Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, June 19, 1889, Page 2

THE OMAHA DAILY BEE: WEDNESDAY JUNE 19, 1889-~SIXTEEN PAGES. m——_———_—_———m ‘ i . HER UNE 19, spacious, well lighted hallway, or the vesti- bule that separates it from the stereotyping room. Tho magnificent proportions, and superb light and ventilation jmpress one upon the entrance above all other things. The light enters the room from the north, cast and south through twenty-two very large plate glass windows, and perfect ventilation is secured through half a dozen circular ventilators that pierce the wall on the south side of the room and into the great court. Considerable light also enters the room through transomson the west side, One of the finest birdseye views attainable 18 had from the windows to the north and eust. The greater part of the south side of the composing room overlooks the exquisitu awhite walls of the court in the center of the dbuilding. Through the large plate glass windows glimpses of the magnificent propor- tions of this delicately molded and fiely fin- ished work of art are enjoyed. The ‘‘intelli- gent compositor,’”’ as he works away at his case, lovks out upon beautiful de- signs 1n stucco ornamentation, SNOW- white pilastors, semi-circular arches and inteilaced Moorish fret-work, —with French detail and ornament. The elfect 18 at once bewildering and entrancing. In the northeast corner of the room 1is a fire-proof vault. The editorial rooms abut tha enst end of the composing room. The only means of communication between the two departments are two small openings. The dimensions of this composing _room af- ford ample space for 100 cases. Fifty-eight double case iron frame type stands are now arranged on the main_ sides of the walls with imposing stones, galley racks, etc,, ar- ranged in the center of the room. On the south side of the room, enclosed by an iron screen, is the adverlisement department, and communicating with the edi‘orial rooms, arethe desks of the superintendent and foreman. Krom this room speaking and pneumatic tubes and electric beil lead to the counting room and other parts of the build- ing, Harry Haskell is supermtendent, and ¥. M. Sprague and H. W, Pinney are day and night foremen respectively. Mr. Haskell has been connected with Tug Brg for seven- teen years. In "conncetion with the composmg and stereotyping rooms are well-appointed cloak and wash rooms, and ample toilets, These rooms are at the west side of the building, adjoining the stereotyping room, and, in point of arrangement and finish, can not be “excelled. The Stereotyping Room. J The stercotyping room which connects with the composing room through a vestibulo 8x12, is by all 0dds the most superb newspa- per stereotyping shop in America. Iv is su- perior in every respect to any room designed for this purpose. With two fronts lighted by large plate glass windows that can ibe thrown open atany time, it has unequaled ‘facilitios for lighting and throwing off the fgreat heat that is always generated during jworking hours. The floor 1s covered with tboiler iron rivetted and screwed down upon .an oak floor. In one corner it has a vault for storing material and supplies. Lighted by electricity, with an amvle supply of water for nll purposes, and immediately con- nected with ample toilets, the stereotypers of Tue Bee are surrounded by every possiblo convenience which would in any degree facilitato their work. Tue Beg stercotyping rcom is fitted up with all the necessary machinery in dupli- cate to guard against accident. M. J. Buck- ley is the foreman in cnarge. Under him are expert workmen, who have made re- markable time in molding the plates, Tho usual time required from the molding to the finisning of a sngle plate is fifteen minutes, but 1t has_been lowered on several occasions by Tue Bk force to eight min- utes. Facts About the Building. The construction of the building was be- gun as stated elsewhere, on October 1, 1887, by the Bee Publishing company, which at that time owned tbe ground. On January 28, 1883, about $40,000 had been expended in the construction of the sub-bascment and basement. The property was sold to the Bee Building company at an appraised valu- ation for the ground of $132,000, being $1,000 per front foot, and the Bee Building com- pany also reimbursed the Bee Publishing company for the amount already expended. The Bee Building company which now owns the Bee building was incorporated under the laws of Nebraska with an author- lzed capital of half a million dollars. The inco-porators were Edward Rosewater, Max Meyer, Geo. B. Tzschuck, Bruno Tzschuck, Henry A, Haskell, The officers of the company ars - Edward Rosewater, President; N. P. Feil, Secretary and Treasurer, Board of Directors—Edward Rosewate) Max Meyer, Andrew Rosewater, George B. Tzschuck and N. P. Feil. The cost of the building complete, inclua- ing