THE PRESS BAZAAR IN LONDON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10836, 20 August 1898, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE PRESS BAZAAR IN LONDON.

i , i A NOVEL NEWSPAPER.. A BA/AAii has been held at the Hotel Cecil, got up by the London newspapers, for, the benefit of the London Hospital.' A newspaper was published at the bazaar, and .respecting it the Daily Mail contains the following : — '•'-,*■" Yesterday H.R.H. the Princess of Wales was presented with the first copy of one of the most remarkable newspapers now being published on earth. The Press Bazaar News has a very simple origin. The directors of the Linotype Company offered the committee of the Press Bazaar one of their machines as an exhibit. It was warranted to be quiet and safe with children, and under no circumstances to make itself offensive and dangerous. The offer was accepted— what was to be done with it? Some one suggested running a daily paper. With the composition problem solved, the rest would be easy—so it was said. The rest wasn't so easy. But it has ken done. A managing editor (Mr, Arthur Pollen) was appointed, with instructions to engage a staff, obtain the news, and instal the requisite machinery. The result was a great success, thousands upon thousands being printed, I lie copies being snatched eagerly hot from the press. The staff is the most wonderful ever seen. Some bold spirits in the Press have put its numbers as high as 200. This is probably an exaggeration. But it is a very large staff all the same. The Dowager Countess of Shrewsbury and Lady Haddington are editors-in-chief. All the editors-of the chief London and provincial papers are engaged at salaries that, if the engagement were perpetual and exclusive, would be quite ruinous—to them.' Among those ladies who personally operated the linotype machine was the beautiful Duchess of Sutherland. Many wen -known society people and celebrities were eagerly pressing Mr. Pollen to allow them to take a practical part in the production.

As a sample of the articles in the first edition there is tho following: —

" A correspondent (upon whom wo cannot always rely for accuracy) tells us that the Rigut Hon. Joseph Chamberlain has visited the bazaar and purchased, among other things, a bust of Kruger, some long spoons, and a case of Russian caviare. The samo correspondent also says that be has seen Lord Salisbury walking westward along the Strand with a Dutch clock (with pendulum) and a China vase. Close behind him was Sir William Harcourt carrying a large volume of Foxe's ' Book of Martyrs' and a censer." Later, " Grave doubts arc expressed in influential quarters as to the truth of these statements." But Sir Henry taring's dramatic criticism of himself is perhaps one of the best hits. It is entitled " A Memorable Recitation." He says: — I have been invited to act as dramatic critic for this journal, and 1 have accepted the invitation with the full sense of my personal fitness for such an honourable office. There is nothing the actor dreads so much as the risk of being overlooked. For this reason I single out my own contribution to the dramatic entertainments of the Press Bazaar, and leave the other deserving Mists to shift for themselves."

Then follows a description of Sir Henry's performance, concluding thus:—"The delicacy I impart to this hint cannot be overpraised. No lover of true sentiment ought to miss it, and no dramatic critic can fail to see that when traitors are about (stabbing old friends in the back, as I have already mentioned), true sentiment is the only safeguard of the nation."

We are told that the price of advertisements in this paper is prohibitive." "Flatter the Duchess and get £500. The Press Bazaar News makes this fine sentiment its own, and urges every reader to act on it with tact and resolution. Go forward, then, gentle and arduous reader—Flatter every duchess, and get £500." And finally this remarkable newspaper is the highest-priced daily on earth, for it is sold at one shilling per copy, or four times lbs price of The Times.