The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-12-26
THEFIRsT NEWSPAPER.


Careful research has failed of as
certaining when and where the first
newspaper appeared. There is also
an interesting query as to the fate of
its protector. The Actd Diagna of
the ancient Romans reported the
proceedings of the Senate and did
some news reporting in its way. 1t
existed before the the time of Julius
Caesar and was prohibited by Angus
tus. Gus was an astute politician
and not being able to use the DiurRd
be suppressed it. The news items
of the ancient Roman newspaper did
not differ much from those of to-day,
and it would appear that the repor-
torial style has descended unchanged
from the noblest Roman of them all,
sixty -dollars-a-week reporter, pro-
badly, to the modern members of the
fourth estate. Imagine reporter in
a toga philandering around for news.
The following togaed items were re-
ported by Petronius, b. G. $50:
sOn the 18th of July, thirty boys
and forty girls were born at Trimal-
chi's estate at Cuma. At the same
time a slave was put to death for ut
tering disrespectful words against
his lord The same day fire broke
out in Pompey's gardens, which be-
gan in the night in the stewards
apartment"
Gashmu, embalmed like fly in
amber, in Nehemiah vi, 6, was sort
of reporter around Jerusalem. He
made up canards to damage the 9th
er party; so that there must have
been Republican organ in those
days. Venice is sometimes said to
be the birthplace of the newspaper.
The Venitian government, in the
year 1868, during a war with the
Turks, issued written sheets giving
information of the events of the war.
These were read in public places to
groups of auditors, each one of the
group paying coin called gazetta;
hence the name gazette is applied to
newspapers. The government even
tually gave their announcements in a
regular manner once a month. Thir-
ty volumes of these manuscript news
papers still exist in the libraries of
Florence. 1t is not true that the
first Venetian newspaper was the in
strument of the Inquisition with
which to torture men. The use of
newspapers for torture is of later or
igin.
The English Mercury appeared in
1858, and was published occasionally
as matters of event took place. 1t
was followed by The Certain Newes
of this Present Week in 1922. About
this time Burton wrote:
"If any read nowadays it is
play book or a pamphlet of news
The first semi weekly was publish
ed in England in 1865. In 1880 the
printing of newspapers was prohibit
ed in England. 1t is supposed there
was a Stead around at this time.
There was, at any rate, the profigate
Charles II, and the odious Cabal.
The censorship of the press was
abolished in England in 1895, and
thereafter newspaper multiplied.
The titles of the early English
newspapers were quaint and curious.
There was The Dutch SPY, The
Scots Dove, The Parliament Kite,
The Secret Owl, Neirs From He'll,
Neps From the World in the Noon,
The Laughing Mercury and The
Weekly Discoverer Stripped Naked.
At this period newspapers had be-
come the rage in portions of Europe,
and rival armies carried printer
along, much to the disgust of the
printer. 1t should have been noted
that parliamentary speeches were at
tempted to be reported in 1862.
In 1909 London had sixteen news
papers outside of weeklies: one dali
ly, twelve tri- weeklies and three semi
weeklies.
1t is definitely known that the first
successful effort to establish news
paper in the colonies was made in
1704. On the Oath of April of that
year appeared the Boston Ners- Let
ter, which continued to be published
weekly until the Revolutionary
war.
The first newspaper war was in
augurated in 1719-the News- Letter
taking offense at the Introductory adj
vertisement of the Boston Gazette,
which appeared Dec. 81, 1719. The
rival editors did not commence their
attacks upon each other in the po-
lite language of western brother
who said: 1.-The distinguished con-
sideration in which we hold the
three ply jackass who edits our nox-
ious contemporary" yet they flung
around in pretty lively sort of a
| way.
The third newspaper in the United
States was published at Philadelphia
in 1719, and the fourth at Boston in
1921. The latter. the Nec England
Courant, was edited by James
Franklin. Before the end of the
year Franklin was in Jail for attacks
upon the government, but the pa
per was continued by Ben franklin,
his brother. Ben and he were out
then, and it is generally conceded
that the Franklins were out and out
Mugwumps.
The first paper in the State of
New York, the Gazette, appeared at
New York city in 1925. From 1856
to 1865 eight newspapers started in
the State, all published at New
York city. The first paper outside
of the city appeared at Albany in
1772.-Nep York Star
Hard to Keep.
The following is copy of the
'rools" adopted.in Randolph county
school:
stake up at ate o'clock let out at
fore and give one our for noon.