all machinory and electric light plant, will approximate 440.000. There are about nineteen miles of electric wire in the building, 1,800 clectric lights and 1,600 gas jots, The power for presses, dynamos, sterco- typing machinery, etc., is furnished by two new Corliss engines. In the east and south front there are 140,- 000 pressed brick and about 1,000,000 brick of other kinds in the entire building and 18,000 feet of encaustic tiling. Of the ten strictly fire proof buildings in Omaha the Bee building is the only one that has polished plato glass windows in all out- side walls. The floors of the first, second, third and fourth stories arc of three inch seasoned quarter sawed oak with black walnut and oak borders. About 100,000 feet of flooring was used in the building. The upper floors are of narrow hard pine with walnut bor- ders. _Pneumatic tubes of the most improved de- signs lead from the office in the first floor to the composing rooms in the seveath There arc 465 windows in the outside walls of the building, of which sixty are in the court. Allof the glass in the interior and _exterior windows is polished, chipped and hammered plate, Sixty-five thousand vitrified paving bricks were required to cover the roof and 150 bar- rels of Portland cement were required to lay the brick. The Bee building is the first structure of any kind to occupy the corner lot at kar- nam and Seventeenth strects. The 66-foot Iot adjoining on the west, covered by the west half of the building was for years occu- pied by the residence of Mr. Rosewater. There are 850 tons of structural iron, 24 tons of sash weights, 143 carloads of tiling, and 1005 tons of eranite usedjin the coustrue- tion of the building. The editorial floor is at an altitude of 100 “eet above the level of the river. _Over forty-eight contra were made and signed by Mr, Rosewater in the construction of the building. A large fountain of artistic design will oc- cupy the centre of the tiled court floor. There are 187 ofices and rooms, greatand small, not including toilct rooms, meter rooms or janitors’ closets. The largest room is 8Ux44 feet and the smallest 8x15. The plumbing, gas and drainage works rank among the finest and largest jobs of this kind in the west. No building in Omaha ean be compared with the Bee building in point of thorough- ness and finish of its plumbing work. The Durham system of wrought iron dra o0 is used and is carried out complete in every partof the building. Beside this there arc special ideas illustrated in this building which are entirely original. There are between one hundred ana fifty and two hundred marble wash stands, about seventy-five water-closets and nine lava- tories complete ia every detail. Some idea of the extent of this work may be had when it is considered that there are about fifteen miles of pipe laid in the structure, Every detail has been closely watched—and nothing has been left undone which mechanical skill and ingenuity could devise to make the job perfect. The Umted States flag fioats for the first time to-day from a 50-foot staff above the building. Y The smole stack reaches a height of 140 feet above the e wall, isaleven feetin diameter, and is of octagon shape. 1t 1s pro- vided with an ample air-draft and a patent smoke consume 1t is lined with fire brick up to within forty feet of the top, and orna- mented with terra cotta cappings. The door locks were specially designed for Tue Bee. The knobs are minature bee hives and the top of ench escutcheon is also of the some design, They are made of Bower Balff iron. Branch Offices. Bee maintains branch offices in New Washington, Chicago, Lincoln and Council Bluffs. The latter was the pioneer branch, having been established in 1881, A page of the puper is devoted to Council Bluffs news and advertisements, Mr. H. W, Tilton, the present manager, lias had charge of the ofice for nearly seven years, and has been remarkably successful both as a news- gatherer, writer and solicitor. This depart- ment of Tne Bee did more to advance the material interests of Council Bluffs and ad- vertise 1t throughout the country than all its own papors. ’l‘hle Lancoln office was started in 1882, Al Ewan is now in charge of the oftice,which is located at 1020 I street. The Chicago oftice 1s located in room 567, Rookery building, in charge of Mr. A. G. Richardson. ‘Washington office, 513 Fourteenth street, is in charge of Mr. Perry S. Heath, The New York ofice, rooms 14 and 15, Pribune building, is managed by Mr. A. G. Tne York, B2 SBOOND OFFICE OF THE BEE, 016 FARNAM STREET, 1872-9, EARLY TRIALS AND TRIUNMPHS From the Travail of Infancy to the Sunshine of Prosperity. FORMER HOMES. A Mighty Struggle Crowned with Suc- wess—The Annual Expenses of the Bee—Circulation of Daily and Weekly. THE BEE'S The first copy of Tre Ber was issued from a two-story frame house, which up to within two months stood on