Decatur County, Indiana - Chapter 14: Newspapers of Decatur County, 1915

Chapter 14: Newspapers of Decatur County

Newspaper men have frequently tried to sum up, in a pithy paragraph, the functioij of the newspaper and thousands of articles have been written on its influence on modern life. Perhaps no more apt summary of the place of the newspaper in our civilization of today has ever been written than that of Joseph H. Finn, a newspaper man of Chicago, and delivered by him as part of an address before the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World in the spring of 1915. His apostrophe follows:

"My 'cold type' burns with the fireblood of human action. I am fed by arteries of wire that girdle the earth. I drink from the cup of every living joy and sorrow. I know not day nor night nor season. I know not death, yet I am born again with every morn - with every moon - with every twilight. I leap into fresh being with every new world's event.

"I am majestic in my strength - sublime in my power - terrible in my potentialities - yet as democratic as the ragged boy who sells me for a penny.

"I am the consort of kings - the partner of capital - the brother of toil. The inspiration of the hopeless - the right arm of the needy - the champion of the oppressed - the conscience of the criminal. I am the epitome of the world's Comedy and Tragedy.

"My responsibility is infinite. I speak, and the world stops to listen. I say the word, and battle flames the horizon. I counsel peace, and the war lords obey. I am greater than any individual - more powerful than any group. I am the dynamic force of Public Opinion. Rightly directed, I am the creator of confidence ; a builder of happiness in living. I am the teacher of patriotism.

It is often a difficult matter for the conscientious newspaper editor to discriminate between his duty to the public and his duty to the individual - to determine what should be printed and what should be withheld. In determining this, he is often misjudged and charged with an attempt to shield one misdemeanant while he exposes another. Sometimes he is accused of withholding certain information from the public through mercenary motives. It is not the province of the modern newspaper to be the mouthpiece of the scandal-monger, nor has it any right to suppress information which the public is entitled to possess. The tendency of a newspaper should be for uplift, for the common good. It should hold prominently before its readers that which is best for the community and best worthy of emulation. News that, if printed, would do more harm than good, the modern editor consigns to the waste-basket.

The early editor had a great man}' difficulties to surmount in getting his white paper. Roads were bad, collections worse and paper could be procured only for cash. On .Vugust 15, 1846. the editor of the Standard announced: "There will be no paper next week. We are out of money, out of paper and we can't and won't buy on credit." The paper did not appear for two weeks. The next issue was almost exclusively devoted to a discussion of a forthcoming debate between Rev. W. Terrill of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Jacob Wright, of the Christian church upon a religious topic. After a considerable amount of sparring between the reverend gentlemen, regarding details of the debate, the affair was called off.

On account of the scarcity of money in ante-bellum days, the editor usually received pay for his paper in trade, produce and anything which subscribers, not needing, were willing to give him. Sometimes the editor was forced to run up the "S. O. S." sign and simimon assistance. Witness the following clipping, from an 1847 Greensburg paper:

"Very Late and Important. - We are just out of wood and would be very much pleased to receive a few loads immediately. W^ood that is dry and would burn well in a stove would suit us best."

A striking feature of the early newspapers of Indiana was their reckless use of adjectives in writing of those who differed with them along political lines. A few specific instances from Greensburg papers will illustrate the point. In 1858 the Decatur Democrat and the Rushville Jacksonian were "on the outs'' on the slavery question. The former was opposed to sla\'ery and branded the Buchanan administration as "a humbug and a swindle." The

Jacksonian stood for the "simon-pure" Democracy of that day. The Standard, referring to the hitter words that had been tossed back and forth, said, "They respectively make each other out as e.xtremely great bars and very dirty dogs, and it gives us much pleasure in uttering the conviction that they both tell the truth." This kind of language would appear out of place in the modern newspaper. The editor of the Standard was a master of invective and his language in the sixties was often vitriolic to the extreme. During war times, Decatur county editors sometimes waxed hot in criticising those who were lukewarm for the Union and once in a while laid down the law to such citizens. In 1863, when the Knights of the Golden Circle were getting very bold near Westport and were considering taking arms to resist the draft, the Grccnshurg Standard gave them the following gentle hint : "The draft will be enforced in this county though the streets run red with human gore and the torch destroy every town and village in the county. This is fully decided and can be relied upon."

