The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1907-05-15
AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS.

When Ben Franklin confded to his
mother that he was considering the es-
Establishment of a news paper, the worthy
woman exclaimed: What can you
be thinking Of, there are two ews
papers in America now" AS a mat
ter of fact, there were five papers then,
places so remote from Philadelphia
that Franklin had not heard of them.
The United States now glories in some
$4,000 journals of various descrip-
tions, which is ten times as many as
were in existence fifty years ago.
When the declaration Of independence
was signed there we're only thirty.four
newspapers in the thirteen colonies,
and now there are more than that
number of dailies in New York city
alone. No other phase of American
development has been 80 phenomenal
as the growth OF its newspapers. If
the New York World had attempted
in 1910 to issue a Sunday paper such
as it now prints each week, with the
equipment then in use, the press would
be still running and the edition would
not be finished.
The newspaper is an Italian inven.
ton. The first regular publication of
a bulletin containing information for
the public was undertaken in Venice
in the latter part Of the sixteenth cen.
fury. 1t was not printed, but was
written OF large sheets and displayed
in a room Those who desired to read
them were admitted upon the payment
OF a small coin. They were called
&C azetta" from which INT the word
"Gazette" common in the newspaper
world Of today.
In the old times the size of the pa.
pers was just four pages, whatever
happened. When business demanded
it the size of the paper was increased.
Thus came the "bianket sheets OF
which The Cincinnati Enquirer still
reminds US. During the civil war the
papers begun to print ''double Sheets
and triple Sheets" that is to say,
eight and twelve.page papers. Then
eight pages became the accepted size
and SO remained until ten years ago.
The average metropolitan daily now
has sixteen pages, but it may run to
forty-two and no n will be surprised,
The Sunday paper is twice or three
times as large.
The enormous circulatious attained
by American papers are not possible
in any other country OF the world, be-
cause there is no nation which has SO
many people who a read. The New
York Herald in 1885 reached what was
her considered the almost incredible
circulation of %, 200. Ten years later
the telegraph was invented and the
circulation Of daily papers in the
country was trebled. The civil war
vas the most s%nnguinary contest ever
fought between two armies speaking
the same language and having the
same interests, yet 1t was good only
for 10000 copies a day for the best
newspapers of the time. That las in
the COS. Thirty years later when the
United States fought a little war with
Spain, two of the most enterprising
New York papers ran their circulation
up to l,250,0 600 Il day, which remains
tho ht,k ,Dntnr n,nrk f,r orn.
circulation.
The statistics of the newspaper bust
ness under the present high develop.
ment reached in this country are al.
most unbelievable. To provide enough
paper for the use of either Onc of sew
eral of the largest New York papers,
ten acres of spruce forest must bt
cleared and fed into paper-makinl
machines every twenty-four hours. IL
increase the size of INT OF these pa
pers, say from twelve to fourteen
pages, means an increase in expense
for that one edition of at least $3.50
1t this increase in size were main
tanned through all the editions of ont
week alone, the additional expense fol
white paper would be s., 400. Severa
New York papers, week in and weel
out, use S2O,O 600 worth Of paper a week
1t requires seventy tons OF metal t
make the stereotype plates for one Q
the big modern Sunday editions. III
total weight of the paper III the Sun
day edition of several of the large
New York papers is nearly 800 tons
Thirty extra large cars are require
to carry the Sunday morning edition
of the papers Of Manhattan to out-oi
town readers.