the southeast corner of Dodge and Twelfth streets. Tho building was owned by the Redfield brothers, The basement was the repository of a hand- cylinder press and quarter medium Gordon. The first story was subdivided mto two large rooms, each about eighteen by twenty, was fillad with job ofice material and news cascs, whilo the upper story was leased out for lodging apartments to printers, From this building Tie Dariy Bee was issued during tho first three montlis of its infantile existence. On a lot adjoining the Redfield Brothers job ofice to the south stood another two- story frame, with a wooden bascument and front porch. Just before Tits Bxr: had been launched into existenco this building had been occupied as the fourth rate hotol known us the Cedar Rapids house. In September, 1871, this building was leased by Edwar Rosewater and converted into a polyglot printing house. The Beo- bachter am Missouri, with its entira plant, including a small_job ofice, had been pur-: chased by Mr. Rosowater and converted from a democratic into un independent r publican organ. A full dress and all neces- sary cquipments were also purchased for the Pokrok Zapadu (Westorn Progress), a Bohe- mian weekly founded by Mr. Rosewaeer in the interest of immigration. last but not least Tiig Beg ostablished its first business office and type room in this building, utilizing the Redfiold brothers printing press in the adjoining building for its press work. On June 11, 1873, the 1o office, including the building and ull its contents, were destroyed by an icondiary fire. An entirely new plant, including news and job type for Tnr Bre and the Beobachter and Pokrok was bought principaliy ou credit at Cincinnati and St Louis, and moved into the two- story and basement brick builiing on Farnam street, between Ninth und Tenth, which had been erected by Mr. Rosewater in 1509, and_was then owned by him. In this building Tie Bee and its German and Bo- hemian annexos wer quartered with an abundance of space. KFor six years Tk BEg continued in these quarters without ma- struck off at Redfleld Brothers' job office, of which about 300 were laid upon the seats at the Acudsm§ of Music, and the remainder :ufi distributed froe in the storos and otels. The name of H. Geralde appeared at the head of the col of paragraphs as editor and publisher, {' fl The Real was Edward timo manager isher and Founder water, who was at that the Atlantic and Pacific tol- egraph lines an thheld his name to avoid disagreeable n oty in connection with what_he then rdod asa_venture that would not surviyd pixty days. No prospectus was issued, but following brief announce- ment was made e first number: NOTICH 0 THE PUBLIC. Attentlon is difected to the Special Tele- graphic Dispatches of THE OMARA | con- taining the latest ntellizence up to the hour of going to press. hly condensed, the Telegraph new fre witl, it 18 to bo hoped, afford some evidence, in addition to othier novelties, that the Editor of this Journal 1s determined fo deserve success in a hitherto untrodden fleld of journalistio effort, To the Omana public, ever prompt to rocognize ente prise, 18 thus prosentad, free of caarqe, what may, Without exagzeration, be called the recti- ssence of diurnsl history. The ‘“‘essence," so callod, consisted of two- thirds of a column of telegrams from home and foreign points, equal to one-thira of a column of the present Brz. The First Avproach to newspaper form was made early in the sueceeding montn by transforming the the atrical dodger into a four pago sheet. On the the paper was enlarged to doublo its original size, making it 21xi0 inches, and the price of subscription made 124 cents per week, or 50 conts per month. Tho name of B, ater, editor and pro- prietor, was substituted for that of H alde, who 1 been mereiy a figuren During the month of August T B again enlarged by the addition of one col- umn to each page, and on September 0, the first number of Tur WeekLY Bre was is- sued. The First Home of the Beo was in the Redficld building, a frame wkich stood on the southeast corner of Twelfth ana Dodge streets. All material necessary for the publication of the paper were owned by the Redfield brothers. On the 6th of May. 1872, T Bre was again enlarged, this time to double its size, and the publication ofice removed to 510 (old number) Twelfth strect, two doors south of the original ofice. ‘l'he proprietor had purchased anew dress of type, but the presswork was done in the Redtield building ona Cincinnati drum cyhinder press, oper- ated by hand. This press, now owned by the Columbus (Neb.) dournal, was worked by Archie Richmond, a_muscular colored man, and when Richmond was in prime con- dition from 700 to 00 impressions, or from 350 to 400 papors w Destroyed by Fire. in the morning of June 11, 1872, Tn (I, turaod off in an hour | while the papers in the Assoc =3 e T RECONSTRUCTED OFFI