276 
DE EG AS Re Dy waN sein AgiG ye Zine Ne, 
JUNE, 1916 
THE HIGH COST OF PAPER AND BINDING 
VERYTHING that goes into the mak- 
ing of a book or magazine has in- 
creased in cost from fifty to one 
hundred per cent. For paper for books and 
magazines we are paying in some cases 
nearly double when these lines are written, 
and it is likely to be higher before these lines 
are printed. Ink, binder’s cloth, glue, and 
all other materials have within a few months 
gone up in price in a very unexpected and extra- 
ordinary degree, and in our opinion will be 
maintained at a high level until some time after 
the war. 
Beside paying a little more, or getting a little 
less for the same money, every reader can help 
by heeding this notice sent out by the Depart- 
ment of Commerce at Washington: 
SHORTAGE OF PAPER MATERIAL 
SAVE YOUR WASTE PAPER AND RAGS 
The attention of the Department of Commerce is 
called, by the president of a large paper manufacturing _ 
company, to the fact that there is a serious shortage 
of raw material for the manufacture of paper, including 
rags and old papers. He urges that the Department 
should make it known that the collecting and saving 
of rags and old papers would greatly better existing 
conditions for American manufactures. 
Something like 15,000 tons of different kinds of paper 
and paper board are manufactured every day in the 
United States and a large proportion of this, after it 
has served its purpose, could be used over again in some 
class of paper. A large part of it, however, is either 
burned or otherwise wasted. This, of course, has to be 
replaced by new materials. In the early history of the 
paper industry publicity was given to the importance 
of saving rags. It is of scarcely less importance now. 
The Department of Commerce is glad to bring this 
matter to the attention of the public in the hope that 
practical results may flow from it. A little attention 
to the saving of rags and old papers will mean genuine 
relief to our paper industry and a diminishing drain 
upon our sources of supply for new materials. 
A list of dealers in paper stocks can be obtained from 
the local Chamber of Commerce or Board of Trade. 
(Signed) Witt1am C. REDFIELD, 
Secretary. 
Almost all magazines (and we presume news- 
papers) are sold to the dealers, who supply 
the readers for less than the cost of paper, 
printing, ink and shipping—in many cases at 
less than half these costs estimated on the old 
prices of these materials. The publishers’ 
profits come from the advertisements, and 
competition to secure these advertisements 
has become so keen that the percentage of 
‘THE: TALK OF SEE: 
“To business that we love we rise betime 
And go to ’t with delight.””"—Antony and Cleopatra 
profits from this source has been much reduced. 
Now that it is costing nearly double to print 
these same advertisements, what is going to 
happen? 
In our opinion, every one has got to contri- 
bute a little: the advertiser, also the subscriber 
who gets ridiculously low “club prices,” and 
perhaps when we get through this war we may 
be on a more solid and reasonable basis. 
“THE LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR DISCOVERS 
AMERICA” 
Tf all goes well, the Williamsons’ book, “The 
Lightning Conductor Discovers America,” will 
be published about June 1st. There is more 
information in this book about the country 
we all know so well than we ever knew before. 
Readers will remember how the authors made 
places of interest in England stand out in that 
delightful book, ‘‘Set in Silver”; Spain in “The 
Car of Destiny”’; Holland in ‘‘The Chaperone” 
and this American story, in the interest of its 
characters, as well as in everything else, is the 
most wonderful of all. Here are a proof- 
reader’s comments, and proofreaders are 
never over enthusiastic: 
“The Lightning Conductor Discovers America,” I 
think the house should realize, is the very best thing the 
Williamsons have ever done. Does the Selling De- 
partment appreciate this fact? It is a story of much 
more than usual human.-interest; it is vital with joy, 
life, love; it is fiction, and at the same time a truthful 
description of scenes on Long Island, in New England, 
and New York State; in that far it is history. But 
more than this—vastly more—it is a book of mystery; 
not of the occult, or of the common, ordinary, every-day 
kind, but mystery of such mystifying mysteriousness 
as to characters and plot as to rob the reader of the 
faintest clue whereon to base even an attempted un- 
ravelment. ‘Every character is a mystery unto itself 
and each is engaged in trying to solve the mystery that 
surrounds his neighbor mystery. After reading more 
than two hundred pages of the manuscript I 
know not one of the characters, and am eager for the 
solution. 
PEONIES AT GARDEN CITY 
If you are interested in roses, peonies and 
iris, come to see the Country Life Press gar- 
dens in June. Last year we picked 6,000 
blooms from 10,000 peony plants in one day. 
You will find here the collection gathered by 
the American Peony Society; there are about 
three hundred varieties, and in a large section 
of the garden one specimen of each is shown 
carefully labeled so that every peony of the 
three hundred varieties can be easily identified. 
OFFICES 
Take your ticket to Country Life Press station, 
or come by motor to Franklin Avenue just 
south of the railroad track that leads to Hemp- 
stead. 
COUNTRY LIFE PRESS IN FILM 
We have had a film picture made of Country 
Life Press at Garden City. One sees the 
author step off the electric train at our station, 
walk through the garden, present his manu- 
script, and have it accepted. It then goes to 
press, and we follow its course from the type- 
setter to the completed book, which leaves in 
the freight car at the door. 
The picture shows other interesting things 
—the farm and our own _ codperative 
grocery store, the little hospital and the 
trained nurse, the pool, the gardens, and all 
the rest. 
At the moment the film is being enlarged 
and perfected. It runs to something less than 
two thousand feet, and is loaned to libraries, 
churches or such educational institutions as 
may care for it. Already there are applica- 
tions received which indicate that it will be 
shown perhaps a thousand times in 1916 and 
be seen by many hundred thousand people. 
If you are interested, will you write to us 
about it? 
MILLIONS OF BOOKS 
A good many people who visit Country 
Life Press (and visitors are always welcome) 
wonder how a single printing office like ours, 
which is by no means so large as many, can 
find readers for so many books. Here is one 
reason: 
The 44 branch libraries of the New York 
Public Library lent 10,384,579 books in 1015. 
This seems to show that reading still holds its 
own with motoring and the movies as one of 
the most popular amusements. Of these ten 
million books, 4,415,794 were juveniles. That, 
too, is encouraging. 
JOSEPH CONRAD 
We shall immediately add to the Conrad 
books in blue leather the following volumes: 
UNDER WESTERN EVES 
Tue SECRET AGENT 
By courtesy of Harper & Brothers 
Nostromo 
Mirror OF THE SEA 
TALES OF UNREST ‘ 
By courtesy of Charles Scribner’s Sons 
