The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1935-01-24
Editor Sank Centre
Herald l897-lNO3 Died
the Herald, then offered for sale by
the Simonton Brothers.
CONTINUED From Page One)

NSOhtuuSo cAOh d6O OhSy
the Herald, then offered for sale by
the Simonton Brothers.
In July, 1879, together with my
wife, I made a preliminary trip to
Sank Centre, leaving Minneapolis
in the early evening and arriving
at our destination long after mid
night, travelling over the old st.
Paul and Pacific railroad, which
had just been extended from Mel
rose to Alexandria. We met a num-
Der of the prominent early settlers,
who assembled in knots to look US
over, to decide whether they would
welcome or lynch US, at least that
As the way it seemed to US at the
time However, we were so favor
ably impressed that We concluded
to throw in with them.
I'm August, 1879, the first issue of
the Herald came out under my
management. 1t was seven col
umn folio-four pages-with patent
outsides, printed in Milwaukee and
carrying much more patent medi-
cine advertising than local was
printed on an old-fashioned hand
press.
1T was soon changed to an all
home print and little later anoth-
er column was added to each page.
Two years later it was moved to
Pendergast Hall and afterwards to
a building located on Third street
which purchased from VIM. Scher-
ffius and fitted up for joint news
paper and Post Office purposes.
Tn the early nineties a small
cylinder press, worked by hand
power, was purchased and the pa
per changed to six columa quarto
5 pages. Afterwards a larger
press was purchased and gaso-
line engine bought to furnish the
motive power. This briefly sketches
the physical history of the Herald
from 1879 to 1908, while under my
ownership.
when I began the publication
of the Herald in 1879, Sank Centre
as l remember it had about $50
people; two FIGURING mills, not more
than a half a mile of wooden side
walk, three brick buildings, includ-
ing the tiny office of Esquire Carr,
and it's mercantile business was
about evenly divided between Main
and Third streets. There was but
the one line of railraod with two
daily trains (none on Sunday, no
water works or electric lights, no
street lights of any kind, no tele-
phones, no park, a small steamboat
on the lake which shortly after
wards went out of commission, four
churches, one rather small school
house and but one small grain ele-
vator.
There were, including stores,
general and hardware, drug stores,
millinery, blacksmith and carpen-
ter shops, and all kinds of profess
sional men, about 80 business places
and offices and of this number not
more than half a dozen took adver-
Using space. 1t was a modest gal
axy that would blush to see their
names in print, even in a business
way. 1t was not until w. o. P.
Hilsdale, w. S. Dean, Mel Billed, A.
H. Petit, jacob Brothers, Willis
How, G.. Hillerud, and few of the
later ones established themselves
here that publicity was deemed es-
sential to business. Even then, in
the fall of the year and at Christ
mastide, when every farmer had his
pockets full of money and you
couldn't have kept the crowds out
of the stores Wa. a machine gun,
merchants would crowd the paper
with big type ads, filling large
space, but when business was dull
and needed stimulating they were
conspicuously out of evidence, but
let a fake bankrupt stock or fire
sale come to town, even in mid-sum-
mer, and advertise literally, as was
frequently the case, local merchants
would stand by with their hands in
their pockets and see their custom
ers dig up coolies of cash and go
home loaded Gown with goods-but
enough Of this lecturing.
1.-THE policy of the Herald under
my management differed little from
other country papers; it aimed, pri-
marily. to be loyal to home inter-
ests and I think can justly say
it was a leader in many movements
for civic improvements. 1t strongly
advocated the waterworks, bonds
for an enlarged school building,
and against pretty stiff opposition
in certain quarters, pushed side
walk extension; was largely respon-
sible for the extension of Third
street eastward across the river and