"Tho CongresHtonnl CmnmtUw on Ship Builder* 
had another hcxMou y ester day, and did nothing." 
The Sun Condensers are men who can sec at a 
glance what Is interesting in an article, and 
what is useful, and what is needful, and what, is 
of no account; and they “kill” without mitiga¬ 
tion or remorse. 
And now midnight approaches; the turmoil 
has died away; the Chief and bis immediate 
staff have disappeared; the reporters have gone, 
except a few who have hut recently come in; 
and the Managing and Night Editors, with a few 
trusty assistants, are all that remain on duty. 
And now let us ** follow copy " up-stairs to tho 
C'oniposlua Room, 
where the type-setters ply their nimble fingers. 
The composing room of The Kim Office i s a line, 
light, airy apartment, and is fitted up with the 
utmost elegance and convenience. The exact 
cost of the outfit- including type, furniture and 
materials for stereotyping—was The 
regular force of compositors, or type-setters, is 
twenty-four; and a flue looking, lntolligentcom- 
panyof men they a re. Home of them look so so¬ 
ber and grave that one could imagine them to be 
lineal descendants of the old monks who were 
the first mem hem of the oraft, did wo not know 
that monks never marry. And this reference to 
the old monks reminds usof a flavor of the mon¬ 
asteries. which yet lingers around n printing of¬ 
fice, and betrays Its origin, to wit: A general 
meeting of all tho compositors in nn oflleo is 
called “ Holding a uhapet /" Printers also speak 
of "justifying n forma “form” meaning the 
type of n page of a newspaper, or of several 
pages of a book, held together by a largo iron 
band or rim, called a “ chaseand “ justifying " 
meaning to arrange t he type in a just, straight, 
square, regular, or proper manner. But printers 
differ from other theologians (except those of 
the New Church) in fills, that they never “justi¬ 
fy " by faith alone, 1ml always by works. 
The compositors have been at work for many 
hours. They lake it easily at first, from 8 o'clock 
P. M. to 5; then there is a recess of two hours, 
and at. 7 o’clock they come back for t he real work 
of the day, and stay till 3 o'clock A. M„ or as 
much longer as may be necessary. As a usual 
thing, when X o’clock oomes, all but eight of the 
compositors are allowed to go, and the eight re¬ 
tained are kept till the paper is sent to press. 
The compositor* work by tho piece, and their 
average earnings are $33a week; but some of 
them make $35 a weak, when they do tholr best. 
After the type-setters have been at work for 
an hour, or le», the proof-taker begins his work. 
The type which Juts been set is put in an orderly 
way and fastened In its place on long brass beds 
called galleys, which are then run under the 
proof press, whereby Impressions, or proofs, m o 
taken nn long slips of paper. These are sent fo 
the proof-readers, who read (hem over for errors, 
and mark all mistakes on tho margins of tho 
proofs, which are then taken back to the com¬ 
positors, who correct the errors in the type, after 
which new proofs, called revises, nvu taken in 
see if everything is right. If any errors are 
found in the revise, they are also marked ami 
corrected; and when everything has been at last 
set right in a galley of type, it is transferred to 
tho make-up table, that is, to the table when* 1 he 
type is finally put in the forms or pages of tin? 
newspaper. *" 
About 11 o'clock tin- foreman of the composi¬ 
tion room sends word to the Night Editor that 
ho is ready to “make up;” that is, that he 
is ready to put the type into the pages, and send 
them to the Stereotype;*. On receiving (his 
notice, the Night Editor appeal’s with a separate 
set of proofs, taken expressly for him, and over 
which he has been studying and working for 
several hours. 
There Is already mailer enough in type to fill 
the columns of the paper twice over, and more 
is coming all the time. The telegraphic light¬ 
nings am pouring it in; the reporters are 
writing it out by the column ; ami messengers 
are comiug with all manner of communications 
—“ very Important, sir, and must appear Sn the 
morning's paper, sir.” 