never been e& ed, much less excelled by any paper in joago or St Louis. Sinve that time illustrated supplements and trade reviews nave become distinctive features of Tar Ber, and have done more than any one agency to advertise and proclaim tho pros- perity of Omaha to the world, The Second Important Event in the history of Titr Ber occurred on the 18t of February, 1878, when the Beo Publish- g company was perfected and the building and grounds, plant and good will of the paper turnod over toit. The articles of in- corporation, signed by Edward Rosowater, Andrew Rosowater, A. R. Souer, Henry A\ Haskell, Alfred Sorenson and Edwin Davis were filed with the county clerk January 15, 1878, The capital stock was limited to $100,- 000, but_only £10,000 was issued. A commit- tee of the new company invoiced the stock material and subseription list o the paper at 831,881.02, The value of the ground and building was placed at £10,000, making a total of $i1,881.02. The company purchased the property for §40,000, and issued stock to Mr. Rosewater in pay- ment, giving him a controlling interest. The first board of directors consisted of Rose- water, G. W. Lininger, Max Moyer, Edwin Davis and A. Rosewater, Mr. E. Rosowater was elected president of the company, and given completo control of the polioy and management of the paper. Both positions he holds to-day, and owns nearly four-fifths of the stock in the Bee Publishing company. The ecapital stock of the Bee Publishing com- pany now consists of 400 shares, £250 cach, or a total of §100,000. The organization of the company placed Tre B On a Sold A mortgage debt of pundation, 18,000 was liquidated, and a balance of read cash placed in the treasury to meet immediate demands. The change brought with it great improvements n the paper and machinery from time to time, to meet the demands of tho publie. Now type was ndded and a double eylinder Hoo press with folders attached supplanted the old Babcock job press. Then another double-cylinder Hoe pross was added. Step by stepthe paper reached a metropolitan rank, “The morning ana evening editions were en- largea from four to cight pages. In 1851 a Council Bluffs department was added, fol- lowed in 1855 by the establishzient of a news bureau at Lincoln, and the ewpioyment of correspondents in Washington, Chicago, and in the principal towns of Towaand Nebraska. Karly in June, 1830, the morning edition grew to such proportions that a force of writers and printers entirely indepondent of the evening force, was employed. One of the Haraest Struggles which Tite BEE experienced in getting to the frout was with the telegraph companics. The usual avenues of nows was barred against 1t, and it was compelled to pay enornzous tolls for special dispatchies from v points. These tolls were little less than robber, ted press wore supplied with telegraphic news for about seventy-five dollars per month, Tug terially increasing its facilities and without replenishing the job office to any great extent. Tn 1879 the wooden structure on the lot ad- joining the Farnam strect building on the east was leased, and finally the lot was bought by Tue Beg Publishmg company from Milton Rogers for $5,000. That made a frontage of forty-four feet on Karnam street, including the twenty-two foot brick building and_the twenty-two foot frame structure, both bemng two stories in height. There was an entrance _cut in the side wall of the brick building effecting a_passage be- tween the two buildings, In this condition Tue Bee office remained till five years ago, when the frame bumlding was sold and re- placed by a one-story brick, That was followed shortly afterwards by the reconstruction of the whole building. ~The wooden joists on the first floor of the brick structure were torn out, brick arches were made between iron T rails on the floor and the basement was made perfoctly fire-proof. This work was accomplished without interfering with the publication of the paper. Then the front was torn out and two more storics wero added to the building. The baseient of the oftice was tiled with marble, the walls were beautifully decorated and w cherry countcr was put in, so that Tue_Bep bad the finest counting room in the city at that time. But the office room again became too con- tracted and twenty-two feet of the upy story on the west belonging to the Stran; building were leased, so that Tie BEE prac- tically oceupied forty-four feet, together with the one-story annex on the cast, as will be seen by reference to the cut. Two weeks ago one of the fast presses was transferred precemenl to the new Bee build: ing, its permanont home, and the removal of the entire office was accomplished 8 week later without the slightest jar and without loss of timeor any of its editions. Both of its lightning presses were again running in perfect order on the sixteen page edition of last Sunday. —— HISTORY