The Cordova daily times., 1919-10-04
ALASKAEDITOR
IN THE GAME
FORTY YEARS

Fairbanks News-Miner, in a recent
history gives the following sketch of
forty years experience as a publisher
and editor of newspapers:
"Forty years ago today, at Howard
City, Montcalm county, Mich, the
writer published" his first news
paper" 1t was named "The Howard
City Shorter" and it's principal news
story of that day read: Peter Bah
cock has a new suit of Clothes
''You would think that after forty
years of newspaper experience,
printing" from one end of the
United States and Canada to the
other, over and back, hither and yon,
publishing newspapers in Michigan,
Texas, Wyoming, Washington, British
Columbia, Yukon and Alaska, and in
several places in each several dis
.tricts, that the result would be that
a publisher would know lot and
we are cogitating today as to how
much we really know, Three years
later, in Hillsdale college, our pro-
lessor in chemistry, Prof. Fiske, used
to get up at 6 o'clock in the morning
to tell us in class at 7 (think of going
to school at Z a. n.y. Man knows
NOTHING, save that HE EXISTS
certain atoms or molecules moving
through the air convey to his brain
and mind through the eye that the
thing he sees is horse, or a man,
which. is simply a BELIEF, and be-
lief is condition of the mind and
neither matter of logic or reason
man knows NOTHING, save that he
exists. All else is belief After 40
years Of active experience in the
emptying of thought tanks, we are
prepared to state that Prof. Fiske is
right, so far as we can demonstrate.
Also science backs him up in the
statement.
"Forty years ago we knew more
than we do today. Thirty years ago
we knew more than we did 30 years
ago. Twenty years ago today we
knew almost EVERYTHING, using
the reservation almost simply out
of courtesy to the remainder of the
knowing world. Since then, year after
year, we have known less until TODAY
we are uncertain as to anything and
everything. We wouldn't bet one of
the baby's cast-off shoes upon the cor
rectness of any proposition on earth,
except the laws of human being and
the effect ones actions have upon
ones own self. We will take chance
and gamble on anything that looks |
like an even break, but we are always
prepared to lose on any play we
make-We believe and we gamble on
ANYTHING simply for the belief of
the spirit of gambling that is in US.
after 40 years one would think
that we should know how to run
newspaper but scarcely a day goes
by but that some tried and true friend
tells us that we should run this n9ner
in some other way, manner or direc-
ton, and they may be right. In our
earlier publishing days, when we be-
Heved more in the general KNOWLEDGE
OF mankind, in kindly friendship and
interest, and were beginning to have
little doubt as to our own judgment, |
we accommodated a dozen or more |
friends of that kind by changing our
system of publishing as they thought
we should. The result has been that
scattered all over North America are
little newspaper graves wherein lie
the literary babes of our trustful
younger years, and we invariably
found that we had to bear all the
funeral expenses and were the only
mourner. Today we are getting the |
same advice constantly, and in our
skepticism we tell the friends. prob |
ply So and go right back to the Of
nee and start in again to run the
paper in the same old way, right or
wrong, and in the evening take home
rev slices of bacon to the babies.
which seems to us today to be the
only real way. And, reaching for
safety-first appliances, we have dis
covered that we can change our sys-
tenn on our lines and out own ideas
as fast as is necessary under the cir
cumstances and still keep the smoke
house wherein hangs the bacon open
and doing business with us as usua1
so why take suggested chances?
Time has taught this burned child
some sad lessons, and some com;cal
0naG-1nocN~n @G TN ~nH