Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-03-10
NEWaRAPERs.

HN6 W OF ~
ADDRESS OF HOWARD NJ JENKINS, ESQ, BEFORE
TIE DELAWARE INSTITUTE OF MECHANICAL
ARTS.
On Saturday evening, Howard NJ jenkins,
| Esq, editor of the Daily Commercial OF this
| city, delivered lecture, on Newspapers, before
| Delaware Institute of Mechanical Arts, at the
| Reading Room, s. +. corner of Filth and Market
streets. The audience was quite large aud atten-
| tive, with the exception of some half grown
boys, who kept running In and out, to the great
| annoyance OF those present Mr.. jenkins was
| introduced by ex-Mayor Valentine, and discoursed
for over an hour, in very pleasant and entertain
ing manner about "Newspapers."
Newspapers as defined by the U. S. Postal
Laws are printed publications, issued In numle .,
| comprising not more than two sheets, printed at
stated Intervals, not more than two months apart,
| and conveying intelligence of passing events. -
Why they were called neacs papers, Is not gencr-
ally known. BY some Il is said that the name was
derived from n, f.. W., s., the initials of the
four points of the compass, from the fact that the
papers published intelligence from all parts of the
globe. 1t is more probable, however, that they
were so-called because they were the records of
the news.
The Chinese published the first newspaper the
King ChOSo, or Court Transcript, at Pekin. For
many centuries it has published the official pro-
ceedngs, and is still the medium of communica-
tion between the court and the people.
The art of printing was discovered in l44O, and
though, in l445, 1t had been advanced to such a
state OF perfection, that Guttenburg, in that year.
printed copies of the Bible fIom movable types,
nearly two hundred years elapsed before the art
was applied to newspapers This may have been
on account of the difficulty in obtaining news
The only articles in the shape of newspapers ex-
sting during this period, were Netos Letters, con-
sisng Of the passing events of the day, debates In
parliament, &c, collected in London, written on
paper, and sent out once week. The first news
paper ever printed was called The Certain NescS
Of the Week, and was started In London, by Ma
thaniel Butler, Aug. 2Sd, 1922. The next paper
was not started until the nth century, during the
reign of James H. and was called the London Ga
sette, being the official organ of the government.
The first American newspaper was published In
Boston, by Benz. Harris, in 1880. 1t was a small
sheet, and was soon suppressed by the authori-
ties for the reason that il " contained reflections
OF a very high nature"
The next newspaperial venture In this country
was the Boston NeaoSletter, started In 1704. 1t
a very small sheet, 12KS inches, published weekly
and only printed on one side. 1t was published
in this shape for fifteen years, when the other side
was printed upon, for the reason, as the publish
er said, that he couldn't put all the publick
news Of Europe" on one side of the paper.
In lS44, the invention of the magnetic tele-
graph, and the general inroduction of railroads
INTO this country, gave powerful impetus to the
American press The ono enabled publishers to
speedily obtain news from all parts OF the coun-
try, and in later years from all parts of the world,
and the other enabled them to distribute the
printed sneets Win great raplulty. FROM tnls Pc
riod dates the prosperity which the press OF this
country at present enjoys.
The newspapers OF the United States are com
prised in three classes,-the New York papers
without doubt being pre-eminent among the first
Glass; from tho unsurpassed journalistic advanta-
ges possessed by that city. The papers of Bos-
ton Cincinnati, Chicago, st. Louis, San Francisco
and like cities comprise the second Glass; while
the country journals comprise the third-class-
The Eastern papers sell nj prices ranging from
one to four cents, the Western papers uniformly
al five cents. while papers in San Francisco sell
for even ten cents per copy.
Newspaper publishers have adopted q variety
Of curious names for their publications. Some
Of the most striking are The Dew Drop, The All
Over, The Ant-Dram Shop, The Crysalis, Narrow
Guage, Our Little Paper, The Pulse of Health,
The Young Sport, The Occasional, What Next,
Little Lively, The Bachelor, and many Others
Here in Delaware, we recently had Our Mutual
Friend" which though equally as odd, was GER
tainly more appropriate than those above men
toned
The lecture closed with a brief review OF the
character of the press and itsinhuence on society
A vote Of thanks was unanimously rendered
Mr. jenkins, for his very interesting remarks, of
which the above is n very imperfect synopsls.-l
The next lecture before the Institute will be made
on Saturday evening next; by whom is not yet
known, but due announcement, to that effect, will
be made.