Much might be written about some of the old printers who helped to publish those early Linn county newspapers. There has been a host of them and they have included some notable men. One was no less a personage than Mr. Rosewater, of the Omaha Bee, who once worked as a journeyman printer in the office of the Slovan-Americky. It was when he was on his way to the west. Some of the old printers have long since passed away. One of the latest of them was Stephen M. Jones, who died at Hampton four years ago. Concerning his work here in Cedar Rapids, Captain J. O. Stewart, himself one of the veteran printers of the state, writes interestingly as follows:
"Stephen Jones commenced to learn the trade in the Progressive Era office in this city, in the year 1851, serving a four years' apprenticeship, at the end of which time he went to Vinton and worked in the Eagle office, at that time conducted by Fred Layman, I believe. The office of the Progressive Era was located on the corner of First street and Third avenue, where the Warfield-Pratt-Howell wholesale building now stands, and was the first paper published in Cedar Rapids. It was an old frame building erected by the Greene brothers and formerly used as a store room. At the time of this story the lower floor front was used on Sundays by the Episcopal church for service, the printing office was overhead and the back part, three stories, including basement, was used as a store room for dressed hogs. 'Steve,' as he was called, and your correspondent were what was known as 'printer's devils.' After some years residence in Vinton Steve got about a wheelbarrow load of material and started his paper in Hampton and christened it the Hampton Chronicle, which is still among the live, able newspapers in Iowa. He was later appointed postmaster of Hampton, which position he held for twelve years.
"There is one other who would rank with us if he is still living, and he was a few years ago, on his farm near Lone Tree in Johnson county. His name is Dan Shaffer. Dan, with a Mr. Foster, whose first name I have forgotten, were employed in the office doing the work on the Iowa Supreme Court Reports by Justice George Greene, formerly of this city. This was a book of some 600 or more pages and an edition of 500 volumes. This book can be found on the shelves of many of the Iowa lawyers, especially the older practitioners. This work was all done on a Washington hand press and 500 impressions was considered a good day's work. Steve's principal business, until he was relieved by the writer, was to ink the forms from which the impressions were made. This was done by passing over the type forms two large rollers made of glue and molasses, leaving and returning onto a large wooden roller revolved by a crank at one end, which process equally distributed the ink which was applied to the two rollers by a still smaller one and designated the 'brayer'—old printers will recognize the article. For nearly two years this was the principal part of the writer's duties, interspersed with hunting up and down the banks of the river dragging out floating slabs that got away from the saw mills up at the dam, for fuel for the office, the proprietors being too poor to buy cordwood at $1.75 per cord. The paper was published by Dan O. Finch who later became distinguished as a lawyer of high ability. The last I knew of him, a few years ago, he was still living, making his home with a son some place on the Pacific coast,—Seattle, I believe. The other publisher was William Williams, son of Chief Justice Williams of this state. The material was owned by the Greene brothers. Some time later the Era office was moved to the building that stood on the corner where the Rudolph store now is. The proprietors changed hands pretty often, and finally the paper came into the hands of Robert and LeRoy McCabe, older brothers of the famous Chaplain Charles C. McCabe, who then clerked for Greene Bros. in their store under the printing office. The Masonic lodge room was in the third story of this building. While the McCabe brothers conducted the paper your correspondent graduated and started out as a full fledged journeyman printer. It may be of interest to the craft of the day to give your correspondent's salary. The first year he was to receive $35, second $50, third $75, and the fourth the princely sum of $100. Out of this he was supposed to pay his board and furnish his clothing. The first job he secured after his apprenticeship was $10 per week and pay his own board. This was in the year 1856.
"The tramping jour. printers of those days, like Bret Harte's Heathen Chinee, were peculiar. As a class they were the best of workmen; bright and intelligent, knowing the 'art preservative' thoroughly, but possessed of that roving disposition so common to all printers of that time, and many of them given to drink. They would work for a time and get a little ahead and then get on a 'toot' and seek newer fields. They often resorted to peculiar methods to procure a job. I recall an incident while I was yet the 'devil' of the Era office. It was on the day we were moving the office to the new quarters. The heavy press and material had to be skidded from the second floor to the ground through a large door in the front of the building. When the heavier part of the press was partly down a rather tall, strong built, intelligent looking man put in an appearance. He watched the process for a short time not saying a word. Finally he took from his pocket a slip of dirty paper and wrote on it 'don't you need some help?' and handed it to the proprietor, Mr. Robert McCabe. He was asked if he could talk. His reply was simply by signs indicating that he was deaf and dumb. He proved an excellent help and stayed for more than three months, never indicating that he could speak. He was a skilled printer, but cross and particular, and often we 'devils' called him hard names to his face. But his time had come and he must have his periodical, and he did. He threw his money to the kids on the streets and had a jolly time, never once indicating he could speak. About the third day he came into the office and took Mr. McCabe to the lodge room above and wrote: 'What will they do to me if I talk?' Being assured that he would not be harmed and to the astonishment of the boss he reached out his hand and exclaimed, 'How are you, Bob?' The same surprise was waiting for the rest of us, and you may be assured we 'devils,' who had been giving him such choice names, were looking for a chance to hide. He soon left and I never heard of him again.