OF TRE BEE Its Birth, Early Struggles, and Mar- velous Growth, The history of Tik Bee is a panorama of stirring events and thrilling incidents. It is the history of a -mighty struggle against ad- verse circumstances, formidable opposition, and obstacles which, during infancy, seemed almost insurmountable. It is a history of years of ceaseless toil, crowned with popular approval and support, Its success is not due 10 mere accident or good luck, but is the re- sult of nearly eighteen years of hard labor and untiring exertion. Tug Daruy Bee made its first appearance on the 10th of June, 1871 It was a two- page, 12x18 sheet, flve columns to a page and had the appearance of a theater pro- gramme. In fact the programme of the Academy of Music filled all but two columus of the first page. Five bundred copies were Bee office was destroyed by the torch of an incendiary,and the first announcement of the fire was made by Tug Beg on the afternoon of the same day. The paper was reduced to one-half its size and issued from Redfield’'s job oftice. ks later the ofiice was removed to the brick building owned by Mr. Ro ter at 916 Farnam street, where it remained until it¢ present magnificent home was completed. Tie BEE continued to grow in patronage and wmfiuence, but not withou constant struggle against disheartening odds, Fearless and Outspoken on all vital issugs of the day, the papor was equally vigorou® in advancini th ematerial in- terests of Omaha and Nebraska. At the very outset Tue Bee took up und championed the cause of the strial classes and advocated their rights when all other papers “bent the prognant hinges of the knee that thrift might tollow fawning.” Jobbery in official life and the encroachments of corpor- ate power found in it an unyielding opponent. It fearlessly assailed public abu! of every nature, creating enemies on every side, and desperate efforts w made by personal attacks and private combinations, to crush the editor and drive Tur Bee into an early grave, Coupled with these malignant schemes was the depression following the panic of 1578, whieh added financial compli- cations to the dificulties against which the paper battled. A history of that terrible struggle for existence would form a thrilling chapter, In spite of all adverse circumstances and difficulties Tug Beg continued to grow in popularity and ysefulness. In September, 1 the subsepiption list of Tug b had reached proportions requiring botter ma chinery, and o Hoe single cylinder press was purchased, and | Who, facilities of the paper enlarged in otnex departments. Up to this time ‘Tine Bee wag sirictly a local paper, but its circulation, even jthen, was greater than any paper publishpdudn the state. 1ts power and influence extended beyoud the confines of the city, To meet this growing demand, the experiment of issuing A Morning Edition was made. Tt met with a generous reception among the people residing along the various lines of railroads leading from the city, and proved such a success that it was enlarged and improved from time to time along with the evening edition. On March 7, 1574, Tue Bee again appeared enlarged in length and breadth to nine coluwns, with pew and attractive type throughout, making the fifth enlargement of the paper in the three years of its existeuce, Gradually but surely it continued to grow in public estimation, iuspiring confidence in its sturdy worth and acquirng force yand char- ter among all classes, The 1st of January, 1875, witnessed. Another New Departure, the publication of an iliustrated supple ment and sooual review of the trade, manufacturs etc, of the city for the year 1574, It was a costly @ad laborious undertaking, one which has Bee was compelled to pay from $500 to £300 per monthdor its service, The exacticns of the telez® i companies became unbearable, and a persistent and suceessful effort made to couipel recognition of Tne Bee one of the hive newspapers of the west, Finally, in 15°4, Tue Ber was admitted into the Associated press on the paymentof a cash bonus of £,600. The purchase of the franchise added gr v to the news facilities of the paper. Lut it did not rest on the laurels won at such great cost. It extended its corps of special correspondents in every direction, completely covering every impor- tant point in the trans-Missouri region. ‘Tin BeE was not content with its pre-eminence as a state paper. It broadencd its ficld by including Iowa on the t, Dakota on the north, Kagsas on the south, and Colorado, Wyoming and adjoining territories on the west. 1t is to-day without a rivaln the west, and has acquired a national reputation unsurpassed by any newspaper between Chi- cigo und the Rocky mountains, The Third Great Epoch in Tue Bep's career began Scptember 25, 1885, when a perfecting press and a complete stereotyping plant were put in operation, Tho press 1s known as the Scott perfecting press, the invention of Walter Scott, a Scotchman,who,with his business associates, sold the patent to the well-known firm of R. Hoe & Co., for #100,000. 