A Great Daily Enters Its New Home

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 122, 25 May 1928, Page 1

A Great Daily Enters Its New Home

Spacious Premises and Modern Equipment

O-DAY the Auckland Star" celebrates the completion of its new building in Shortland Street. This is a notable event in the newspaper history om i n i° n » marking as it does a new era in the progress of the paper itself and of the city which it serves. Fifty-eight years have passed since the "Star" was established to meet the need that existed for an evening journal which would provide an adequate news service and a channel for the free expression of opinion on questions of public concern. From the outset the paper gave promise of success and, having outlived the testing times of infancey, it developed a growth which ever since has been symbolical of the remarkable growth of the city and province of Auckland Milestones of Progress. On its journey from youth to maturity the "Star" has passed through various phases of expansion, as doubtless it will continue to do in the years that lie ahead. The first insistent demand for greater space came fifteen years after the launching of the venture, and the response was the erection of a building which opened on to Shortland Street and ran through to Fort Street. Up to that time the paper had been published in a small office in Wyndham Street. Still the urge of growth continued, and from time to time ' 4 " various additions were made to building and plant in ordt!rr cope with the increasing production of the "Star" and of the I many allied publications which had grown into healthy life as branches from the parent tree. In 1914 a big scheme of expansion was undertaken, and in the following year a large ferroconcrete building was opened with a frontage to Fort Street. An important'feature of the building was that it provided protection ' s J against fire for the mechanical departments of the paper. New Times and New Methods. In few fields of industry is the romance of progress more marked than in the newspaper world. New ideas are constantly -.v evolving and enterprise demands that the best of them be adopted. Modern production calls for buildings in which method and order prevail, and for equipment which is the best |f;§§ obtainable in the producing centres of the world. In the home of the "Star" to-day there are many new departments which were unknown twenty or even ten years ago. One interesting \ department is that which produces the photographic illustrations f;..; of the news of the day. This branch of newspaper work was = formerly a side issue, but in recent years it has become a leading i feature of the printed page, and demands space as well as appliances for the carrying out of its processes. •'*' In journalism it is an axiom that a newspaper cannot stand |p3 still, either in its policy or in the features which it provides for the reading public. A live journal is continually looking for y* || important new ways in which to interest the people, and is ever Beeking to lead in civic and national thought. There are reasons ; without number why a progressive newspaper must keep abreast . j of the times and abreast also of the latest devices of the mechanical world. This applies not only to the equipment but also to the building. Indeed, the quality of building and plant ; I to some extent reflects the dignity and standing of the newspaper. i Triumph for Industry. | §jgj Only those who have been co-partners in the enterprise can g :||| realise the colossal task of erecting a new building around the | |g| living organism of a newspaper, which has to function with — a regularity that is expected of few other public services. Not gpf only must a paper come out at the stated time each day, but eleven to the smallest detail it must meet the requirements of the ; | people. The old building has been pulled down and the new one erected while men and machinery have each day run the <~~ race against time which has resulted in keeping faith with the readers. On occasion the difficulties have been great, but organisation has never failed, and so the Star has |$ lived up to its finest traditions. Facing the Future. rrt Those who have caught the vision of the great part which the paper has still to play in the destiny of our city and province, of our Dominion and Empire, may with pardonable pride, and yet with a due sense of historical truth, review the contributions which the IJ " Auckland " Star " has made to past and present progress. The old files, for more han half a century, reflect the intimate life of Auckland and the general trend of affairs throughout New Zealand. They tell of t£e early periods of hardship and trial, as well as of the never-failing courage of the sturdy British colonists who laid the foundations of the city of their dreams. It has been the privilege of the paper to witness the growth of village and town, of city and province, and along the way to have held high the torch of inspiration for the builders of our commercial, industrial, political, and cultural institutions. The paper has passed throi "rh difficulties which have been a test of courage, but in surmounting them it has risen in strength to share with Auckland in the larger growth of the new day that is dawning.

