> … while available as a special character, it is often better to construct this using suitably sized non-breaking spaces

I'm curious why? Kerning? Regardless, it sounds like a lot of work

> but really should find a copy of the actual magazine....

Uh, "..." ;)

The big reason for manually constructing an ellipsis is to ensure consistent spacing for the 3 and 4 dot forms --- some typefaces will include both, but may not fit well if the type specs have the text set tight or loose.

My apologies, should I have typed \thinspace.\thinspace.\thinspace.\thinspace.?