And so the Night Editor works away, study¬ 
ing over his proofs, gradually singling out what 
must go in, whether or no, and no mistake; also 
what may be left out; also what shall be left 
out. He also alters, condenses, and “kills” 
paragraphs and articles at bis sovereign will and 
pleasure. As necessity rides him with sharper 
and sharper spur, lie begins to wax savage, 
and no longer merely “ kills " but murder* bant¬ 
ling after bantling with grim satisfaction. 
Rhetoric becomes an offense unto him; olrcum- 
At 9 minutes af^er three the third press starts; 
and now here they come, 750 Krxs a minute, both 
sides printed simultaneously; and If necessary, 
the number can bo forced up to 000. And now 
ensues a scene which it is impossible to describe. 
The counting of the papers is one of tho most 
interesting and astounding performances in tho 
whole business. There is one man wbo counts 
300 a minute, and another who can count 400 a 
minute, bet the readers of this article try to 
count. 400 a minute on their several fingers, 
touching every finger at. every count; or try to 
count 400 pins or 100 peas in a minute; and they 
will get some notion what it is to count that 
number in i hat time. 
The fact is, the counting of newspapers in the 
Sum oflleo has been refined into an art as delicate 
as that, of piano playing, and it is performed 
very much in the same way. The counter 
throws tl pile of damp papers on the table, 
strikes the heap in the stomach with his left 
hand, switching up the edges with his right, so 
Unit i licy stand slightly apart, and then will; the 
Angora of his lef t hand runs them off in groups 
of five, almost exactly as a pianist runs off 
arpeggios on bis instrument, and with an equal 
precision and delicacy of touch. 
The papers are usually counted off in bundles 
of fifty, but sometimes in larger quantities. 
The number taken by the different buyers the 
morning we were present varied from C to 8,800. 
The six wore taken by a little boy about seven 
years old. t lie 8,800 by a Ttrooklyu newsdealer [be 
now takes over 11,000], and we nre Informed that 
tho whole number delivered by half-past 4 
o’clock was sixty-nine thousand. 
This scene which comes off every weck-da.v 
morning in the basement of The Sun Building, 
is one of impressive interest. What a variety 
of people—the extremely old and the extremely 
young; the robust, the decrepit, and the blind, 
women as well as men—make their living by 
selling the morning papers. V,’e say the blind, 
and blind men there are, who como regularly 
for their papers at the early hour mentioned. 
Darkness is nothing to them. In fact, it is an 
advantage. The streets nre deserted, and there 
are neither men to jostle them nor vehicles to 
run over them. But it. seems a sad thing for a 
poor blind man thus to have to toll for his 
bread. Ami the women and children, too! God 
pity them. But after all, let us he thankful that 
there is even this way for them to earn where¬ 
with to keep starvation at bay. 
One of the blind newsmen deserves special 
mention. His name is John Boith; is a Scotch¬ 
man; boiler maker by trade; lost nn eye while 
working on nn iron steamer in Glasgow’; came 
to America in 1849: lost his other eye in 1857, 
while working on tho I T . 9. Revenue Cutter 
Harriet. Lane; went info the news business 
about six years ago; obtains all tbc morning 
papers personally at the different offices, and 
goes abont town on business all alone. He usu¬ 
ally starts for The Sitn office about 8 # o’clock 
A. M„ from Ills residence up town, lie carries 
a long cane in each hand, and on getting into 
the Fourth avdnuo ho places the end of a cane 
in each groove of the down-town track, and 
starts briskly on bis journey. One morning last 
Winter, when the snow had fallen heavily and 
lay thick on the truck, one of the switches at 
Grand street had become misplaced, mid the 
sturdy Caledonian was switched from his route, 
and finally brought up away over on the east 
side of the town, a long way from his destina¬ 
tion; and being thrown completely from his 
bearings he bad a deal of trouble to find his way 
to The Sun office. This honest old Scotchman 
asks no favors of anybody, but, blind ns lie is. 
he paddles his own canoe with the pluck and 
fortitude which are characteristic of Ills race. 
