run about 2:15 p.m. Twelve ,
, i, t r s
roils oi paper must De comomea ;
in order to print an issue of 24
pages, the average size. The pa-1
pers come off the press auto-'
matically folded and counted. ,
Now the circulation depart-
ment takes over. It is their job ;
to see that as many persons sub-1
scribe to the paper as possible
and more important, that a copy j
reaches each subscriber soon
after it comes off the press.
In some ways it is the most
complex operation in the paper
nd involves the cooperation of
more people than any other.
Rural Boxes
Mail Tribune carriers place j
papers in rural boxes on several
Week Bs
LINOTYPE OPERATOR Once stories and advertisements are
put together they are sent to the composing room where they
are set into type. One of the linotype operators at the Mail
Tribune is Mrs. Pearl Coverdale who has worked for the Med
ford paper more than 10 years.
CHECKING TYPE Lowell Sorenson, in the composing room
at the Mail Tribune, checks a line of type in a full page ad that
is being made up for an issue of the newspaper. The many pieces
of metal that make up ah ad are fitted into a steel frame, called
a chase, which rests on a "turtle."
MOTOR CARRIER Earl Richardson, director of mail subscrip
tions at the Mail Tribune, also delivers newspapers in the Eagle
Point-Shady Cove area. More than 1,000 subscribers living in
almost every state and many foreign countries receive their
newspapers by mail. The circulation department at the News
paper takes over once the papers comes off the press. The de
partment involves the cooperation of more people than any
other.-
Medford rural routes, and in
Grants Pass, Rogue River, Eagle
Pointy, Prospect, Trail, Cave
Junction. Shady Cove, Butte
Falls and Ashland.
Outside carriers deliver pa
pers in Gold Hill, Central Point,
Jacksonville, Talent, Phoenix
and Ashland, Hornbrook, Hilts,
HOUSE of
North of
Gold Hill
AT
On Display - One of the West's Finest
Collections of Gold Dust and Nuggets
Winter Hours: 9 to 5
Under Founder's Management Since 1930
and Yreka, Calif. The papers
are transported to the cities by
motor carriers on the way to
their routes, with the exception
of California cities where they
go by bus.
More than 1,000 subscribers
living in almost every state and
many foreign countries receive
MYSTERY
Open
Throughout
The Year
bseirv
I . . " :tisw. ...
ADVERTISING Mrs. Beity Minger, one of the Mail Tribune
staff in the advertising department, designs an ad in the display
advertising section. Staff in this department sell space for
advertising in the newspaper, design and layout the advertise
ments. This department is the paper's chief revenue-producer,
enabling all the other departments to operate.
LITTLE MERCHANTS Two of the "little merchants" in busi
ness at the Mail Tribune, Bob Goodwin (left) and Joe La Faive,
protect their merchandise from the rain before starting out on
their newspaper routes. The city carriers, with 80 to 150 sub
scribers each, buy the paper from the Mail Tribune and sell
them to their subscribers.
ECONOMY HITS SAC
Washington OP)-- The Air
Force economy drive has cut
into the Strategic Air Command
for the first time, knocking out
the 91st Reconnaissance Wing at
Lockboune Air Force base near
Columbus, Ohio.
One-third of the nation's traf
fic fatalities occur on open,
straight highways.
their newspapers by mail from
the Mail Tribune circulation de
partment. City carriers deliver their pa
pers by bicycle with 80 to 150
subscribers on a route. The "lit
tle merchants" buy the paper
from the Mail Tribune and sell
them to their subscribers.. Paper
delivering is done after school
on weekdays and between 5 and
7 a.m. on Sundays. The majority
of carriers are junior high
school age.
T)o Something
u bout the
IVeather?
We Have!
"Your TV Weatherman"
KBES-TV 6:00 p.m., Mon. thru Fri.
SP 3-6263
Call any time for the very latest official
weather reports.
U.S. Weather Bureau
Reports
Direct from the Weather Bureau over
KYJC, 12:30 p.m., Mon. thru Fri.
f Monthly Long Range
Summaries
. Phone or write for your copy
No obligation.
FUNERAL DIRECTORS
W. MAIN AT SIXTH
Four Adult Classes
Sponsored by Stale
Four adult evening classej
will be offered in Jackson coun
ty during the fall semester by
the general extension division of
the Oregon state system of high
er education.
All classes will meet in the
Medford High school from 7 to
9:45 p.m. one night a week. First
sessions are scheduled fortha
week beginning Oct. 7.
Classes in "World Problems
and Projects in Writing" will
meet on Tuesday, starting Oct.
8. Classes in art education and
public school administration
have been scheduled for Wednes
days starting Oct. 9.
Additional information may be
obtained from Lindsey Vinsel,
adlt education supervisor, Med
ford High school.