of
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume I, 1911, pages 384-385
STARTING NEWSPAPERS IN 1840. Something of the conditions under which newspapers were begun at that early period is reflected in another editorial paragraph quoted from the second page of the first issue of the Herald.
"So numerous," declared the Herald, "have been the prospectuses heretofore circulated for obtaining subscribers to newspapers to be published in this place, which have ended in wind, that the people generally have been so often deceived that they now look upon all presented with suspicion, and are unwilling to give in their names until publication has been commenced. Aware of this fact, we have commenced the Herald with a smaller number than we would have felt safe in doing under any other circumstances yet we are by no means discouraged. Our list is already sufficiently large to give us the fullest confidence of success. The democracy of Muscatine (the Herald at its inception was a democratic newspaper, while its rival, the Standard, was a whig organ) and the surrounding country are too wide awake to their interests, too firm in their support of their fixed and immovable principles, to suffer a channel to which they can all have access, linger for want of patronage. Then we would say to all, the prospectus of the Herald was issued and its publication commenced with a determination to go on with it, and triumphantly, too, if economy, industry and perseverance would avail, and if not, to fail in the attempt. We now, instead of promises only, present the performance, hoping to meet with a hearty reception at the fireside of every farmer in the county."
Of this pioneer paper the controlling spirit was John Russell. He was a good natured and a jolly fellow, caring for scarcely more than a living support for his paper and for the personal enjoyment possible in the new town which he had chosen for his home. His paper contained but little original matter besides occasional notices of a sleighing party or a dance, in which more than likely the editor himself figured, together with his "colo-red whiskers," as he was accustomed to designate his facial ornamentation. Little or no attempt was made to discuss the issues of the day and very little effort to "write up the town" so as to invite immigration. Town publicity in those days was apparently unknown, even in its crudest forms.
A GOOD PAPER FOR ITS DAY. Yet it must not be understood that the Herald was not a good specimen of the newspaper of its day. It was published in a day of small things and it is not to be spoken of lightly now. It performed its mission and called attention in a more general way to the fact that Bloomington was a good place to settle in. A story on the front page, a scrap or two of poetry, a few jokes on the fourth page, with a small number of local items, thanks to steamboat clerks for late copies of St. Louis papers, and a few items of general news on the inside, were as a rule the features of the weekly menu served to the readers of that day. The paper was, of course, issued only weekly and was small, being but six columns wide.
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