amongst them, the city and suburbs are ransacked for every item of
news of any importance. The City Editor is a sort of general. He keeps a
close eye on his men. He finds out what they can best do, and sets them
at that. He gives the good workers better and better work; the poor ones
he gradually works out of the office. Those who make bad mistakes, or
fail to get the news, which some other paper gets, are frequently
"suspended," or else discharged out-and-out. Failing to get news which
other papers get, is called being "beaten," and no reporter can expect to
get badly "beaten" many times without losing his position.

[Illustration: HOW SOME OF THE NEWS IS GATHERED]

And now, Tom, and Jonathan, and even little Nell, we'll all be magicians
to-night, like the father of Miranda, in "The Tempest," and transport
ourselves in an instant right to one of those great newspaper offices.

[Illustration: TYPE-SETTER'S CASE IN PI.]

It is six o'clock. The streets are dark. The gaslights are glaring from
hundreds of lamp-posts. Do you see the highest stories of all those
buildings brilliant with lights? Those are the type-setters' rooms of as
many great newspapers. In a twinkling we are several stories up toward
the top of one of these buildings. These are the Editorial Rooms. We'll
make ourselves invisible, so that they'll not suspect our presence, and
will do to-night just as they always do.

[Illustration: TYPE-SETTERS' ROOM.]

Up over our heads, in the room of the type-setters, are a hundred
columns, or more, of articles already set--enough to make two or three
newspapers. The Foreman of the type-setters makes copies of these on
narrow strips of paper with a hand-press, and sends them down to the
Editor-in-Chief. These copies on narrow strips of paper, are called
"proofs," because, when they are read over, the person reading them can
see if the type has been set correctly--can prove the correctness or
incorrectness of the type-setting.

[Illustration: TAKING "PROOFS."]

The Editor-in-Chief runs rapidly through these proofs, and marks, against
here and there one, "_Must_," which means that it "must" be published in
to-morrow's paper. Against other articles he marks, "_Desirable_," which
means that the articles are "desirable" to be used, if there is room for
them. Many of the articles he makes no mark against, because they can
wait, perhaps a week, or a month. By having a great many articles in type
all the time, they nev