The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-04-17

he JefkeQ the Afc1tnle0e0n teCeF.
This paper was called The New England
Courant 1t was edited Jointly by James
and Ben jamin Franklin and was started to
supply Iong-felt want. Benjamin edited
the paper part of the time and James
part of the time. The idea of having two
editors was not for the purpose of giving
variety or volume to the editorial page, but
it was necessary for one to run the paper
while the other was in jail In those days
you couldn't sass the king, and then when
the king came in the Office next day and
stopped his paper and took out his ad. you
couldn't put it off on 'our informant" and
go right along with the paper. You had to
go to Jail, while your subscribers wondered
why their paper did not come, and the paste
soured in the tin dipper in the ssnctum and
the circus passed by on the other side.
How many of US to-day, fellow journal
lists would be willing to stay in Jail while
the lawn festival and the kangaroo came and
wentl Who of all our company would go
to q prison cell for the cause of freedom
while double-column Gd. of sixteen aggre'
gated circuses and eleven congresses Of fe-
rocious beasts, fierce and fragrant from
their native lair, went by us?
At the age of u Ben got disguised with
his brother, and went to Philadelphia and
New York, where he got chance to sub
for a few weeks, and then got regular
''sit.n Franklin was a good printer, and
finally got to be a foreman. He made an
excellent foreman sitting by the hour in
the composing room and splitting on the
stone, while he cussed the make up and
presswork of the other papers. Then he
would go into the editorial rooms and
scare the editors to death with a wild
shrek for more copy He knew just how
to conduct himself as a foreman, so that
strangers would think he owned the paper.
In 1870, at the age of o. Franklin mar
ried and established The Pennsylvania Ga
zette. He was then regarded as a great
man, and most every one took his paper
Franklin grew to be great journalist, and
spelled Lard words with great huency. He
never tried to be humorist in any of his
newspaper work, and everybody respected
him
Along about I746 he began to study the
construction and habits of lightning, and
inserted local in his paper, in which he
said that he would be obliged to any of his
readers who might notice any new or odd
specimens of lightning, if they would send
them in to The Gazette Office by express for
examination. Every time there was a
thunder storm, Franklin would tell the
foreman to edit the paper, and armed with a
string and an old fruit jar, he would go out
on the hills and get enOugh lightning for a
mess.
In 175S Franklin was made postmaster
general of the colonies He made a good
postmaster general, and people say there
were less mistakes in distributing their mail
than there has ever been since. II a man
mailed a letter in those days, old Ben Frank
lin saw that it went where it was addressed.
Franklin frequently went over to England
in those days, partly on business and partly
to shock the king. He used to delight in go
ing to the castle with his breaches tucked
into his boots, iguratively speaking, and at
tract good deal of attention, It looked
odd to the English, of course, to see him
come in to the royal presence and, leaving
his wet umbrella up against the throne, ask
the king, Slows trader Franklin never
put on any frills, but he was not afraid of
crowned head. He used to say, frequently,
that 70 him king was no more than seven
spot.
He did his best to prevent the revolution
airy war, but he couldn't do it. Patrick
Henry had said the var was inevitable and
given it permission to come, and it came.
He also went to Paris and got acquainted
n fayxy crowned heads thora