THE SCOTSMAN.
plain, old-fashioned, yet gentlemanly bearing, his
quiet gait, and shrewd features, when the clear
bright glance was never dimmed, though the shaggy
eyebrow grew snowier ; while in conversation he
furnished almost the last remnant of idiomatic
Scottish phrase and accent in its old courtly
gentility.
The most important edifice on the south side of
Cockburn Street is unquestionably, for many reasons,
the ofice of the Scotsman newspaper, No. 30
-the leading journal in Scotland, and of which it
may be truly said that there is no newspaper out
of London, and only one or two in it, which has
an influence so widely felt.
About 1860 the offices of the Scotsman were removed
from the High Street, where they had long
been situated, to the new buildings in Cockburn
Street, where no .expense had been spared to make
the establishment complete in all its appointments,
and the perfection of what a newspaper office should
be. The heading of the newspaper is carved in
stone along the front of the edifice.
The front block contains five floors. On the
street floor are the advertisement and publishing
offices, where orders for the paper are taken in and
the answers to numbered advertisements received.
This department is entirely managed by an ample
staff of fernale clerks. The manager's room and
counting room are on the first floor above. The
paper usually contains not less than from 700 to
3,600 advertisements daily, and in receiving and
entering these a large staff of clerks is engaged.
The editorial departments are on the next floor
above, and consist of a fine suite of eight rooms,
opening off a spacious corridor, and all are fitted
with speaking tubes and bells, communicating with
every department of the establishment. In each
room there is also a "copy" shoot of ingenious con
struction, which enables the printer's imp to be
dispensed with. " Copy" is simply dropped into
it, and, by pulling a cord, is drawn instantly to the
composing-room.
One of the rooms is set apad as a telegraph
office, the establishment being in direct communi.
cation with London by means of its own special
wires. The composing-room, 150 feet long by 30 in
breadth, is well-lighted and ventilated. Three
rooms for " readers " are screened off at one end,
and at the other are the lavatory, cloak,and smokingrooms,
for the use of the workmen, about a hundred
of whom are employed in the typographical department
alone. There is also a stereotype foundry j
and a library, composed of several thousand
volumes, free to all employed upon the premises.
Two spacious apartments that measure together
80 feet in length by 40 in breadth, and with ceilings
25 feet in height, are the machine rooms. In these
are three Walter presses, that print and fold from.
the web at the rate of 36,000 copies of a large eightpage
sheet per hour. As a provision against accidents,
there are two sets of engines and boilers.
There is also a small printing machine which is
used for printing the bill of contents. Over the
machine room is the despatching room, a spacious.
hall, the general fittings of which seem a compound
between a post-office and a railway ticket office.
Several rooms, in addition to these mentioned.
are connected with the machine department, and
on the east side of the Anchor Close is an extensive.
ink and paper store.
" In all the great towns in England correspon-.
dents are engaged," says David Bremner, in his.
" Industries of Scotland i' " and in London thereis
a staff of reporters and a sub-editor. Even in
New York the paper is represented, and special
telegrams from that city have appeared on several
occasions. The arrangements with the telegraph
companies for the supply of foreign news are most^
complete. With this vast organisation for collecting
news at command, the Scotsman daily presents.
not only a complete record of current events in
Scotland, but each copy may be said to be an
epitome of the world's history for a day." A special
express engine, hired by the proprietors at a cost
of &I,OOO a year, conveys the Scotsman parcels for
Glasgow and the West of Scotland.
At this time, including all departments, nearly
200 persons are employed on the premises; and:
if to these be added paid contributors and others,
the number of persons receiving remuneration
for their services will be swelled to fully 500,
who obtain among them &3,ooo a year. Of the
daily issue of the paper 330,000 copies are printed
every week, and of the weekly issue 60,000 copies,
which give a circulation of 3g0,ooo a week, or
20,280,000 a year. The annual production would,.
if spread out, cover about eleven square miles of
ground, and if the sheets were placed end' to end
they would form a ribbon about 18,000 miles long
and 4 feet broad.
According to a privately-printed memoir of Mr.
Charles Maclaren, who for thirty years (1817-47)
was editor of the Scotsman, it was in the year 1816
that the idea of starting an independent newspaper
in Edinburgh originated. The political influences
which overspread Scotland after the close of the
long war had permeated society, and the ruling
powers carried their repressive effects into every
sphere of action. Hence the local press was very
abject, without courage enough to expose any
