of space formerly devoted to purely local intelligence. The craving of the public for the latest and newest information has caused the newspaper editors to give it the utmost prominence. Hence it sometimes happens that the whole available space devoted to news is occupied with that which is transmitted by telegraph.

People accustomed to while away a pleasant half-hour in scanning the newspapers over the breakfast-table, have little conception of the great amount of expenditure which the penny represents. First of all, there is the eight or ten hundred pounds paid annually for the simple use of the wire. Large as this sum is, it is but about twothirds of the total outlay. The wire of itself is useless unless it is kept supplied with matter that is useful and interesting to the public. The real work and difficulty of the undertaking is to procure full and accurate records of passing events. Probably none but those who are professionally engaged upon the press are aware of what the collection of news in such a Babylon as London really means. The immense size of the place, the important meetings and demonstrations that are held in it, and the interest attaching to it as being the great centre of the civilised world, make the work of daily gathering information both

necessary and arduous. The proceedings of parliament in these stirring days of politics naturally attract much attention, and must be carefully recorded. The money market and the most authentic commercial rumours also claim to be fully reported. Sporting, on the other hand, has become so deeply rooted in the national character, that daily descriptions of its prospects and achievements are absolutely essential. The tattle and rumours of the clubs, moreover, call for the ready pen of the experienced correspondent. And, in addition to all these special departments, there is the wide field of general news to be cultivated.

To overtake such labours, the Scotch daily newspapers have each an organised staff of reporters, sub-editors, and correspondents in the metropolis, varying in number, according to the means of the journal, from two to five. One man redacts the evening papers, taking from them any items of general interest; a second is specially charged with the collection of news of a later date, which does not appear in the night editions; a third reports the proceedings before the Private Bills' Committees; and a fourth describes the scenes in parliament on the occasions of an exciting division. or ministerial crisis. Then, again, a special and independent staff is organised to report Scotch

debates and speeches on questions of great public interest in the House of Commons.

During the parliamentary session, Westminster is, of course, the centre whence emanates the largest and most important portion of the news that is despatched by special wire. The telegraphoffices being all in the City, messengers have to be employed who go and come regularly between Cornhill and Palace Yard during the night, Hansom cabs being employed on busy nights to convey them to and fro, in order to expedite the messages. The manuscript is enclosed in large envelopes, bearing printed directions, and addressed to the clerk in charge of the special telegraph department, who opens each parcel, registers in a book the number of pages that are sent, and the hour at which he receives them, and then hands them over to the subordinates for transmission. When several important meetings and events take place, as is frequently the case, on the same day, the clerks. are swamped with 'copy.' Print and manuscript to twice the amount that can be sent off within the regulated time, arrive in hot haste by successive messengers, each correspondent having written what came within the scope of his department at full length, regardless of the fact that space required to be reserved for his collaborators. On

these occasions, the sub-editor's authority comes into action. He selects what is most important, despatches it first, and abridges the rest so as to insure its being sent off.

Notwithstanding every precaution, mistakes and blunders are of frequent occurrence. Unfortunately telegraph wires cannot be completely controlled or in every respect depended upon with the accuracy of mechanism that is not subject to volatile and disturbing influences. The best-laid plans are often frustrated. There is a storm in the north, the weather is unpropitious at Manchester, and the wires go wrong. Neither skill nor persuasion avails to get any work out of them. The currents are interrupted, and the signals are so faint at Glasgow that nothing can be made of them. In these cases, the labours of the correspondents go for nought; the piles of manuscript lie unused, and the newspaper readers are deprived of their accustomed food. Such disasters are aggravated when they occur on very important nights, when Gladstone or Lowe speaks upon the Reform question, the Chancellor of the Exchequer introduces his Budget, the Naval Review in honour of the Sultan takes place at Spithead, or some dreadful tragedy is enacted in the metropolis. Then may be seen the representatives of the various news

papers going about the telegraph-offices, in a state of grief and distraction, impugning the divine government of the world, and anathematising the ill-luck which has caused them to spend their strength in vain. The agony of the correspondent is, however, the fierce joy and time of gratulation of the telegraph-clerk. Kept uninterruptedly at hard and continuous labour for eight hours each evening, he keenly enjoys the sweets of relaxation, and rubs his hands with satisfaction when the opportunity for such occurs. He delights in the elemental strife which renders his wire for the time useless, folds his arms, lights his pipe, and passes the hours in entertaining chat.

If a record were kept of the whimsical blunders that are constantly occurring in connection with the special wires, a most amusing Joe Miller might easily be compiled. The matter often arrives so late at its destination, that there is no time for correction of the press, and the public are consequently treated to much that is equally humorous and inexplicable. The reader, for instance, comes across the following sentence, and is much disquieted: 'The speeches in the Reform debate threaten to stretch to the crack of the door.' He may ruminate upon the matter as long as memory holds her seat in his distracted