THE LAST ISSUE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20653, 29 June 1935, Page 11

THE LAST ISSUE.

“ Christchurch Times ” Ceases Publication. COMPOSITORS’ GOOD-BYE. Last night, more than eighty years after the first gathering with which members of the staff celebrated the anniversary of their paper, compositors and other employees of the “ Christchurch Times ” gathered in the composing room to bid the paper good-bye. In the old days, such a gathering was known as a wayz-goose, a term never heard these days, though it still persists in the dictionaries. The gathering was at once a farewell to New Zealand’s oldest paper, and to the older men whose retirement coincided with its demise.

The “Times” died, as it had lived—gloriously. A fifty-page edition marked the final number. It told a story unique in New Zealand journalism, covering a period that surveyed the whole history of Canterbury. Work throughout the night had proceeded in the customary way, and the first break in the routine came at 1.43 a.m., when the final forme was ready to go to the stereotypers. Then the compositor relinquisher! his usual office, and Mr T. Stone, sub-editor for 45 years, was called into the room to lock this final forme. It was a simple action, calling for nothing more than the turning of a screw, but it marked the termination of the task that Shrimpton and his associates had commenced at Lyttelton 84 years before. Practically all the employees of the

“ Times ” met in the composing room immediately afterwards, and while the late formes were still warm from the stereo presses, marked the passing of their paper with appropriate ceremony. The toast of the “ Times ” was proposed by Mr J. J. Staples (Advertising Manager) and responded to by the manager (Mr H. E. Bell). Mr Bell said that the paper throughout its history had had a very loyal staff, and he expressed the thanks of the management to the staff for its work. The toast of “ Editors, Past and Present,” was proposed by Mr A. Dickson and responded to by Mr A. G. Henderson, who also thanked the staff for their past services. He said that no editor could possibly make a success of a. newspaper unless he had the right staff about him, and he expressed confidence that the tradition that had made the “ Times ” notable would be ably carried forward by the “ Star.”

The toast of “ Mr Tom Stone ” was proposed by the assistant editor (Mr H. Nixon), who paid a high tribute to Mr Stone’s many years of distinguished service in the sub-editorial chair. Other toasts were: “ Retiring Members,” “The New ‘Star’” and “The Management.” The gathering concluded with an unusual ceremony. The mechanics produced a splendidly wrought and beautifully finished casket, in which a copy of the final issue of the “ Times ” was placed, together -with a sheet of paper on which appeared the signatures of all the employees. The lid was solemnly screwed on, and the casket placed in a niche in the roof, from which it was able to slide to a position where it will be inaccessible till the building itself is demolished. It was the compositors’ last office for their paper.