The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1908-05-19
Continued from page one.

You will am sure. therefore, per-
nit me, as representative of your host,
the privilege in few words to indi-
cate the Importance and character of
our assembled guest, representing as
you do the press, the mighty press,
that body of men and women who to-
day direct the greatest factor in the
world for the creation of sentiment,
the education of the people and the
dissemination of knowledge. 1t may
not be immodest for me at this mo-
ment to say that l have great appre-
citation for your profession, If pro-
fession it be, because of the earliest
recollections of childhood. My father
was an editor and publisher Of coun
try newspaper before the days of the
civil war, and he closed his office to
enlist in the artillery service of the
Confederacy. My earliest ambition for
knowledge was born am sure when 7,
as child, stood around his desk as
he wrote with ease and vigor those
editorials which made the old Bran
don Democrat" factor in the time
that tried mems souls in the days just
prior to that sanguinary and tragic
conflict of brother against brother.
How, too, recall the many hours
| have stood as barefootetd boy be-
side the case as my older brother
worked with diligence to fill the
stick" with the little type which
meant information for men, and a live
lihood to him. Well do recall the
pleasure it seemed to give him as
stick after stick was emptied on the
composing stone, and he communicate
ed to me as matter of mutual inter-
est statement of the number OF ems
represented in his hours work. Then,
too, it may interest some of the older
members of your association who re-
member the noted A. J. France and
his unique Brandon Republican" to
know. that he who welcomes you today
worked blisters on his hands as a boy
in the office of that once noted jour-
nal in turning the wheel which sent
the forms back and forth as the sturdy
faithful Scotch foreman, Bob McDon-
aid worked the lever which printed the
papers then sought by the populace
with eagerness to note what "a. j."
had to say. Thus you can see that
| have some claims to recognition by
the fourth estate.
The American newspaper of the
present day is a development, one of
the greatest of the generation that is |
passing away. We learn that seven
ty-five years ago the making of news
papers was a diversion; later it be- |
came a means to an end-the polit- |
ical success of the party to which the |
editor was an adherent. Today the
American newspaper ranks foremost
as universal educator. No business
or profession demands more widely
extended and diversified knowledge of
the arts, science, literature and his
tory. than that Il which you are de-
voting your time and talents. When S.
f. b. Morse had achieved the reality
or ms dreams at the completion of his
first commercial telegraph line we are
told the first telegram sent was What
hath God wrought"
In INA the first daily newspaper
was attempted, and so slow was its
development that in 1900 daily news
papers were being issued in only four
or five of the largest cities of the coun.
try. In 1900 there were only 200 news
papers of all sorts published in the
country; one newspaper for each &c.
400 OF population is in striking con-
trast with the figures of today, which
| give us $4,000 newspapers, or one
for each $50 of our population. Not
until the Mexican war did the news
paper as such receive any great inn
petus. Public desire for news of
the occurrences then transpiring
served as great stimulus to the
newspaper business, and it became a
mechanical impossibility to supply the
papers needed to meet the public de-
mand. This naturally called for i'm
provements in every department of
newspaper making, especially for i'm.
provements in presses for the printing
OF the papers required. The differ.
ence between the old hand press and
one of the modern machines is mar
velous. This is noted when watching
one OF these as it vibrates with life
and apparent intelligence, and turns
out papers complete and ready for de.
livery to the people, at the rate of
26O papers per second, 1000 per min
ute. Such a fact marks one feature