The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1864-12-21
DEC. Doth 1861

1t Dear 7ims:-What irritation like a
% itching fancy? And if the luxury
3 scratching that same, brings up s,na
IS eruption in your columns, need any bod
: feel tickled or sore?
+ But one thing must beg of you Ono
J. upon time, little in advance OF a joyou
: election day, / dropped you note in IN
spirit of christian, which said note wa
Il Afterwards wedgcd into your columns Will
o preface so extremely complimentary tina
{ | felt quite awkward under the weight o
= it, and half suspected you were crucifyin,
me according to the copy of Sir Walter
''that extravagant praise is the keenes,
4 ridcule. ~ ~ rs.a' .E...s.s ..teG .-t
mo ont, an thou lowest me-"
; Please don't humbug your readers by
sugar coating my Johnny-cake any more
Some how or other, newspapery speak.
ing, feel neighborly and tenderly drawn
; toward the TINES. like it as the Hoosier
liked his beverage, forgetting the strych-
nine and thinking only of the rye. In
fact, | think the TINES a fxture-it will
endure as long as the time, times and half
a time, mentioned in Scripture. expect
JOHN will be Senior Editor away along in
the generation hence, when, with grand
child or two on his knee, he will welcome
to his "frosty pow that dimming of the
faculties which will enable him to forget
he ever voted for Mcclellan. You and l,
COLONEL, snug in Heaven, of course,
reading Gabrie,s Morning Chronicle and
singing the doxology!
| like the TINES because it understands
the secret Of being local paper. 1t is
LOCAL. A thoroughly McGregorly-pro.
ducton, designed for home consumption,
and full of matter pertaining to things in,
around, about and circumjacent thereto.
1t has smack Of idiosyncrasy--so Pat.
Richardsen-ic, so John Andricised-if you
please, that one recognizes in it the every
daysical features of neighbors; with some
faults to make us like 'em, and many vir-
tues, with genial ways, and individuality
set off by some crotchets not loved of men
nor angels, but still an unconscionable part
of the make up Of the Sanctum.
| And here let me read lecture to country
newspapers. The brick bats Of the Press
have ratified against the panes of every
known institutions; now let EN- look out for
their own windows!
learned to read out Of country news
paper and from my ABB -C,hood have looked
very kindly into their internal anat omy.
once tried my hand at editing one; but
the solemn question Of bread and butter
turned my every editorial smile into a
sickly grin. quit the business for want
of sufficient reigion l couldn't "consider
the lilies while the patches accumulated
on my elbows, and Sit-down-tery organs
and The epaulettes of-gencral sliabbiness
dangled from every angle Of my corporal
self. Tom. Marshall, you know, said that
nobody who knew how to write, ever
edited country paper except now and
then.a "man Of genius reduced TO dcsper.
ation." Being neither genius nor
desperate, sent in my "walcdictory" and
the small loss the Press suffered was my
substantial gain.
But to my lecture. Country newspapers
as a general thing, are just fit for old
women to wrap up their herbs ir-that is
all. And why? They are conducted on
the wrong plan. Look into one. The
editorial is a commentator Of the Powers
that be, or a TRADE against them, and sub
scrihers will please pay up. A little advice
to the President and few cords of wood
wanted on subscription. A scold at Con.
gress enjoning them to CAB little and grab
less, and country produce taken on sub
scription. An endorsement Of the con-
sumate strategy of the general Of the hour,
and fling at the one endorsed last week,
and our new jobber works to a charm.
The startling, but chronic, announcement
that we are en- the eve of great events. |
The situation is imminent and we shall see |
what we shall see, and owing TO the illness |
of our devil, We go to press an hour too
late this week For the miscellany "A /
story--the Lord knows who wrote it; a |
fag end of history-the Lord knows wheth- |
or true; a scrap from Beecher, ARENAS !
Ward or Petroleum b. Nasty who furnish |
the pepper and salt now days; an account
of the moral development Of the Fejecs
and Kangaroos, recipe for making
porridge; an account of happy husband
presented with three babies at one borning, |
all we'll at last accounts. Then the Gag |
ricultural;" How to sow turnips, when to
salt cattle; the effec. Of buttermlk on
spring calves-clippings of which the
editor has read only the titles. @
Now for the local. By the way, we
learn when the paper is published, every
Friday, by the Capitals under the title
The column of Local Mattcrs'-an i'll. |
titled patch likea horse Jockeys garden,
over-run with new advertisements and
puffs to freshen stale ones tells ms that
somebody has laid big egg on the editors
table. and another body, the Atlantic
Koathly; that three or four merchants have
just got on stocks Of goods each Of which
is the best and cheapest ever brought into
town; that the printer was remembered by
some girl when she made har wedding cake
and he wishes her a long and happy we'd
ded life, but is too bashful to wish her