Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-09-15
From the London Times, July IS, 1879. |
AMERICAN JOURNALISM.


Newspaper Building" in the Exhibition
grounds. Here you mny see any one, or
il you like, all of the "8,l2o newspapers
published regularly in the United States"
In England a man thinks it cheap If he is
given his choice Of Il few score Of newspa-
pers for a penny; and as our penry is here
practically represented, as a rule, by five
cent or even ten cent piece (the smallest
shoeblack, for instance, expects ten cents
(5d.) Tor shining your boOls), a min could
scarcely grumbIe if asked say Il quarter Of
a dollar, or one shilling, for the run OF the
5000 papers. Need it he said that in the
Centennial Building he can see them one
and all for nothing? lie is not only per-
mitted NJ favor to see them, but he is in
vited, nay pressed, to confer the favor of
entering the building and calling for what
paper he likes. AS hc passes the entrance
his eye is caught by some such kindly and
courteous invitation tts Come in and see
paper from your home" "Wrile your
name i'll the register, give your card to the
superintendent, and make yourself nt
home" The home into which he is thus
cordially welcomed is, moreover, very
pleasant one. Without any prctensions to
imposing architectural effect, il is simple,
elegant, and neat. Its length is 81 feet (:
its width 46 feet its height 33 feet. 1t is
admirably lighted and ventilated by long
rows OF windows and IA large lantern roof
Open on all sides, it catches every breath Of
air that ventures in this weather to stir
out, and on one side the air is cooled bv
passing over the lake, on the border OF
which the building is pleasantly situated
| 1t is, in fact, altogether about az cool and
| agreeable place-qnite apart from its lit
erary attractiOns--as visitor to the exhi-
bition could wish to be offered a chair in
lie may at first wonder how among 5000
papers, among them such mighty sheets as
tile New York Herald, he is 10 get at the
small, loved print of his home, thousands
of miles away, it may be, over the Rocky
Mountains. But the management is So
simple that by consulting the catalogue
any one can at once find any paper he
wants. They are pigeon-holed on shelves
| in the alphabetical order OF their States or
Territories and their towns, the names of
! which are clearly labeled on the shelves
Thus the newspapers of Abbevile IN Ala
bama, would be found on the first shelf
and those Of Laramie City, in Wyoming
on the last; but anybody in di fiiculties has
only to apply to one of the eight superin-
tendents, who, call pineappes of polite
ness" are ready to execute his orders as if
they bodily belonged to him. If he would
| like to take notes or write, he has, in two
galleries which run round the upper part
of the building, his choice of some thirty
| desks with pen, ink, and paper, all pro-
| vided of course, gratis; or if he has ladies
with him, or fiiends with him whom he
wants to have a perfectly private chat,
| there are at his disposal two or three pri-
vute rooms comfortably fitted up. The
visitor is, in fact, so spoiled, that before he
has been in the building five minutes, he
| begins to feel himself injured because he
cannot order at the usual prices of the es-
| tablishment an iced Cocktail" and q
| bath.
twill not, hope, dctract from the merits
! Of this pleasant home and refuge for the
warm and weary readers Of newspapers to
mention that it is an advertisement, since
no attempt is made to disguise the fact.
! 1t is a fact which, however harmless in it,
| self, is in America too often mixed up with
lofty professions and motives, the juxta-
position with which makes it ludicrous, to
say nothing worse.
Bat the proprietors of the Centennial
| Newspaper Building are avowedy adver-
| tising agentS-the largest, l believe, in all
! America-Messrs. q. Z. Rowell & Co., Of
| New York. Their enterprise will cost al
together about $4,000, or 1000, includ-
| ing the building and the expenses Of run
ming" it for six months. How much
comes out OF their pockets cannot say, as
! they have been largely subsidized by some
of the leading American papers. But they
have the management of the enterprise,
| II H., =. Il. 4
| the glory. 1t will certainly make their
names known all over America, i'm corners
which il may never have reached before.
! For the Americans are newspaper readers
| TO a man--ulmost to child; nor indeed
does one need to be an American to appre-
! ciatc the opportunity of resting in COM
Portable room, in order to read the latest
news from ones home. | have seen quite
Young children in the building coming
! their papers as steadily and attentively as
any OF the adult voters around them. 1t
! is possible, admit, that they were reading
oae of The newspapers for children, Of
which u large number are published in
! America. One Of them, according TO the
| catalogue issued by MessrS Rowell, has II
circulation Of l27 900 The 5000 and odd
! American newspapers are declared by the
same authority To exceed "the combined
/ iSst.es of all the other nations OF the earth"
| One is somewhat surprised To find that OF
| this number no less than 6,235, or more
| than three -fourths, are weekly. Some OF
them belong to Glasses TO which in England
| the word "newspaper would scarcely be
applied. and to which even Webster's def
| inition of n newspaper ms a sheet OF paper
printed and distributed at short intervals
! Tor conveying intelligence OF passing
events" would not permit it to he applied.
Such are the semi-monthly publications
QO5), the monthly GAO, and even the
| quarterly (67). The State OF New York
naturally supplies the largest number,
! 1918; in the city alone there are consider
! ably over 400. Next comes Pennsylvania
with 73S, Philadelphia contributing over
1850. Then come Ohio, Iowa, Missouri and
Indiana, all outstripping, one is surprised
! to fad, that model State and centre of en-
| lightenment, Massachusetts,, though she
issues nearly $50. 1t is worthy of remark
that the West, young and raw ms il is,
seems more 90 ahead and enter prlsing IN
journalism than the refined and venerable
! East. California already ranks fourth in
the number OF its dailics. For five years
ak new journ1ls, ON an average have been
started in America every day; hut as old
ones die out, the actual increase during that
tine has not been much over 1000. Some
Of the names Of American newspapers
might to an Englishman seem enough to
strangle them in the birth. Such are the
Union Spy, the Jolly Giant, Aarou BrazIi-
eira, broad Ane Of Freedom, Unterrlfed Dem
oeraI, PIinted Post Times, Roman Citizen
and-Greek shades forgive for ever chron'
icling such an outrage Homer's Had side
bv side with Horsehedds Journal. After
this il ia somewhat relief to he assured
that "high average (oi newspapersl i
always found in company wit high
standard Of education and good order