The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1889-08-29
A NEWSPAPER OF l7l9.
A LITTLE WEEKLY WHICH PRINTED
NEWS FOUR MONTHS OLD.

NEWS FOUR MONTHS OLD.
Aa Account Of = Highwayman's Dastardly
Deed-A Humming Editorial Opinion.
The Inhabitants of Queens County Run
a Horse Race-soms Quses "Ads."
In these days when the modern newspaper
counts its circulation by tens of thousands and
even prints millions of copies a week, 1t is In
teresting to take a peepinto the files Of an an
Gent newspaper, such as The American Week
ly Mercury, the first paper published in Penn
~sylvania. The venture was made BY Andrew
Bradford about Jan. l, lis, and was one Of tho
earliest newspapers In America. N~swspapaS
were something the colony had managed -
get along without from the time Of it, foun4t
ing, thirty-seven years before. Ths nsws frc1
home came in only three or four tines
year, and then the whols town hochsd to To
water edge to hear the intelligence, already
three months or more old. Az for looal ma4k
ters, the crier had a monopoly Of Lost aa6
found, strays, etc. Nevertheless Bradfoe@6
little sheet soon gained u reputation through
out the surrounding country. That many a
its readers were In New York Is evinoed hY
the fact that on March /, l719, the day d
publication was changed 50 as to permits
catching the weekly Now York post leaving
Thursday morning.
For many years the paper was but a singb
leafet, Skill inches, though on occasions whea
extraordinary news was received The Mer-
curry came out in folio form, in many cases
with the fourth page blank, the supposition
being that there was not enough to fill up.
THE NEWS oLUMN
T., thu x,ov ~ ,av,o n,,~ fc~ofn<haru -~~A
not ratified and worried with what had hap
Timbuctoo, or even by tho doings OF tho Go
thamites. Time msllows all tidings, and thD
week between New York and Philadelphia
as we'll as the four months ago of all Euro
pean news took away much Of it's keenneA
The edition of April IA, l720, is given up for
tho most part to a letter dated Hamburg,
Dec. Is, 17l9, while the following week cor
responding space Is devoted to intelligeoos
from Bologna, under date of Dec. 4, 1719.
Outside of the foreign news there isvWY
little else except reports of clearances at NV
York and Philadelphia, together with Boz
ton market quotations. Then in each and
every issue is told the latest ravages of tho
''pyrates," as the English we're pleased to call
their adversaries, tho Spanish. Few weeks
passed without half q dozen captures being
recorded, always in favor Of the pirates, whn.
It would seem, must have swarmed along tho
whole Atlantic coast. Now and than Q
SpAndard or two were seiSed by our men, and
In ono instance II Il related with great guaGD
how several were brought to Philada1ph1A
md Immediately taken out to execut3uA
Be6pce suffering death, however, ono OF To
pisonezs called for a glass Of wine, which b.
ing furnished he drank to the confusion an4
dannation of the English and the mayor a
The city.
Hers Is an excerpt from the issue Of Thur
day, March II, ITO, reproduced exactly as II
appears except in the uss Of the long 8:
"About ten days ago, ono Bradshaw, Of
Duck Creek, in Kent County, Riding on tho
Road between Philadelphia and Darby, was
mst by four Highway men. Two on Horss-
back and two on foot. One of them rid up b
tho Said Bradshaw, Clapt Q Pistol to his Brest
and bid him deliver his Money or he was .
dead Man, the other 3 having surrounded him
and he seeing no other. way,o o escape told
them he had but two pistoles, and he hoped
they would spare him omsthing to bear ID
Expence on the Journey. They bid him MT
to pirate but deliver his Money or Damn him
they would shoot him immediately. The poor
Man was obliged to Comply. And a. soon -
they left him he wsnt TO Justice Springer, Of
Chester County, and made Oath to ths said
Robbery" ..,I,,..
AMONG TH1 ADvz111skaunnA.
It Is very rarely any editorial commsst
Whatever h found in the paper, but theesb
an exception on Hsh. IA, I'M. when Nh
Bradford gives a humming opinion Of thp
unwise action O tho part Of the EngtA
authorities in transporting to this country
ton nvs,s,nIe xrlo h>I ~n~>o<l- Iu,lol -
Annapolis. American air seemed even tha
to make our ancestors independent in tha1e
speech.
On Feb. 81, l721, William Burnett, gov
ernor of New York, visited Philadelphia and
received a puff in The Mercury, while the
following weeks issue relates of O famous
horse race run for the sum Of eco between
the inhabitants Of Queens county on the
island Of Nassau, and Samuel Baysrd, a
merchant Of New York, where the latter
won but little" 3 -,.. ..e.
There was no electric sugar In the oldea
time, but South Sea stock was . booming suo-
cess. A letter published in June, dated In
London, March "a, relates that on the pre-
ceding day South Sea opened at 27b, rose to
100 in an hour, fell to $50, 37s, $40 and closed
at 1923. Tho next day it fell to 800. A pub
Usher in London made $4,000 that day,
while like amounts were realized by specu-
lators in Mississippi stock.
After all, however, the advertisements in
these old papers are more interesting than
any other of their contents, rejecting, a
they do, more views of the private life Of the
day. Take, for example, the following, 70.
produced exactly as they appear:
This Day Run away from John M'Comh,
Junier, an Indian Woman, about II Year,
of Age. Pitted in tho face of q middle Stat
ure and Indifferent fatt, having ON a Druga1
Wastooat and Kersey Petticoat of q Light
Colour. II any person or persons shall bring
the said Girle to her said Master shall be h
warded for their Trouble to their Content.
Right Golden and Plain Spirit Of Scurvy
Grass sold at Fifteen Pence par bottle BY
Francis Knowles over against the Court
House in Philadelphia. d
"A very likely Negro Woman to be sold
Aged about % years, fit for Country or City
Business. She can Card, Spin, Knit or Mili
and any other Country work. Whoever hal
a Mind for the Said Negro may repair to An.
drew Bradford" ~
AT the House of William Taylor Brasie1
In Duke Street New York Is to be Sold q Nil
to grind Chocolat, It works In Q cast Iror
Round Pan 22 inches across 9 inches deer
made like the bottom of q Bell and weigh
upwards of two Hundred the other part thaa
worka in IL auv paro0n ma soo and fry. n