Part I, Chapter 5

THE ETERNAL FIGHT: The Astrapé

The Astrapé is a newspaper.

It is published four times per day, containing local, national, and foreign news as well as the more noteworthy speeches of (parliamentary?) gatherings, printed on an eighth-"rét" sheet. (Possibly a 5 meter x 5 meter sheet... presumably before being cut into folds/pages. I will have to do more research on determining the correct size/value of "rét", which is an archaic Hungarian unit of measurement I have no familiarity with.)

It is a newspaper written in stenographic symbols, without the use of typesetters or a printing press, using papyrography/paperography. After the editor types in the page, a steam-powered machine prints 200 copies per 4 minutes. The editor is able to control the feeding of paper into the copying/printing machine with his legs (as though using a foot-powered sewing machine) even while typing with his hands. Therefore he needs no staff, only newspaper deliverers/distributors who are also his source of news upon their regular returns for the next edition.

The price of the newspaper is one krajcár (in German kreutzer, but as with names, it makes sense to use the Hungarian)... the smallest coin in circulation. Thus does Astrapé give dangerous competition to traditionally typeset/printed/prepared newspapers who cannot possibly make a profit at the same price.

The only thing keeping the Astrapé in bay, for now, is that not everyone can read stenography yet. The numbers of those that do, however, increase every year. It is taught in all universities, and is increasingly indispensable in more and more professions. Some soldiers only know how to read stenography, as that is what the military teaches. And there is an increasing number of literary/leisure reading titles ("The complete works of X" type) being published.

Upon purchasing the 3pm Astrapé, Tatrangi Dávid finds an article about himself as one who unlawfully assaulted Mr. Mazrur and is being sought for arrest.

Reading this, he decides to delay his visit to his father, and instead goes to turn himself in to his military superiors.