The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1908-09-12
IMPRESSIONS OF A TENDERFOOT
Being Unorthodox Sketches Of Real Human Interes,
m MI LuLnn-nrL

FcCus Valley Pres, association.
which Will be- held AZ Attcsia, ON
the I'm and 18th inst, reminds
mc that there has been a wonderful
chang, IN the newspaper business
IN even my time, which covers on.
" "A dozen years. In that time the
SLOPE has developed WONDERFULLY
and prosperous towns have sprun
up all over 1t, with the highest typ"
oi country papers Ol any section IN
the United States OF equal popula
ton.
OF course, my first knowledge
was OF Roswell, Iust as the Hagcr.
man interests we're ext, nding th.
railroad from Carlsbad. In RIOS
well there was tn, Register the
pioneer, then owned hy Hamilton
X Creighton, and the democratic
paper, published hy LucIus Dills
and Joe Lea. \ shake up soon
lett Mir. Hamilton in possession OF
the Register and he kept II tor
many years, proving himself one
OF the most earnest, palnstaklug
editors in the history OF the south.
west. Creighton followed hi
heart to thu democratic paper, an,
the situation remained practically
unchanged tor years, with Just =
little break oil the reservation o.
clsionally hy rash spirits. Dow
tn, road there was nothing unit
Carlsbad was reached. Artrsia
was %undreamrd, so Was DAYTON,
Lakewood, and Lake Arthur
llag"rman was Just on the map
At the Bcaut lul there was the NJ.
gus, under practically it, present
management and the Current, I'm.
der the bclligcrcnt Mullanc. To
the north the nearest paper was AT
CANYON CITY, nearly 400 miles
away. On the west the nearest
was the White Oaks Eagle, 100
miles OFF, run 10y a mighty bright
set OF Young men, every one OF
whom ar, helping to make history
in New Mexico today, the Whar.
tons, Silas Nav and John Haley.
Here IN the Pecos valley, those
three papers had It all to themsel.
YES, with no one to modest or butt
IN on land notices, and no freight
trains with cnticing whistles TO toll
oil the few straying printers. The
VALLEY was a.hoining.
IL was born shortly after the
building OF the railroad through to
Amarillo Portalcs started 1t, when
Creighton established the Herald,
his manager helng thu well known
Munscy Bull, and his outtit u batch
OF Junk dumped out OF the Roswell
office. That field was soon filled
hy the establishment OF the For
tales Times, re puhlican, 10y Mi.
Bull, from whose hands 1t passed
on down 10 the present efficient
owner,
Then Gayle Talbot started the
Artcsia Advocate and IL. Il. Put.
man the T,xico Trumpet, both pa
pers being still the best OF their
class, though passing through
many hands in the meantime. Set.
tIrrs came into the country toy the
thousand. Papers spTane up at
the busy little towns along the line
at llagcrman and Lake Arthur,
DAYTON and Lakewood, and up the
other way AZ Elida and lastly Ken
M. NJ first II seemed 10 mo u
stTang, mlNturc OF optimism and
idlocy that inspired many OF thcs"
papers, but time has proven thar
the pioneers had the better sight,
Tor around every one OF those
towns the desert is blooming, aud
thu open range has vanished. The
largest factor ~ this wonderful
change has been IN these little
country papers, who are the only
unsrIhh advertisers OF the country,
which year in and year out told OF
the m~atChlcSs climate, the croI
facts, OF the possibilities Tor th'
h~omrserkcr, getting scant apprr'
citation and patronage Tor thell
pains. II is different now, Tor al
OF the newspapers are prosperous,
following the gradual elimination
OF the first non.progfeSsivcs, who
are incvitahl" in every new coun.
try, and the incoming OF the rea
empire builders.
Work on the Bclcn cutoff wa
only begun two or three years ago
but in tina, time tat villages hav'
dotted the plains and there ar'
newspapers, good ones, too, a
Clovis, Melrose, fabian, Fl Sum
ncr and all along thu line, IN
country that a few years ago w.
all believed TO be hopeless. Owe
on the Rock Island, almost as new
is Tucumcari, next to Roswell II
size on the slope, with the News
week in and week out the largcs
paper in the territory, and the SUI
only a lap behind. There are TX
ccllent papers at Santa Rosa, Car
rIzozo, and a dozen points as We
scarcely on the map. In all ther
are more than thirty.hve newspa
pers in the Pccos Valley OF Me-
Mexico now. When came her
there were but three or tour