New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-12-14
THE RECORD FIFTY YEARS
"REMINISCENCES OF A JOJRNALIsT.
By CHARLES 7. CoNCDON.
THE FIRST DECADE.


WHALING PORT FIFTY YEARS AGo-rHF COL
CRED OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES OF THE OLD QUA
KERs.
One who has been al his life familiar with news
papers will naturally have clutter of odds and
ends interesting perhaps. if not important. in the
drawers and pigeon-holes of his memory. Without
being very OLD a journalist may have witnessed
what amounts 10 a complete revolution in the
methods and proportions of newspaper manuiac-
turc; and such has been my own fortune. There
are not many people perhaps in Nev-l0rk VINO
can remember what country newspaper oihce
fifty years ago; the old fashioned wooden-frame
presses. the small fonts of typ. the inkballs the
traditions which had come down from tie days OF
Faust the fixed habits and the odd names by which
things called; the wandering iOurneymen,
usually given to occasional inebriety the appren-
tices from tn" Oldest almost "out of his time" to
1.-THE devil" Just entering upon his time. and not
finding ii charming one. | was almost born in
such nm office II may say so a considerable pro-
portion Of my infant untidincss of printer ink;
my small hands were often bliStered by beating the
forms with the balls aforesaid. while NY father
worked oil the limited edition of perhaps 400
copies OF our newspaper. at first on that clumsy ma
chine, Ramagc press. We worked the odtslde a
our little weekly an Friday. and the INSIDE On the
eve of the day of publication. which was
Tuesday. When the giuc-aud nolasses roller
was invented. all my serious tolls seemed
10 he over. II was the first aboI-sayine
machine of which | had any practical kno"l-
edge and marvel thought il. II came from
New-l ork then "a far OF to me a Jerusalem. Iud
wthlt came new ard shining fonts ol tvpc-v,,y
small fohis, from the historic foundry If NJ. DAVID
Bruce stu famed under thc direction of my friend
Mr. David w. Bruce. for thc production -. ,icrlut
L. at ais gI
Specimen Book-the first pie uTc-.ooh of import aiicr
which delighted my eyes. since grown little Tired
perpetual illustrations. How We children fought
lin amicablc way for the first lo1A ID. have
.sean AZ least OF the great galleries ol lac world
since-thc eIlndrurs OF the old and ihr g,ori"~ 90
the modern masters; but none - these crnd give
me much pleasure a. Air. brnccs advertising
cuts and reproductions of Bcwick, and design, by
anderson. afforded. There was one print, freshly
remembered now, of an unhappy wretch standing
upon the scaold and jIst upon the poin, oi beng
turned OIL over winch .hcd tears IN abundance.
Tins Wa, probably intended ior some hroadside de-
scupuou OF al egecuiion. Then there were cuts for
lotteries. auction sales advertisements fugitive
slaves horsc-race., toy-Aonk,-all claiming in
those days OF mited pictorial establishment.
When the newspaper was printed carried it TO
ihc suh>cIibcr, houses AL ~ the morning caiy.
village, but my share oi the work amounted 90
about one hundred and fifty deliveries. fhe task
was easy enough in the cool, Summer mornings. and
l stroiled along pleasantly thinking of ihc book
whish Ind read the night before. or of the other
book which intended 20 Trud I'm the evening. The
very hlst verses whica / wrote" Ode 10 Com
mcrce' Elcgy on the Death OF Chattcrton,' "lhc
Seasons: IN Four Parts were mediiated during
my pedestrian hb-rs. | fear that THESE pooticii
tcyctics we're favorable Ia prompt delivery. At
any rate, | remember that there was retired sen
capita of truculcnt disposition. who the tenor
of my life. and an embodied Tcinbution whenever /
was tardy lie would rush out. with an nllamcd
cOunteuance. and denouncc me from his door steps,
always charging me with having missed his news
paper the previous week.-Mrs. was usually false
imagination of his own-and always stismatz-
ing me as lazy lubbcr. Considering that
l was about two feet high, OF timid diathcsis.
and not in the least like tar in the fofecas,le,
always Thought his conduct 10 be not only iEhuman
but undi mGod. Ionce made an effort 10 cpncihaic
INN 10y asking him in confidence the exact length
If Whale. Instead of giving me the precise fl res.
which desired on account Of n marine romance
which was then engaged IN writing. IA BECAME
aplplec,io at NY audacity, and boltcd INTO the
house without uitering a word. heard OF Inn
aitcrward in some mixed marine company speak
ing oi me as u fool preiXIng word beginning and
"a dins with ID -; and / must say that / tuen
thought and now think his conduct very mysterious
and eninnatical. "Tn,c's a small hoy 10 carry
newspapers" SAID an Old Quaker Lady. gentle ana
sofl-voiccd. to me one bitter Winter ring; and
she took me in a I'd cpmior;ed me with hot coffee
and very much preferred her treatment TO his.
recall comparison which l instituted between
Captain Cook and this fcrocious ex-captain, very
Il, Ia 1t.,. .f no 4 niD
thought OF what Benjamin Franklin would have
SAID to him under such circumstances, aud
framed a speech IN the manner OF the Doctor,
which never had thu courage to deliver. n was a
orusher; bat unlike the undeliycrod speeches OF
SONS members Of Congress, 10 WAS never printed
aud Is now lost TO the world forever.
| have dwelt little upon my soa-cap.ain, he
cause my memory IS fall as / write o. the bluff
whaling-skippers, who were large and extremely
respectable part Of our population. We were. in
tact, nothing if not maritime IN New-BediOrd.
One of my first escapades just after had achieved
the art of walking was to abscond To the river side,
into winch might have tumbed from the wharf
if had not been discovered and led ANONYMOUSLY
back. Other dscOverers have made more elaborate
reports mine simply afterward related to
me- '",ght y drink We a town of tars
at certain seasons tarpauiin hats, checked shirts
and ducks were the prevailing COSTUME IN the
streets. A large proportion of our public houses
were for the salons, and can remember when the
most respectable of these houses kept bars
at which Jack might alleviate his thirst.
This was apparently great long
his money laseJ,l and aftorward, when he sometimes
drank mp IN advance the earnings of his next vow
age. The result was a good deal OF fighting aud
disorder; heard the riot act read once by man on
horseback, and twice 1t was found necessary
to call out our militia company. Nobody was
killed, though we had several houses, of no
doubtful character. pulled down or burned. The
whale ships recruiting at the Sandwich or Society