The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1911-06-16
AASATURDAY
GfES NIGHT
4 SERMONS
BY
H. RXSAMUnW.pURVERl
POWER OF TIE PRESS.


Text. spent their time in nothing else
but to tell or hear something ncw."-Acts
xvii, a.
The thirst for news Is one OF the
strongest appetitos humanity has. It's
the secret OF gossip. Men are more
interesting than things, so we talk or
men or women. The story of John
Smith saving his scalp by telling his
captors news may be fiction, but the
psychological principle involved Is true
to human nature. From the woman
In the sunbonnet with n clothespin In
her mouth. talking over the back fence,
to the correspondent with an arctic
expedition their story has always
fascination to the human mind. Long
ago 1t was said that the world was
governed by three boxes-thc cartridge
box, the ballot box and the handboX-
force, votes and women. Add another,
the mail box, loaded with countless
products of the printing press.
A Great Appetite.
The American newspaper appetite Is
marvellous. 1t amounts to n passion
all ages from cradle to grave; all
conditions from the newly landed emf
grant looking at the funny pictures
and spelling out headlines to the schol-
ar and the busiest man of affairs;
from day laborer to president; from
scrubwoman to woman of fashion. AS
for the making of newspapers, it's Il
raging fever, n fearful dclirum, n
uuasi-insanity. Time was when pilot
boarding incoming ship was bcsiogcd
for news of world. Now the wireless
in midOcCan gathers news from the
four quarters of the globe, and tiny
newspaper lies at your plate ut break
fast table. A great editor is defined
as a man who knows where the devil
will break out next and has Il reporter
on the spot to tell Of it, 1t must be
told in few words. Young reporter
telcgraphed home Office: Column story
here. Shall | sendY The reply was,
Send 600 words" The cub" wired
again, Cant be told less than 200"
The answer came: STORY of creation
of world told in GOO. Try it,"
Yellow and Other journalism.
The essence of ycllowness in Jour
nal is ulgarity-diamonds ut the
breakfast table; the cXaggeration
which conventionality says ought to
be held in bounds; uses bass drum and
mcgaphOnC TO draw the CrOwd-itS
| crowd. When its conservative neigh
| Dor has Howard Griggs, with deli
| cate illusions and carefully discrim
mated shades of meaning it has a eau
Gus speaker who paints cartoons with
whitewash brush so that the whole
| crowd can see. 1t claims these meth
DDS are best and shows its circulation
| figures to prove it. IT'S after news
and doesn't want to get "scooped."
News" tells the unusual No city edi-
tor who values his job would give a
! full column to ordinary sermon, but he
| gladly spaces" a sermon by Rev. Mr..
| DashweI on "Why l Joined n Dancing
Glass" See? No news in regular ebb
and flow of tide, but when the gulf
sweeps Galveston. Let me ask you an
embarrassing question: How do you
feel when your newspaper has no scare
heads? Your wife says, "Anything
new in this mornings paper" You
growl, mo" Your tone implies you've
been cheated, robbed of your penny.
Listen, brother: The newspaper, the
daily morguc of virtue, tells the story
of the unusual. No earthly record
could ever hold the story of the
worlds commonplace virtue, only the
| books of the OmniScient God.
Power of the Press.
Carlyle said, "If you want to reach
thousands with a thought put it into
the heart of a preacher" That will
never cease to be true, Of course, but
where the pulpit reaches one person
the press reaches 500. The pulpit
breaches once a week, the press seven
times The vast majority Of people
are not In church every seven days,
but practically every one reads pa
per once a week. When an American
has a spare moment he picks up
newspaper. The power Of the press Is
tremendous. A statement by a corner
lounger has no value. Put 1t in a
newspaper and it has a power almost
hypnotic. Business men recognize the
value of this subtle quality by adver-
Using. 1t gives their stores prestige.
There's nothing corrupt politics and
evil so fear and hate as the newspa-
per. 1t elects presidents, dethrones
kings, declares wars, directs armies
and navies, decides public policies,
makes or unmakes public men. We
have practically arrived at govern
ment by newspaper, but since that is
only another name for government by
The people we need not be alarmed.
If one had to choose between gov
eminent without newspapers or news
papers without government he'd be
safer with the latter.
The newspaper, being human insti-
tuition, has its faults. but firmly be-
lieve 1t has ten thousand times more
virtues than vices. Books are read
only by the book lover; the church
Is closed most of the week; our par
ents die. The newspaper is always
present, tireless, powerful, nonsecta-
rian, nearly always impartial, mex
pensive. How would Christ read the
modern newspaper? AS he read hui
manity while among them. He'd feel