It was now almost time for the last edition. The story of the accident had been made much longer, for Larry, Mr. Newton, Smith, and Robinson were sending in new details. They were quickly set up, and the type was placed in the forms. The picture was also put into the place it was to occupy on the front page.
Then the form was covered with wet papier-maché, which was pressed into the type while soft, and baked on by means of steam, under a heavy weight. When the “matrix,” as it is called, being a piece of cardboard with an exact reproduction of every letter in the type, or every line in the picture, was ready, it was rushed to the stereotyping department. There a lead plate, curved in a half-circle, was made from it, and this plate, with a dozen others, each one representing a page of the Leader, was clamped onto the presses.
The machinery was adjusted, and the press started, the papers being printed at the rate of many thousands an hour. Thus the last edition came out, about two hours after the accident, with a picture of the scene, and the exploded tank. It was up-to-date newspaper work.
“Well, I guess we’ve done about all we can to-day,” remarked Mr. Newton, addressing his helpers. “We’ve covered everything I can think of. I guess we beat some of the other papers. Haven’t seen any of them around here yet.”
“It certainly was a bad accident,” remarked Larry, who had never before seen such a terrible one.
“This isn’t so much,” spoke Smith. “You should have seen the one over on the Jersey meadows, when nineteen were killed by the train in the fog.”
“That’s right,” replied Robinson. “That was something of an accident.”
“I don’t want to see any worse than this,” said Larry. “This will last me for a while.”
“Shall we go back now?” asked Smith.
“I guess so,” responded Mr. Newton. “Tell you what you might do, Larry: get an interview with the head of the gas company. We can work it in to-morrow. Ask him how he accounts for the accident, have him explain how the gas could leak into the tank, and how a spark could be struck. It will be a good feature, if you can get him to talk.”