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CHAPTER XII.

(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE)

THE NEWSPAPERS OF THE PAST AND PRESENT-RAVENNA PAPERS-WESTERN COURIER AND THE WESTERN PUBLIC ADVERTISER-OHIO STAR-WATCHMAN -BUCKEYE DEMOCRAT-WESTERN RESERVE CABINET AND FAMILY VISITOR -PLAIN DEALER-PORTAGE SENTINEL-PORTAGE COUNTY WHIG, AND HOME COMPANION AND WHIG-PORTAGE COUNTY DEMOCRAT, REPUBLICAN- DEMOCRAT, AND RAVENNA REPUBLICAN-INDEPENDENT PRESS, AND REFORMER- HICKORY FLAIL AND FUSION THRESHER- ARGUS-DEMOCRATIC PRESS-PORTAGE COUNTY REPUBLICAN-KENT NEWSPAPERS- PROPOSED FRANKLIN GAZETTE-THE OMNIUM GATHERUM AND 1TS SUCCESSORS : THE FAMILY VISITOR, LITERARY CASKET, CUYAHOGA REPORTER, SATURDAY REVIEW, COMMERCIAL BULLETIN, SATURDAY BULLETIN, AND KENT SATURDAY BULLETIN-KENT NEWS OF 1867-PRESENT KENT NEWS-GARRETTSVILLE NEWSPAPERS-GARRETTSVILLE MONTHLY REVIEW-GARRETTSVILLE JOURNAL-HOME BAZAR-, ATWATER NEWSPAPERS-SHARP SICKLE-ATWATER NEWS.

FOR seventeen years succeeding its organization, Portage County had not one newspaper published within her limits, but in 1825 the first printing press was set up in Ravenna, thus furnishing another link toward founding a community of progressive and intelligent people. Just sixty years ago J. B. Butler, a young man from Pittsburgh, Penn., made his appearance in Ravenna with a press, type and other materials of a newspaper office, and April 23, 1825, issued the first number of the Western Courier and The Western Public Advertiser. It was a four-page, twenty-column sheet, 20x26 inches in size, and printed on the coarse, heavy paper of those early days. The subscription price was $2.50 per annum, but if paid " half yearly in advance," $2 was the amount charged. An offer was made by the editor to receive in payment for subscriptions "most kinds of produce, at the current market prices, if deliv- ered at the stores of Mr. Z. Kent or Perry & Prentiss, in Ravenna." Mr. Butler was an eccentric young man of some talent, an admirer of Henry Clay, and yielded his support to the administration of John Quincy Adams, which went into power March 4, 1825. The Courier was started on a subscription list of 320, which at the end of the first six months had grown to 650. It was a very good local paper for those days, and was regarded as a great boon by the people of the county, irrespective of political affiliations.

Upon the close of Volume II, April 14, 1827, Mr. Butler sold the Courier to William Coolman, Jr., and C. B. Thompson, by whom its publication was continued. In May, 1828, James B. Walker bought a half interest in the paper, the firm being Coolman, Thompson & Walker. The Courier at this time was intensely anti-Jackson, and in the Presidential campaign of 1828 fought " old Hickory" bitterly, but to no purpose, for he swept the State and Nation, though Adams carried Portage County by a majority of 1,257. Mr. Thompson died March 15, 1829, leaving Coolman & Walker sole owners. On the 6th of June, 1829, the latter disposed of his interest to Mr. Coolman, who thus obtained the full ownership. When the Ohio Star was established at Ravenna, in January, 1830, the Courier became the Democratic organ of county, and so remained until it ceased publication. On the 15th of Janu 1830, a Mr. Harsha purchased an interest, and the firm of Coolman & existed until April, 1831, when the latter retired and Mr. Coolman was on more sole owner. In August, 1832, John Harmon, who for several mon

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previously had been assistant editor, purchased the Courier of Mr. Coolman. He edited and published the paper until the fall of 1838, when he sold it to Selby & Robbins, two young men of Ravenna, who, in January, 183'7, raised the subscription price to $2 in advance, $2.50 within six months and $3 at the dose of the year. The Courier does not seem to have prospered under its new management and Mr. Harmon again took control, but early in 1838 it ceased publication and was never revived.