Green.Sburg Newsp.'Xpers

In the Grccnshurg Standard of January 4. 1895, the late Orville Thompson had a history of the papers of Greensburg which covered the period from 1830, the date of the first paper, down to 1895. The historian feels that no more comprehensi\-e article on the papers of the city can be written with the available material than that of ]\Ir. Thompson and therefore gives his article here, verbatim :

"In the spring of 1830 Elijah [Mitchell - an uncle of the writer and one of the pioneers of 1823 - began the publication of a paper here styled the Greensburg Clironiclc, and after an experience of about a year sold the outfit to Thomas Dowling, who changed the name to The Political Clarion. He conducted it until the close of the Clay-Jackson campaign of 1832, when he sold it to James Harvey Brown, whose editorial career was a brief one - the paper dying a very few months later of inanition.

"Dowling was a native of Ireland, of Celtic blood ; a vigorous writer, who learned almost all that was then knowable, and never forgot anything, nor anyone whom he ever had known. A pleasant instance of this occurred with the writer, who was a lad of nine years when he (Dowling) left here. I did not see him until twenty years later and then, meeting him at Indianapolis, he at once recognized me and called me by name. This preliminary sketch seems to be necessary in order to correct a mistaken notion entertained by many people that the Repository was the first paper issued in Greensburg.

"For three years following the demise of the Clarion the county was without the fructifying power of the press. In the faU of 1835. my father (John Thomson), issued a prospectus for a paper to be called The Grccnsburg Repository, and, having doubts whether a partizan paper could be maintained here, despite his ardent Whig sentiments, he proposed that the paper should be a 'family newspaper, independent, but not neutral.' But in this instance, as is often the case in human affairs,

"Scarce had the ink become dry on his prospectus, when there came one who signed his name \\'illiam Vallette Coleman, bringing with him the material of a late defunct Democratic paper from Brookville, and proposed a partnership in the new enterprise. This was declined and he (Coleman) at once began the publication of a Democratic paper, The Greenshnrg Courier. This necessitated a change of base on the part of the Repository (not an altogether unpleasant one to the proprietor) and when its first issue appeared in the first week of December, 1835, it bore at its head the motto, 'The Union, the Constitution, and Enforcement of Laws,' and underneath, in bold faced type, there read.

General Willlam Henry Harrison

"Through all its changes, both in names and proprietors, this paper has remained true to its birthday inspiration, both in its printed columns and by representatives on the battlefield, six of its editors having enlisted under Old Glory.

"And someone rises to ask what became of the Grecnsbiirg Courier. It survived the wintry blasts of 1835-36, but when the spring time came and the roads settled, its proprietor loaded it on a wagon and hauled it to Shelbyville. From this time until the early part of 1841 the Repository was the only paper in the county, Mr. Thompson continuing as owner and editor.

"During the fore part of 1841, Peter J. Bartholomew began the publication of a paper with the lumbering title of The Chronicle of the Times. The stress of newspaper life must have worried him, since he died a few months after he had his paper started. Philander Hamilton and James Monroe

Talbot bought the outfit in November of the same year and changed the name to the Decatur Sentinel. A year later the same sheet appears as the Decatur Plweni.v, under the guidance of Israel T. Gibson. But the two papers, the Whig Repository and the Democrat Phoenix, could not both prosper with the limited patronage which they received and in November, 1843, ^^^^ two were consolidated under tlie name of the Repository. Jacolj ^V. Mills, the foreman of the Phoenix, had purcliased that paper and he and the writer ( Or\'ille Thompson), or one or the other, continued the management of the paper until 1S51.

