What was published in the Times and what was its value?

It looks like you're referring to Mr. Chips's favorite newspaper. In the story, we are told that Mr. Chips reads the Times regularly.
Mr. Chips enjoys reading the news in the Times, but he is most happy when he encounters what he calls "short leading articles" that introduce "a few tags" he recognizes. The "tags" here refer to Latin tags or phrases that are used in written or spoken English.
For example, the motto for the United States Marines is Semper Fidelis, or Semper Fi (abbreviated). The phrase or tag means "always faithful." You may be familiar with this phrase in colloquial conversation. For more Latin tags or phrases, please refer to the link below.
In the story, Mr. Chips is proud to be able to recognize Latin phrases in Times articles. It makes him feel good to have a secret skill that few people have. The text tells us that Mr. Chips doesn't consider himself a "very profound" classical scholar but that he does read the occasional Virgil or Xenophon. The value of the Latin tags to Mr. Chips is that they remind him of his special skill.

To be among the dwindling number of people who understood such things was to him a kind of secret and valued freemasonry; it represented, he felt, one of the chief benefits to be derived from a classical education.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/latin-tag

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