The Ohio Star was established at Ravenna by Lewis L. Rice, and first issued January 6, 1830. Mr. Rice was a printer from New York, but without means to start such an enterprise, and the capital to buy the press and type was furnished by Cyrus Prentiss and Jonathan Sloane, two well remembered pioneers of Ravenna. The Star was a four-page, twenty-column sheet, 20x30 inches in dimensions, the annual subscription price being $2 in advance and $2.50 if not paid before the expiration of the year. It adopted as its motto, "Be Just and Fear Not." The first prospectus issued by Mr. Rice gave its title as the Western Star, but subsequently learning that a paper bearing that name was located at Lebanon, Ohio (which paper, by the way, was established by John McLean in 1806, and is still in active operation), he at once substituted "Ohio" for " Western," and the first issue came out as the Ohio Star. In his prospectus he editor says: " We are opposed to all secret combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character." But the Star was especially an anti-Masonic paper, the workings of which order it vigorously attacked and exposed in every issue. It was also bitterly opposed to the Catholic Church, In August, 1832, the Star was enlarged to a twenty-four column paper, and otherwise much improved.

On the 1st of January, 1834, Mr. Rice retired from the editorship, having previously disposed of his interest in the Star to Laurin Dewey, who still continued the anti-Masonic and anti-Catholic warfare. When the Whig party succeeded the anti-Masonic, embracing the elements of the latter organization, the Star became the local organ of Whiggism in Portage County. In January, 1837, the subscription price was increased to $2 in advance, $2.50 within six months, and $3 at the close of the year. On the 8th of March, 1838, Lyman W. Hall, who came to Ravenna in September, 1830, bought an interest in the Star, and the firm became Hall & Dewey. In June, 1838, the paper was again enlarged, and was now a four-page, twenty-eight-column sheet, 24x36 inches in size. Mr. Dewey being elected Sheriff of Portage County in October, 1838, disposed of his interest to Mr. Hall, who thus became sole proprietor. In December, 1839, he sold. the Star to Root & Elkins, who engaged A. H. Lewis to edit the paper. In April, 1840, Mr. Elkins bought out Root, and he in turn retired in December, 1842, having sold the office to Laurin Dewey and William Wadsworth. Mr. Lewis still continued as editor of the Star, which position he filled continuously from

December, 1839, until December, 1843. The firm of Dewey & Wadsworth continued until April, 1844, when the latter purchased Mr, Dewey's interest, and Mr. Lewis again assumed editorial control; but the following December he was elected Clerk of the House of Representatives, in the Ohio General Assembly, and gave up the editorship of the Star to accept that position. In April, 1845, Mr. Lewis obtained an interest in the paper, and the firm became William Wadsworth & Co., which existed until October, 1847, when the senior partner bought out Mr. Lewis, who, however, tilled the editorial chair until December, in which month he finally severed his connection with the paper.

On the 12th of July, 1848, Lyman W. Hall again got full ownership of

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the Star, and in September, 1852, enlarged the sheet, making it 25x39 inches in dimensions. He remained the editor and proprietor until its amalgamation with the Home Companion and Whig, in April, 1854. Soon after the advent of the Free Soil or Abolition party, the Star, though previously a Whig paper, became an advocate of the principles of Free Soilism. This was its political faith at the time of the amalgamation, though considerably tinctured with Know-nothingism, which had previously made its appearance in the political arena. The several elements embraced in the Whig, Free Soil and Know-nothing parties in Portage Counties, had drifted so closely together in political sentiment, that the amalgamation of the two papers as the Portage County Democrat, was a judicious move. The Democrat was therefore their lineal successor in the journalistic field.

The Watchman was a small monthly paper of free: thought or infidel tendencies, established in Ravenna in January, 1835, by John Harmon. It was issued from the Courier office, which paper Mr. Harmon was then publishing, and lasted only a brief time, as the community would not at that period give their support to such a publication.

