The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-03-28

That was the beginning Of the STORY
In detail" 1, sold $4,000 copies OF
the paper. and by request was print
ed again the next day. with additions.
In 1871 this same paper devoted a
page TO the beginning Of the great fire
in Chicago, and year ago It found
lye pages Of matter to print about The
lgreat San Francisco CONFEDERATION.
When the yacht America won the
cup in 1851 which NO European ever
has been able to recapture, the New
York papers disposed OF the race In
Hess than a fourth OF a column. The
Hast time the race was run a Sunday
paper found 10 pages of news In it.
Firs. Use Of Telegraph.
With the growth Of the news has
grown the facility for getting it. The
Associated Press has become the
greatest news-gathering agency in the
world. Before the telegraph came
New York papers employed swift
yachts to meet vessels coming from
Europe; carrier pigeons we're sent
from Halifax, where the ocean ships
first landed, and pony expresses were
maintained between New York and the
capital. During the Mexican war a
Baltimore newspaper organized pony
express from Baltimore to New or.
leans and got its war news hours ahead
Of the government service. The first
use to which the telegraph was put
was to carry news for the papers. In
1856 when Henry Clay made speech
on the Mexican war at Lexington. KY,
1t was taken so miles to Cincinnati,
and from there telegraphed to the New
York Herald. which printed It next
morning in full. 1t was the first
speech ever sent by wire and its pub.
lication caused a veritable sensation.
In that same year, when the Oregon
boundary question was the burning is.
sue and trouble with England was ex.
pected, the cry of "fifty.four forty or
fight" caused a combination Of papers
to charter swift pilot boat to get the
latest news from England.
Use Of the Cable.
When Lincoln was killed more than
three weeks, elapsed before the com.
meat of the European press appeared
In American newspapers. When Car
field was shot the Associated Press
furnished two columns next morning
Of what the monarchs and newspapers
OF the Old World had to say in deplor.
ing the tragedy. The oceanic cable
was success as early as 1866, but it
was in the FrancoPrnsstan war OF
1870 that It was first used for newspa.
pers to any considerable extent. At
first the cable rate was 500 for 20
words, and it took rich newspaper
to pay the tariff.
Practically all Of the papers in the
years Just before the Civil war had
the same makeup" Congressional
or Washington news came first, then
the European news, II a vessel had
arrived, and after that whatever little
local news that could measure up to
the standard of he-day. There was
always some poetry. chapter of a
novel and advertisements galore.
The Work of Dana.
Charles A. Dana, OF the New York
Sun, more than any other one man,
was responsible for the revolution in
the manner of handling the news. He
broke away from the conventional no.
ton that Washington events were al.
ways most important, and made each
bit of news stand on its own merits
as to interest. This movement did
away with the old style OF reporting
the deliberations of Congress verbatim
and in sequence, as is now done only
in the Congressional Record. This
way of printing the news from Con.
gress was responsible for the fact that
when President Andrew Johnson was
impeached the subscriber OF the New
York Tribune was forced to reaa
through four columns Of unimportan,
matter to get to the impeachment OF
the President in the House of Renre