The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1892-02-26
THE EGIS IN A NEW DRESS.


new dress, its old, familiar suit, dim
med and worn by years of public ser
vice, having been laid aside. Its ac-
customed task, however, of preparing
for its readers, week after week, a rec
ord of current events, together with
amusement and instruction in varied
forms, will be pursued with at least
undated zeal and faithfulness. Like
the hard-worked farmers wife when
she dons a new gown and stands
meekly before her admiring but I'M
approaching spouse, whose admira-
ton is largely made up of a feeling of
self complacency-''what a good gen
erous husband he is'-we feel just
pride in the consciousness that we
have earned this new dress and a
great deal more besides.
The comparison of our new outfit to
dress-a thing entirely extraneous,
that may be altered to suit the caprice
and fashion of the day or even, like
our old type, be laid aside as valueless
is applicable to that alone. Princi-
piles may not be thus put on and of, ,
and The Kgis in the future, as in the
past, will maintain the same unfalter-
ing, Interchangeable fidelity to Demo
cratic principles and the best interests
of the people of Hartford county.
A sketch of the past history of the
paper may not be out of place here.
The first number of The Kgis was
published in Bel Air ON the 18th of
July, 1857, with George Yellott and
John Cox as editors. The former,
then a prominent member of the Bel
Air bar, subsequently became Chief
Judge of this Judicial Circuit. He
now resides at Towson. Mr.. Cox is a
resident of Baltimore city, whittier he
removed in 1862. subsequently Judge
Yellott severed his connection with
the paper and Col. John Carroll Walsh
became associated with Mr.. Cox in
editing it. In 1862 Mr.. Cox sold The
KgiS to Mr.. Alfred w. Bateman, of
the Bel Air bar, who was it's sole edi-
tor and publisher until 1864, when Mr..
F. w. Baker, who had been connect
ed with the paper since 1862, was as
ISOLATED with Mr.. Bateman as one of
its publishers. This arrangement con-
tinued until May Goth, 1865, when Mr..
Bateman again became sole editor and
publisher.
In 1867 Mr.. Bateman was elected As
sociate Judge, and in the latter part of
that year the present editor and pub
Usher acquired a half interest in the
paper, Judge Bateman remaining the
responsible editor, being assisted by
Mr.. James d. Walters, a member of
the bar, and now Associate Judge of
this circuit. This continued until
1869, when the entire ownership of the
paper passed into the hands of the
present editor, at which time Mr..
George Y. Maynadier became one of
its editors. His connection with The
Rgis continued until March, 1871,
when he was appointed Associate
Judge to succeed Judge Bateman, who
had resigned. Since that time the
editorial control and publication of
the paper have remained unchanged.
1t will be seen that The Egis, during
the thirty-five years of its existence,
has had as its editors, at various in
tervals, four gentlemen who have
afterwards held the responsible and
dignified office of Judge.
The first number of the paper, of
which Mr.. John Cox was publisher,
was called The Southern Egis. 1t
consisted of eight pages, II by IS
inches in size, and was, altogether, but
little more than one-half the size of
the paper to-day. 1t was launched on
Il stormy sea of political strife, but
had for its motto: "Let us cling to
the Constitution as the mariner clings
to the last plank when the night and
tempest close around him. True to
the sentiment here expressed The Hgis
upheld with vigor the constitutional
rights of the South. Ina introduc-
tory address to its readers the editors
announced that g The KgiS is to be
mainly devoted to the defense of the
South and an elucidation of the prin-
ciples which lie at the basis of South
ern institutions The paper soon
gained large circulation, chiefly in
the Southern States, which the out
break of the war cut off, and it was re-
duced to about one-half its former size.
The advertisements in the first num-
Der, copy of which is before us, are
few in number. The chief advertisers
are B. P. Moore, Jr., Bel Air, who an
nounces decline in sugars; A. Lin
gan Jarrett, Clerk of the Circuit
Court, and David Durham, constable,
publish legal notices. Harry d.
Cough was President of the School
Board, and Samuel Robinson was a
prominent merchant of Bel Air. Thos.
Motson had opened new brick yard
on the farm of Joshua Pennock, two
ID.
Co. were dealers in lumber and coal
at BELLS Ferry" now Lapidum, and
1. Amos sold agricultural,im implements
at Pleasantville. r. l. Jackson g. Co.
dealt in iron and phosphate of lime
near Darlington. C.. Case, timer,
supplied Havre de Grace with buck
cts, coffee boilers, clippers, etc, while
John Decker, in the same line, in Bel
Air, announces that he intends doing
an exclusive cash business" Joseph E.
Bateman, now County Commissioner,
coaches between Bel Air and Balti-
more, the fare being 81. The profess
sional cards of A. W. Bateman, Archer
H. Jarrett and Patrick H. Rutledge
are the only ones which appear in the
paper. Mr.. Jordan's name, as Justice
of the Peace, appears at the foot of an
estray notice in which George For
syth, Jr., advertises two mares. Rob
ert Galley, as administrator, gives the
usual notice with regard to the cred
itors of Augustus Kurtz, and DIR. j. &.
Dance, surgeon dentist, offers his pro-
fessional services to the citizens of
Hartford county.
A comparison with the teeming ad-
vertising columns of The Kgis to-day
indicates the immense growth and de-
velopement of every branch of indus
try in our county and the changed