"In the latter year, the Repository went into the hands of Davies Batterton and \\'illiam H. Hazelrigg, William H. Rhiver being taken into the firm later. In July, 1853, it was again purchased by the writer (Orville Thompson) and conducted by him until the latter part of 1856, when it went into the hands of the former firm again. W^ith the issue of December 26, 1856, the paper appeared as the Decatur Republican. In 1858 the paper was bought by J. J. Hazelrigg and George R. Rhiver. Rhiver dying in 1862, Hazelrigg continued the paper until 1863 and then sold it to Dr. S. H. Riley, J. B. Mallett and Redin B. Conover. This firm kept it until 1865 and then .disposed of it to Will Pound. The changes since then ha\'e been as follow: Pound to J. J. Hazelrigg, 1868; Hazelrigg to Joseph A. McKee, 1872; McKee to George H. McKee, 1873: McKee to J. J. Hazelrigg, 1878, who with his sons conducted it until 1894, when the present owner, Luther D. Braden, became the owner and editor.

"Since 1848, under the several managements above given, the paper has borne several diflferent names: Decatur Clarion, 1848-51; Decatur Press, 1851-58; Decatur Republican. 1858-65: Grcensbnrg Chronicle. 1865-68; Grecnsbury Staiutard. 1868-1915. But with all these changes, it has sailed under the same 'old flag.'

"As the Decatur Republican, in 1858. it was the first among Indiana newspapers to pronounce 'For President in 1860, Abraham Lincoln.' Whether in regard to national, state or local afi^airs, it has not hesitated to sustain the right, nor once failed to strike tlie wrong.

"The Repository was launched upon the broad sea of journalism with a subscription list of about three hundred, and its growth up to 1843 ^^'^s a slow one, being little above four hundred at that time. The consolidation with the Phoenix in the fall of 1843 g'^ve an increase of only about one hundred, the patrons of one being largely patrons of the other.

to which time httle attention had been given to local news by either city or county papers. This feature, together with the political ground swell in 1854, started an upward tendency. By the close of the Fremont campaign of 1856 the subscription list had grown to a little over six hundred, a number that, run off on the old hand press, was about the acme of the country publisher's ambition. The breaking out of the Civil War began a new era in the history of the newspaper ; men who had not heretofore been newspaper readers now began to read, and those who had read began to read more. The introduction of the power press revolutionized the mechanical side of the business and was a great stimulus to the printer.

"From 1836 to 1841 and again from 1843 to 1850, the Repository, its predecessors and successors, had no competition. In the latter year Oscar B. Hord and Charles R. Hobbs established a Democratic sheet by the name of the Greenshtirg Gazette. It gave way, two years later, to the Democratic Rifle, Bernard Mullen, editor, which succumbed under the withering frosts of the ensuing November. In 1856 John B. Covington entered the arena with another Democratic paper, which led a wavering career until sometime in 1859. In that year the following notice appears in the Decatur Republican. 'The Democrat office of this place was sold last week at sheriff's sale for twenty-five dollars and twenty-five cents - rather a small price for a printing office.' Whether this paper was styled the Democrat or whether it was a Democratic paper under some other name has not been ascertained. There seems to have been another Democratic paper established shortly afterward, but its name and founder evidently made little impression on the newspaper world, since neither have been preserved. In 1863 Riley and Mallett, of the Decatur Republican, absorbed the flickering Democratic sheet, and for the succeeding six years there was only the one paper in Greensburg.

"In 1869 Martin Zorger and Martin Blair established the Democratic -Nc-ci.' Era and this paper, with several changes in ownership, is still in existence. The owners of this paper in succession have been as follows : Zorger, Ed. D. Donnell & James Hart, W. A. Donnell & Sons, J. E. Mendenhall, Allen W. Clark, \V. H. Glidewell and Dr. J. W. Rucker, since 1902."

"In 1 90 1 Dr. J. W. Rucker came to Greensburg from Shelbyville and became the editor of the Daily Graphic, which was issued from the Nezt' Era office. This was issued until January, 191 5, when it was discontinued, although the weekly is still continued.

"Meantime there have sprung up Greenback papers. Prohibition papers, 'Coming' and departing 'Nations,' and more 'Democrats' than you could shake a stick at, all of which have gone down to unmarked and forgotten graves."

