Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1884-01-02
Messages Forty Years Ago.
from the Iowa State Register.I

[From the Iowa State Regster.l
The remark of one of the proprietor
of the Register, that he ''always dread
ed the trouble of getting out the annua
message of the President, remlndedthe
writer of the times and troubles of forty
wears ago. At that time in history
the county-seat papers were all small ex-
cept the type. Country newspapers
were frequently printed in plea, and al
most universally In small plea, so that q
Presidents message would have to be
printed in weekly serial numbers for
three to sx weeks. And there is now
before the writer file of a paper III
which one of Martin Van Buren's mes
sages occupies forty-two columns OF the
paper, filling two pages each week for
four weeks. In those days the people
lead the messages, as there was no such
variety in the papers as at present.
But there was progress in those days
as well as now, and there was rivalry
among the country papers as to who
should soonest accomplish the great task
of giving first to the public the annual
messages. In those days there was no
telegraph, and owing to bad roads, swol-
len streams by winter floods, and want
of bridges, the progress ofthe mail coach
from Washington to the west was slow
and uncertain. And to comfort those
who think it so much trouble to publish
the message in these days, let them lis
ten to the recital of the trials of other
days. There were then really no patent
outsides, but the necessities of that &C.
casion probably was the invention of
hat..practice of the present day. Find
ing it almost impossible to set up In
small plea the long messages of those
days (for Presidents had no more prac-
tical sense then than nowin writing long
messages), the country papers went to
the neighboring cities, and when some
paper then received the message and had
their edition printed, the country editors
had one side of their paper printed on
the form of the city paper. In this way
the natives of those days were frequent
try publishers, not knowing the editor
had been blowing With city helpers IN
accomplishing such feats.
The writer recollects wildly of max
ing arrangements with the Cincinnati
Commercial, March, 1841, for President
Harrison's inaugural Tin which Webster
said fifteen Roman Proconsuls were
murdered.) We resided forty miles
from Cincinnati. The roads were deep
with mud, and HoOsiers recOilect that at
that season of the year it generally
was rainy and foggy. Horseback was
about the only possible way of travel.
In order to be In advance of cOntempOr-
aries it was necessary to be at Cincin-
natl just at the time when the message
arrived. Through mud and rain we
made the third toilsome trip to Cincin-
natl before the message came. Finally
it arrived, and we received about 9
o'clock at night our edition of 1000 pa
pers. Rolled carefully in blankets, etc.,
to preserve them as much as possible
from rain, we laid the bundle, (near three
feet in diameter) on our horse, and,
mounting on behind, started on the
dreary journey of forty miles, in the
dark doggy and raining.) The distance
was made through deep mud in nine
hours. The other forms for the paper
were ready, and in ten minutes after our
arrival the carrier boy was circulating
our paper with President Harrison's
message, our best friends supposing it
had been set in type and printed in our
Office. And as we look at the bound file,
the stains of that fearful nights march
in the rain are yet visible. And yet pub
fishers complain of the trouble now of
getting out the Presidents message.
There are yet old editors and journey
men printers living who will wildly
recollect the struggles of those days,
and sympathize with us in the times
and troubles which tried mems souls.
Sometimes, In extreme bad weather,
it took from fifteen to twenty days for
the Presidents message to arrive, and
all of that time In suspense as to when
it would make its appearance. Publish
ers of the present day ought to be SUI
premely happy, and never under any
pro7ocatlon make short answer to call
ers or customers.