Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-01-29

| been acquired, to the profit of the pub
Usher. though the arrangement of the
advertising columns shows that that bane
of the modern foremail's life. '.preferred
position" had not then been dreamed Of
IN the whole of the. first years files,
there appears only one item of local news
of Importance. The project of a $4,000
| factory in "a neighborilag town--as great
an enterprise, as the building of ten miles
OF railroad nowadays-Is mentioned in u
intervals two-line paragraph appears,
announcing the date Of a term of court.
and evidently put in fpr the purpose of
| that can be<obtained from those early
files is what may be CLEANED from the adj
vertising columns; and the student of
such history will find the court records
of the county for the same period vastly
richer in the material which he seeks. The
entire matter for the IIaper of that day
was not acquainted with a dozen citizens
of his own county, and whose entire re-
!ations with the outside world consisted
in securing and reading, a few state and
general newspapers.
The general character of the paper does
not change materially in the first few
years, Notwithstanding a change of edi-
tors. In it's seventh volume occurs a
break in its career which shows to what
an extent it was a party organ, and de-
pendent upon the party for support. The
fought, and the issue for Oct q, the last
before election, wound up the campaign
IN magnificent style, appealing to the
Buren, and victory For some months fol-
lowing. that issue. no paper appears. a
| fact which is easily explained: That was
the memorable year in which Maine went
| for Governor Kent in the somewhat pro-
| fame way represented by the popular
couplet OF. that day. and .'Tippecanoe and
Tyler too, carried not only Maine but the
Union. The defeat of the Democracy
| seemed to be a staggering blow to our
party organ; for. from the date of cleo
ton until the following May. it was in a
condition which may charitably be called
suspended animation. The fact that Gen.
Harrison died after a month in office. and
that Vice-President Tyler, on assuming
| the presidential chair. practically went
over to the Democracy. gave the party
organ warrant for recovering it's normal
| condition. On the 1lth of May it again
| appeared. and from that day to the pres
ent, its existence has been Interrupted
only for a brief time, by the calamity of
| fire.
continued on the even tenor of its way.
without material change. until in Decem-
per. lSl9 the entire establishment was
DESTROYED by fire. This caused a break in
| the continuity of publication of about two
months. A long time that would seem
! in these days: but in those times of slow
| communication no longer than was to be
After the fire the paper appeared under
| new management. and j change in the
editorial tone is manifest An editorial in
the extension of slavery, and the temner-
ance question came gradually to bes
| important issue in its columns. The fact
is. the mutterings of that political up
heaval which was to disrupt and reorgan-
| ize parties. and terminate in civil war,
were already being heard, thosgh no one
| time of political factors and bitter fac
tional strife. 1t may ut first seem
strange that political ',onvnlsion caused
| by great issues of national policy and
| S1nlIlH led n lao
| columns of a local paperby Il vast amount
of personal vtuperatiol and abuse, yet
was polished old-sehool gentleman who
| wrote in digniiied though energetic
| style; but the columns are loaded with
political communications of the style of
| which this paragraph affords sample.
| We'll. Parson, L have been looking over
your spiritual medium Ghe mongrel
AdvertiserD and find youare getting rabid
again-and you must excuse me, if 1 tell
you. you act like fool that is the
| general opinion. But this amt the worst
of your case-.for you are a little the
| meanest specimen OF humanity" there Is
| OUT
These remarks. be it remembered. were
| addressed, not to one OF the opposing po-
| litcal party. but to a member of another
faction of what was stil regarded as one
political party.
| Out of political chaos at last came or
| der and reorganiZed parties. and our for
mer party organ, founded to support the
| cause of Jacksonian democracy, came
| out of the strife an ardent supporter of
the new Republican party, and proudly
| claiming to be pioneer among the news
| papers of the land in tie support of that
party. During this time of political up
heava; it passed throSgh the hands Of
| During the war, when the one leading
| thought in the peoples minds was the
great struggle. the metropolitan papers.
| with their facilities for obtaining news
| from the seat Of war, a)vershadowed the
| local papers. Indeed. 1t is almost sur
prisng that we can record a continuous
| existence. AS it was. during the years of
| the war the paper was reduced in size,
being restored to its former dimensions
after the conflict. was over: and 1t has
| since been twice increased in size.
| The close of the war with the .cessa-
| ton of the intense interest in the bloody
struggle. marks the point where we no'e
the beginning of the development of the
modern local newspaper True, the pa-
per had changed somewhat in character
| in thirty-two years. While politics han
yet the central point Of such news as was
| published had gradually shifted nearer
home. Foreign news was mostly left, to
the papers OF general circulation, and a
| news were worked in. 'The doings OF the
| courts, held at the county seat where tha
paper was published. were generally brief
iy reported; and on the occasion of the
cOunty's first murder trial, in 1916, stroke
| of enterprise was made by giving a full
report of the evidence. with diagram,
1
| deed was done. The premium list ard
awards of the county agricultural society
We're published, and the results of the
| town elections were always reported, as
1 was all other political news of the state
| and nation. Further than this, local
| news as we understand the term In these
| end of -the-century days. there was none.
| The limited amount of news that W:.s
| given was evidently selected on the
| ground that it made interesting reading.
| rather than from any systematic attempt
| to give any particular kind of news. or to
| record the happenings of any special sec
| ton or territory.
The development Of the local news
feature, in the years following the close
| of the war. was gradual. and affords
| interesting study. First little paragraphs
| regarding matters of local interest. eV
| IDENTIFY penned by the editor as the result
| of his own observation and having Il
| kind of half-apoIoeet!c tone. as If they
| were out of place: then an occasional let
| ter from a neighhoring town, relating The
| important happenings; next a special re-
mort of n fair or n religious meeting:
| more frequent letters and local para
| graphs, relating matters of still less gen
| eral interest: and finally, regular com
| home town. but the whole territory of thu
| neWs-gat therers, covering not only the
| home town. hut the whole territory Of the
! county, and hunting down every matter
| of Importance. and many that are not of
! much importance, for the information
and ediiicaiion' of the thousands who
weekly read. Meanwhile the political
l u Ia,