Among the "unmarked and forgotten" papers which Thomson mentions, the historian has located some half dozen or more with definite names and more or less indefinite dates. On March 25, 1863, Burnham & Howell put out the first issue of the Grcensburg Fact, a Democratic sheet, but its earthly career was very brief. In November of the same year the Decatur Republican pays tribute to the Fact in the following dolorous fashion: "Died - In this city last week, of starvation, the Grcensburg Fact. Mourners scarce." The Saturday Evening Revieiv was started August 2, 1879, by George H. McKee and Robert W. Montgomery and espoused the Republican cause. It was edited with ability and was issued regularly for several years. During the summer of 1878, O. P. McLane, a young teacher of Jackson township, started a Democratic paper in Greensburg under the name of the Decatur Democrat, which, after a brief and meteoric career, succumbed and was merged with the Nezvs.

On July I, 190 1, a Baptist minister at Burney, Charles J. Dickens by name, issued the first number of a small church paper, to which he gave the title of Salem Ne7i's. The Baptist church at Burney was called Salem, hence the name of his paper. \\"ishing his paper to have a wider significance. Rev. Dickens changed its name, on August 15 of the same year, to the Baptist] Voice. It was printed in the office of the Greensburg Standard from the time of the first issue until December, 1902. In July, 1901, Rev. Dickens bought the job plant of Elzo Reed in Greensburg and from the issue of July 20, 1901, to December, 1902, the type was set in his office and tiie press work done in the Standard office. During 1902 the official state paper of the Baptists, which had been published at Indianapolis, was discontinued and Rev. Dickens succeeded in getting his paper made the official paper of his denomination in the state. It seems that with the adoption of his paper as the state organ of his church Rev. Dickens changed its name to the Baptist Observer, a title which it still bears. It was issued weekly in Greensburg until the latter part of March, 1910, and then moved to Seymour, where it is now issued from the office of the Seymour Republican by J. C. Smith. The plant in Greensburg was sold to Walter A. Kaler, who at once started the JJ'eekly Democrat. Sometime before leaving Greensburg the Observer passed into the hands of A. D. Berry and W. A. Phillips, the latter soon retiring and leaving the sole management in the hands of Berry, who was in charge until the paper was removed to Sevmour.

The Coming Nation was established in Greensburg in August, 1892, by J. A. Wayland and, while it was published only a few years here, it attained a national circulation of about eighty thousand. Wayland was a socialist of ability, a man of literary facility and built up a paper here which was known throughout the length and breadth of the country. Later, Wayland established the Appeal to Reason at Girard, Kansas, and made it the leading Socialist organ of the whole country. While still in charge of the paper, he committed suicide in 19 12. \\'ayland was born in Versailles, Ripley county, Indiana, in 1854. \\'hile publishing his paper in Greensburg he had his office in the Privett block.

The first issue of the Grccnshnrg Revicn' made its appearance on August I, 1879, with George W. McKee and Robert W. Montgomery as editors and owners. The paper was an eight-column folio, all home print, and from the outset gained favor with the reading public of Decatur county. It was a weekly publication, issued on Saturday, and gave special attention to county and local news.

In 1884, Mr. McKee sold a one-fourth interest in the paper to the Hon. John O. Donnell, who took charge of the editorial department and attracted wide attention by his work. On September i, 1885, Mr. Donnell sold his interest to A. M. Willoughby, who for two years prior had been city editor of the Standard, and the firm became Montgomery & Willoughby. For ten years this partnership existed. In 1884 the paper became a semi-weekly, issued on Wednesdays and Saturdays. July i, 1895, Mr. Montgomery sold two-thirds of his one-half interest in the paper to Ed D. Donnell, and the partnership of ^^^illoughby & Donnell continued until April, 1897, when Mr. Donnell retired.

On November i, 1898, the Greensburg Daily Review was established, with A. M. Willoughby as editor and Dix D. Hazelrigg as city editor. The daily edition was a success from the start, and has continuously grown in circulation and influence until it is ranked as one of the most progressive and up-to-date newspapers in this part of the state.