"As I have said, the publishers changed often, and for some time after the McCabe brothers left the paper it was hard to tell just who did manage the paper, the Greenes owning the material. After many vicissitudes, which all the papers of that early day had to pass through, it fell into the hands of Joseph Davenport, a practical printer who associated with him James L. Enos, well known and well remembered by the earlier settlers, who changed the name of the paper and re-christened it the Cedar Valley Times. Later it was changed to the Cedar Rapids Times, and was, after changing hands many times, finally owned by Dr. McClelland and L. M. Ayers, who published it for years, when it finally died of old age, owned and published by Dr. McClelland. The old Progressive Era was the original progenitor of your present Daily Times."
Full of interest are those old files of the Times which deal with the beginning of the war period in the history of Linn county. There is the description of a "democratic field day" in Cedar Rapids, October 10, 1860, when Stephen A. Douglas came over from Iowa City and spoke to the multitude. Bands came from Vinton and Mt. Vernon; drum corps from Bertram and Cedar Rapids. A local merchant bought a barrel of good whiskey, diluted it sufficiently to accommodate the capacity of the six thousand who made up the audience, sold all of it and counted the meeting as the best thing which ever had happened in Cedar Rapids. There was a parade of the "Wide-awakes" that night, and the visiting bands remained over to furnish a part of the inspiration. There were big posters, beginning with the couplet
That gave the editor of the Times an opportunity to write the first scare head which ever appeared in a Cedar Rapids newspaper. With the true newspaper instinct he remembered that slogan and used it for a sting at the end of the headline. This was the headline the week of the election:
"ELECTION OVER
ABRAHAM LINCOLN IS PRESIDENT-ELECT
Shout the Glad Tidings, Exultingly Sing; Old Abe is Elected and Cotton Ain't King—Secession Rebuked—Popular Sovereignty Now Here—Fusion Worse Confounded—The Bell Tolling for the Dead—Union Preserved—Dinna Ye Hear the Slogan."
Mr. C. M. Hollis, who was editor of the Cedar Valley Times from 1862 to 1866, gives an illuminating insight into the history of Linn county during the early days of the war:
"My office in Cedar Rapids was naturally the meeting place of politicians. There the men who controlled or sought to control got together and talked plainly. And the plain talk of politicians is very different from the phrasings which they use in public speeches. It was thus that our Linn county leaders reasoned. 'This war is becoming something in which the whole people have intense interest. They will judge of men from the fact of participation or opposition. When the struggle is over the men who control in politics will be those who have been soldiers.' And so these men went after commissions. They were wise and far-seeing and reaped reward of their prudence as well as of their valor. I saw the commission of one Linn county man made out for the majoralty in an Iowa regiment, not only before the regiment had been organized, but even before a single company had been raised. I saw another for a colonelcy, fixed out ahead in the same way, by reason of political grace and pull. Not but what these men, and others, made good officers. I am only explaining the reasoning which prompted some of them to enter service, and the means which were most efficacious in securing prominent places.
"And after a time it was considered that to get a high commission was tantamount to drawing a big political prize. Men were thus rewarded for their assistance given to successful candidates, and opponents found their way to army prominence beset with many obstacles. You know that a movement was started in Linn county to defeat Kirkwood for governor for the second term. This developed considerable strength, and a ticket was nominated with William H. Merritt of Cedar Rapids at its head. Merritt had been lieutenant-colonel of the First Iowa, and his was known as the 'fusion' ticket. It was an attempt to combine 'war democrats' and some elements of the republican party. Kirkwood was successful, and those men who had sought his defeat were, naturally, persona non grata with the state government. When commissions were going they were not remembered. Seymour D. Carpenter was one of these. But he did finally become surgeon of a regiment, because there was crying need for surgeons. Then when he was away from gubernatorial influence promotion was rapid, and the doctor was given a position as medical director of a department. Ellsworth N. Bates was another who suffered because of participation in the anti-Kirkwood movement. Mr. Bates persisted, however, and his merits and standing could not be ignored. He was elected captain of a company. With his regiment he served with more than usual credit, until he sickened and came home to die. There were others in Cedar Rapids and in Linn county who had similar experiences. Some of those who are still living, if they would but give full statements, would verify my remark that the proportion of politics mixed with the patriotism of those times was greater than is generally known.
