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INDUSTRIES Past and. Present, 1901. A. Gibbs and Clegg & Son are also printers in the town. Two newspapers have recently been started in the town, the Wantage Herald published by Mr. A. Gibbs, and the Wantage Free Press. John Bradford was established as a printer at Wallingford in 1830, and he had several active successors. In 1855 the Berks and Oxon Advertiser was established. It is published by Mr. W. D. Jenkins. The Wallingford Times was printed and published by Mr. G. Rippon, but is now discontinued. Mr. Bradford is now a Wallingford printer. Maidenhead had two printers at the beginning of the century, Thomas Hughes and G. W. Welton. Now it has two newspapers, the Maidenhead Advertiser, published by Mr. F. G. Baylis, and the Maidenhead Argus by Mr. T. J. Northery, and four other presses owned by Messrs. Burnham, Loosley, Isaac and J. C. Smith. Windsor had three early printers in the nineteenth century, one of whom, Henry W. Reynall in 1812 founded the Windsor and Eton Ex-press, which is still published by Oxley & Son. The Windsor Chronicle is published by Mr. T. E. Luff. Mr. F. Walker has also a press in Victoria Street. The spread of printing has caused the setting up of several presses in the rising villages of Berkshire, such as Ascot, Crow- thorne and Bracknell. The little town of Hungerford does not yet support a newspaper of its own, but it has a printing office owned by Mr. F. New. After this brief resume of the presses through- out the county, we must return to the county town, where in recent years an enormous increase has taken place in the numbers and extents of the printing establishments. There are now no less than twenty-one firms engaged in this industry, and while some are only small concerns with one or two presses, a considerable number are large and important works, replete with modern machines and appliances. During the past few years the removal of large printing works from London to the country has not been uncommon. The high value of land in London, the heavy rates and rental, have induced several printers to migrate into the country, where sites can be secured at a reasonable rental and room for expansion can be procured. Reading, owing to its proximity to London and its excellent train service, has found favour as a suitable place for the erection of printing works, and several firms have established themselves in the town. Amongst those who have migrated to Reading is the firm of Messrs. Wyman & Sons, who had large works at Fetter Lane and at Carter Lane, Doctors' Commons, London, and required an extension of their premises. They selected a site of three acres just off the Caversham Road in Cardiff Street, about three acres in extent, and in 1901 erected their new buildings, which have subsequently been enlarged. The works cover a space of nearly two acres, and there are numerous departments for the various kinds of printing carried on in the buildings. Amongst the most important productions of this press are the Parliamentary debates, which have to be printed with much expe- dition, and a large staff of readers is employed when Parliament is in session. The Litho- graphic department is an important one, and the geological maps of the Ordnance Survey are produced by this firm, who are also contractors for the printing for the Treasury, the Privy Council Office, the Education Department and H.M. Stationery Office. They print also time-tables and other matter for the Great Western Railway, besides news- papers and magazines. A large staff is also employed in the binding department. In the composing and other departments a large amount of female labour is employed, the hands having migrated here from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Recently two more annexes have been added to the works, one of which contains the monotype installation, and the other a roller-casting plant. The proprietors of The Graphic have established at Reading their Colour Printing works in Katesgrove Lane. The old multiple- colour process has been abandoned at these works, and the new three-colour process is entirely adopted. Each machine is driven by its own electric motor. The Reading works are in close touch with the London office, and no inconvenience has been caused by the establishment of this department in the Berkshire capital. The needs of the modern advertiser have called into being many huge printing estab- lishments, and amongst these the large works of Messrs. Petty & Son, called the ' Southern Printeries,' in contradistinction to their north of England ' Whitehall Printeries ' at Leeds. The founder of the firm, the late Mr. J. W. Petty, learnt printing at the Leeds limes office about 1830, when that newspaper was printed on a handpress. The Reading business was started in 1895 in buildings in Katesgrove Lane, burnt down in 1901, the ruins of which were purchased by the pro- prietors of The Graphic, and converted into the colour printing works described above. Messrs. Petty bought the large Queen's Hall, 403