THE NEWSBOY'S FESTIVAL.
Although unkempt looking, rough in manner, boisterous and unmannerly in speech, there is often much that is good in the newsboy, and Mr. Beatty, of the Witness office, keeps a sharp eye after their character and interests. About once a year the office gives them a dinner, or something of the sort, which they attend as one man, or, more properly, as one boy or girl, for some of the "newsboys" are girls. It is one of these occasions which is shown in the picture. The boy standing with his arms full and legs crossed has just been informed that he could "pocket," and now wants to have his picture taken.
Much of the business once done by the newsboys has been taken away by the fruit dealers, grocers, and confectioners throughout the city, most of whom have regular customers to supply. To these the papers are sent by four carts built for the purpose. They are shown in the picture of the building, some of them in process of being laden and others departing with their loads. During the day the number of papers to be sent to each dealer is plainly marked on prepared labels, on which are printed the name and address. These are arranged in order according to the route they are to be taken. As soon as the papers are printed, they are rapidly and securely tied up in bundles, with the label exposed, for the carrier; and in a few minutes after the paper is sent to the press the four carts are swiftly carrying them to all corners of the city. Each driver has a shrill and peculiarly sounding whistle, which is blown immediately before each dealer's door is reached; the bundle is thrown on the sidewalk as the horse dashes by unchecked, and the contents distributed amongst the crowd of customers sure to be waiting for their Witness.
Again, some of the parcels have to be made up for the towns, to which they are sent by railway, through the agency of the Express office. Almost every town in Canada on the railway receives its bundle of papers, and as each new railroad is opened the demand for the Daily Witness to be sent in this manner increases. A large number also go by mail to the remote parts of the country, and in glancing over the mailing lists the person most conversant with the geography of Canada would be obliged to confess that a very large percentage of the names he would there meet was entirely unfamiliar to him.
The manner of addressing papers adopted in the Witness office is to print the names and addresses, with the date when the subscriptions expire, directly on the papers themselves, in red ink. This method has several disadvantages, but these are counterbalanced by the fact that when once the name is printed it can never come off, as is the case when addresses are printed on little slips of colored paper, and then pasted on. In either method the subscribers' names are first set up in columns, under their respective post-offices, these offices being arranged alphabetically for facility of reference. It will be noticed that the post-office is only printed once, and then in large heavy type, the subscribers' names following it in the column. Five of these columns, containing on an average two hundred names, are placed in a "chase" and locked up. There are altogether in the office some three hundred and fifty of these chases constantly in use. They have to be continually revised, at which from two to ten men are constantly engaged. When the mailing time comes the chase which is to be used is inked and placed in the mailing machine, which is shown in the engraving. The machine is worked by the operator's foot. A paper is put under the hammer, as shown, and the treadle being pressed the name in the chase beneath is plainly stamped on the paper. Only the first paper of each parcel has the name of the post-office as well as that of the subscriber. When all the papers going to one post-office have been stamped, they are tied in one parcel and that with the name of the post-office being uppermost, the general address of the whole is known. When the parcel arrives there it is opened, and the postmaster makes the further distribution.
