Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-11-27
AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS
THE STORY OF THEIR BEGINNING
AND EARLY PROGRESS.

Bss,s.s. aarrs. H. Htsss Ansrie.s Pus-
ltssss Je~rnaAs Csad.esed ~ IT,
Hy.skiins-sapprssssa - - Act u shs
Lexisi.sars-OsA ssyis - PsissinG-
To Benjamin Harris 10 dne tbs credit II
having published thS first American newS
paper Il wss printed In Boston by RichArd
Ferce. the first number being issued On Sept
Is. io98 IL was the intersion Of ths pub
Usher 70 issue . monthly edition, but On &C
count u some unfayorable criticisms II wss
almost immediately uppressed by the autnor-
Ities But one copy Is in existence, which =
uo.ss~s-d In London Il bears the title Pub
hex Occurrences. Both Foreign and Domes-
tick
The first ne wspaper that bad any coAaid-
srsbie existence was The Boston News Let
ter. This was published and printed By John
Campbell. and appeared on April "A. l'o4- 1t
vas Issued weekly and continued TO appear
until I176 Next in order was The Boston
Gazsete. first published on Dec q, isls On
the Ia Of December Of the same year The
American Weekly Mercurie appeared in Phil
.isirhia the famous William Bradford be-
ing the esiitor
BENJAMIN rAAxKLIy.
The appearance OF The New England Cou-
rant. a weekly newspaper published by James
Franklin elder brother Of enjamin Franklin.
:..ok place on Aug. IT, lT2l. The new journal
1t once attracted attention by the siashing
style Of It's editorials and criticisms, and the
life OF its editor was by no means An easy one
Franklin began by falling foul Of the clergy
and became involved in . fierce controversy
with Increase Mather and other ministers,
and was 80 liberal in his criticism Of public
affairs that In IT., . resolution passed the
legislature forbidding James Franklin to
print or publish The New England Courant OF
any other pamphlet or paper Of like nature
except IL be first supervised by the secretary
Of the province For some time Franklin
Yielded obedience To this edict, but within .
few months after II was issued his paper
again appeared with the name Of Ben Amin
Franklin, boy Of 10, and compositor In the
office, at the head of the columns As the pro-
prietor.
New York could not boast the possession Of
. newspaper until Oct 10, 1725, when William
Bradford founder of The Philadelphia Mer-
cure, published the New York Gazette. In
It's, Benjamin Franklin established The
Pennsylvania Gszette, which appeared IN
Philadelphia. This journal continued in
existence until is45 when il was merged in
The North American.
Under Franklin's able management it b.
came the leading newspaper Of the country
and during the controversies with England
preceding the Revolution took a strong stand
in favor of resistance and Independence. The
famous letters Of John Adams over the
pseudonym Of Novanglus appeared in its
columns The first newspaper published in
Virginia vas issued at Williamsburg in 1875
It was entitled The Virginia Gazette, edited
by William Parks, who, during the nine pre-
ceding years. had published The Maryland
Gazette at Annapolis. In IN the first num-
bers Of The Massachusetts, Spy, edited by
Isaiah Thomas appeared in Boston 1t was
removed TO Worcester in IT'S, where it is
still published under the title Of The Worces-
ter Spy
THE FIRST DAILY.
At the outbreak of the Revolutionary war
there were in existence seven newspapers in
Massachusetts,, one in New Hampshire, two
in Rhode Island. four in Connecticut, four in
New York, nine in Pennsylvania, two each
in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina,
three in South Carolina and one in Georgia,
q total OF thrty-seven. With the exception
Of The Philadelphia Gazette, which was pub
lished semi-weekly. all were weeklies In
1900 the number had increased to 200, Of
which several were dailies
The Evening Post, established in New York
in 1901, was the first regular afternoon news
paper 1t is also the oldest journal outside
of Massachusetts,, with the exception of The
New York Commercial Advertiser which
appeared in 1877. The newspaper has gone
through many changes Of form. The early
English news letters Of the time of Cromwell
were small sheets, printed only on one side,
and containing no more matter than is to be
found in two columns Of modern publica-
ton
Many were printed from wooden type, and,
in number of instances, direct hand press
ure upon u superimposed slab Of wood or
plate of iron was the means adopted for max
ing the impression The type was linked by
brush after each sheet was printed. The
old newsletter STYLE with the addition Of a
fold, and impressions taken on each side Of
the sheet, prevailed up to the middle of the
Eighteenth century. The hand press was
used and the ink laid on by a roller. The
hand press continued in universal employ
ment in the United States until the end Of
the Revolutionary war.
Franklin set the type and turned the crank
of the press his brothers paper. Both
water and horse power have been employed
in running presses, and steam was not util-
lied to any extent until some time after the
opening of the present century. Within the
last half century the improvements have
been immense, and the difference between
the newspapers of 1910 and the acme of mod
ern journalism is far greater than that be-
tween those of the time of President W. H.
Harrison and Franklin's hand printed sheet.
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