Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-01-23
SIDELIGHT.S.
INSIDE AND OUTSIDE.

IL was q 1uCCSOI1C CdTG6T--UQ1C Oh Tile
Fort Madison Plaindealer.
The Plaindealer, be it known, had
all the characteristics of a successful
paper. 1t was launched down at the
little penitentiary town on the banks
Of the father of waters and there it
raised its voice and in tones of big
black wood type it proclaimed to all
the world. or to that portion of it
which was included In its subscription
books, that war was near, that Billie
Wiggles had the whooping cough, and
that the price of eggs was on the
rise. 1t made no difference to the
Plaindealer whether the news in a
story was important in allopathic
quantities or was important to no one
but perhaps two people in Lee county
it had the wood type, the wood type
filled the space, and it used the wood
type. Some were unkind enough to
say that the Plaindealer kept all it's
type on the wall. but that has never
been proven.
However, there were two things
that kept the Plaindealer from going
down into history as the most success
full newspaper of modern times. One
was that the people didn't take to it
very well. and the other was that since
it's subscription list wasn't very big,
the advertisers were few.
The paper that can exist without ad-
Yertising has yet to be discovered.
The Plaindealer people thought maybe
they had hit upon a scheme when they
took to running page ads telling what
a good paper they had but some way
these ads didn't bring in the money
they should.
Finally, after issuing black type
newspapers every weekday evening
and every Sunday morning for several
weary weeks, the Plaindealer decided
to quit. 1t was easy to see that it's
gait was little too fast for staid Fort
Madison. It kept up a bold front to the
last minute though, and on Saturday of
last week, when its last number was
perpetrated, all the rules were turned,
and made big, black lines up and down
and across the page, setting off neatly
the six-inch front page head lines, and
the small plea in which the reading
matter was set.
The best part, though, was the ed
itorial expressions. On the editorial
page was the following notice, appro-
priately black-bordered, and appropri-
ately brief:
PLAINDEALER- Madison, Iowa,
January Is, 1904. Of neglect and lack
Of public nourishment. Mr.. Plain
protested against giving it away
without any returns. Interment at
Peoria. Ill. as soon as possible. Pail
bearers: Jack Harms, Joe Etzsinger,
Jack Etzkorn and Benny Lenhart.
Then on another page was a short
stanza expressing the situation in
words not exactly eloquent, but whose
eloquence cannot fail to be appreci-
ated:
1--WE died game, boys. let us tell,
And we had our boots on when we fell.
But what tell, boys, what t'ell?"
No, truly, the Plaindealer was not
appreciated. It's type was as big as
that used on the front page OF more
pretentious dailies. which claim the
windy city for their home. 1t fairly
revelled in black ink when the Iroquois
theatre burned, but it did not fail to
spread on almost as much when Willie
Jones fell and stubbed his toe. 1t
went upon the theory that the people
of Fort Madison and the immediate
vicinity were tired of straining their
eyes, and that they would appreciate
the efforts of enterprising publishers
who would serve them up a newspaper
which could be read through a barn
full of hay. The head lines fairly talk.
ed, and the small plea in the body OF
the stories wasn't SO small but that il
would have been popular in a schoo
for the blind.
Now the Plaindea1er people intend to
go to Peoria, ILL.,, there to try to gel
the recognition they deserve. They
didn't last long in Iowa, but they were
a welcome diversion for the exchange
editors while they did beat the under
taler-so they did some good.
S. r. T.