FIFTY.EIGHT YEARS OF AUCKLAND NEWSPAPER'S PROGRESS

An Active Partner in the City's Development IGHT years ago the "Auckland Star" had its jubilee birthday, and in fajjjg January next the paper will enter the sixtieth year of its eventful ; career. When the idea was formed which gave birth to the "Star" the town of Auckland was still young, and there was in the pioneering community a spirit of optimism which had sprung from the discovery of gold at the Thames. A young commercial man named William Tyrone Ferrar sensed the feeling that prevailed with regard to the existing evening journal, and by means of an advertisement he issued invitation for someone to join him in a newspaper venture. First Issue of the "Star." The sequel was a conference which took place between Mr. Ferrar and Mr. George McCullagh Reed, 8.A., who was passing through Auckland on his way back to Australia from a visit to the West Coast goldfields. Mr. Reed had been a minister of the Presbyterian Church, but had resigned with the intention of entering Parliamentary life in Queensland. He had done a great deal of literary work, but had not actually been on a newspaper staff. Arising out of the conference and the partnership which resulted came the first issue of the "Auckland Star" on January 8, 1870. The vigorous writing of Mr. Reed and the commercial activity of Mr. Ferrar ensured for the paper excellent prospects of success. Within two months, however, the necessity for additional capital in the business and for practical experience in the production of the paper «was so urgently felt that the suspension of the journal seemed almost inevitable. Tide of Fortune Turns. The advent of a trained journalist into the management had a marked effect on the fortunes of the "Star." Mr. Henry Brett, who was then engaged on the literary staff of the "New Zealand Herald," had been negotiating for the purchase of the "Evening News," but he agreed to join Messrs. Reed and Ferrar with a proprietary interest of one-third share in their paper. The work of printing was removed from the office of the "Southern Cross" to that of the "Herald," and for several months Mr. Brett retained his post on the latter paper. Later he was directly concerned with Mr. Reed in the conduct of the "Star," Mr Ferrar having by then withdrawn from the partnership. In contrast with the "Star" of the present day the first issue of the paper seems very small, but it is honoured for its brave part in laying the foundations of the great daily that was to be. Consisting of four pages, each 19 inches by 1 5 inches, the first issue contained 24 columns. In July, 1871, the size of the page's was increased to 2 1 inches by 1 7 inches, which gave a total space of 28 columns. In 1879 the pages were made still larger-—26 inches by 22 inches but the paper was considered to be too unwieldy, and eventually it settled down to its present useful size. Mainspring of Progress. The "Star" was issued with a supplement for the first time in the early part of 1875. Originally published without a motto over the leading article—a very old journalistic custom—the paper afterwards adopted the line "Press Onward," a maxim which expresses the spirit that has ever been, and continues to be, the mainspring of its progress. The motto which now appears on the leader page was adopted in 1871. By the end of 1872 the "Star" had so outstripped its evening rival in enterprise that its proprietors were able to purchase at auction the "Evening News" and its companion paper the "Morning News." Both were at once incorporated with the "Star," and a home was procured for the paper in Wyndham Street. The circulation in 1872 was approximately 2700. At about this time an accession of strength was experienced on the literary side of the paper when Mr. T. W. Leys took over the direction of its news services. He had been subeditor of the "Southern Cross."' The inauguration of telegraphic communication with the South widened the field, and this led to the establishment of telegraphic correspondence with the Southern parts of the ||i||spp» Dominion. The goldfields news, which had always been a feature of the "Star," continued to maintain its character of fullness and accuracy, and its budget of intelligence was awaited nightly by the crowds which gathered in the vicinity of the Stock Exchange. An account of the achievements of the carrier pigeons, which at that period were employed in supplementing the telegraphic service, provides interesting reading on another page of this souvenir number. The slashing attacks which were made by the "Star" upon various organisations which at that time ruled the city, inevitably aroused antagonism, and in November, 1874, an evening paper was started with powerful financial backing. It was called "The Echo" and in spite of the enterprise which it displayed the paper lasted only one year and three days. Thr: copyright, together with an interest in the printing plant, were acquired by the proprietors of the "Star." (CONTINUED ON PAGE SIX.)