Smyrna times., 1885-01-14
Newspapers and their Prices.

A newspaper, like every other busi-
ness enterprise, is run for profit, and
unless it yields a revenue it eventually
ceases to exist. Now, if obtained in an
honorable and legitimate way, this
profit must be derived from either the
reading or advertising patronage, or
both, and the better grade of journals
find little difficulty in 50 regulating
their patronage as TO fairly and equit-
ably divide the burden of support be-
tween all their patrons. A paper,
however, that sells its issue at posi-
tive loss and expects its advertisers not
only to make up the deficit but in ad-
ditiOn to contribute a sufficient sum to
support it and afford reasonable
profit on its investment is manifestly
dealing unfairly with its best custo-
mers.
A newspaper is a peculiar commod-
ity. 1t is not like a pound of nails or
a bushel of salt. People don't shop
around to find out where they can save
cent on newspaper, but they buy
the one that suits them hest even
though they have to pay more for it.
They find out pretty soon whether they
get the value received or not, and
hence, a live, enterprising paper is
never required to resort to such shoddy
schemes to reduce its price or offer
premiums to secure the patronage of
the intelligent public 1t is only the
sleepy, badly managed and worthless
papers that are driven to such extremi-
ties. And let us say one more word,
and that is, the readers who would
buy a poor paper simply because it
could be obtained trifle cheaper than
a good one would be of little advan-
tage to advertisers. Liberal-minded
and intelligent people, who buy ac-
cOrding to their judgment and know
the difference between legitimate wares
and absolute trash, are the class of
readers that the liberal advertiser
wishes to reach, and he is generally
shrewd enough to reach them.-Er.
SMOKERS IN THE WHITE HOUSE,
So the White House is to have anOth-
er smoker" said an old attache of that
establishment, as he carefully nursed a
fragrant Havana and watched the rims
of smoke ascend toward the frescOed
ceiling
q see that Mr.. Cleveland is a
smoker. Well, there has been pretty
constant smoking here since Grant
came in. There was an interregnum,
so to speak, under Hayes, who did not
smoke, nor did any of his boys; but
with that exception the Presidents
since Lincoln have all been smokers.
" Mr.. Lincoln did not smoke nor
chew. johnson did so, so did Grant,
so did Garfield, so does Arthur, and so
will Cleveland There were great
times among the smokers when Grant
came in. 1t seemed as though every
body here smoked then. l remember
up in the Presidents room at the Cap
itOl, when he used to go up there to
sign bills on the closing days of the
session, the smoke was so thick that
you could cut it with a knife, as the
saying is. No, Hayes did not smoke,
but not because of any objection on
the part of his own wife, for | think
she rather enjoyed the OdOr of a good
cigar. l remember that she turned
the cottage at the Soldiers Home up
side down one day looking for cigar
for me after l had taken dinner with
the family there. She had seen me
smoking at my desk, and set out to
find some cigars there, insisting that |
should not be deprived of my after
dinner smoke, but failed, for somebody
had captured all of them"
IMPROVEMENT IN HEAVY GUNS
Colonel j. r. Haskins, the inventor,
says the manufacture of heavy guns is
in its infancy 1t is true that improve
i to -,
their construction, but they apply to
details, rather than the principle upon
which guns are built There is but Il
little modification of the old brass
piece of the last century seen in the
100-tOn guns of to-day. There is the
same general loss of power in each. A
pressure of 40, 900 pounds at the breech
of the best gun in the market will di-
minish to 5000 pounds at the muzzle,
with corresponding decrease in the
velocity of the proiectile. What gun
makers are striving for is to make
gun in which the high pressure at the
breech will be maintained to the muZ-
zle, and to discharge a shot with this
tremendous pressure behind It. When
this result is attained the heaviest for
, tification and armOr will shrink into
, insignificance, and a city or a vessel
, will be battered to pieces the same as
if it were an egg-shell. The time,
believe, is not far distant when a gun
of this power will be made. The har-
Dor deiences of the world will then
have to be changed, and the most pow
erful men-of-war will, comparatively
! speaking, be nothing more than pleas
: ure yachts.