The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1895-03-02
The Influence Of the Press.

and elevated the human race have
been 1uickened and intensified by
the press, the great lever Of pro.
gress, that since the discovery of
printing has grown and increased
until it hus become the motive
power Of this mundane sphere.
The electric CLEAN that with its
lightning flash has flooded the civ
ilized world with the effuigence Of
trade. Everything of Importance
to the world, everything ofinterest
in morals or culture, the good, the
useful and the beautiful are through
its wide spreading influence thrown
broad cast over the earth, scatter
ing the deeds of progress through
the deserts and waste places of life.
History and philosophy and the
sciences, are by its aid placed with
in the reach of the masses, and as
the ages pass and the refining pro-
cess of truth raises the millions to
higher regions Of thought and ex-
perience, the press in all its varied
cycles will meet the demands Of
the highest advancement Of which
mankind is susceptible. And its
circles will widen and expand until
they reach the remVtest verge of
the civilized world.
Scarcely a decade has passed
since the newspaper was said to be
the standing rival of an American
woman. but the spell has increased
until ladies as we'll as gentlemen,
swell the list of newspaper readers
and the craze is now universal.
We are, in point of fact, a race Of
newspaper fiends. The mania
spares neither age, sex nor condi-
ton. People in every grade fife,
statesmen. scholars, poets, orators,
business men and women of the
highest grades down to the apple
vender on the street corners, yield
to the potent spell of the newspa-
per and in the absorbing interest of
its pages forget the honors, wealth,
the alluring joys of love or poverty,
disgrace and the hard battle of life
are for the time forgotten in the
nepenthe of current events. And
when we consider the vastnumber
Of subjects presented, the pomp and
panoply of war, bishops,e priests
and kings, clippings from foreign
courts, gossips of the orient, the
tropics and the frigid zone. Pathos
however, and the drama with stir
ring scenes of every day life, it is
not surprising that the press mum
bers its votaries by the millions
Where can we find feast so ricf
and varied as the press spreads out
before us. Dainties, epicurean
The nectar and ambrosia Of the
gods for the refined poetical palate
Roast beef and highly spiced meats
for the practical coarser food fol
the masses, down to the ale anG
absinthe for the sensational anG
uncultured tastes, for in the hasty
arena of each days events, the gooG
and the bad, the elevating and the
horrible are alike represented, side
by side with the most beautiful
heroism, the most touching sell
denial, is nice, in its most reyolting
forms The murderer and his vic.
tim, the poison and it's antidote
But will not every pure lesson
every gentler impulse CLEANED from
the maelstrom of wickedness lif,
the reader to fairer heights, vii
not the pearl CLEAN all the white
from the gilt that surrounds it un
til the dullest, most depressed in
tellect will see only the good, the
brighter for the contrast of evil
Then in that day of peace when tn.
desert shall "blooln. and blossom a.
the rose" the press will rise from
the debris of daily items of crime
to the broader light of more en-
lightened age, and Il literature tina
will as in mirror reflect only the
good the true and the beautiful
That age is coming, but alas, is no
yet>here, and in the grand work o
regeneration tho press takes {
prominent rank. Its influenc
reaches beyond the boundaries o
, minister, priest, teacher or phIlan
thropist, to the millions wh'
, through its pages are struggling
( upward from the depths to the pur
! er light of eternal truth.-Bina G
, Pearse, IN the ladies' edition of TIN
: Lancaster Democrat.