The Penn's Grove record., 1914-04-10
The vicissitudes of Local journalism
George Fitch in American r1agazine
continued from past week

continued from past week
Late Simpson, who runs the argus"
is a younger man than Ayers and more
ambitious. Oh, yes, we have two papers.
In a town the size of HomebuNg you
l: simply have to have two papers, because
hall of the people are always mad at one
paper. The "Argus'' and Democrat
trade subscription lists about every seven
years-not counting the hardshell Demo-
Gratis and Observation-Disclosures Republicans
who have to stand by their papers
whether they get mad at them or not.
I've been taking the Democrat for
about five years because Simpson got too
busy in the school election one year to
suit me. It's pretty hard OH me, because
Simpson runs a better paper; but my
neighbor, Sim Atkinson, likes the "Dem-
ocrat" better and can't take it because he
took his whole family to Chicago one
week and Ayers overlooked the fact.
So he borrows my Democrat" every
week and | get bis "Argus," and thus
both Of us preserve our mad and our dig
nifty and get what we want just the same.
If there's anything keener than the
competition between two weekly news
papers in a small town I'd like to see
it-but not feel it. lisa searching sort
of competition which seems to work It's
way into every detail of the towns al
fairs. We town people are judged by
our editors according to our patronage.
If a man gives two jobs of letterheads in
succession to the ARGUS" Ayers looks
Oh him as a man who has stabbed him
III the back ana has twisted the sword.
If the Board of Education spends $67 for
40 ~ -, .,t:- - IL
democrat" one year and 1869. 50' with
the ARGUS the next, things aren't
exactly calm and peaceable again until
the difference has been explained. When
twins come to a man who has always
taken the argus in preference to the
Democrat" old man Ayers wags his
head as if to say, "He brought it OH
himself" and when Lafe Simpson meets
a man who persistently refuses to take
his paper III preference to the sheet across
the street, he greets him as formally and
warily as if he had smallpox and was
passing free samples around.
LATE claims to have more circulation
than the Democrat" and this comes
nearer giving Ayers apoplexy than my
thing else. He claims that Lafe's cir
c~ulation consists two thirds of wind and
that he hasn't more than $50 iona fde
subscribers, including deadhead copies
to patent medicine houses. Late, on
the other hand, says Ayers prints $50
papers merely from force of habit-that
most Of his subscribers have been trying
to stop tie paper for years and can't.
Lafe says that when a man put his name
on Ayers's subscription list he might as
well carve it in stone and then try to
wipe it off with gasoline. Ayres SAYS,
in return, that when a stranger arrives
to make his home in Homeburg, Late
Simpson meets him at the train, takes
him to his new residence, and hangs
around the doorstep until the stranger
subscribes for the argus in order to
improve the atmosphere around the
neigbborhood.
VI course the two papers are always
on opposite political sides-no matter
whether it is Il school or national election.
Makes US scheme a good deal at times
to keep one of them quiet on same public
project so that the other will not lump
OH it. We had a big time, when the plan
TO pave Main Street was going through,
to keep Lafe from jumping in and shout
ing for it. That would have set Ayers
off dead against it, and we had to muz-
zle Laie until Ayers had committed him
self.
The struggles of the two editors to
Guido each other have been titanic.
When Simpson put in a steam engine,
Ayers m%ortgaged his plant and got one of
the new gasoline engines just then being
introduced into an unhappy world. He
never used it much unless he had lots of
time in which to start it, but it was a
great comfort and held Simpson level.
When Simpson bought the building in
which the ''Argus'' is printed it nearly
killed Ayers, who couldn't have bought
the sign OH his building. But he finally
prevailed on the owner to put in a new
front and name his block "The Democrat
Building" But about that time Simpson,
who is a go-ahead young chap, bought a
young automobile in the last stage oil
lung trouble, and Ayers has never really
recovered from that blow.