Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-11-13
wUATTwo GIRLS DID.
How They started Newspaper ah'
Printed 1t Themselves.

amusing account of her adventures in the e.
field of journalism q
After a trip to Boston and visit over n
one of it's great newspaper establishments y
the Journal, | returned home III the VIII 4"
ter of 'S4 NV mind was filled with news Il
papers and all things relative to them' t
From my childhood it had been my favor =
ite dream to be in some way connected /
with one In u testing way informed {
my friends one evening that l intended I
starting Il local paper. The IDEA was I
scorned. The ability TO edit paper was
not doubted, but the possession OF busl-
ness facnlty equal to managing the affairs I
of even Il small sheet was not credited.
\ few hours tulk with Il young lady VIII,
ing to enter into the undertaking settled
the affair We were confident that we
could doit so accordingly set out IN Aprll
. tn Lawn fine business We borrowed Il
press and type and other essential thlnss
from my father. In three weeks we learnt
to set type aud in five weeks from the
day we began we came OUT win Il SallplS
COPY of the paper we intended to print ana
edit Then came the tug of war. we
had proved that we could get out one
unper. full of mistakes, to be sure, rev
apparent to the ordinary reader Dut
dozens of them visible to Il printer. we
printed Il circular stating. our terms ana
intentions and sent 1t to every one Wlthln
A radius of IL hundred miles and to many |
old residents whose addresses we were
able to obtain. We had concluded TO run
this newspaper on an ecOnomlcal OASIS, |
and not hire any work which we could
possibly do ourselves Hence one emily
spring day with notebook and pencll we
made Il thorough canvass OF the TOWN..
TO say that it was disagreeaole WQrh
would be drawing it mild. we had olteh
solicited for church fairs and charitable
q nurpOspS but that was nothing to can
vns5ing for Il newspaper. The result OF
uur work was one hundred subscribers ana
some thirty dollars in hard silver. W neh
we had secured one hundred ana nity
: subscribers in town and out, we decided
: to get out our first issue. We therefore
spent our ready money i'll buying rollers,
extra type and all other implements nee
cssary Tor the warfare. we secured
= patent inside from the New England
= Newspaper Union and purposed to PRINT
the two outside pages ourselves. we
, BEGAN the first issue under the most ulS-
- hpHrten circumstances. III our little
} town only two things were considered
. emiueutly respectable for girls III our
: station in life to do-one was to live ON
!. our fathers and the Otner to teach school
/ The first we wouldn't do, and the second
!, couldn't do, as we lacked lhe ulgnlty anu
1t patience necessary for Il successful teach
' er. We were determined to branch out
in new department of woman work
= and, friends to the contrary, wedid II. AL
e the commencement of this difficult I'M
l. dertaklng we had neither OF Us attained
u our majority, and were very DESTROYS of
/ holding in our hands money OF our own
Il earning With great glee we collected
" the material for our paper, selected tne
y, poetry, wrote our first editorial ana put III
shape our local items. With not SO nucn
le glee but still CHI, erfully we set the type
III and looked with pleasure on the far white
{, marble The.locking up of the form Wa'
=" attended with II great deal OF anxiety
u The chase was placed III the press; lhke.
and the first impression taken. The nrs'
- glance produced IL most pltiable look upoi
Ell my partners face and provoked laugh
p from me- According to the words, th'
he first shall be last, we had placed the col
r. umns IN the wrong positions Every
he thinr was wrong side to. The paper wa
III. advertised to be issued Thursday noon; l
Sc, was already noon. BY p. III. the pape
10 was finally printed and all mistakes rem
edied. But two crosser, Dlacker, NOR
tired girls were never seen. unused !
ic- printers ink and handling roller, "
us had plentifully urnameuted ourselves Wit
W ink Black eyes, cheeks, .hands ana arm
w. prevailed III our printing oihc"' -AIt't IA
~ first week we were cIabIeu 10 get "uh
ne easily during the summer Oh course az
ne c;lput- of every kind incident to prin
lW' inc Office occurred in ours. To lucrea>
ul- our circulation one warm July day "
l." started to make Il canvass OF llt i"IS'
boring towns. our horse was SlyliS
ttH appearing creature and the buggy W.
the comfortable. The horse must have bee
however, overcome 10y the heat, Tor
ny took lis four hours to drive eighteen ME
.tI- by noon the mercury must have indicate
IN some ninety degrees IN the shade. y
ma PARTNER considered herself SUPER
Ior- driver, so when We ncarcd IL house IN
iAe looked us though its owner could allo
lni to subscribe for the Gd:cttc she won
""I say, you run i'll and ask ana VIII lo
. ont for the horse Perhaps some ere
lhe accident was averted by my doing all t
, ne canvassing and by her holding the hor
SoG During our experience We had many
ana fusals, but only one grutf answer and
jeell cross grained old codger made amends +
now his roughnesS by atterward handing IL
say dollar for years subscription. In I
you end we secured Il subscription OF I
Is TO hundred and fifty and page of "ad
III The letters we received were often Tau!
hot able ones. One lady, devoted TO the '
l luz mans rights question, compllmented
we on being "emancipated from the nee
thls, and the broom" Another "patted us
II ~ ~, the back" for encouragement. An ell
T. .. ioL ef IA neigGboling weekly sent us inc
WIN lowing pithy note: sisters Louise
the Jennie, send the little sheet along"
, ,.a,'n The office though in II private HOT
vo1, was made the rendezvous OF all our freu
oIIv During the summer months, as we co
mai}s not spare the time for picnics, our trie
0 too-klndly came to see us IN Dusll
,+ ~ hours. To some we were indebted for
p ~ ~ One we would place at the editorial q
" nav and give MIN pen. Another would
post quietly Oh the compositor's stool. Sti
TO eX- tnlru "ouit Vt'iG ~ ne ,n,ant. br3udish
la of the type anu III G,''' i, go for
1t the lhe nttilG ~ onaat ~ Ills Ireirh
at he Woulu sl'S Us in1 vs., ,,,ara ~, fnfs OIL ~
)nsti- the press, III oi'' N,ortr nrassao ,,I
II the one oi tHose oir no' :, ,, nrnballv
thodS WenU ny loo. po"Gii, d ~ 49, "a Not n
these TO lhe coIiiusoL', ,' f CO.. nm
stand rai SluPiul'S , We O"o " t,l",'l ana r.
e dis lolloWlhS ihe9oi9' lam H. ~ -
VI 'i'' Mr.. Nahum Cunningham" while Ct
eS out uctI' w Nv, ',tr ,;',',,' 7,,,,.',.
pport oncr a. ~ ,,.iaj i'm tin snnnr
- "in the hot weather, the confusion. and
Il lS Mtil work, it was doubly tried ia the W,l
Nor 40 Que Gun iil'SiuI ,''I
tn ac- 20 piliu d p"rVii -, ,'t a., ,,,.,i,1, ,