The Jennings daily record., 1902-12-02
AN 0LD-SCHOOL EDITOR
col. c-c@cs - CUTE 70 THE
jouEhn,.s sric rREc1PiC1.
>t,iny Of Eernini >cences Started nv n
Ncw spaper NIilr'ng- The Beginning
at u Gar..r-A Mothers Pride lis Tier
70. 3 Eir.t App arance in Type

nueSt OH" "a lhe SooSNii io' .
OF Ine Journalist d r,i,r.nt tue follow
ing article by Colonel JOAN \. Cocker
ii. 1t originally appeared i'll Christ
mas ISSUE o. ne .iournali>,. which is
long since out o. pr,nt.-A. f., i'll lie
Journalist.
I found upon my table the other day,
among tie clippings piled 'here by the
exchange reat II, bit Oh All extract
credited 10 the scion. n strange name
that for n newspaper. l wonder
whether the exchange reader knew
what Il string OF "reminiscences that
odd clipping would start in my mind
when he placed it on my table. Ihat
paper was called the Scion OF Temper
ancc when l first knew 1t thirty odd
years ago. 1t was in the office of this
queer little Journal that learned to
set type. that l acted as roller-boy
and devil and it was for this direc-
tor of public opinion that l wrote my
first article. In the little Southern
Ohio town in which l was chiefly
reared, the general industry centered
around the court house. and the two
! newspaper offices in which the rival
| weekly organs We're printed. There
was a blacksmith shop and Il store or
| two, and couple of taverns, but the
| lawyers who sat under the court house
trees in the summer time and dis
coursed politics., and the publishers Of
the county printing We're the oracles
of the town and the controllers Of its
! deStinieS.
had fancy for the printing Of
fees. remember we'll the drowsy
summer afternoon when l strolled in
/ to the office of the Scion and asked
! the editor-his name was Samuel Bur
we'll, and he is living yet, the dear old
soul-to teach ME how to set type. He
| stood Ee on a candle-boX in front OF n
case, placed n lot of wooden letters in
the boxes and showed me how 10 set
J tine types in stick. Before ! left
the place l had mastered the boxes.
| knew them alt. That was the begin
ming OF my journalistic career.
From setting type ! advanced TO
roller-hoy. The paper was issued on
| Thursday. The press used in that
office was an ancient contrivance OF the
| Ramage pattern. 1t had immense
wooden uplights. very clumsy "dev-
lis tall ana it took two pulls to print
one sheet ON one side. That is to say,
the platen was only half the size of
the bed. The press that Ben Franklin
danced around in Philadelphia was
scarcely less primitive. The ink was
applied with a short. hard roller. Each
page had to be linked in turn, the distri-
button being performed on piece OF
marble tombstone on table. we
wrenched off an edition of about 400
on this ramshaclle press, my friend
the editor, working the machine and Il
briar-root pipe at the same time. The
paper off l would help to distribute 1t
through the village. That was a real
delight in those quiet, prosy after
Moons. With my little bundle under
my arm l could wander Hstlesly and
barefooted through the side streets
and alleys where COWS ruminated and
hogs dozed: stopping here to fling Il
paper over fence, thrust it under q
door, or climb upon a roof perchance to
idle away some time with men engaged
in shingling. Then there We're boys to
play marbles with, dogs to stone and
apples to be stolen from branches nod
ding over forbidding fences. The route
was not heavy one, but it never took
less than three or four hours to &c
over it, l did good deal OF this sort
of work for very Eight compensation
; Il promised interest in a Carriers Ad.
dress,
One day. just rs the Scion was about
to go to press, rural gentleman came
into the office with an advertisement
of farm for sale. My editorial pre-,
ceptor rushed to the case to put the
notice in type Then came my great
opportunity. In that office it was the
rule to give each new advertisement
4 brief local meution-a sort of edi
torial Endorsement. l asked the privi
lege of preparing one in this instance
, and it was granted. | sat down and
wrote my first essay for print. 1t was
as follows: 1.-The attention of our read
ers is called to the advertisement OF
, Farm for Sale in another column
This was the formula in the Office OF
the Scion. l was tempted to add q
word or two about the excellence OF
this particular farm and the desirabil
J ity of the location, but we were
: pressed for time. / carried my article
to the case and carefully placed it il
] type. How l watched it go upon The
press, and how l read and re-read il
with pride and sense of Importance
that I have never felt since. l carried
that paper home and showed it to IN!
mother. l remember that she seemed
happy, and that she more than once re
; ferred to "the young gentleman wht
was writing for the newspaper" Goo
bless her! I'm sure she laid that paper
away in the big bureau where she KEEP
! valuables. She probably thought tina