The Buckeye Democrat was started in Ravenna on capital furnished by a coterie of gentlemen, among whom were John B. King, Rufus P. Spalding, Joseph Lyman and Asahel Tyler, under the firm name of John B. King & Co., with Le Grand Byington as editor. The Democrat was intended to fill the place of the Courier, which had discontinued publication the previous year, leaving the Democracy of Portage County without a local organ. Its first number made its appearance May 24, 1838, and was a four-page, twenty-four- column paper, 22x32 inches in dimensions. The Democrat was thoroughly devoted to the interests of the Democratic party, but after an existence of about nine months it ceased publication, issuing its final number February 14, 1839.

The Western Reserve Cabinet and Family Visitor was first issued in Ravenna January 1, 1840, by Lyman W. Hall, who previously owned and edited the Ohio Star. The Cabinet and Visitor was a small twenty-column sheet, 18x27 inches in size, a kind of religio-political, literary and scientific paper, started to supply a supposed craving for such advanced reading matter. The subscription price was $1.50 per annum. The initial number was an experiment, and the second number did not make its appearance until March 5, 1840. With the beginning of Volume III in March, 1842, the paper came out enlarged to a twenty-four-column sheet, 21x33 inches in size, but upon the close of this volume, February 21, 1843, it was discontinued, because of the delinquency of its subscribers. Judging from the editor's valedictory, it would seem that there was not sufficient encouragement to warrant a continuance of the publication of the Cabinet and Visitor.

The Plain Dealer was a Democratic paper started in Ravenna in 1844, for the purpose of giving a helping hand toward the election of James K. Polk to the Presidency. A Mr. Canfield was editor and publisher, but after a very brief and flickering existence, it gave up the struggle and ceased publication.

The Portage Sentinel, the next journalistic enterprise in Ravenna, was established by Samuel D. Harris, Jr., and Roswell Batterson, and first issued Jane 5, 1845, as the local Democratic organ of. Portage County. It was a four-page, twenty-four-column sheet, 22x32 inches in dimensions, and had placed at its head the following motto taken from the inaugural of President Polk: " The Constitution—The Safeguard of our Federal Compact." Its subscription price was $1.50 in advance, $2 if paid within the year and $2.50 after that period. In June, 1847, the Sentinel came out in a new dress,

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enlarged to a four-page, twenty-eight-column sheet of 24x36 inches, and flying the following suggestive motto from Jefferson:' "Opposition to Tyranny is Obedience to God." On the 24th of March, 1851, Mr. Batterson, on account of poor health, severed his connection with the paper, leaving Mr. Harris sole proprietor. With the issue of August 2, 1854, he too retired from the Sentinel, having previously sold the office to Alphonso Hart and R. E. Craig, under the firm title of Hart & Craig, who began a new series, Vol. I, No. 1. On the. 24th of August, 1854, the, name of the paper was changed to the Weekly Portage Sentinel, and also somewhat enlarged. In January, 1855, Mr. Hart became sole owner, but with the beginning of Volume III, August 14, 1856, he sold an interest in the Sentinel to James W. Somerville. The partnership of Hart & Somerville continued until December 31, 1857, when Mr. hart disposed of his interest to the junior partner. Throughout Mr. Hart's editorial control the Sentinel was intensely Democratic, opposing the American and new-born Republican parties, and their local organ, the Portage County Democrat, with an unsparing pen.

The Sentinel, after a publication of nearly seventeen years, issued its final number February 8, 1862. By virtue of a mortgage, Samuel D. Harris took charge of the office, sold the material to Lyman W. Hall, of the Portage County Democrat, and thus the Sentinel became extinct.

The Portage County Whig was established in Ravenna by John S. Herrick in August, 1848. It was a four-page paper, of twenty. eight columns, printed on a sheet 23x35 inches in dimensions, and published at $1.50 per annum in advance, and $2 at the end of the year. It advocated the political principles of the Whig party, and soon gained a respectable circulation. On the 24th of August, 1853, the beginning of Volume VI, the name of the paper was changed to the Home Companion and Whig, and so remained until its amalgamation with the Ohio Star in April, 1854.

