Wichita eagle., 1888-10-20
WE ARE GROWING OLD.
From the Topeka Commonwealth.

| Aio'A ]iAo topeka ComuOnWeaitn.
Last weeks issue of the Chronicle wal
the beginning of its twenty-sixth year
The first Chronicle saw the light of day or
the twenty-sixth day of September, 1868
The place of its birth was in the stone
building one door east of Sam SHIRLEY.
grocery store, now occupied by w. Y
Hoover as livery barn. As is generally
known, the founder of the Chronicle was
Col. NJ. NJ. Murdoch, now the capable and
| well known editor of the Wichita EAGLE
-Four years ago when the writer became
| the owner of the Chronicle and CONSOLE
dated it with the Burlingame Herald, we
requested Col. Murdoch to write letter
| for the first issue of the paper under our
control, which he did, as our readers
remember, in very happy vein;; We be-
| lleve the letter referred to well worthy
reproduction and present it for the second
time TO our readers Chroni-
cle
| We well remember when Colonel NJ.
NJ. Murdoch started the Chronicle and
the reason of his for doing so. Marsh
was then young man, printer by
/ trade, working. we believe, in Lawrence.
The county of Usage contained within
| its borders large number of town sites
on which taxes were not paid. Besides
the town sites it is probable that one-half
of the county was owned by non-resi-
dents who did not pay their taxes
until they We're obliged to. in order to
save the land from tax deeds. Then a
large number of the bona fide residents
of the county were in the army, and
their friends who were at home were not
able to pay their t@kes. These facts
made the publication of the tax list fat
job. Twenty-Five cents for description
of land and 10 cents for each town lot
was the price paid. j. E. Cummings,
who then published the Topeka Tribune,
had pretty solid hold on the county
officials of Usage county in those days,
and usually had these tax lists to pub
lish, although sometimes the old State
Record sometimes published the list. The
law, IN fact. was that where there was
no paper published in the county the list
should be published in some paper of
general circulation in it. There were
very few people in Usage county in those
days able to take and pay in advance for
a paper, but the Topeka Tribune and
State Record went to many of the in
habitants of that county without much
expectation of ever being paid for. 1t
was to the interests Of the proprietors of
those papers to show circulation in the
county so they could get the tax list to
publish. Marsh Murdoch looked over
the situation and thought there was an
opportunity to start paper at Burlin-
game, then the county seat. and thus get
the tax list to publish and make some
money out of it.
But for this tax list it is probable that
a paper would not have been started in
that county within three or four years
from the time it was We will let Marsh
tell how he got euchered out of the tax
list. He says in a letter written in 1884:
Hon. Jacob Stotler, of the Emporia
News, submitted my proposition to the
people of Burlingame, which was to start
a paper as soon as two hundred subscribers
should be secured, at 50 each. Uncle
Johnny Peerill was chairman of the meet
ing and Uncle George Bratton, l believe
secretary. The subscription paper was
left in Uncle ''Mack's" hands, who kept it |
at Mcdonald & Bothel's store. By taking
ten copies each ITO subscriptions were Sc
cured at 1.50 each. BY the way, l have |
that subscription paper and its auto |
graphs yet. j. r. Stewart went with me |
over to Ridgeway where we secured the |
names of J. B. Green, 0. II Browne, |
Phillip I. Hupp, H. H. Heberling and |
then twelve miles by twenty-four long.
The life and hopes of the Chronicle were
based upon the delinquent tax sales on
ots in the cities of Versailles, Superior
and Indiana City, but alas! James Rogers
got an act through the legislature vacating
5he streets and alleys of these metropolises
and my expectations fell to the ground,
md for three or four years our little i've
column folio dragged out but precariOus
existence.
The Chronicle is now a six-column
Iuarto, with good advertising patron
,ge. 1t is published by Newt Mcdonald
md, we judge, is doing well. When the
Chronicle started there was no other
own than Burlingame in the county,
while now there are Usage City, Bur
ingame, Scranton, Carbonate and three
II four others, and we believe there are
published in Usage county now ten
,apers. We know of nothing which
brings qefore US more graphically the
growth of the state than this reference
o the Chronicle of Burlingame.