The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1917-08-17

shrewd transient man had Soaked"
the radicals of both classes and the
reasonable folks who paid no atten-
ton to the furry were not affected
by it.
Many of them had become so out
of patience with local newspapers
that they taught their children to
avoid newspapers as they would poi
son, and even yet there are many
young men and women in the vounty
who virtuously boast that they never
read a newspaper and don't want
anything to do with one.
V.
A man who conceived the idea Of
operating a purely farm paper and
mailing it under the privileges &C
corded to newspapers, started the
publication of a paper devoted to or
ganizing the farmers for commercial
advantage in buying implements and
shipping produce. He secured the
agency for a lot of machinery that
was being sold by firms not we'll
established in the local field and who
for various reasons undersold the
standard makes. Every member Of
the association could buy implements
and sacks at lower prices, and the
plan was to have warehouses at
every town in the valley and have
the officers of the organization do
all the business and receive only
salary for it and give the farmers the
benefits. The paper was printed on
the presses of another local paper,
and after a few months the whole
, organization went to pieces in fall
ure with carloads of goods in transit
unpaid, and with implements scatter
ed all over the valley for which the
owners could not buy repairs. The
failure hurt the farmers, the legiti-
mate implement dealers and the
newspapers. For years afterwards
whenever newspaper man would go
out into the country to try to Sc
cure subscriptions among the farm
ers they would tell him that they
lost money on this other deal and
did not want anything to do with
him.
One day the publisher of one Of
the newspapers decided to cut down
his working force and get rid of his
helper whom he mistrusted. He was
one the verge of failure unless he
mortgaged and went on with borrow
ed capital till there was change
in the newspaper situation. He lied
little and told his man that he
was going to fire him and go out
OF business. The man proposed a
new plan, that he himself should buy
out one of the other papers, move
it to a distant town and relieve Bling
ham county of one paper and thus
give the others chance. Neither
of the men had any money to buy
with but they used all available
credit and accomplished the move
and both of the remaining Blackfoot
papers improved somewhat in their
service. There was just a certain
amount of printing business in the
community, and when the bills for
maintenance of one establishment
were turned as income into the other
two plants it changed them from a
losing to a profit-making basis. The
news in all the papers had been
about alike, and instead Of the COM
munity thru its patronage, paying
for having the type set three times,
was now paying for it only two times.
Instead of paying for printing the
news three times 1t was paying for
it only two times. Instead of pay
ing for rent, light, heat, postage,
taxes and labor for three shops 1t
was only paying for two, so the COM
munity and the publishers both
profited by the thinning out Of the
papers. Now that the publishers
had some profits and some encour-
agement, they began to buy ma
terials to improve their plants and
to improve the news service for their
patrons. One Of the publishers spent
considerable time in the country
among the new settlers and his
paper secured most of the Carey land
notices for publication and the other
lost that kind of business. The pub
Usher became discouraged, closed up
his newspaper service and moved the
plant to another town. Promptly the
remaining newspaper installed q
modern typesetting machine known
as the linotype, and on the prospects
of better income to justify it, in
creased the news service and equip
ment generally. The patent side, or
boiler plate" feature of the news
paper was banished for the first time
in the history Of the county and local
county news was published in its
place, thus doubling or nearly doub-
ling the value Of the newspaper. The
number of men now employed in the