Desiring to give the people of Decatur county a newspaper worthy of the name and one far superior to all its former editions, the Daily Review' Printing Company was formed in June, 1912, and, on the ist day of July following, the property was taken over by the company. Many improvements were made at once. A linotype machine was put in and a large cpiantity of new type and other material was added. A full leased wire news service was installed, which, with improvements made on the general plant, at once pushed The Daily Rez'iczv thus in the lead of all other Decatur county newspapers. Tliis prestige the paper is championing at the present time, and as it intends to employ the same enterprise in the future as in the past its owners confidenth^ anticipate a continued growth in both subscription and advertising.

The Daily Re\-iew Printing Company is composed of Will H. Robbins, a well-known farmer and capitalist ; Dan S. Perry, cashier of the Greensburg National Bank; David A. Myers, prominent attorney and ex-judge of the Indiana appellate court ; Fred L. Thomas, weW known telephone man, and A. M. Willoughby, who has been continuously with the Rcz-icn' for thirty years.

The Rczic-a' has always stood for the best interests of Decatur county and Greensburg, and has labored at all times for the upbuilding of the community, socially, morally and financially. It was the first paper to print an article advocating the location of the Odd Fellows' home in Greensburg, and the splendid institution which is today the pride of e\-ery resident of the city is in a large measure due to the efforts of this paper. In short, the paper has always led in efforts for the public welfare, and this accounts in a measure for the hearty support that is given it by the people of the surrounding territory. In politics the Rcz'icw is Republican, and has always advocated Republican principles, but it is not offensively partisan, as it grants every man the right to differ with it in his opinions, political and otherwise.

The first issue of the Greensburg Daily Times (at that time called the Daily Democrat) made its appearance on April 9, 1910. It came very quietly and without having been heralded. The usual preliminaries at the birth of an institution as public as a newspaper were dispensed with and the first intimation that the public had that another mold for the formation of opinion had been under contemplation, was when the paper made its bow, and its editor handed his "salutatory" to the citizens of Greensburg.

Nor was the manner of its coming into life altogether due to the fact that the people of Greensburg had become accustomed to the birth of newspapers in a community which has seen the start and the finish of at least as many organs of the press as most places of its size can boast of.

Its first editor and owner, Walter A. Kaler, had been in the printing business for many years. He had grown up in a country newspaper and job office, and knew the game in all its angles. Just prior to starting the Times, he had been issuing the St. Paul Telegram, a paper he started in the town of that name in the northwestern part of the count}-.

Mr. Kaler was an astute and far-seeing man. Although there were already three daily papers (two Republican and one Democrat) then being issued in Greenslmrg. he felt that another Democratic paper was needed.

He believed that not only the members of that party, but the people of all parties, would welcome another newspaper devoted to the principles of Democracy.

There had been published in Greensburg for several years just before the first issue of the Times, the state organ of the Baptists. This paper, known as the Baptist Observer, had been sold to Seymour people and the offices moved to that city. The plant was not moved, the presses and full equipment being taken over by the Times. Within a few months after its first appearance a company was formed for the purchase of the business. A corporation charter was obtained. Of this company, Alexander Porter was president, John F. Russell, vice-president, and Charles H. Ewing, secretary. Mr. Kaler continued as editor and manager until February, 191 1, when he retired from the business and moved with his family to Florida.

The Ti)iies was first published in the Bracken building on West Main street, just west of Montfort street. In March, 1912, a move was made to the Red Men's building, nearer the public square. The Times was the first newspaper in the county to install modern printing machinery. Its equipment was always up-to-date and has always been kept at its best. Its linotype machine was the first to be used in the county.

Charles H. Ewing succeeded Mr. Kaler as editor and manager in February, 191 1, and two years later Hamilton Mercer, the present editor took charge. Under his management the paper has held to a high plane. The little bickerings so common among country newspapers have never found a place in its columns. Personalities of a disagreeable or unwelcome nature have always been ruled out, and the Times has always been a credit to its managers, its owners, and the party of which it is the organ.

