DELIVERY OF MORNING PAPERS TO THE COUNTRY DISTRICTS MEANS LONG NIGHT JOURNEY

Wanganui Chronicle, 23 December 1950, Page 4

DELIVERY OF MORNING PAPERS TO THE COUNTRY DISTRICTS MEANS LONG NIGHT JOURNEY

They Work At Night

Whatever the importance of reporters, sub-editors, linotype and stereotype operators in the I production of a newspaper, the ultimate aim—to bring the news to the people—could not be achieved without the final link— ; the roundsman. He it is who six days a week, wet or tint, delivers the daily news to the people’s door. Though it seems rather commonplace and an accepted fact that the paper will be there when one gets out of bed in the morning, its delivery is no mean feat of organisation. Main driver on the •‘Chronicle” rural run, Mr. C. H. Moorman, travels 190 miles a day. 1140 miles a week, a'nd in round figures, almost 59,000 miles a year, bringing the news to the people. His is no easy job. It is not merely a matter of driving a car 59,000 miles a year. His is a job which involves long hours in the dead of night, heat and cold, dthiger. concentration and a loyalty to his firm. A little* time before the last plate is placed in position on the rotary printing press—somewhere about 2.30 a.m.- Mr. Moorman arrives for his night’s work. lie checks his waybill. And with his knowledge of the district a new subscriber, whether he be an agent or farmer, is sure to wake up to find his paper in the morning. , As the rotary begins tn roll and the papers come out. in their thousa'nds, ' men from the composing room start ' their final job of the night. Papers! for Marton, Taihape, Raetihi, and all 1 the farms and townships in between : these places, are counted, wrapped i into bundles. The bundles are loaded j

| larger till it fills the whole horizon. IA wonderful sight early in the mornling. No w’onder Waiouru was chosen as the site for a military camp! ; But the rough unsealed road from , the quaint village of Raugataua to , Ohakune Junction lessens the splen--1 dour of the drive. During the winter , snow and rain at times makes chains 5 , necessary. But there, is no stopping. On through Ohakune, Raetihi and on to the Parapara Road. The paper delivi ery is almost complete, but the drivx er’s job is not over. The Parapra 1 Road in winter, particularly the upper 1 end, is often unsafe for traffic and • jt takes a skilful driver to cross it at ■ times. Here again chains are some- ? times needed. I On arrival back at Wanganui Mr. J .Moorman’s job is not ended. The car ■ I has to be checked, filled with petrol, - r»r»q anical defects repaired when | ' necessary. •’ Some years ago a driver on the run ' had a narrow escape from serious in-; • jury. During a heavy downpour a slip 1 came down at the back of the car t and a tree fell across the road just in 1 1 front of it. j 1 But. it is fog and frost which are the ’ driver’s greatest hazards. Even dur--1 ing the height of the summer fog lays f thick. There have been time when I frost has caked on lhe windshield so • thick that Mr. Moorman has had to lean out the side window to see the' • road. Whatever the hazards of the route,; 1 • however, the trip has lost a little of; I I its clamour. In the days when motor' 'traffic was but a dream the Chronicle ' we’nt to Marton by a phaeton. Roads were anything but the best and a ■ stream had to be forded, but as it is 1 today, the paper must get through ’! and it gets through.

into the car is set position so that I a'ny possible error is avoided. I When the driver leaves the city 1 boundary at Putiki ho starts throwing ' out papers and farmers who live be- ' tween Wanganui and Marton —though ! they are seldom up at that time of the • day—can get the news “hot off the 1 press.” I First bundles for stores and mail ’ contractors are dropped off at Whan** ' gaehu. The driver carries on through Turakina on the Bulls Road to a point a few miles on the south side of i the township, where he turns and returns to Turakina. Here he takes the Marton road. > Bundles at Marton are left at the • “Chronicle’s” bram h office at appn/ci--1 mately 4 a.m. for delivery by sehool- ■ hoys later in the morning, and at the Marton Junction railway station for delivery to outlying parts in the • “Chronicle’s” circulation area. Mr. 1 Moorman then enjoys a cup of tea at ’ the station and is ready for the next stage of the journey. He takes a ' short cut on a back road to the Main ' North Road, and is soon heading for 1 Rata. Hunterville, Mangaweka, (Jtiku • and Taihape. A winding piece of highway this, Mr. Moorman has often ■ found cars in the ditch, destitute ped- ‘ esfrians and lorries in trouble. About ; a quarter to six the car arrives in Tai- ■ bane, but there is no break for thedriver. Bundles are delivered to , I shops hotels and the railway station -and then the journey to Waiouru- ; where he has a snack —starts 1 Duri'ng the summer it is this part of i : ’be trin that is the most pleasant. The i beautiful snow topped Mount Runnenu ! I glistening in the sun grows gradually;