The Portage County Democrat sprung from the amalgamation of the Ohio Star, owned and edited by Lyman W. Hall, and the Home Companion and Whig, of which John S. Herrick was the editor and proprietor. It was established by the firm of Hall, Herrick & Wadsworth, he last-mentioned gentleman having been connected with the Ohio Star from December, 1842, until July, 1848. The Democrat was first issued April 5, 1854, and was a four- page, thirty-two-column paper, 26x40 inches in size, published at $1.50 per annum in advance, or $2 at the close of the year. The new paper took for its motto Jefferson's saying: "Resistance To Tyrants Is Obedience To God," which had previously been the motto of the Sentinel. In the State election of 1855 the Know-nohings and the new-born Republican party united on all of the candidates excepting Governor, and the Democrat supported the combination ticket, and Salmon P. Chase, the Republican Gubernatorial nominee.

In 1858, three years after its organization, the Republican party of Ohio embraced within its fold most of the strength of the Whig, Free Soil, and Know-nothing parties, previously the opponents of the Democracy. The Democrat was its local organ in Portage County throughout this gathering-in process, and, with the changes in name, has so remained up to the present.

With the issue of April 30, 1856, Mr. Wadsworth's connection with the Democrat ceased, H. R. W. Hall, son of the senior partner, taking his place, the firm becoming Hall, Herrick & Co. In March, 1859, Mr. Herrick sold his interest to the Halls, and the title of the firm changed to L. W. Hall & Son, who continued the business, raising the subscription price to $1.50 in advance, $2 at the end of six months, and $2.50 after that period. In April, 1861, the junior partner severed his relations with the Democrat, retiring on account of

368 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

his physical health becoming impaired. Lyman W. Hall continued as editor and proprietor, giving his earnest and vigorous support to the Union cause. In March, 1862, he took his son into the office as associate editor. The high price of labor, paper, and all other materials during the war, necessitated the advancement of the subscription price, which, in March, 1864, was raised to $2 in advance, and the following December to $2.50. In March, 1866, H. R. W. Hall again obtained an interest in the paper, and the firm became once more L. W. Hall & Son. On the 18th of April, 1866, the Democrat came out enlarged, and in an entirely new dress, printed from new type. It was now a four-page, thirty-six-column paper, 28x44 inches in size. In November, 1868, the Democrat announced as its terms $2 in advance, $2.50 within the year, and $3 if not paid until the end of the year. On the 9th of March, 1870, the junior partner retired from the firm, his father continuing alone until April, 1871, when he turned over the office to his son, H. R. W. Hall; but in April, 1873, the elder Hall again assumed joint control, L. W. Hall & Son composing the firm.

Since December 9, 1868, the paper had at its head the cut of a printing- press placed between "Portage" and "County," and over the press the word Republican." In July, 1875, they placed at the head of the first column, on page 1, the " Portage County Republican-Democrat." In March, 1877, the name was changed to the Republican-Democrat, and an eight- page style adopted, containing fifty-six columns, printed on a sheet 35x48 inches in dimensions, but the subscription price remained as before the change. Financial disaster finally overtook the long-time publishers of the paper, and with the issue of February 27, 1878, it passed from their ownership and control into the hands of J. D. Horton and C. A. Reed, assignees of L. W. Hall & Son, who engaged H. R. W. Hall to edit and manage it. On the 2d of May, 1878, the assignees sold the paper and office to the Republican-Democrat Publishing Company, a stock company organized for the purpose of buying it, and who are now the owners, although some changes have occurred in the personnel of the company. The sheet was at once reduced in size to 30x44 inches; and in July, 1878, the subscription price was established at $2 in advance. Mr. Hall continued to edit and manage the Republican• Democrat until September, 1882, when he was succeeded by Arthur Mosley, Esq., the present efficient editor and manager.

On the 1st of March, 1882, the company bought out the Portage County Republican, a Republican paper which had been in operation in Ravenna about four years, and on the 2d of May, 1883, the paper came out as the Ravenna Republican, the publishers regarding that title as more consistent and euphonious than the old one, which was both unwieldy and misleading. The Republican was enlarged April 30, 1884, and is now an eight-page, fifty-six-column paper, 35x48 inches in dimensions. The annual subscription, however, remains at $2, and like its predecessor, it is issued every Wednesday. During its long and varied career, this paper, under its several names, has always stood in the front rank of country journals, and it is still the aim and earnest effort of the publishers and its present editor and manager to keep the Republican fully abreast with the progressive journalistic spirit of the age. In connection with the paper is operated a first-class job office, equipped with the best and most approved machinery and printing appliances. The Republican is the official organ of Portage County, and claims a circulation of about 2,300.