Having thus followed Tnu New York Sun 
through its entire dally and nightly growth, 
from the first article written to the point where 
tho presses are dropping six hundred complete 
copies a in inn to at our feet, wo now take our 
leave, and go down to the lower end of the City 
Hall Park, to see the excavation for the founda¬ 
tion of the New Post-Office carried on by Drum¬ 
mond lights, and take a Third Avenue ear for 
tip-town. By the time the ear arrives opposite 
The Sun office it is comfortably filled, and a 
newsboy comes in crying “Hern’s your New 
York Sun,” and sells five papers on the spot. 
We look at the City Hall dock: tt is just 35 
minutes past3 o'clock. Thus early does the sale ot' 
The Sun in the streen commence. The amount 
of the weekly salaries and wages paid to the im¬ 
mediate employes of The New York Sun is 
38,743.44. If wo divide this by six, the quotient 
ts $467.34, which is the daily cost of the literary, 
business nnd mechanical force of the paper. The 
average daily cost, of the regular telegraphic 
news is $88.4.5, without counting the extras, 
which now and then amount to several hundred 
dollars in one day. Tho dally cost of gas, fuel 
and materials actually consumed, not including 
] was $1,981.75. It is occupied, and the 
stereotyping process performed, by five 
splendid fellows, whose brain and muscle, " 
ns well n8 their skill and fidelity, are of 5 
a high grade. Ab we saw them going J 
through their work we could not help |f 
thinking how little people who write 
books or newspaper articles, and fancy ‘Jjfmj 
that writing* or writers iao of the first 'jdijjj 
consequence, know how much they are jj 
indebted to Inventors and mechanics. 
What, would the best piece of writing J 
over done in America amount to, were 
it not for the type foil riders, and type- 
setters, and stcrcotypers, and ink-makers, !^8 h 
and press-builders, and press-men, and sshb 
engineers, who give it form and sub- 
stance, and send it abroad as on the wings -5$ 
of the wind ? . . 
The stereotyping process is peculiar, 
arid differs widely from that in ordinary 
use. Tho Bullock presses used in printing 
THE SON, and which we shall describe hereafter, 
require stereotype plates which can be affixed to 
tlicir cylinders, and hence the plates must be 
cast in half circles; and they must be cast, too, 
with the utmost expedition, and iu unusual 
numbers. Ao less than sie complete seta of plates 
ha ve to In rust for Tile Sun, so that U can have sir 
papers printed instnntaiimUu, in outer to yet off 
its immense edition. [When tho fourth press, 
which has just been purchased, is at work, ns it 
soon Win be. eight sets qf plates must be made.) 
The process of stereotyping is performed in this 
wise: 
The fiat page of type is first warmed on u hol¬ 
low iron table, heated by steam; then a sheet of 
thick paper, such as steel engravings arc print¬ 
ed on, which is chemically prepared by soaking 
in a mixture until it becomes nearly of the con¬ 
sistently of paste, is laid upon the lace of t he 
type and beaten down with a heavy and stiff 
brush until every letter, rule, and point is per¬ 
fectly moulded in the soft mass of paper. All 
hollow places are then filled up with a prepara¬ 
tion of piaster of Paris; after which another 
•sheet of the prepared paper is laid upon tho 
first, and beaten down in the same manner. By 
this means a substantial matrix ol' the entire. 
Pago is formed. The type and matrix are then 
Swathed in blankets, placed on the hollow steam- 
heated table, run under a press on one end of 
the table, and subjected to a heavy pressure, 
while at the same time it is baked by the heal. 
