Why is agate called "agate"?

While we're at it, can anybody explain the origin of "-30-" at the bottom of releases?

 

Yes.

We choose not to.

 

Telegraph code, buddy. -30- signifies "the end". Like such:

 

My publisher at my old paper decided people couldn't read 6-point agate, so he made us switch to 7-point. Hilarity ensued when scoreboard started spilling onto two full pages.

 

Why does the number 30 indicate the end of something?

 

I believe it had something to do with the telegraph. You'd have to ask the people that invented that machine.

 

I've posted this answer before. Historically, it's very cool.
And, I was able to find it...

 

That's just whose answer I was searching for. Fishy delivers, as always.

 

I still love journalism. When I was younger, I loved asking veterans about the business.
Amazing the stories you could get for a beer or two-fingers of scotch.

 

-12-

 

I thought this thread had to do with the door on a fence.

 

Now you've pissed me off. I'm so f***ing old, I actually know these things.
If somebody asks what a linotype is, I'm gonna fall out of my rocking chair.