The Independent Press, subsequently called the Reformer, was first issued from its office in Ravenna, April 25, 1855, as " a religious and anti-slavery

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journal, independent of party or sect," with W. B. Orvis editor and publisher. I was a four-page, twenty-eight-column sheet, 24x36 inches in size, and was published at $1.50 per annum. In December, 1845, the paper came out as the Independent Press and Reformer, and A. Payne became associated with Mr. Orvis in its publication. The latter retired in January, 1856, and was succeeded by Willard Burr. The following February the name of the paper was reversed, being then named the Reformer and Independent Press, and in April he latter part of the title was dropped. In September, 1856, James Gregg took the place of Mr. Burr on the paper. With the beginning of Volume III, the Reformer was reduced in size and also in price to $1 per annum. But those changes do not seem to have been judicious, as the paper soon afterward gave up the struggle and was numbered among the many dead newspaper enterprises whose wrecks are to be found in every town from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

The Hickory Flail and Fusion Thresher was a small Democratic humorous campaign paper published in Ravenna during the Gubernatorial campaign of 1855. It was a four-page, sixteen-column sheet, 17x23 inches in size. The Hickory Flail supported William Medill for Governor of Ohio, and was edited and published by a coterie of Democrats with the sole purpose of accomplishing that object, but though the Democracy of the State made a gallant fight they were defeated, and the Flail went down at the same time.

The Argus was started in Ravenna by H. A. Waldo, some time after the demise of the Sentinel, and was intended to take the place of that paper as a local Democratic organ. The writer has been unable to find a copy of the Argus, and therefore can tell nothing of its size or exact date of publication; but it made very little impression in the newspaper field, and ran only a few months.

The Democratic Press was established in Ravenna by the veteran editor and publisher, Samuel D. Harris, and first issued September 3, 1868. It has always been a four-page paper, 27x39 inches in size, issued every Thursday, and containing thirty-two columns of matter. Mr. Harris had been absent from the editorial chair for about fourteen years, or since retiring from the Sentinel, of which he was one of the founders, August 2, 1854; but a local Democratic paper in Portage County became a necessity, and he concluded to go into the enterprise. The. Press was started at $2 per annum in advance, and $2.50 if the subscription was allowed to run, but in August, 1878, the price was reduced to $1.50 and $2 respectively. With the beginning of Volume XIII, in August, 1880, Mr. Harris gave his son an interest in the Press, and the firm has since been S. D. Harris & Son.

The Press began its career on a subscription list of 300, but grew rapidly under the good management of Mr. Harris until to-day it possesses a circulation of about 1,000 copies, and is regarded as one of the leading Democratic country papers in northeastern Ohio. Mr. Harris is one of the oldest editors and publishers in the State, born in Ravenna Township, Portage County, May 17, 1816, his whole life has been passed on his native heath, the greater portion of it in Ravenna. His memory goes back to the days when Portage County was almost a wilderness, and possessed not a single newspaper of any sort. He worked as a printer on the Courier, the Ohio Star, and the Buckeye Democrat, and his knowledge of the newspapers of this county is more extensive than that of any other man now living within her boundaries. He distinctly remembers seeing the old press of the Courier hauled into Ravenna, and laughs over the avidity with which its first. issue (April 23, 1825) was scanned by the few people then living in the village. May he long continue to fill the editorial

370 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

chair which his experience has done so much toward establishing on a firm foundation.

The Portage County Republican was the last newspaper enterprise estab. lished in Ravenna. It was started as a Republican paper in April, 1878, by J. H. Fluhart, in opposition to the Republican-Democrat. The Republican was first an eight-page, 30x44 inch sheet, but about two months before it was sold it was enlarged to 35x48 inches. It was printed on the co-operative plan, with patent inside. On the first of March, 1882, the office and paper was purchased by the

Republican-Democrat Publishing Company, and absorbed by that institution.

