New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1899-03-22

NEWS In Oh EN DA J rs l'I;j1
cusToMslN oGuE.BEFoRE TlEERA
or NEWSPAPERS
The Latter Trace Their Orisin to
Rome Long before the Christian
Ern-The Paper That Was Publtsh-
ed by Queen Elisabeth.
The germ Of newspapers is found il
ancient Rome. The government some
two centuries previous to the Christian
era 1s known to have promulgated its
edicts by means of written papers affix-
ed to pillars. Nor was there much diff
ference between the style Of these acta
diurnia, as they were termed, and that
which now prevails further than that
the former were more brief and simple
and deficient in introductory phrases
and the editorial "we. They generally
gave the news or occurrence in simply
indicative sentences without introduce
ton or comment of any kind
Most Of these acta which have been
preserved are found to mention but one
or two events. They are headed with
the date IN Roman fashion and the
name Of the then consul and para
graphs such as the following formed
the staple: 1T thundered, and an oak
was struck with lightning on that part
OF Mount Palatine called Summa Vevia,
early in the afternoon 4.Murena, the
consul, sacrificed early in the morning
in the Temple Of Castor and Pollux,
and afterward assembled the senate in
Pompey's senate house. &c. Caesar set
out for his government In farther
Spain. having long been detained by
his creditors. .
It is hardly possible for us now, with
all the lights Of science around and the
shoals of newspapers with which we
are supplied, to form proper notion OF
the darkness which. for want Of these,
involved the masses Of the people for
many centuries after the fall Of the Ro-
man empire We are told that the cru
saders were SO ignorant Of geography
that at every town they approached in
central Europe they inquired if it was
Jerusalem. When they at length reached
their destination. their exploits would
have remained unknown for years to
their relatives and friends at home had
not at times some few struggling pill
grims found their way back to the
west. Even bad news in those days
could not, contrary to the proverb,
travel fast Every little community
must then have lived much within it.
self.
It was not until the sixteenth century
that anything at all approaching even
to the scanty Roman acta diurnia can
be found to have revived in the modern
world. The war which the Venetian re-
public waged against the Turks gave
rise in 1868 to the custom of communi-
eating the military and commercial in
formation in Venice by written sheets,
notizic scritee, to be read in a particu-
lar place to those desirous of hearing
the news, who paid for this privilege
with coin no longer in use, called gaz-
zetta a name which came in time to 4
be applied to the news sheet itself both
in Italy and France and subsequently,
in England, when this mode of impart-
ing news came into use i.
The Venetian government eventually
gave these announcements in regular
manner once a month, but they were
too jealous to allow them to be printed
Only few written copies were trans
mitted to such as subscribed and paid
for them. Thirty volumes of these valu-
able manuscript newspapers exist in
the Maglia Bechian library at Florence.
About the same time advertising wants
commenced, the father of Montaigne,
the celebrated essayist, being credited
with the suggestion for making the 4
wants of individuals known to the pub
lie in France. These were received at
Offices established for the purpose and
were first posted on the walls of public
places, receiving the names of afiches.
In time this led to a systematic and.
periodic publication in sheets. These
were termed affches in consequence CT
their contents being originally fixed up
90 P1oSoAOo, ouOuSAA tA0 WOIu 4GSS1l ~
French for advertisement.
1t is to England as represented by
Queen Elizabeth that the honor of COM
mencing printed sheets of public intel
ligence is to be ascribed. When the
Spanish armada threatened an invasion
Of this country, that sage queen, re-
marking the disadvantage Of the vague
and alarming minors which circulated
everywhere. resolved to inform her peo-
pie truly of the impending dangers.
She began to publish from time to time
a sheet bearing the following title
THE English Mercuire, published by
authoritie, for the contradiction of false
reports : Of this publication three cop
les are preserved in the British museum,
the earliest, No. so, bearing date July
90, 1888. The first article. dated from
WHITEHALL contains advices from Sir
Francis Walsingham that the armada