I Ms then taken out, and the paper matrix tare- 
moved from the type. It is firm but pliable, and 
capable of resisting a high degree of heat. It is 
ttie tlexibboiessof tho matrix, even more than 
tho celerity with which it can be produced, 
which gives it its peculiar value, for it is its 
flexibleness which enables a cylindrical plate to 
be east from it. 
After the matrix has been perfected, ns above 
described, it is placed in a reversed position in 
an iron mold of the exact curvature of the press 
cylinder; the melted type-metal is then poured 
in; and in two minutes a stereotype plate of the 
page of type in the form of a halt-circle, is taken 
out and handed over to the trimmers to be fitted 
to the press cylinder; the mold is again filled 
with metal, and another plate is east; and so the 
process goes on, until six casts of each page have 
been taken, trimmed, and sent down tO-tlic press 
room. 
We will now step on to the elevator, along with 
a set of stereotype plates, and descend with 
them to 
The Press Room. 
The Press Room is situated in tho basement of 
the edifice, and is a most, capacious apartment. 
When we arrive at the press room, at half-past 
one o’clock in the morning, matters are in no 
very lively trim. Everything is quiet. There is 
not yet. even a hiss of stc-am. Stalwart, men arc 
stretched out on huge piles of paper, fast asleep. 
Some of them lie face downward, with their 
1 to at- ] ter. Into a box kept for t he purpose. Thesmall- 
. cat check calls for three papers, and the largest 
for eight thousand, 
'-rff On entering the publication office, we find a 
number of men and boys buying their checks, 
•- j- H and several tired litt le fellows lying asleep on 
'UTTWM the floor, mid on the grating outside through 
which the warm steam and hot air come up, are 
Ii'IBMhk? other children also lying asleep. It is a raw and 
chilly morning, and the “ iron bedstead," as the 
ItLtli* li-llowg cull the grating, affords them a 
luxurious couch, through which tho warmth 
comes upon their pinched hud withered and ill- 
clad bodies like airs from Heaven. *■ 
Poor boys! We have been observing and 
studying them these t wenty years. We remem¬ 
ber their “O-de-Rara Society," formed In 1853, to 
which all good newsboys were allowed to belong, 
who wanted togo to Heaven, and be angels after 
- i m the pattern of lit tl«* Cordelia Howard, who was 
P f then playing “ Little Eva,” in Uncle Tom’s Cabin , 
which at. that time was having its famous run at 
the old Chatham Theater. It took us some time 
to liuul down the origin of their title, and to 
find out what it. meant. Tho boys themselves 
could only say that it was “ O-do-Hum, and that’s 
all about it." But at last we got at (he secret. 
Old Undo Tom used to sing a hymn to the dying 
Eva, beginning, “ O, do Lamb, de dressed Lamb," 
and ending with a chorus in which the same 
words were several times repeated. ITnuto Tom 
used to sing the hymn with a strong plantation 
roll and accent, and 1 He newsboys understood 
him to say “ O-de-Ram," etc. The tender-hearted 
little fellows used to cry, as all the rest of us did, 
over Eva’s dying advice and farewell to Uncle 
Tom; and they also resolved, with Uncle Tom, 
to meet the dear child In Heaven. To them, that 
vision of innocence and beatify was tbeabsoluto 
incarnation of angelhood; and tho scene amid 
which she nightly took her mimic departure for 
the Land of the Blessed, was to them an actual 
foretaste of eternal life. 
And so the lit tle waifs formed their O-de-Ram 
Society, and tried to bo good enough to become 
companions or Eva iu tho Better Land, and 
dreamed of heron their “ iron bedsteads;” and 
every one of them probably hoped that he would 
somehow have her for his own special angel. 
The newsboys of that day, sixteen years ago, 
PROOF ROOM. 
tend upon it, and measured the space it occu¬ 
pies, and heard its thimderings and crashings, 
let him go down into The Sun press room and 
see the Bullock Press quietly doing its work 
with seemingly no one to attend upon it, and he 
will be ready to appreciate tho affectionate com¬ 
mendation of the foreman, when lie exclaims, 
as he lays his hand upon the Press, “It’s just ns 
snug and tidy os a woman, and a deal easier to 
manage.” 
