The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1878-09-18
NOTES AND DOTS.
LIN Cooke and jefferson Counties.

In Cooke anu JEFFERSON Counties
From our Special Correspondence
NEWPORT, TENN, Sept. II, 1878.
''Here am t. again. up in the beauti
full town of Newport, the capital Of
Cooke county.
Yesterday morning left your town
in charge of Captain w. ]. Taylor, Of
We ''Bumcombe" railroad, who landed
me safely at Rankin's Depot, with q
charge to J. H Carson and r. c. Brown
to take good care of me. Thanks to al
the parties fer the very best of care
By the kindness of Brown was soon
set across the French Broad river by
some people going over to Wits Mill,
aud was soon taken up by Mr. Buffet,
commercial agent for w. w. Woodruff
s. Co., Knoxville, and landed at the
door of F. Darby, one of your subscri-
bers, who gave me good dinner which
fitted me for the walk befor me. Hav-
ing travelled all the afternoon, night
found me with B. T. Harris, who has
taken your paper since it was in its 9Th
volume
This morning travelled 81 miles to
reach here, and find myself in a really
beautiful little town with strength to
grow, not only larger, but more beauti
full
The Newport High School, under the
care of w. A. g. Brown aud Miss Sallie
Wilson, was opened on the 10Th of Aug
ust, and has now 20 scholars.
This town boasts of possessing two
newspapers. One is the Newport Re
porter. The nucleus of the present pub
LEGATION was commenced at Big Creek,
in this county, January. 1875, called the
The Star, printed by lad who had new
er seen the inside of a regular printing
office. When little bit of boy, he
was left alone at home, and looking
over a newspaper or book, began to
wonder how printing was performed,
and after studying a while took out his
Barlow" smoothed off a piece of sour
wood bark and cut out his name, j. L..
BIBLE, in regularly formed letters
nearly half an inch long. He then dab
bed the bark in common fluid ink and
made an impression on the title page
of his Speller, which he Wsed at school,
and, wonderful to relate, instead of be-
ing wrong side up, as we printers might
have expected, the transfer was correct.
This was his first effort at printing. It
Is now before me, and is really credit
able performance. He repeated the ex-
pertinent, and making himself nuie-
ance to the old folks, he endured the
usual amount of ear-pulling and spank
ings with the fortitude of martyr. But
his genius was not thus to be stamped
out AS he grew in years the mania for
impressIng type upon paper increased
upon him, and when about sixteen he
got together hand-stamp and a few
type and set himself up as a printer.
Encouraged more by his neighbor ac-
quaintances than his parents, he con-
ceived the idea of and started the anna
teur publication With his jack knife,
he engraved highly illustrated head,
and also constructed a wooden press,
something after the pattern of an i'm
proved cheese press, and issued The Star
va monthly Soon, he began, with
real enterprise, to issue supplements.
His publication was a folio-four pages
and the pages were II by inches in
size. The first volume exhibits many
improvements, among which may be
noticed an addition of four pages, new
and more brilliantly illumined heads,
letter boxes, and border, with which
the pages were surrounded, for he
struck cut with heavy mourning bor-
der, which he reduced with his jack
knife to very respectfully ornamented
one At the end of the first year he be-
came ambitious of widening his sphere
of usefulness, and enlarged his opera
tfons BY removing to Parrottsville, and
after few months to Newport, where
I now find him in the second story OF
a new building of his own construction.
built from the proceeds of his business,
the first story of which it is expected
will be occupied by the county as a
courthouse. He is printing q six-col-
umn paper, by half an inch each way
the largest in town. he continues to
''peg away," and though even now to
meet local opposition and competition
is determined TO succeed. After all his
success as self-educated printer. can
not help thinking that it would have
been mach better for him, had his faith
er,When Ne saw the mountain-enyiron
cd boy atsagg1ing for light, taken him
to some good printer and bound him
out for five years apprenticeship, as
your fathRr, AR Editor, did by you, in.
yoas early nrintfng experience.
To-day 5s issued the initial number
Ofthe Edsters sensl.ez The press and
materials used by the. late Democrat,
printed any GFeenexille, have been par-
chased by a joint-stOck company, with