The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-02-18
NEWSPAPERS in INDIA.
The Native Publications Are Often
Literary Curiosities--'Full of Ex-
travagant Expressions.

L rom lut ltdESOn ; eN thlN.
The Indian press is of ancient ori-
gin. Ages before the European con-
quest every court had its weekly-in
some cases its daily-journal, which
was sent out to the principal towns
and attentively read by mobiles, wealthy
people and officials These journals
contained prOclamatiOns and DEGREES,
and chronicled the moyements of the
court and all things likely to be of in
terest to the faithful subjects of the
rulers of the various prinCipalties.
Newspapers, in our meaning of the
word, were first published in 1918. But
these were in English; the first native
newspaper was not issued until the
middle of the century. The native
press of the present day may be di-
vided into two classes: papers edited
and published by the natives the mat
ter being generally half in English and
half in a native language, and those
journals which are published entirely
in a native language, this class being
much more numerous.
As a rule, these last are small, very
poorly printed on cheap paper, often
on only one side of the sheet, and not
infrequently the same journal varies
greatly in size according to the amount
of news obtainable and the personal
circumstance and convenience of the
editor.
Generally speaking, the native is
very anxious to acquire a knowledge
of English. 1t not only opens the way
to appointments in the government SER
vice, but also makes him person Of
great importance i'm the district, as
comparatively few of the millions Of
natives read English or even under
stand it when spoken. \ working
knowledge of our tongue is indispens-
able to a native editor, because all the
important news is first published in
the Anglo-Indian newspapers.
The native writer is fond Of cXtraV-
agant expressions, and makes use,
wherever he can, of quotations from
Shakespeare or Milton and the relg-
iOus phrases he has seen i'm missionary
literature. In the use of metaphors he
often gets much mixed up.
The editorial page of the Indian
country paper is a literary curiosity,
For instance, the reader is assured. in
an article on political crisis that "all
the crowned heads of Europe are shak-
ing i'm their shoes" Sometimes We
read that the editor expects, with div
inc help. to have more reading suited
| to the intelligence of his subscribers
in the next issue
But the cditor is seen at his best in
his own announcements. His whole
vocabulary is brought into play to inl-
press the readers. Sometimes the an
| no of
as in the case Of the editor who inno-
Gently declared: This is only the be
ginning of cur paper. We were not
| sure how much matter was required to
fill il up and thinking we had sutilc-
| lent, we did not exert ourself much
To get amy more. We. therefore. beg
that our readers will excuse us this
| time for the space left blank, and
promise TO do better and get more in
| the future
Still more curious was the announce
ment of "A paper which came out for the
| first time with two columns blank. the
editor making the bold announcement
that "a large quantity of exceedingly
interesting matter had been left out
for want of space"
When the native editor wants a hol-
| iday, ne suspends publication until it is
convenient 10 resume, and, taking his
readers into his confidence, informs
them plainly why the paper was not
issued on the expected dates; with
the consent of our readers. we now
propose 10 take our annual holiday.
| We are sure none of them will be-
grudge US our relaxation"
If il were not for the English news
papers published in Calcutta, Bombay
and other large cities, which are edit
ed by cultured Englishmen and Anglo
Indians, the native journals would be
very poor productions, as nearly all
the news and much Of the other read
ing matter are translated i'm order Ia