St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1918-03-13

!
! with daily newspaper. service. The ar
I bitrary position so often adopted by
court officers was noticeably lacking,
as result Of which the paper is again
/ running with good prospects of pro-
! ftable and pleasant career among the
! business and reading public of the town
! and country. The new publisher eonai-
! ders it dependent upon him to extend
/ them his public appreciation OF their
courtesy and many favors.
| On a clustering March afternoon in
I the early eighties little man with q
,nerry twinkle in his eye entered tho
/ Caledonian sanctum and said to- the edl-
i tor d" I have a poem on spring which /
would like printed" The poet said his
name was Robert J. Burdette, and dur
/ ing the interesting Conservation which
followed he congratulated the editor on
| publishing the only paper called the Cal
DOMAIN there was in the United States.
It is hardly probable that when this
distinctive and appropriate name was
given by It's founder, Albert Gallatin
Chadwick, in 1897, he foresaw that IN
almost a century OF existence the char
would prove true. For ii years Mr.
Chadwick gave the community forcefui
paper, though hardly along the lines
Of the modern journal. One would
search almost in vain in these years for
any local items, but the Caledonian hal
d lively participation in The politics of
that period Editor Chadwick said IN
his salutatory that the paper would
eadvocatc and sustain the interests OF
the tThig party 50 far as they shal1 tend
to promote the good of the people, the
protection of American industry, strlrt
accountability to the people OF pubic
servants. the cause of temperance and
equal rights" He was a tireless work
or, setting the type and running the
press through the day while conduct
ing the business and writing the copy
at night, ellis short, bitter, biting
paragraphs sould- sometimes bring an
irate democrat to his Office with blood
in his eye and explosive on his tongue,
but he was generally convinced that the
article complained of was somewhat tg-
urative, and had only a general appll-
cation"
In 1s49, c. NJ Stone, 16-year-oii
Lyndon boy, entered this office his
duties being to print every week the
entire edition Of the paper on an old
Washington hand press. When only
% years old he bought half interest
in the paper and in April, 1857, two
wears later. became the cole owner.
Under his conscientious and fearless
guidance for SO years the Caledonian
gained national reputation, its edi-
dorials on public matters being widely
ouoted. Of the many tributes 20 hrs
journalistic ability at the time of his
sudden death, March ~, 1890, this from
the Springfield Republican is note
worthy:
"From apprentice to printer, pro
prietor and editor he mastered his bust
ness and grew in practical skill and
mental power until he came to WELD
AN influence such as few men aituated
in 50 narrow q field are able to
achieve
A cursory examination of the files OF
the paper during these years shows
some distinctive features that. would
do credit to metropolitan journal IT.
was a model of Typographical excellence,
no cuts ever appeared in its adyertis-
ing columns and the highest grade OF
viii tie news print was always used. !
The editorial page had an individuality !
and fearlessness that challenged the
admiration Of those who sometimes
differed with him in politics and poll- /
cies letters from subscribers travel /
ling in foreign lands were a featnre OF |
his paper for many years; while his /
own series Of letters from Florida,
California and Mexico were frequent +
" copied by the press of the largest I
cities.
Few country newspapers can point
to so many graduates from the corn
posing room and sanetum that later
achieved fame on city journals from
the Atlantic to the Pacific. Some are
still in service, the most distinguished
being the brilliant editor of the North
American Review, Col. George Harvey.
who began his newspaper career IN
the CaIedonian office. +
While the local field assiduously de-
veloped, occasional Scoops" were made
which did great credit to a country
paper published before the days Of the
lone distance telephone. During theh
exciting days that follevlsd the presi-
Dental election of 1876 and four, years
later when the republican national
convention balloted for days before
Garfield was nominated, the Caledon [
ian published frequent bulletins that I
we're distributed several times each day
this section both by mail
and by special messenger. II
The Caledonian was an important {
factor in moulding public opinion and
Unfortunate was the candidate for pab I
IL office, and sometimes unsuccessfl {
who. bad the paper against him. q
In 1890 Arthur F. Stone succeeded /
lis father as owner aud editor, main!