The daily Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1916-1917, 1917-08-07

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boarding houses must have been tn
rule, for historians report only 20
houses, of which fifty were sufficient
aristocratic to be of stone. Nearl
every house had a quarter of bloc
of ground, surrounded by white
washed walls. One schoolmaste
served the community, butcher sup
piled beef when it was ordered in ad
vance, two enterprising merchant
displayed dry goods signs, the black
smiths numbered three, and a Ii
censed ferry was operated, but neither
tavern nor livery was to be found.
Into this came Charless as an evan
gel of civilization, well aware of his
gift to the community. His pros
pectus glorified the free press as the
vestal light of nations. He further
stated his principles in this journal
istic declaration of faith:
ITO extinguish party animosities
and foster a cordial union among the
people on the basis of federation and
equal government; to impress upon
the mind that next to the love of God
the love of our country should be
paramount in the human breast; to
advocate that cause which placed JEFF
ferson at the head of the magistracy,
and, in fine, to infuse and keep alive
the principles which the test of ex-
perience has so evidently portrayed
to these ends shall the labor of The
Gazette be directed"
Because he placed fairness and
equality in government above mere
liberation, Charless did not always
foster cordiality. Jeffersonian in de-
mocracy remained the guiding prin-
ciple of the Gazette, and patriotic at
tachment to state and nation marked
the career of his pioneer newspaper.
Printed on Legal-Cap Paper.
The mechanical production of the
first few issues of the Missouri Ga
zette was accomplished by Charless
and Hinkle in a two-room office in
he old RObidoux house A Ramage
screw press, similar to a modern cider |
,ress, ink balls of buckskin and wool, !
md legal-cap paper II by IA 1-2
nches comprised the office equip
nent. In this house all the copy was
the type set and the paper
un off for the first edition of the
'aper. OF this issue and its imme-
late successor, now known only
through tradition, Walter B. Stevens
writes: Joseph Charless was a man
f moral and mental force. He had
ewspaper ideals. This first St. Louis
aper was born with character and
. never lost it."
Subscriptions to the new paper
'ere by the year, SO in cash or $4 in
ountry produce. That delinquent
ubscribers existed then as now is
roved by various notices, among
lem this of 1911:
"Mr. Charless calls upon those of :
is subscribers who gave their notes .
word of honor to pay in flour or
'rn to bring it in directly. Others
no promised to pay In beef or pork .
bring it in as soon as possible, or
leir accounts will be placed in the
agistrate's hands,"
This system of giving notice was not d
ways effective; for upon the coming
his family from Kentucky, Charless :,
came proprietor of tavern and Iiv- Y
y stable. Later, despite the growth y
circulation Of the Gazette, Char Il
IS advertises that he would buy old u
pper and brass at bit a pound or =
ke it in exchange for subscriptions. n
Ill later, he opened a book for reg
ry and sale of lands, town lots and Il.
lves in order to convenience friends q
'ving from Kentucky and Ohio to -
ssouri and Illinois. IL
ic
Paper Grew Rapidly In Size. G,
Changes in the appearance and y,
hitting of the Missouri Gazette took r.
ice almost as rapidly as the CITY of
anged. From a paper printed on oI
'al-cap in July, the Gazette grew to 9e
l2-by-16 page paper in September, ov
IS-by-24 page paper the following Tn
y and 2O-by-3S page paper in 1878 on
mango which made it the third Iarg- no
paper in the United States. o.
me presses changed less rapidly. bo
I'm the screw press of 1908, with on
lch two men working hard could CO,
ut seventy-five pages on one side
an hour, the Gazette advanced to
.amage lever press, which could be -
rated twice as fast. With the pass -.
Of the old stone-bed press went Tn
inkballs, retired through the COM 49,;
of ink rollers. Withal, Hinkle re- ~,
ned the pressman, compositor -,
ps and office boy. M
OF only was the establishment the 80,