The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1911-06-05
ORIGIN OF The
FIRST NEWSPAPER
Gazette, Started In gil, Still Existing
In China-Boston News First
In America.

pClOnSo " lnt tOhidho 40 COLL 40
the year SO B. C. julius Caesar found
ed the first newspaper in the world.
This paper was called Acta Populi
Romani Diurna, which would be trans
lated Daily Records of the Roman
People. The copies were distributed
in the provinces of the Roman empire,
which at that time included what are
now Spain, France, Germany, Greece,
and other countries along the Medi-
terranean.
This Roman newspaper contained
leading articles about important legis-
lative events, battles fought, etc.; also
news of various kinds. Copies Of
those newspapers have not been pre-
ancient writer's fragments of the Acta
Diurna have been published, which
led to the celebrated Justification Of
the "Fragmenta Dodwelliana" in the
fifteenth century, wherein fragments
of old Roman newspapers were skill
fully initiated in accordance with the
descriptions of them contained in an
cient historical works.
The Picking Gazette.
The Picking Gazette, which was
thought to be the first newspaper in
the world, was published for the first
time in Oil and has been regularly
published up to the present time. It's
present form and makeup generally
are the same as the original issue
nearly thousand years ago. It is ten
inches in length and four inches in
width. The leaves, of which there are
eighteen, are of soft, thin paper with
uncut edges, and they are printed in
Chinese characters on one side only.
These sheets are inclosed in a thin yell
low cover and are fastened at the
back with a few light stitches. Dur
ing the latter part of the eighteenth
century the paper was printed in the
imperial palace from movable types of
copper, afterward from wax tablets
and for the past seventy years from
movable types of wood The Gazette
is compiled from papers presented be-
fore the general council of the Chi
nese empire and constitutes the prin-
cipal medium available to the people
for ascertaining what is going on in
the country. Couriers are dispatched
to all parts of the empire bearing cop
les of these papers to high and prom
inent officers.
First Paper In Europe.
1t was not until the year 1915 that
the Post Zeitung, published at Frank
fort, made its appearance as the first
newspaper published in Europe. Dur
ing the seventeenth century the prog
ress of newspaper publishing was very
slow, Following the Post Zeitung, a
paper published at irregular intervals
appeared in Antwerp Q616). The first
English newspaper was the Weekly
News, issued in 1922. In 1643 the
first Swedish newspaper was pub
lished at Stockholm.
During the early part of the eigh-
teenth century many papers made their
appearance in various parts of the con-
tinent and in England. Peter the
Great took a personal part in the es-
tablishment of the first Russian jour-
nal, which was published in Moscow
in 1903.
The development of the newspaper
industry in the orient has been very
remarkable. We have been so accus-
toned to look to the east only for light
on the great problems of history that
it seems too much to expect from that
quarter of the globe news and knowl-
edge of our day and generation. Yet
nevertheless some of the most re-
markable and intellectual newspapers
are published in Greece and Syria and
| in India.
or the papers published in India the
Bengal Hurkurn, which made its first
appearance in 1875, Is the oldest. The
Hindus seem to be very forbearing to-
ward their newspapers and journals
generally. The press of India is con-
Quoted for the most part on very free
and easy principles.
Americas First Paper.
The Boston News Letter was the
first paper published in the North
American continent. The first edition
of this paper was got out on April "a,
1904. The second periodical to be
published was the Boston Gazette.
which was followed a day later by the
American Weekly Mercury. This last
newspaper was published in Philadel-
phia on Dec. %, 1919.
There is file Of 1t in the Philadel-
phia library that is almost complete
and that is invaluable for study of