The Waco evening news. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 1891-1894, 1892-05-25

convenient books than those great
vellum manuscripts which could only
be the privileged possessions of the
few.
The history of early printing is of
the most fascinating aud instructive OF
studies. AS in the present day our
ancestors fought with papers, aud
opposing armies carried their printers
In those days an editor was not an
editor. He was the printer or pub
lisher, and he had hard time filling
his diminutive sheet. OF four pages
one was left blank, "for ye subscribers
use, and for We improvement OF ye
childrens hand writing Now the
superfcies of one of our great dailies
would carpet OH ordinary room. The
craving of New Workers for news is
supplied every morning with as much
as would fill two or three thousands
pages of an ordinary novel. These
acres of print sown broad cast pro
duce a daily crop to suit every
appetite and every taste. 1t has
winged its way from every spot on
the earth's surface and at last settled
down and arranged itself into in
eligible meaning made instructive
with ink.
Now it tells of next door neighbor;
then of dwellers in the muttsrmost
corners of the earth. The black side
of this black and white daily history,
consists of battles, murder and sudden
death of plague psshlence and famine;
of sedition privy, conspiracy and re-
bellion; of false doctrine heresy, and
schism; of all other crimes, casualties
and falsities which we are enjoined to
be defended from.
The white side chronicles heroism,
high purpose and lofty
deeds; it records the spread OF com
merce and of science-in fine, good
and evil, as broadly defined, or as in
extricably mixed in the newspapers as
hey are over the great globe itself.
Carlyle sneers bitterly at what he
calls the Infinite tongue of the
lge. But better surely that the
battles of progress and liberty should
De fought with type thar with shot
md shell upon the awful field, and
With heartbreaks in a thousand homes.
Better the free press with its thou
and tongues than the free lance.
Better that lead should be put in type
han wasted in bullets. Now the
moral of this, gentlemen, is that you
re part of mighty engine that has
he influence which comes from a 81.
nultaneous expression OF the same
opinion to hundreds of thousands of
people the mystery of anonymity
nd hence is mighty incorporal force
n the economy of human affairs.
Iurat Halstead was once approached
" a newsboy on the streets of Gin
innatI to buy paper. He pompously |
eplied, 81 make newspapers" where
pom the boy rejolned "that is the
eason l reckon they don't sell any |
etter." Printers certainly do more
han anybody else toward making
ewspapers, and it is certainly not
heir fault if they sell no better, be-
suse they bring to their work rare in.
diligence and skill.
City editors and Heavy editors and
Horse editors often spring upon the
world suddenly like the birth of Mi
erva from Jove's brain. But the
rlnter must serve his three years of
apprenticeship in one ceaseless round
pom the treadmill befoIe he takes his
case" Every editor or business
manager of a paper appreciates the
of the printer.
His Jete noir is the printers pay
ay. Many an editor sleeping the
leep of the just has had
lis pleasant dreams of an Elysian
where every subscriber paid promptly
nd everybody advertised affrighted
" visions of a chapel meeting and a
trike. | can claim, gentlemen, com.
nunity of sympathy with you, or
ather with tie editor. Filled with
Ugh hopes and roseate pictures of re-
'eating Horace Greely's career, | un-
ertook for half interest to edi' an
paper for specified time.
| did not make the mistakes that
dark Twain did. | didn't call
urrow and harrow the same thing.
didn't write of the moulting season
Al