1v was made by the Potter Printing Press company of Plai field, N. J., under a license from Hoe & C It weighs nineteen tons, and cost Tug Ber in the neighborhood of $15000. 1t is a mechanical marvel—compact, complete and powerful, It prints, cuts, foids and pastes 15,000 copies of an eight-page paper per hour, or $0,000 copies of 8 four-page paper. Twoyears later a second perfecting press was purchased, together with a duplicate plant of steocouyping machinery, Both presses are now in operation in ‘Tne Ben press room, making the most complete news- paper plant in the west. At the time of the purchase of the fivst perfeeting press, there was no web-perfecting in usc west of the Missouri, and Tue 13ee justly claims to be the pioneer in fast presses as well as in every department of newspaper life, The Dampening Machine.} The paper which 18 run through the press from @& continuous roll, must first be dampened, otherwise it will not take a good impression, The machine for wetting it is a simple one, An irou axle is run through the core of the roll of paper, aud the roll is sus. pended in beariugs at one end of the ma- :hine, 80 s to revolve free. The end of the web s then attached to another core and axle, similarly placed at the other end of the machine, These axles are attached to the driving cylinder, When this cylinder is started the roll of paper is unwound from one core and rewound upon the other, and in its passage moves through spray of water from two jets above it. Ina few hours the roll has “absorbed the nueccssary moisture and 18 ready for the press. Btereotyping. The process of stereotypiug is cowpara- tively new in the West. Although the fn- vention is a century and a balf old, it was not introduced into the United States until 1813, It did not meet with much favor in newspaper cireles until the sixties, when the growth of the great New York dailies de manded an improvement on the slow and tedious work of printing from type. Thomas N. Rooker, the famous foren of the New York Tribune at that time, foresaw that some process must be procured to expedito the printing of a great and growing daily, and began an investigation of stereotyping then in use in the larger job omiees. Horace Greeley entered heartily into his plans, but they soon discovered that no modification of the process then in vogue could be made to diminish the time required for the production of a plate. Time was all-important, Half an_hour was the limit of time which a paper could afford for the entire operation. About this time two Swiss brothers perfected a process and tested it on the London Times, but before it could be introduced in this country a New Yorker perfected a similar method, which proved a success and was soon adopted by the leading papers of the city. The procoss is a simplo one. When a form is made and sent to the foundry it is transferred to a heavy iron turtle, and the type brushed and cleaned. Soveral lay- ors of specially prepared paver, moist and vasted togethor, are placed on the face of the type and pounded with heavy brushes until an exact impression of every lotter and picture is taken. The form is then blank- eted and placed on a steam chest to dry. Seven minutes completes this part of the operation. It comes out brown and hardened into & matrix ready for the casting bo: his is curved in the form of the cylinders of the press. When the matrix is sccured, the metal from the furnace is poured into it and 1n a few seconds the rouch stereotype plate is taken out. It is then trimmed and beveled at the edges, the blanks cut down, and the shell plac chine where a revolving knife shaves the interior until it has a uni- form thickne 1t takes from fifteen to twenty nunutes to make a stercotype plate, and any number can be taken from one matr These improvements in machinery,toget her withthe reconstruction of the buildiug, en- tailed an expenditure of $30,000. Circulation. The phenomenal growth of Tig DALy Br: is shown by the following statement of circu- lation, taken from the books of the ofice ¢ 185 s 4065 1888, (625 1587 1800 18750 |43 (5 monthe) &4t Yearly Expenses. The following statement taken from the books of the office shiows the cost of operat- ing T Bre establishment: PAYROLL OF COMPOSING ROOM. 618 A4 Postage. Statement of amount of postage paid dur- ing the past cight years: 1880. .. $),747 91 1885 B.487 181558 K13 AR 58T The Great Newspaper Buildings. Tue Ber building covers an areaof 132 feet by 182, or an aggregate ground dimension of 17,424 feet, making a total florage of 125,200 feet, which 15 the largest space covered by any news- paper building in America. In other words it is Lhe largest newspapor building on the globe at this time, While it is surpassed by