Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1863-07-01

eompen.c in fewer, but better books, we nigh
| have fewer authors, but uors worthy of ou
remembrance and gratitude. &
I Some ten years after the first Use of woode
type by CT rENBERG, one ULRIcH HAsSE.
| Vienna printer, not succeeding in his own city
| removed to Rome, where be, by his skill an
ability so gained the favor OF FREDERICK "
as to cause that Emperor to bestow privileg
on Printers, which placed them in eoual ran
with noblemen and scholars, and permit ed then
| to wear sword. The rank, they have eve
| retained-beng the equals OF noblemen nm,
scholars, and if they do not wear the sword
| they have only laid it aside for the ssshootin,
stick" EDWARD " of England, i'll shown.
| favor to his intimate friend CAxToN, the print
| er, was pleased to remark that he had ssraiset
| him from ehiefembassador to that of printer }
Allusion is made these circumstances onl,
| to show the attention paid gifted men, for non,
at that day aspired to the dignity of the profes
sion who were not men of superior education
and worthy of the society and patronage of the
royal and the learned. They were not simpl,
craftsmen-their erudition, their attainments.
and dignity of bearing made them the EQUALS
of princes-they respected their profession
and were respected because Of it. They were
not hirelings, nor peddlers of brains, but men
who rejoiced in the nobleness of their profess
hood-unsold untrammeled, unbought by corpo-
rations and politcians-would it not be well
for US to think back, If we cannot go back to
the good old days of the ABUSES, the Plan
TINS, the STEPHENsEs, and the CARTONS
when the patrons of the Art thought they hon
ored themselves IN honoring the Printer They
opened the Book Of knowledge, be it ours to see
that its pages are untarnished by word OF
thought unworthy of trans mission to those
whose heads and hearts are to be educated by
our teachings. SIS Ett
L will not attempt to follow the progress of
our art through the troublous times of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. That was
peculiar era in the worlds history. The
pc ssing from dark to brighter ages-the curtain
of darkness raised slowly, and long and doubt
tul was the combat which finally gave enlight-
ened intelligence and christian liberality the
mastery over ignorance and bigotry. In 1900
the first printing press was brought to the
North American Continent-an era in the
New Worlds history, second only to its dis.
covery. The press was to the New World like
the breaking OF day at, er long night of dark
ness-the dispelling of the mist OF ignorance
which had so long mantled the land from it
was TO radiate the light of intelligence and
knowledge, permeating the dark recesses, and
warming to life and usefulness the treasures
and beauties Of Gods creation. This press
was taken to the city of Mexico, and there
used as Government organ; and like all such
organs, its music was for the Government not
for the people. 1t was mere convenience
used to sound the glory of the King, or praise
or abuse some one in or out Of power, might
best seem for the interests of those who con-
trolled it. Such presses die with their selfish
masters-and the hope of the people is that
the master die early.
The next press, brought to the American
colonies, set up" at Cambridge, in
1929 A man by the name of DAY, a very
rood name was the first priDtar and tho Cow
eminent, in honor of his pioneer position, gave
him grant of three hundred acres of land.
What became of DAY, or how he disposed of
his land, the record is silent, though it may be
safely Inferred that being Printer, he diod
''land poor' The second press in the colo
mics was established at Philadelphia in 1886,
by VIM. BRADFORD, name somewhat familiar
to all printers and the inscription on his
monument, in its conclusions, would be an
appropriate epitaph for many printer who
has spent life at the 90 case' That inscrip-
ton reads GO Here lies the body of Mr. VIII
LIA2 BRADFORD, Printer, who departed this
life, May 23d, 1852, aged 81 years. He was
Printer to this Government for upwards of
fifty years, and being quite worn out with old
age and labor, he left this mortal state in the
lively hope of a blessed Immortality" After
serving his Government for upwards Of fifty
years, = and being quite worn out with old age
and labor" he passed away with the hope of
a blessed immortality-we, too, will wear out
q with old age and labor" but who will ven
ture, when we are gone, to speak of our pros
poets of g blessed Immortality"
II was not until about the beginning of the
present century that the West, or as it has
generally been termed, the Northwest began
to attract attention, and men turned their
thoughts to the inviting points north of the
Ohio, and along the great chain of lakes,
though few settlements, for trading purposes,
had then been made by the more adventurous of
n T, a oh
ed at Cincinnati, and in 1908, another was taken
across the Mississippi and planted in the vii
lage of st. Louis 1t is but half century
since, and what a change has been wrought in
this, then, underlined, North-W est-an unbrok-
en- wilderness, with its wild, untutored peo-
pie; now one vast productive field, with its
Intelligent, busy, thriving populace, rich in
all that contributes to earthly happiness and
prosperity. The agency of the Press, in this
great work of retaining, civilizing and en-
riching, is too apparent, and too highly appre
ciated to need more than passing allusion,
and that only to remind those to whose care it
is committed that in assuming the duties Of the
Chair Editorial, they take upon themselves
responsibilities that challenge their devotion
and watchful care.
The first printing within the boundaries of
what is now Wisconsin, was done at Green
Bay, in 1927, by Mr. ELLIS, practical print
er He possessed a small font of type, with
which he in that year printed quantity
of - Lottery Tickets, - to aid some charitable
purpose and printing has been . lot
terry y from that time to this, we may, per-
haps. attribute the uncertain results of our
business to the influence of an unpropitious
beginning. 1t was not until the 18th of De-
cember, 1888, that the first paper. the Green
Bay Intelligencer, appeared. Wisconsin was
then part of Michigan, and the vast country
to the west and north of Lake Michigan was
in the darkness of an almost unbroken and
unknown wilderness, without name to dis
tinguish it from the wide expanse of woods,
and streams, and mountains, that stretched
away to the Pacifc--a vast space, which geo
graphers filled up to suit their convenience,
and beautify their charts. Milwaukee, in
1886, followed with its AdUertiseT, DAN RICH
ARDS, editor. Green Bay and Milwaukee
were even then rival settlements, and though
separated by wide tracts of unsettled country,
their inhabitants looked forward with jealous
ewes to the great trade which vas some day to
build Metropolis for the State, which had
already future of grand proportions predicted
for it by those who had studied and specialized
imam ;,S vast wealth and resources Presses