Kent Newspapers. —The first effort made toward establishing a paper at Franklin Mills (now Kent), occurred in May, 1836, when D. Radebaugh, foreman of the Courier office in Ravenna, issued a prospectus for a paper to be founded by him at that village, and to be called the Franklin Gazette. The principal object intended by the enterprise was to advocate the election of Martin Van Buren to the Presidency, but for want of funds the scheme did not fully materialize, and nothing further than issuing the prospectus was ever accomplished.

The Omnium Gatherum was the pioneer paper of Kent, and was established. by Dr. Alonzo Dewey, with W. W. Beach as editor, and first issued September 7, 1859. It was a small four-page, twenty-column sheet 20x26 inches in size, politically independent and issued weekly at $1.25 per annum. It ran under the above title about two months, but November 17, 1859, changed its name to the Family Visitor, which was the same size and price. The Visitor was issued irregularly for three months, and on the 16th of Febrnary, 1860, the paper was changed to a monthly, called the Literary Casket, with Marshall Dewey as editor and publisher. It was subsequently issued semi-monthly, changing back and forth, in size and time of issue, as the circumstances and patronage justified. In connection with this venture Mr. Dewey started, is May, 1860, the Cuyahoga Reporter, also a semi-monthly, of which only a few numbers were issued. For about five years the Casket ran along in a sort of" a half dead and alive P manner, but Mr. Dewey was evidently determined to keep up the light, and December 2, 1865, the paper came out as the Saturday Review. It was issued weekly, and December 16 the sheet was increased size, though still a five column folio. The Review ran along through summer of 1866 and was then for a short time suspended. Mr. Dewey avow resolved on a change of name, and in October, 1866, sent forth the Commercial Bulletin, a small four-column folio, which increased in size with passing years until it became quite a respectable looking newspaper. In meantime the name was changed to the Saturday Morning Bulletin and of ward to the Saturday Bulletin, the paper having by this time grown to a four page, 22x30 inch sheet of twenty-four columns. The Bulletin was edited published by Mr. Dewey up to the issue of May 1, 1876, though for some y previously its financial condition was at a low ebb, its annual subscrip price changing according to circumstances, being but $1 when Mr. Dewey the office.

The present editor and proprietor, Mr. N. J. A. Minich, before purch the Bulletin of Mr. Dewey, was President of the Akron Daily Argus Publishing Company. With the first issue, May 6, 1876, Mr. Minich changed name to the Kent Saturday Bulletin and increased the price to $1.50 per a in advance, at which figure the subscription has ever since remained. On 29th of July, 1876, the Bulletin was enlarged to a four-page, twenty-eight column paper, 23x35 inches in dimensions, and on the 16th of November, 1

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it was still further enlarged to a 26x39 inch sheet of thirty-two columns. Thus it remained until October 29, 1881, when the Bulletin was changed from a folio to a quarto—an eight-page paper of forty-eight columns. The progress made under the editorship and management of Mr. Minich was very noticeable from the moment he took the helm. The Bulletin had then a very small subscription list and little advertising patronage. He soon infused new life and vigor into the concern, and to-day the paper is enjoying a more liberal patronage than ever before. The best evidence of the Bulletin's prosperity is the steady increase in its subscription list and the general growth of the business from comparative insignificance to its present high position among the newspaper properties of Portage County. In the fall of 1884 the office was refitted with new steam printing machinery, and it now possesses all . the conveniences of a first-class job office. The policy of the Bulletin under Mr. Minich has always been thoroughly independent, and it now claims a circulation of about 1,400 copies.

The Kent News, established by L. D. Durban & Co., and first issued October 26, 1867, was the next newspaper started in Kent. It was a four-page, twenty-eight-column paper, 24x36 inches in size, published at $2 per annum and advocated the principles of the Republican party. The News began on a subscription list of about 600, and Mr. Durban, who published a paper at Newcastle, Penn., put his son in charge of the office. The paper did not prosper under the young man's management, and after a career of about one year, the father gave up the experiment, and removed the printing material to his own office at Newcastle.

