Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1871-05-19
THE GAZETTE,
CEDAR FALLS, MAY 10, 1871.
The Newspaper.
BY Lutte A. TAYLOR.

The Newspaper! Look at it. 1t
seems empty and vacant perhaps. -
Nothing in the paper" you say !;
yet read and you will find it an open
letter from very many people whom
you have known.
One offers you this commodity,
and another that, one happy man
sends you notice of his wedding, an
other sorrowfully informs you of a
death, Look over its contents close
ly, its news items, its list of accidents
of fires, of crimes see how sudden
wealth has surprised some, and sud,
den poverty saddened others; you
hold in your hand "the ends of mry>
lad invisible electric conductors,
along which tremble the joys, sor-
rows, wrongs, triumphs, hopes, and
despairs of many men ana women"
oil as sensitive to pleasure or pain as
yourself.
Here you have the lore of the
scholar and the wisdom OF the sage.
Here the divine breaches, the poet
sings, and the partisan lies. Here
the statesman proclaims his princi-
pies, and the auctioneer offers his
wares. Here the Cardiff Giant and
Minnie Warren are put side by side,
and one is as long as the other. Here
Is the result of the antiquarian's re-
search, and through the very next
throbs a truthful tale Of present love
passion and romance. Here the old
and new are brought into contact
Here
Tradition, snowy bearded, leans
On Romance, ever young.
This is buta feeble portrayal of
what newspaper is let US see how
1t is made.
Come with me to the office. We
will pass that pile of paper. Yet
stop; pick upa sheet of it. We can
not wait to explain the curious pro-
cess of its manufacture, yet that clean
and spotless sheet is the purified pro-
duct Of rags and filth. The fibre
which forms its texture may have
been stripped from Egyptian num-
mics; it may have come from city
streets, or from great garrets in coun-
try homes it may have wrapped the
luxurious form of beauty, or
been the scanty covering of want (;
but whether from the robes of n
queen, rags of hnrlot, it gives no
clew now to its former condition
Like sanctified soul, it is ready for
u new life.
We will pass the editorial loom. -
It's occupants ale busy. There are
papers fIom far and near; letters from
scattered correspondents; telegraph
dispatches, intelligence in every
form; and from this mass is to be Sc
lected what is Of the most interest
and Importance to make paper to-
day. Let the editors work.
Come into the composing room. -
We have the foreman's permission
grudgingly given. Do you hear it ?
"C4ick' Ctick! Click ~ What Is
that? Why. that is the music
that Progress marches to. Come
here to this case" Look at that
multitude of little boxes, filled with
pieces of metal. What are they p
They are the civ.lizers-they are
THE TYPES. Look at them. They
are not dead, but sleeping. Collect.
lively, they are dictionary reduced
TO its lowest denomination. There
is magic in these types. They look
dull enough, but all the glorious pos.
sibilities that the human heart can
hope for are in their possession-you
have but TO learn the secret they SO
closely keep. If you but knew ho "
to pick out and properly arrange q
handful of those types, immortal
fame would be yours. There are
finer strains there than Homer evel
sang; there is eloquence unspoker
yet, there is keener wit, more fearful
pathos, more persuasive prayer, thar
tongue has uttered or ear has heard
Get it out, If You can. The types are
here, aud are patient of delay.
| The paper is being made up. The
types, one by one, have been picked
up by nimhle fingers, aud placed
proper in position. Every error
has been corrected. Every runctua
ton point is in its place. The scat
tered columns" are massed together
the "form," or page, is securely
locked up" and sent to the press
room.
Let US go there. Here is where
the wonderous transformation IL
wrought; here matter becomes the
exponent OF mind. The "forms" are
properly Placed. The press slowly
moves its arms are reaching fol
tneIr strong embrace.
"Stop the press,"
The giant rests again. There Is an
error Of statement to be corrected. oi
an Objectionable article to lie with.
drawn. The types taken out and
borne away-corpses of dead thought.
Look new, again, at the mass oi
type-dead! Inert as the earth you
tread on. But see! The white sheet
has fallen upon their upturned faces
the touch of the press has baptized
them the life that was in them has
passed upon paper, and the new crea-
tion is pregnant with thought; a
thing with soul, for IL can move
the souls of men. That sheet, SO
blank before, is living power now.
A change has passed over 1t as mar
vellous as If in an instant the un~
written face of the boy should put on
the burrows of age, the lines of care,
the impress of manhood's ex peri
ence. thought and toll.
Thus the paper is born, and goes
out into the world. No messenger
can overtake il. It's utterance Is un-
alterable now. ii may be explained,
but not erased. The printed word