Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-09-05

already had one daily paper. the Com
mercial--were William T. Croa-1ale
and Gilbert q. Cameron. Mr.. croas-
dale had enjoyed several years of ac.
tive experience In newspaper work,
az editor of weekly paper at George
town, in Sussex county and as city
editor OF the Wilmington Daily elom-
mercial. Mr. Cameron was printer
and formerly had learned his trade In
the office of the Delaware Republican.
He was the only reporter Of Every
Evening at the start, and also was
business manager
Every Evening had no press Of It's
own at the beginning. Its type was
set and forms made up at It's home
quarters. and the forms were lowered
from window into an alley at the
rear and conveyed by wheelharrow to
the press room of the large printing
establishment of James 4 Webb, a
few doors below, where the editions
were printed. Fancy such primitive
methods, IL possible. in contrast with
the elaborate printing facilities neces-
sary today. The proprietors of Every
Evening did not have money enough
TO buy a press. but they had faith
that their venture would soon enable
them 10 buy one, and their faith was
not misplaced.
Grew LustiIy From the Start.
The paper became a great favorite
with the people of Wilmington from
the first. What II looked like the
reader may ascertain by carefully
viewing the fac-simile of the first
page of the first issue. which we re-
produce on the first page of today's
Issue. In bulk IL was only four pages,
while today the number of pages is
varied according to the pressure of
advertising and reading matter. The
capacity of Every Evenings latest
new press is AS pages, twelve times
as many as the first issue included.
Every Evening at the start was a
penny paper" selling at one cent the
copy or three dollars a year. Upon
absorbing the Daily Commercial, in
1877. the price was advanced TO two
cents copy, but years later, when
print paper became very cheap-vast-
~ cheaper than it is today-it re-
turned to one cent per copy, and the
other daily papers of the city also
came down to this basis. The tre-
mendous increase of prices during the
late war, however, especially the rapid
Increase in the cost OF news print
paper, compelled a return to the
charge OF two cents per copy, and
there ii is likely TO remain for a long
time. as there Is no indication at
present that the charges for print
paper win return TO one-cent per
copy basis.
Within six months of its first Is
sue Every Evening attained daily
circulation OF $500 copies, something
really marvellous for Wilmington at
that time, even for a one-cent paper.
The daily printing was task for
the James and Webb establishment,
as IL was a job printing concern.
Other arrangements We're necessary,
and a favorable opportunity present
ing. Croa sdale & Cameron, on June 1,
1872. purchased of Henry Eekel the
plant and business of the old Della
ware State Journal and Statesman.
and its daily issue, the Daily Journal
started only a few months before.
The Journal publications were then
issued at SO Market street, on the
site of the present Arcadia Theatre,
and the change transferred Every
Evening to commodious and con-
venient quarters, with press and other
facilities for accommodating its in
creasing business But its circula-
ton kept increasing, and in less than
a year the. single-cylinder press taken
over from the Journal gave room to
a double cylinder of more than twice
the printing capacity.
In 1875 the Every Evening Pub
fishing Co was chartered by the Della
ware Legislature, and to this corpo-
ration Croa sdale & Cameron trans
ferred the ownership of Every Even
ing, retaining a majority of the stock
IL their possession. Subsequently the
name of the corporation was changed
to the Every Evening Printing Co..
the present owners. Several years
later Mr.. Croasdale and Mr.. Cameron
parted with their interests, Mr.. Croas-
dale going TO Baltimore, where he
gained high reputation as publisher