The present Kent News is the only Democratic paper ever published in Kent. It was established by A. C. Davis and Richard Field, and first issued -July 8, 1881. The News was then a four-page, sixteen-column paper, printed on a sheet 1421 inches in dimensions. The firm of Davis & Field existed only a short time, the latter retiring from the business. On the 5th of August, 1881, the News came out in quarto form-----an eight-page, thirty-two-column sheet 30x42 inches in size. In June, 1882, the News Publishing Company purchased the office, with Paul B. Conant as editor and publisher but the following fall he was succeeded by 0. S. Rockwell, who has since edited and published the paper. On the 15th of December, 1882, the News was enlarged to a four-page sheet, 24x35 inches in size, and containing twenty- eight columns of matter. Its issues of May 11 and 18, 1883, were published, as an experiment, as the Penny News (being the same size as its first number issued two years before) and sold at one penny. The experiment, however, does not seem to have proven successful, for after two numbers the paper went back to its old title, appearing on he 25th of May, 1883; as a fifty-six- column quarto, which made it one of the largest newspapers in this section of the State. On the 16th of May, 1884, the News was somewhat reduced in size, and has since been an eight-page, forty-eight-column paper, 30x44 inches in dimensions. In 1884 the office was re-equipped, a Campbell steam printing press introduced, and the present comfortable quarters in the Rockwell Block occupied. The News has always been thoroughly Democratic, and complete in the current news of the day. Under Mr. Rockwell's management it has made itself felt in the local political arena, and though it has had an uphill struggle for existence, is now safely established, claiming a circulation of about 1,000 copies, at a subscription price of $1 per annum in advance. The News has come to stay, for its columns are full of 'life and energy.

Garrettsville Newspapers. —The first newspaper published in the bustling town of Garrettsville was the Garrettsville Monthly Review, by Warren Peirce,

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and first issued in April, 1865. The office was in an old frame building, no (January, 1885,) a part of the structure occupied by the postoffice. Mr. Pe' was born in Windham Township, Portage County; came to Garrettsville 1851, and soon after opened a small job printing office. For a while he m ufactured his own presses, and did job work. Prior to 1865 he purchased small hand-press of the Cleveland Herald Company, and with it published first and subsequent editions of the Review, which was a four-page sh 12x20 inches in dimensions. He continued the Review about sixteen mon at 50 cents per annum, and then gave up its publication.

The Garrettsville Journal was also established by Mr. Peirce, and issued July 10, 1867, as a four-page twenty-four-column paper, 22x32 inch in size. In 1870 he enlarged it to a 26x40 inch sheet of thirty-two coin published at $1.50 per year. A short time before this enlargement he p chased a large cylinder power press, which is now operated by steam. On 15th of September, 1873, Mr. Peirce sold the Journal to Charles B. Web who, October 25, 1883, changed it to an eight-page paper of forty-eight columns, printed on a sheet 30x44 inches. By his energy and persistent effort Mr. Webb has increased the patronage of the Journal, until he now claims circulation of about 1,200 copies. During its entire existence the Journal has been independent in politics, its owners devoting their energies tow publishing a good local paper for their readers, irrespective of their political opinions. The presses and job office are still owned and operated by Peirce, who does quite a large business in the job printing line.

The Home Bazar was another Garrettsville publication, started by Peirce in January, 1869. It was a literary magazine, 9x12 inches in dimensions, and contained sixteen pages. He ran it for two years at a subscription price of 50 cents and 75 cents per year respectively, and then sold it to Rev. W. Clouse, of the Baptist Church, who removed the office to Cleveland where the Bazar soon afterward failed for want of patronage.

Atwater Newspapers. —Two papers have been established at Atwater, viz.: the Sharp Sickle and the Atwater News. The Sickle was published by a Mr. Hicks for some time prior to his death in 1879, and the press used is now in possession of William Stratton, of Atwater. The News was first issued in July, 1884, but ceased publication after a few numbers. Owing to the fact that the News was printed at Alliance, full postal rates were collected at the Atwater postoffice, which was the main reason for its discontinuance.