St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1860-02-23
NUMBER 8.

ana Nathanlcl McLaln printed 1t for
him year.
i have worked on all the messages
of the Presidents from James Monroe
to James Buchanan and this reminds
me of the remarkable changes that
have taken place in printing since my
apprenticeship. Here is fair sam
pie of the papers of that day. 1t is
s. The Galaxy dated July -, 1922,
and printed by my father, at Whining
: ton, Clinton county. The type is small
plea and brewer, and the press was a
Ramagc. The office cost about 500.
and there was not enough type in it, a
part Of the time, to set up the inside
without distributing the advertise
mcnts on the outside Steam was I'M
known Hoe presses not even dreamed
of, and the " balls were the only ink
ing apparatus then in use. For many
a day | have played Yankee Doodle
and other national airs, on the FORMS"
with these primitive inventions for
mixing the type. They were made of
"pelts" " or green sheep-skins reeking
from the vat. The Devil was required
to wrap them in an old newspaper and
rub them under his feet on the floor,
for hours, until they were so dry that
no water could be squeezed out of
them. 1t was a law of the Office that
the Devil should eat one of them be-
fore he completed his trade. The
pelts were filled with wool, and the
edges tackled on to round piece of
wood with handles. After use, the
ink was nicely cleaned off, and the
balls deposited in the trough, covered
with "wet blankets to keep them
moist. Careful printers, in order to
prevent the wool from mating" and
to keep the pelt soft and pliable,
knocked off" the balls after the forms
were off, and then knocked them up'
again when wanted. When in good
order and with superior ink and pa
per, they did better work than rollers,
and are still used by cngravcrs to
bring off, clear and beautiful i'm
prcssions Buckskin balls, being a
little more convenient, succeeded to
the pelts, but now the rollers, made of
glue and molasses, have displaced
them both.
There being no telegraph lines nor
daily papers in the west, prior to
1862, the people were not greatly
excited about early intelligence. If
they heard from Washington once in
two weeks, and from Columbus once
a week, they were satisfied. Publish
crs, therefore, were in no cXtraordina-
ry hurry, and often had good deal
of elegant leisure" on their hands.
Stoves being dear and scarce, and not
often found in a country office, in Sc
we're winters it was not uncommon to
suspend work for several weeks when
all hands would occupy the time in
frolicking and cunning. The paper,
when "wct down would often freeze
as hard as an iceberg ; the types,
when in form, would be frozen solid
and the balls be as hard as rock
AS printers, i'll those days, sent to the
paper mill every few weeks for pa
per, (they were too poor to buy more
than rcam or two at time, they
frequently found the mill stopped by
ice; and, early in the spring, when on
this errand, they were impeded by
high waters. have, when q boy,
with q rcam in each end of bag, on
horseback, swan Mad River and other
streams. 1t was usual, then, to pay
ain cash and rags the latter being
| bought by the printer and called for
by the paper-makcr every few months.
The papers, up to 1880, all contained
standing advertisements, like this !:
"CASH FOR RAGS"
The highest price will be given, at this Of
fee, for any quantity of clean linen or cotton
rags.
Every printer had his steel-yards to
weigh the rags. Subscribers paid
their subscriptions in that currency !;
in ftp, 'levcnpenny, and twenty-five
cent shin-plasters, and cut money"
= sometimes seventeen pieces to a dol
lar. The printer often " made change"
by cutting Zip" out of Spanish
quarter, or a 'levenpcnce in two. The
rag room was very agreeable Sleep
ing place, where the boys and the
"corned jour" often rested their weary
limbs.
Twill now proceed to inquire, briefly,
what are the duties and responsible
ties of the Country Press?
l. To Maintain its Independence-
During the last thirty years, the press
has lost much of its ancient character
and influence. What paper is now
quoted as authority Who but their
respective party friends believe tho
statements, for example, of the WASH
ington Constitution and the N. Y. Tri-
, bune
The era of corruption and enslave-
mcnt began when two great parties,
in the country, practically accepted
the doctrine ITO the victors belong
the spoils." Under its malign opera
ton, at this very day one half of the
the American people are treated as
utterly unworthy to fill Federal Of
flee. This sentiment of intolerance
pcrvades all parties, and controls their
political action. The President of the
United States and the Liliiputian coun-
ty officer have their subsidized organ
grinders. The great organs expect
fat jobs printing, viz BLANKS, pa.
per and twine )" and the lesser organs
, the emoluments arising from county
printing or partizan patronage in some
shape. For thirty years, not an elec'
ton, great or small. has been decided
on public, patriotic grounds, unin'
fluenced by sinister considerations. 1t
is no longer inquired of candidate
ais he honest? Is he capable? ? Is
; he faithful to the Constitution ?" But
is he devoted to this or that party
So infatuated has the country become
that if Washington were alive, he
could not obtain the vote of South
Carolina for any Office. The Congress