The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-10-19

S~ ---- ---------------.--y-
r,r-rs say.,.. OCTOBER 10. ISL.
r,a Dsspatcn-About Newspapers.
~ richmond Dispatch Is this day TWEEN
80 rna,s old. I, was founded by the Be-
vs., sastor ON the 10Th day Of octotcr' 1s'".
rho sav being the anniversary u tne sur
snr or cossvArLIs at Yorktown, was
locked upon as favorable omen 'oi ~. 80 w.
no, and was not without It's cheer,ns euvoS
.,', ~. ,dventurev for so douht'ui at Tue
t,ne was the enterprise. ana tfienos a'i.
c..as "a ,nnch about IT'S expediency, tnat
.rnn tho most insignificant sign was re-
r.~aad 9th some degree OF sattsfactaon.
T,a commencement of the undertaking.
b,nerer. was not without It's discopraging
signs and innumerable obstacles, but IL
turned out that success verified the good
and frustrated 'he unfasorshle aug1lries
,h.ouph unwaveIipg resolution and .unre-
m,f,ei energy. which, after all, are the
only art,ticers Of success In any important
undertaking.
me success OF the Dispatch was un@
eoualled BY any previous example m news
naner enterprise in Virginia. Alter Tue
first month, which was one Oh great an1,"y
and labor, there waS not the signtes' eheo,
out upon It's steady advance, until Ton years
afterwards It's profits exceeded those OF any
ssner In the South, save, possibly. one In
Sew Orleans. Us circulation in 1865 eS-
ceedcd that of any paper south OF the TO-
,omae. and in the first year Of the war ran
,,p above the capacity of the presses anu
tho .den,Snds of Subscribers could not he
supplied.
Passing through the vicissitudes OIL the
war 8ith as much of activity ana enter
Prise as was possible great
difficulties In obtaining paper anu ma
chinerg-procuring two suits OF types from
London during the period-the entire
establishment was consumed on the ever
50 he. deplored Sd day of April, 1860.
The psper was resumed on the Stn OF
December. 1866. by the present propr1e-
tors Its rces.ablishment, under the pros
,ration Of the country, the prevailing as
tresses, and the perplexity Of the puel'c
mind with reference to the number OF ne"
papers which had sprung up after the wal,
was herculean labor. Nothing short OF
the stoutest determination, great expo
rience, uufiagging industry, and the most
perfsct faith in the Dispatch, sustained
them in the long period OF uncertainty and
trial previous to the establishment OF tue
rupcr upon basis so firm, 80 Thoroughly
founded in the public favor, and we nope
WAS complete. 1t now occupies It's ola ie.
Luton to the public and the press us the
most widely-circulated and most popular
advertising paper In this part ofthe Union.
In paying this notice to the Dispatch at
this interesting period of Its existence We
arcled to look back at the newspaper bis
tory In our day. When the writer OF this
entered the printing cfllce The press known
40 the "Ramase press" was universally
used In the country. In the large cities
an iron hand-pIess was cmploye1, and
there were some imperfect lnVen-
tons which may be compared TO the
smoke that preceded the light blaze
which burst upon the newspaper world in
,nr Napier, and finally The Hoe press. The
kunlase press was capable Of printing 2o0
sheets an hour. or 2.400 in twelve hours.
The Iron hand-press which printed two
pages at once-the "platen which makes
the impression being double rs wide rs that
OF the " Eamage press" -ptinIcd $50 sheets
Dc. hour, or 1900 III twelve hours. The
fist 81. ide In the multiplication of sheets
WAS about thousand an hour on the Ma ,
p!er press. Tho second advance was 10 ,
3 600 per hour on the donblc-cylEder Hoe :
pres. These presses wcro all supplied :
with the level bed for the types to rcst !;
upon. The bed travelled upon railway
ana still doeS--the types receiving the i'm. !
prcssiGp while passing under tue cylln. :
ders. ;
The Latest and greatest improvement to !;
this day was what is styled the " Last Fast !
Press of the HOES. 1his press substi- |
tutes for the level ped on which the types
ole imposed the large cylinder. The types
being Llaced upon segment OF this cylin-
der it ievolves steadily In one direction
while number OF small cylinders reVoiSe
around 1t, an impression being MADE Dy
each Of these cylinders as the types pass III
contact with 1t. 1t may be reaolS seeu
here that the number of impressions, In this
plan, NAV be multiplied in proportion TO
the number of cylinders. They are at pre-
sant from four to twelve. The press having
the lutter number prints from twenty to
Twenty-Five thousand per hour. Other in.
ycutions promising greater speed are talked
of: but we can hardly imagine the need Of
any increase in this line. The present ma
chimes ought 10 be quite equal to the pub
lie appetite.
Now, we see from these statements that
so late as 1920 and "a the most famous
newspapers in the Union could not have
supplied daily subscription OF more than
5000. We doubt whether either the Stand.
ard, the Star, the Courier, or the Enquirer,
OF New York, or, indeed, any paper OF that
day, In any large city, had daily list cx-
eeeling at furthest 1000. The public ap.
petite was limited by the capacity OF the
press; but 1t grew with THE growing speed
ot the press, until now every body reads
the newspapers and they are seen every
where. The New York Herald prints
more papers In one day now than were
probably printed in one day in the whole
United States in 1920.
The prices Of subscription to newspapers
during the time of the limited capacity Of
the press were high, aud newspapers were
h,pS1al carafllIy md no ~, f,,I eoxo1