The Making of the Graphic.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 874, 30 November 1888, Page 4

The Making of the Graphic.

The following is an interesting article in the new number of the Universal Review, in which Mr W; Li Thomas, the''founder and proprietor of the Graphic, tells us all about his paper ; * A TOO SUCCESSFUL START, '\i The initial capital was £50,009, and the first number was issued on December 4, 1869. It was eagerly sought for by the publio—out of curiosity, no doubt—for after the first week the circulation fell, but nevex, at the dullest period, below 18,000 a week. Our success, even, was damaging, for tho numbers required caused the printing to be vesry bad, land our difficulties increased. The paper manufac* tutor and the ink maker between them con. trived products, beautiful enough in themselves, but which, on coming in contact. Bet up a chemical action which resulted in a very strong, very offensive Bmell. Copies, with wrathful and uncomplimentary remarks written on thejnargin, arrived freely by each post addressed to the editor. ‘ Your Graphic seraphic, Its ink it doth stink,’ was the comment of a well-known pro. fessor. ' ’ the SPECIAL ARTIST IN WAR TIME. The paper made its first ‘hit’ in the Franco-German war, in which Sydney Hall, an undergraduate fresh from Oxford, served as its ‘special ’ artist; ‘ Bid a map,’ says Mr Thomas, * followithe fortunes of ' beaten and baffled troops, the soldiers savage, the officers embittered and suspicions ; send him there, too, as a foreigner, an alien critic, as the representative of a foreign and unknown journal, and it can be imagined what pluck, what stamina, are required to face such a position; what self-control and patience, what treasures of coolness and good humour, and swift unerring decision and solid Eoglish doggedness, and caution and simple courage all went to the share of those two war artists —only two out of the twenty or more assembled at Nancy at the beginning of the campaign—that gallant pair, who held on, bull-dog fashion, to the bitter and splendid end—to see the dawn of so muoh new hope, and the death of so many old traditions, and a King of Prussia crowned Emperor ot Germany in old, stately, Frenoh Versailles. Again ’ adds Mr Thomas, ‘I remember one of our devoted correspondents with the, Russians before Plevna (Mr Villiers), carried away by enthusiasm, charging the fortified position of the Turks with, General Skobeleff, armed only with sketch-book and pencil. They took the position, only to find it commanded by other armed works; so our artist was obliged to squat down in a trench, with bul. lets singing close over his head. He had to stay there until dark, or be picked off the moment he tried to run across the open ; so he sharpened his pencil and made a careful drawing of his less fortunate companions lying in a ghastly line beforp hinj.;, and B0j ; the time passed 1 until * night,l. allowed - hitf t scape.’ OF PROFIT AND LOSS. On the rewards of successful work for the Graphic, Mr Thomas writes as follows * About £SOO a week is the amount now

spoilt upon ;the s illustrations—abont double 'frhafc tirbteipendbd'oii' tho edriier tiunibere. Sixty pounds foe a single drawing 20 inolies by s is, (a-drawing, mark; which has to be finished in ttiro or three day): dr in extrethe cases of pressure in one day) is not poor pay. There are men working for Us who make three or four thousand a year. These are the great prizes—los grands lots—and yet, in spite of these and like possibilities, we have still to look to France and Germany for recruits at the present time. It would seem as if the purely English school of draughtsmen on wood were dying out. With regard to the. letterpress, it has been my good fortune,'says Mr Thomas, ‘ (or misfortune) to pay an author £1,400 for a single story to run-through the pages of the Graphic alone. . , . The Jubilee Commemoration Number, which was printed in black and golf, with remarkably- fine engravings on wood, cost tho exact sura of • £9,750. An edition ’of 206,000 war printed, and .was sold in a few; day, and we lost £4O by the transaction.’ THE TRUE STORY. OF * CHERRY RIPE.’ ■ • No picture ever painted to my knowledge has l ever gained such extraordinary popularity as Millais’s * Cherry Ripe,’ and as numerous fond parents have dressed up their children at costume balls with such perfect imitation that they at last have convinced their friends; and themselves that their darling sat to Sir Everett for the original picture, it will be well to set down in black and white its history. I had a children’s fancy dreßs ball at my own house, and xny niece, with her artistic taste, brought: her little girl, Edie Ramage, exactly as shown in the picture. Everyone wau charmed with her winning appearance ; the more so when she - trotted about with a little fair?haired boy of my own, dressed all in white as <a ; man 1 cook. Next morning I took them both, dressed id their costumes, to Millais)" and I recollect now the expression or the great' master’s face as the two little dots,- hand in hand, entered the door of his lofty studio.- ; He was delighted, and said so, and the subject he arranged to paint was the little.girl-sitting on the stairs, and the boy offering her some fruit.' He decided to paint the; girl in first. ’After some' days’ hard work Millais was so pleased with hi 3 demure little sitter, and his own rendering of the subject; - that he decided she should be alone, and do without her attendant cook—, and of course he was right.! . It was reproduced is colours remarkabljywell. Nothing on so large ; a scale... had ever been before attempted; and the sensation was extraordinary. We printed 500,000 copies. Our publisher had to refund £4,000 in hard cash for orders he could not execute, and, defend actions at law, for not supplying the trade with the quantity required. An amusing episode waa a telegram {reply paid) addressed to me with the suggestive query, *ls the mother of ‘Cherry Ripe ’ a widow ? Wire reply.” And another,! a lady calling lately at our office, and offering to sell ns one of our own prints l (that ,we had -issued with the; Christmas number for Is) for £s.’