San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-12-21
A SeasOnable Appeal.

A SeasOnable Appear.
The San Marcos Free Press has passed an
other milestone and entered q new year, the
twelfth Of it's existence-more than the aver,
age life of newspaper in Texas. The pub
Usher shows determination to keepit up,
even at sacrifice. He says;
I'VE have by close economy and constant
attention TO bushes, only been able to Sc
cure mere livelihood. the means for all the
i;tt,e improvements we have been able TO
make having been derived altogether from
outside sources. We have always made as
good paper as the patronage warran'ea
aud several times have lost money by max
ing improvements in the paper wmch .he
increased patronage failed to justify"
This is not creditable to the citizens OF
San Marcos and Hays county. They should
AFFORD tile paper liberal support
rhe above. which we clip from the Gal
weston News, furnishes a good text for some
remarks we had been contemplating,
to our patrons and the public, on the justice
and Importance Of extending the circulation
Of the FsEE PRESS. The summing up OF
our newspaper career here, as copied by
the News. is correct, except that, on refiec-
ton, we think during the last year we have
actually cleared small amount from the
business, but prior to this, very little II
ANYTHING. As the News justly says: This
is not creditable to the citizens of Hays
county. They should afford the paper
liberal support" This is emphatically true
of the present time, when railroads, more
people. more business and money, new
mail routes and postoffices, and the most
abundant season ever known, have wrought
a revolution in the country, and would
seem to have prepared the way for the lib
eral support of one newspaper in the
county.
The News speaks of the period we have
been in the business here, as more than
the average of newspaper life in Texas "
We should say it was-vastly more. As re-
cards all this part of Texas, at least, the
FREE Press on looking backward, beholds
the wrecks of countless newspaper enter
prises in adjoining and adjacent counties.
First and foremost, however let us say, that
from 1869, when the first paper was started
in this place, to the time of our taking
charge in the fall of 1878, not less than half
a dozen different persons were connected
with the two enterprises included within
that period, as publishers or editors. By
the same ratio, during the nine years since,
there would have been at least four or five
different newspaper enterprises here, with
one and half new publishers or editors
every year of that time! And similar
changes have actually taken place at Lock
hart. Seguin, Gonzales, Blanco, etc. But
during all these years of vicissitude the FREE
Press has gone steadily on, under the same
management the Busy Bee and the Nut
shell, boastingly started to put it down,
soon passing out of notice. In short the
only publishers in all this region who were
in the business when we began here, and
have continued in it ever since, are Baker
of the Columbus Citizen, and Cain of the
Bastrop Advertiser.
The FREE Press naturally feels some
pride in this record as indicating at least q
good degree of perseverance, and of perse'
verance under difficulties. And it must be
apparent to any thinking man that but fol-
this perseverance, San Marcos would, even
more than her neighboring county seats,
have been afflicted with q succession of sbor.
tive newspaper ventures, which would have
been no credit or advantage to the community
Instead, they have had a steady-going, fairly
printed, regularly issued, reasonably wei
conducted paper, devoted to the building
up of the country, and making known it
resources, advocating the right side of al
the leading political and moral questions Of
the day. and in spite of the meagre support
extended to il, always maintaining stand
ard creditable to this town and county. W,
10 not believe il admits Of q question tha
the FRYE Press has done more during tbs
nine years of its existence 10 make San
Marcos and Hays county extensively and
fayorahly known abroad than al othei
AGENCIES combined.
Shall not then. the FREI PREss havine
successfully withstood the storms anC
talms Of nine years, and borne the heat and