Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-12-11
The Family Newspaper.

The family newspaper Is the medium
through which the public obtains infor-
nation of persons, places, and things; of
events constantly occurring and changes
ever being made. 1t is an encyclopedia
of general and useful information; and
the man who reads it, and marks the
progress of events, is the man who is
prepared to form an intelligent concep-
ton of the relations which men and
things bear to each other and to himself,
and he sees opportunities developing
that frequently prove to be of the ut
most practical Importance. A sale of
some property that he needs, IA situation
that is to be filled, a contract that is to
be filled, contract that is to be award
ed, and a multitude of other Opportune
circumstances that are susceptible of be-
ing turned to advantage, are brought to
light through the columns of the cOun-
try newspaper These are pecuniary
considerations why every man, woman,
and child, too, who has arrived at the
age of accountability, should take the
paper"
But the well-conducted journal has a
higher purpose and Il nObler aim; for,
moving ona high sphere of intellectual
ity. it caters to the mental wants of the
public, supplies tie reader with the i'm
plements for the cultivation of his vast
fi4ldS of thought, giving L. The once bar
rem soil strength and fertility. The man
of business. the farmer or :Iry hanic, finds
Il pleasant and wholesome relaxation
from the perpleXing monotrny of his
daily vocation, in periodical Perusal of
its pages. The man who tolls all day
long beneath the tOrrid rays of the sun,
amid the smoke and din of the forge or
machine shop, or is stepped with the
cares of the counting room, and denies
himself the enlivening pastime of an
hours companionship with the family
newspaper, is an object worthy of COM
miSeratiOn. He knows not the pleasure
of IA terrestrial existence, and it will be
matter of surprise if, on some day in
the near future, the journal that he has
for lifetime discarded will perform the
solemn duty of recording the old story
of ''a man overheard )" and as the waters
of oblivion roll over the benighted spot
where the fatal deed was committed,
some skillful advertising sculptor will
inscribe upon his tombstone the melan
choly epitaph, "Died of eBnui, superin-
duced by not reading the paper" The
human mind possesses natural appetite
for information, and in order to preserve
the symmetry of the man this appetite
must be gratified; the qualification deni
ed, for a trifling pecuniary considera-
ton, creates a tendency in both body
| and mind to contract to such an extent
that complete collapse is at any time
time imminent A well-conducted FAM
lily newspaper is moral in its tendency,
and exerts salutary influence upon the
home circle. The man who, at the close
OF day S weary duties, Wnen the mantle
of darkness has fallen upon the land
scape, and the dews of heaven are lull-
ing to a nights repose earth's glistening
herbage, and the tlocks and herds have
sought shelter from the rising fogs, gath
ers around him at the freSide table his
wife and children, and reads aloud from
the teeming columns to the listening
group, is discharging an important and
pleasant obligation, and exercing the
powers, rights, and privileges that char
acterize him as a rational creature. He
is thus prepared to grapple with and
overcome many of the difficulties that
stand in his pathway. The end of such
Il man is peace, and "his children will
rise up and call him blessed.
(Pa.) American.