several other newspaper buildings in height, it is equalled by no other structure of its class in its imposiug architecture, its distri- bution of light and ventilation, elegance of finish and perfeet fire proof construction. It is the only newspaper build- ing covered by a brick roof. It is the only newspaper building in America large enough to accommodate a metropolitan composing 1872, room, stercotyping room and compelto edits orial room on the same floor. Up to this time the Now Vork could truthfully boast of boing the larzest and most completo newspapor oftice building, It now ranks next to Ture Bre, The New York Tribune oceupies a build- ing covering a ground a of 12,200 feet, in- cluding its annex and outside o The total floor area including the space not cov- ered by the building, by its ten stories is 122,000 feet. I'no third largest newsy the country is now in process of erection by the Pioncer Press of St. Paul, It has a ground arca of 9,900 foet and is to be wwelve stories in height, making a total floor~ age of 118,300 fect. The New York Times which, in voint of dimensions, stands fourth n the list, is an irrogular quadrangie, with the largest frontage 104 feet and the smallest sixty feet, making an aggregate ground area of approxis mately 8,500 fee . Tt has thirtecn stories, with an agerogate floor area of 120,600 feet. The St. Paul Globe, ten storios 1n height, has ground dimensions of 100x85 feet, mak- ing a total ground area of 00, and of floor arcas in all stories of 85,000, The new ten-story building of tho San Francisco Chronicle covers an irregular plat of ground with an area of 6,508 feet and & total floorage of 63,030, The Republic building at St. Louis, five stories in height, covers a lot 109x7Y, or total area of 8,611 feet, which is just one half the area coverel by the Iee building. The Chicago Tribune, which occupies the only fire proof ne ¢ building in Chis 10, covers o foot: total area, 800 foot. 1n, at Bal- of 4,070 feet, and per building in The building of the Baltim timore, ground arc an are; all floors of 2 o buildin feot, waking 14,272 T The feot. The buildu ‘The Evening Pos story flre-proof 0 of 105 feot by total ground area of 1 floor space is 71,360 s 1ot fira-proof. , New York, has a nine- building, the dimeusions being 105}4x63 feet. The ground area is 6,521 feet and grand floorage 53,680 feet, The Chicago Times building is a five-story structure, 151x51 feet. The ground area is 14,661 fect. Totul floorage, 5 feot. The building 18 not fire proof. Of the ten fire-proof newspaper buildings of Americn, the Bee building stands first; the New York ‘I'ribune, second 3 the St. Paul Pioncer-Press, third; New York Times, fourth, n pointot interior and exterior ar Of this class, the New York Tribunc psents the lar invest T in money. o Philadelphin Ledger a frontage of 165x$4 feet, six stories, 1ts crqund area 18 13,560 feet. ' Its aggregate floor sp: 83,160 feet. The building is not fire proof, however. The Philadelphia Record building is the most_clegantly constructed and finished building in the country. It is strictly fire proof and fronts on two opposite streets. It height i stories, built of cut stone with marble trimmings, Its dimensions are about 33x150 f Inquiries made for the dimensions of the leading Buropean newspaper buildings, elicits the information that none of them up- proach Tur BEg in size or architectural de- sign. Retrosvective, Few editors and publishers have survived the trials and torments inseparable from in- fant journalism. The elder Bennett ostab- lished and lived to sce the New York Herald at the front rank of American journalism, Horace Greeley founded the New York Tribune and enjoyed its success beforo his death. The World drifted from hand to hand until Pulitzer took it off the shoulders of uld and made it a phenomenal success, un and the Times had s il owners before Dana and Jones gave them *‘a habita- tion and a name. The Chicago Times and Tribune we vot fouuded by Stor and Medill, the men who made them the recognized organs of western thought and energy. The Chicago News rose from the ruins of the Post and the Inter-Ocean from the wreck of the Re- public. The Louisyilie Courier was founded by George D. Prentiss, but it did not attain the commanding inflience and prosperity which the consolidation with the Journal and the abilitics of Henry Watterson brought it. The Cincinnati Commercial-Gazette and the Enquiver have changed ownership several times. On the Pacific coast the San Fran- cisco Chronicle was founded by tho De- Youngs. Charles DoYoung lived to see it a power for good in California, and it is still ntrolled by the surviving broth Michael, There are really less than a dozen influential newspapers to-day whose original owners lived to see them rise from struggling in- fancy to heights of commarding influcnce and power, and Tuk Bee is one of them.