And now let us go up to the composition room 
again, where over the first, page of The Sun tho 
last final struggle of matter against space is to 
begin. It is now 3 o’clock A. .M. The form must 
be in tlicstereotyper’s room In fifteen minutes. 
There is matter enough on l he make-up tnblo to 
fill four pages, and every line of it is important. 
What's to be done? especially asm fresh batch of 
copy has just como tip, marked “must,” 
from t he Managing Editor, who is still hard 
at work below. Now Is seen the value of 
sg&i understanding every part of one’s business, 
especially the mechanical part. The Night 
Editor is a practical printer, copy-cutler, 
iy proof-reader, anything and everything that 
may be needed. 1 Fe looks over the type 
yUr —docs not have io resort to the proofs— 
jjPS and orders out this and cuts down that, 
__ and reads (he proof of new articles from 
_ the type; and finally, when a crisis conics, g 
! the Managing Editor, who Is also a practj- * 
cal printer, and Ictiowb every in and out ) 
of the business, goes to the ease and helps i 
set up a telegram, which he condenses as | 
ho sets it, and hands it over ready to the | 
Night Editor’s hand; “Good night” 1 
comes in from tho telegraph offices; and & 
Vv! the page is completed, and the form is « 
Sjfj locked up (that is, fast cited so the type Lij 
*?,’! cannot fall out,) and trundled into 1 lie p| 
$£/ Stereotyper’s room, exactly at 15 min- ra 
{SL; utes past 3 o'clock A. M. 
rH “We gaip that last 1.5 minutes,” said ||| 
pt the Night Editor to us. ns we -were lot- I 
lowing tbc form to the stereotypers’, |j| 
j “by having our third Bullock Press, jj? 
•r- j When we had only two of 'em, we had to 
jjjfrfc, goto press 15 minutes earlier; and that. 
IS# last 15 minutes is a big thing—a very big •' 
thing. The cream of the news often '"/ 
comes in 
as you saw to-night. On elec- ' 
I tion night. I kept the form back till half¬ 
past two; and if the President of the 
United States should be assassinated I’d 
keep it till three, just as sure as you live!” This 
declaration wits made with indescribable empha¬ 
sis mid solemnity, as though no stretch of au¬ 
thority or audacity could any further go. [To 
print the immense and still growing edition of 
The Sun, a fourth press lias been purchased 
since this article was written, now nearly two 
months ago.—o. d.] 
But look at the stereo typers. They are also on 
the home stretch, and how magnificently they 
work. Every man knows just exactly what to 
do, and does It to perfection just iu the nick of 
CASTING THE PAGES. 
ink or paper, is $38.33. In addition to this are 
taxes, interest on the capital and wear and tear, 
which dally amount to $108.36, This makes a 
total daily expense, exclusive of the cost of ink 
and paper, of $687-28, which is Ihe exact sum it 
costs to get ready to give the first buyer of the 
paper Ms copy of The Sun for two cents. 
It is plain, therefore, that if there wore but 
one buyer of The Sim, nothing could bo made 
on the sale of it; nor in that case, is it probable 
that advertisements would pour into its columns 
at thirty cents a line. But inasmuch as the first 
STEREOTYPE ROOM.— 
have passed from the scene, and become men, 
many have died, and some fell fighting for their 
country, and these now know the secrets of the 
eternal world. Let us hope that every one has 
found his Angel here or there. 
And now back to the press room again. The 
plates are all on. A17 minutes to 3 the first press 
starts and delivers 350 papers a minute. In two 
minutes the counters begin to count off, and the 
waiting newsboys and newsmen begin to receive 
their papers. At 3 minutes after three the second 
press begins to throw off its 250 Suns a minute. 
