AUCKLAND STAR ANNIVERSARY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5, 6 January 1908, Page 2

AUCKLAND STAR ANNIVERSARY.

UNRIVALLED DAILY CIRCULATION.

jS. CHAIXENGE TO TEE HERAUO.

To-day "Ih£ Auckland Star" attains its thirfcj*-eigliiii anniversary. At snch a time it is interesting to look back briefly on the stages through, -which the paper has passed to its present position of having the icAEGEST DAXLT CTKCDIATION IX iCEW ZEALAKD. On Jarmary 4th, lSia, the "Anckland Star 55 first saw the light. It consisted of a KrreJl single sheet, and 'was decidedly a primitive production according to pxe-seni-dav standards. Progress was, however, steady, and there had not been snv very great elapse of tune before a xegnlar four-page sheet w-as adopted. iater came the time when expansion necessitated the production of an eight page joarnai on certain days of the "weet; and \rith the transference of the .h-ame of the newspaper from Wyndhamstreet to its present location, flat printing, 'where every page 5s separately handled, gave place to rotary machines, yith their great rapidity. By this time The Star" had attained the LA2GEST cracnLAnoN xs thh coiosrY, and this prSad position it has maintained np to the present day. Before machinery bordered on the obsolete it was replaced, by the latest available, and the size of the paper steadily increased, Irom seven columns it passed to eight, jririle rhe latest advance has been nine columns, an important change made during the past month. On Wednesdays ■twelve-page paper is issued, and on Saturdays sixteen or eighteen pages, yith ten-page papers on other days of the iveek, according to the demands ■on onr space. Our policy has always J>een to give the public the best yame obtainable, and this has been rewarded by the maintenance of the leading circulation in the Dominion. To-day '■The Auckland Star" is printed by two thiee-deck machines of the latest type, the last one erected during the past three months to meet the ever increasing demands of a rapidly growing cireulaEach of these cew machines is capable of producing per hour twenty thousand (20,000) eight-page papers, and both are used every day in running off ihe circulation of the paper. So many loose statements are made aioct newspiper circulations that we are prepared to make an offer that may readily be tested by anyone who •jrishes to dispute the claim that u The Auckland Star"' has by far the largest calculation of any daily paper in JSesr Zealand. Should this assertion be disproved we are prepared to hand over the sum of £5O TO THE OSPHAU TfOHfTF; the challenging party to forfeit a. like amount in the event of their failure. To settle the question we are -willing to afford any three public auditors, mutually agreed upon, all facilities to obtain the actual circulation from pur books, the paper that makes the challenge employing the same three auditors, and giving them identical facilities. The period of the inquiry should v extend over at least six months, and we ;would suggest the «re months widiTig •December 31 last. Accredited advertisers who are interested in the production of the paper are inrited to see it printed by the two big three-deck ma-fhiripg any afternoon that may be convenient to them. In conclusion, on the occasion of -our birthday, we wish to thank our friends, the public of Auckland city and province, •who alone, by their cordial and continuous support, have placed the paper in •ine-position that it holds to-day.