Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-12-18
COUNTRY EDITORS WORK.
Enterprise, Industry, and Progress
sIveness Characterize II.
Chicago Tribune

siveness Characterize II.
Chicago Tribune)
eve have a store, a church. a hotel,
and school-house The store has a big
stock Of goods. from garden-seeds to
silk dresses; the hotel is a good one, with
everything to attract the drummer or the
tourist: the school is the best for miles
around, and our church Is the pride OF
the place. What We want now is
paper"
So wrote n man from manufacturing
village which had grown up around a
large and prosperous plant; and the call
finally reached young man who had
learned the printers trade. and who i'm
pressed his friends with so much con-
fidence that they aided him IN fitting up
a printing-shop in the little place. from
which the Weekly News was to be is
sued The factory printing had been
promised 10 the young man. and the doc
tor. the clergyman, the school-teacher,
and the factory superintendent had each
spoken encOuragingly to him. There was
no newspaper nearer the village than
the Eagle. which was issued every We'd
nesday ten miles away, and by bring
ing the News out on Tuesday he
figured that he could head off his nearest
competitor; and so 1t was decided that
the new paper should be a Tuesday
paper. With visions OF steam presses.
typesetting machines. n large circulation,
and n journalistic reputation. the village
paper was launched. Everybody was
pleased with it. and even the village
swell" who went ito town" every day,
l. III.
It will be try-weekly. They'll publish
II one week, and try TO publish it the
next: and maybe, they will succeed and
maybe not" even he bought it and read
IL regularly.
That was years ago. The little paper
has grown with the village. and has be-
come n feature of the place. The ex-
perience of the enterprising young printer
was that of hundreds of country news
paper-men in all parts OF the United
states In many instances there was no
home industry 10 give the young news
paper-man encouragement. and in hun
dreds OF cases there were competitors
near by and in the same village. But
these facts did not deter the ambitious
journalist, and they do not brighten him
to-day, and the consequence is that the
United States Is rich I'm small newspapers,
and that through them thousands OF peo-
pie keep posted in affairs Of the day.
The country newspaper-man occupies
the same place as TO success as the ave-
rage country businessman; there are no
more failures in the rural newspaper
business than there are in the rural store
business Still. the country editor. If
asked by a young man how 10 start a
paper would say, Don't" He would
tell the aspirant for journalistic honors
that the work is thankless and burden
some; that there IL no money in II; that
the country newspaper must compete
with the metropolitan papers. and that
every subscriber wants favors. which cost
many times more than the annual sub
scriptlon. But the complaining editor
remains in business: his paper usually
grows: he adds new presses to his out
fit, and shows other signs of prosperity.
and he would not abandon his plant, ex-
cept for a handsome consideration
How can | sell out?'' one country
editor said, when approached on the sub
ject. Il am firmly rooted here. Have
my family in the place, and belong TO IL.
Ny coming here was an experiment. but
/ had to take pay for my paper I'm all
sorts of things that would be no good to
bachelor SO 1 married, and that Set
tied It,"
The resident Of large city who Is ac-
customed to receive his paper daily and
who reads the news from all part OF the
world before ne reaches his place of bust
ness has an imperfect idea OF the average
country newspaper. and when an occa-
siOnal copy reaches him he Is apt TO Sheer
at the queer little sheets with their per-
sonal gossip and strange business notices
To those who have seen the offices from
which some Of these papers are issued
there Is nothing ridiculous in the little
papers. and the perseverance Of their
editors inspires them with admiration and
respect
One room frequently constitutes the
whole plant This contains all the type
setting and printing pharaphernalia.
desk which the editor twho is also bust
ness manager. advertising solicitor, re-
porter. and foreman o. the printing de-
partment. divides with his assistant. a
library consisting of Bible. a copy Of
Shakespeare. a red book. the Tribune
Almanac. and some public documents.
contributed by the congressman and men,
Der OF the Legislature from the district.
and ornaments I'm the form of posters
from late campaigns, cattle show. and fair
advertisements. and cheap portraits OF
prominent politicians usually constitute
the outfit of the one-room office.
But the country newspaper, no matter
II II comes from primitive one-room
Office or from one Of the many neat and
comfortable establishments In the small
places near New York. is progressive, as
a rule. and it's proprietor is proud OF his
position In the community and jealous OF
the influence of his paper. An exception
10 the rule was met recently by a New
York newspaper-man who went 10 a
village on special mission and who
looked up the local newspaper Office with
a view of spending his spare hour before
train time with the village editor and
possibly writing up the place.
"Oh, there's nothing to say about this
place" he said. It's dead as a corpse
and nothing could be written about II
which would be OF interest to any one"
mo history. no business, no politics?"
was asked; us there nothing In the past,
present or future Of the place that would
look well In print?
"Well. II there is, you'll have to find
IT," he said. I've been here four years,