Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1900-12-14
LOCAL NEWSPAPERS.
PROMOTE INDUSTRY AND ENcoUR-
AGE TRADE.
Necessary Adjunct to the Business
of Community How IA Wide
Awake Editor Impressed ThI. on
His Townsnen

by L. ID. Price in Advertising World:
81 wish you well. Mr.. Tuttle You
can't lose much by your venture. for
you're getting The Sentinel cheap
enough, but this village won't support
a newspaper. It's too near the city.
Every business man in town owes for
advertising, and folks think they ought
to be paid for reading the paper, let
alone buying it,"
The speaker was the retiring owner
and editor of the Salem Sentinel a
drowsy four page paper published in
a village just too far from the city of
Blank to lie called a suburb, and the.
editor was bright locking young fel
low, with good teeth and a genial smile,
who had just purchased the little down
ut the heel newspaper for a song and
was about taking possession.
"Gosh." said a habitual frequenter
of The Sentinel Office two days later ON
dropping in to get acquainted with the
new editor. Well he might say Gosh"
for the dingy place was transformed.
A coat of paint had frightened up the
outside appearance vastly, and within
clean windows, walls and an immacu-
late floor proclaimed "A new order of
things. Most significant was parti-
ton, separating the workroom from
the front office with a sign, NO Adj
mittance." on the door, proclaiming to
Gil who could read that the days of
'gasirg with the compositor' at his
work were over. A new stove and Il
lot of comfortable armchairs gave an
air of invitation to the front Office
which the habitual frequenter was not
slow to feel.
The first issue of The Sentinel under
the new management caused a sensa-
tion because of Il pungent little notice
to those in arrears which appeared in
the editorial column. In substance 1t
read. PAY up or be dropped" Nobody,
advertiser or subscriber, paid much at
tention TO tie bluff" They had had
such invitations before, If not in such
peppery. yet polished, terms.
The following weeks paper was a
singular looking affair. Ii was got out
by the new editor and the devil" the
comp" having taken umbrage at Ger.
tain restrictions of his privileges and
gone off in huff. True to the notice
of the previous week, the parties in ar
rears had been dropped. and the adver-
tisng space was Il vast eXpanse of
"whitewash," enlivened by this notice:
I'VE have killed the dead ads. Adj
| vertisers in arrears may settle at half
price. We pay cash and want cash.
An extra 800 copies We're given away,
and the queer little paper, full of loca!
news, If not of advertisements, was ia.
vorably commented on by the people.
tired of its dead and alive appearance
under the former regime.
AT an informal meeting of Salem's in
dignant business men. whose cards had
been dropped by The Sentinel for non
| payment it was agreed that they should
ignore the paper and an opposition
sheet was talked of.
Editor Tuttle kept his own counsel
A new compositor was hired, and as
week by week The Sentinel appeared il
showed the quality of the young man
behind it. A dress of new type i'm.
| proved its looks wonderfully, editorials
right to the point We're in evidence, the
Salem churches, spurred by the inser
tion of pictures of their church edifices
without charge, sent in bright notices
of coming services; local lodges were
sure of free space at any time, and
last. but not least, the gossip column
filled with those thousand and one hap
penings of interest in village life. grew
weekly. and it was ''small potato" in
deed who did not see his name in the
paper frequently.
AS newspaper The Sentinel was 6
success. AS an advertising sheet i
languished. and Editor Tuttle saw
with certain amount of apprehension
the gradual diminution of his little
store. Still he stuck to his colors.
Then came his opportunity. The
completion of trolley line to the
neighboring city. cutting the railroad
fare in two and furnishing frequen
service. was the lever which the youns
man determined to use on the obsti
nate boycotters Filling his pocket.
with the last number of The Sentinel
he joVrneyed to the city. When he re
turned, after an absence Of two days
his face wore triumphant smile ant
his step was elastic.
The following week saw six pdg;
Sentinel appear, crammed with adver
tisements, all of them from the neigh
boring city and all of them offerins
most undeniable bargains and, by spe
cial arrangement with The Sentinel, {
free trolley ride both ways to purchas
ers during the opening week of trolle,
service. A huge edition was printed.
The Sunday aspect of the business
portion of Salem during that memora
BILE week will never be forgotten b,
Salem's business men. In spite O
stern mandates their very wives ant
daughters joined the rush and mad
holiday in the city with money tha
rightly belonged to the Salem mer
chants. And it was all the doings o
that traitorous Sentinel, taking custom
ers and good money away from then
and running their business.
Then something happened. Inspiret
by q common impulse, they casual,
dropped into The Sentinel Office and
mumbling something about that oil
account slipping their mind, paid u
and inquired about advertising rate
for q good space.