Hamilton Mercer, editor of the Evening Times and Weekly Democrat, is a native Hoosier, but he has been in the newspaper business in several other states. He started in the business on the Anderson Daily Bulletin. Later he went to Marion and became editor of the old Morning Nezvs. He was for a short time on the Cincinnati Post and later was editorial writer on the Danville (111.) Democrat. Mr. Mercer is author of "The Reproach of Capital Punishment," a work which has distinguished him as a criminologist.

The Daily News

The Daily News was started on January i, 1894, by Frank Trimble and Ed Lines and was the first daily paper to be published in Greensburg. On

May I, 1894, Ed Lines disposed of his interests to Mr. Trimble, who afterwards sold out to Harry Matthews, and he in turn sold to James D. White.

The Weekly Nczcs was launched in iS'98 by the owners of the daily, and it has since been continued by the various editors during their periods of ownership.

All the aforementioned owners have passed to their final reward, the last named, James D. White, dying in November, 1902. The present owner and editor, James E. Caskey, purchased the paper from the mother of Mr. White, soon after his death, taking charge on December x, 1902. At that time the daily had a circulation of three hundred and fifty and the weekly, five hundred and sixty. At the present time the circulation of the Daily News is two thousand five hundred and eighty and the weekly, one thousand five hundred and sixty. The A'cr^'s stands alone in its field in that its unprecedented circulation, considering the territory in which it operates, was obtained through meritorious effort.

As this is especially an agricultural county, Greensburg being the active center of one of the richest farm areas in Indiana, Editor Caskey has devoted much time, labor and money towards matters of interest to the husbandryman. This step, taken when he first assumed control of the Nezvs, has been one of his best circulation builders.

It was he who advocated and caused to be held the first corn school in this county, so agriculturists everywhere familiar with the policy of the A'czvs, are unstinted in their praise of the man who has so successfully controlled its destinies for more than a decade, and show their appreciation by their most liberal and continued patronage. This advocacy of better seed corn and scientific farming on more advanced lines, has had its desired results, for today no county of the state stands higher in quality or quantity of its products - land area under cultivation considered.

Mr. Caskey at present has a boys' corn club of one hundred and six members. During the initiatory year he furnished fine seed corn free, and encouraged the boys to raise better corn than their fathers by offering to the winner a free trip to the farmers' short course at Purdue University. The winners were to be determined from those raising either best ten ears of corn, best single ear or largest yield on a single acre. To date he has personally paid the expenses of such trips for twelve boys, who each spent a week at the experiment station of the university.

In 1914, impressed with the idea that motorists, travelers through the country and even the rural mail carriers would find it a convenience and a pleasure to know who lived here and there as they journeyed the highways of the county. Mr. Caskey a'^sumed the huge task of painting each rural resident's name on his mail box. This enterprise, Mr. Caskey shows, was done at no expense to the owners, and was a gift from the A'cu's. Previous to sending men into the country to letter the boxes, it was made plain that the lettering of a box carried no obligation. It was a gift, and the five thousand two hundred and fifty names on boxes in this county today, underscored with words suggesting and heralding the Ncivs, is but one sample of many of what the Nczi's is doing in the community where it flourishes. Today as a result (if this enterprise on the part of the Nczi'S, Decatur county stands alone of all the counties of the United States where the rural mail service is extended, that has a solid service of this sort. Immediately following this. Editor Caskey distributed free metal mail boxes in Greensburg, and every residence in this county is now supplied with such.

The News aims to interest, inform and entertain, not any special class, or kind of people, but the great mass of Decatur county readers in general. Che slogan of the editor-in-chief has always been, "Get the news," regardless of expense, and "get it first." The paper has never attempted to compete with the metropolitan dailies, confining its efforts solely to an "up-to-theminute" service of all news of Greensburg, various towns and countrysides in the county.

This policy of all the news, all the time, handled with absolute fairness and accuracy, which applies to political as well as general news stories, are pre-eminently responsible for the Daily Nezvs being a welcome visitor into so many of the homes of this county where it is a source of interest, entertainment and pleasure.

