Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1849-01-11
WINE:
THURSDAY. JANUARY II. ls4s.
Printers and Country Publishers.

There is no pleasure so great to a printer a.
that Of issuing a well filled up, well selected and
well edited housekeeping, Of course, the ex-
IRENE felicity experienced by receiving the amount
If hs subscription. But. in the country particu-
larlv. il is frequently the case that the typo who IS
ambitious in his art, however great his mechanical
skill or genius, or however talented as an EDITOR
tie materials which he comes into possession OF
are TIM old and WORKOUT to be made snbservient to
his wishes. and he knows that without a handsome
appearance ~in,elIec. will be bat slightly noticed
Thus marred in one pleasurable excitement OF the
mind, that which is derived from the enjoyment OF
the other. 10. Of ali things of earth, more like "ange'
visits. few and far between" And when the lol>
,erine subscribers at length "measnre their slow
pace along" giving their mite to keep up the lamp
which sheds such teni6cent Iustre, some greedy
creditor is in waiting, ready with extended jaws
to swallow the poor pittance which the needy pub
Isher,had vainly imagined would have gone TO the
support of his suffering snd Woodworking wife.
Few people in this world know the trials and
perplexities which the publisher of a newspaper Is
snbjec. .o-we speak particularly of the country
He takes possession Of his Office without capital
(for If any one supposes that a man buys a conn-
try newspaper with capital to any amount be is
very much mistaken)-and the poor devil honestly
intends 10 work hard with head and hand, with the
hope of reaping what all printers like, a good liv-
ing-his ambition goes no farther.
The peculiar profession of a printer makes him
kind and benevolent, and from this principle alone
he will often finger on in poverty and want for the
sake ofa few friends to whom he c~onceives it wonld
be Notifying If he were to discontinue, spending
what little cash be can raise for ink, paper and jour
neyman's wages, not knowing what hour his chat
tells or his Office may he taken from him for other
necessary expenses; while, if the large amount in
small sums, due by the majority, were paid him, he
would not only be the happiest fellow in the world,
but moreover enable him pnnctuaIy to pay his
debts. and improve his paper in many respects.
A large portion Of ignorant humanity certainly
must conceive that country publishers can, like ca-
MELONS, subsist on air, and that they are as imper
vious to the attacks Of the sheriff as they are Of the
govt; or is it supposed that their feelings are blunted
to the nicer wants Of our nature, or like the galley
slave, treading his eternal round, with no wishes for
better sustenance than the coarse bread which his
crimes merit! Or, on the other hand, is it suppos-
ed by those who do not abide by the conditions of
the paper, that the publisher is SO flush of money
that he can give FIVE hundred dollars for a printing
Office, and after that to spend over one hundred
dollars per month to keep his paper alive. and then
wait upon them for their subscriptions a year or
six months? If they do expect all this, we can as
sure them that they are entertaining an opinion as
futile as the "baseless fabric of a ~vision!"
We have extended this article longer than we an
ticipated, but as some one had to write it, we un>
dertook the unpleasant task.