St. Paul Newspapers

The history of the St. Paul papers has been difficult to trace owing to the fact that no files have been preserved. The first paper in St. Paul was the Press, which seems to have began and ended its existence in i860. The second paper in the town was the Democrat, which was started in 1868 by Elias Barnes, but it was doomed to a short career of only a few months. It was then removed to Greensburg, where it proved no more successful and, after a few more months of futile struggling, it was quietly laid away to rest. The next paper in St. Paul was the Rer/ister. which first made its appearance on October 15, 1879, under the management of J. P. Hankins. It lasted about two years, the last issue being dated August i, 1881. The paper was then moved to Greensburg and the name changed to the Decatur Democrat, with Thomas Greenfield and Hankins as editors and owners. If there was a paper in St. Paul from 1881 to 1890, it has not heen discovered. On January 6, 1890, Cox & Trissal issued the first number of the St. Paul Mail, but just how long this paper was published has not been ascertained. Cox left the firm in the latter part of July, 1891, to accept a place on the hidiaiiapolis Siai and, according to the best evidence obtainable, the Mail shortly afterward breathed its last. The next St. Paul paper to try its fortune in the town was the Telegram, which appeared under the management of Walter A. Kaler on March 17, 1905. Kaler continued as owner and editor until November I, 1909, when he disposed of the plant to Ora C. Pearce, the present editor. Pearce was only eighteen years of age at the time he took charge of the paper, Ijut, despite his 3^outh, he made it a success from the start. It is a six-column folio, independent in politics, devoted first of all to local news and advertising, and is receiving hearty support in the community. The office has sufficient ecpiipment to do all kinds of job work and, with its linotype machine, is able to turn out work on short notice.

Westport Newspapers

The Jl'cstport Iiidcpciiilrnf was established in iSS'6 by Rev. Leroy Hirshburg, a Methodist minister, who issued the paper several years and then disposed of it to Carl Shafer. About 1899 the West port Courier was started by Dickens & Morgan and advocated the principles of the Republican party. On July 14. 1904, the Courier sold out to the Independent, and Shafer became the owner and editor of the new paper, the Courier-Independent, the name by which the paper is still known. Shafer continued in charge of the paper several years and then sold it to Joseph Tucker and James E. Nicely. Later Tucker acquired the sole interest in the paper and issued it until 1913 when he disposed of it to T. W. Robinson. In March, 1914, Robinson sold it 10 James H. Keith after an ownership of eight months. Keith has built up the paper since he has acquired it until he now has a first-class sheet, which finds its way into seven hundred homes in Decatur and surrounding counties. There appears to ha\'e been a paper by the name of the Decatur Journal published in W'estport in the eighties, but no definite information concerning it has been obtained.

Clarksburg Budget

On July 10, 1909, the first issue of the Bi-Jl'eeklyBudf/et, the only paper ever published in Fugit township, made its appearance in Clarksburg. It was a two-column, four-page sheet (five and one-half Ijy eight inches) and was published by two Clarksburg boys, C. G. McCracken and J. C. Smith, the office being located in the home of the former. On May i. 19 11, the office was moved to the Brodie blacksmith building and on July 22, of the same year, the paper was enlarged to a three-column sheet. The paper was moved, on January i, 1912, to its present location in a room erected for that purpose by C. E. Kincaid. In the spring of 1912 the partnership was dissolved, McCracken taking over the management, and ^'Ir. Smith removing to Cleveland, Ohio, to engage in other business. On July 5, 191 2. the paper was made a weekly and the word "bi-weekly" dropped from the title. Since that time the Budget has gone steadily onward, endeavoring to give its readers the news of the community, free from all political bias. It would not do to leave a discussion of this paper without making mention of its editor. Mr. McCracken is an invalid and unable to walk. He does all of his work in a chair and deserves a great deal of credit for the efifort he has made to give his community such an excellent little paper. He is assisted in the office by his sister, who runs the small foot-press on which the paper is printed.