"Speaking of Ellsworth N. Bates recalls to mind one whose name deserves to be remembered in Cedar Rapids and in Linn county. He came to the town fresh from college. He was a real scholar and a man of rare natural abilities. He had the art of making friends—of gaining and retaining esteem of all who knew him. He was one of the very best public speakers I have ever heard—quick to respond to varying occasion, with ready thought and a phenomenal command of language. His choice of words and use of appropriate imagery made his addresses models of their kind. As a lawyer he met with instant success. He represented Linn county in the legislature, and was acknowledged as a strong man among the law-makers. He made a splendid fight for the state senatorship candidacy, against H. G. Angle. He was assistant secretary of the second constitutional convention of Iowa. When the war broke out he was one of those who did much to rouse sentiment for support of the government. Then he raised Company A of the Twentieth, and proved himself a real soldier in camp and field. When he came home, near to death, he had lost none of his old enthusiasm. He and I were intimate friends, and to me he told his plans for the future. Had E. N. Bates lived, I know that he would have ranked among the real statesmen of Iowa. As it was he accomplished more and had greater influence upon contemporaneous affairs than many whose deeds are very carefully preserved."
Mr. Hollis also tells us how newspapers were made in that awful period of the nation's history:
"We were not sensationalists in those days. The events that we had to chronicle needed no trickery of headlines or large type to command attention. Here are the lists of dead and wounded in an Iowa regiment at the battle of Winchester," and the old editor opened a file of the Times for 1864-65. "Do you think it needed a flaming poster effect to secure reading of that column? There are the names of friends and neighbors. To some of the readers of that paper those names represented their dearest ones. Those who had brothers or fathers, or sons or sweethearts in that regiment read over the battle lists with a fearful anxiety. We were giving weekly chronicle of facts—they have not yet been arranged into the order of definite history. When we wrote editorials it was not pretended that we understood all there was to the struggle. Only when and where we caught the partial views or grasped the immediate meaning of some development we gave our opinions. These may have been prejudiced by our personal sentiments or our political affiliations, but I believe, as a rule, the editorial utterances of those years were from the souls of the writers and had the ring of sincerity. And, with but few exceptions, the newspapers of Iowa were loyal. They directed or seconded loyal sentiment on all occasions. Few of the editors of those weeklies gained wealth or distinction, but they deserve to be remembered for a splendid work. They, too, are among 'the forgotten worthies.' It cost money to run even a weekly paper during the war years. When I began as publisher of the Times print paper cost $6 a bundle; before the war was over I was paying $16 for the same quality and amount. And wages ran up and up, as printers were more difficult to secure; until I was paying double what I had first found necessary."
At the close of the war the newspapers of the county began to turn their attention to other evils. A wave of temperance sentiment swept the county, and some of the editors were foremost among the fighters. The county was aroused by the great amount of crime. Much of it emanated from Cedar Rapids. "Can we expect," asked one writer in Cedar Rapids, "peace and quiet in a place of 3,000 inhabitants which supports not fewer than nineteen liquor establishments and several houses of ill fame and does not support a single reading room nor a public library?"
Then, as now, the newspapers were the best "boosters" of their respective communities. They were the first to point out the advantages in each community and to suggest ways in which natural advantages might lead to commercial growth and civic prosperity. Thus a writer in a Cedar Rapids paper, after enumerating and commending the progress made by the town since its organization, dwelt upon the value of the water power, pointed out how the woolen mills then in operation might be made more effective. There was an abundance of timber around Cedar Rapids at that time and he advocated the establishment of saw mills in the city. He saw no reason why staves should be brought all the way from Michigan to Cedar Rapids, when they might as well be manufactured here at home. He advocated that a packing house be established in this city, instead of shipping the hogs from Cedar Rapids to Chicago and then shipping the meat back. "This is only one item that would keep thousands of dollars in our town that now go out," he argued. He wanted a hub and a spoke factory, a fanning mill factory, and as for a "paper mill there is no better point in the state."
History moves in ever repeating cycles and some of the things for which this old editor fought are still needed today in Cedar Rapids and in other towns of Linn county. But each cycle is better than the last. Proof of this is seen in the dispute which was waged over freight rates less than a decade after the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railway had been built into this city. The grain rates from Cedar Rapids to Chicago were thirty cents a hundred pounds and the noise of protest which was made then was quite similar to the noise which is sometimes
The newspaper graveyard was established very early in the history of the county and it is still claiming its victims. Among its early victims was the Cedar Rapids Democrat. It was issued by W. W. Perkins & Co. Somehow or other, democracy never flourished greatly in the Linn county newspaper field, and the early democratic editors had not learned the art of switching to a "progressive" side. So their papers died. The Democrat lived a year and a half. It deserved a better fate, for it was well edited and printed.
In 1853 a monthly agricultural paper called the Cedar Valley Farmer was commenced by James L. Enos. It lived through the first volume, but a grave was opened for it before it had reached the tender age of two years.
The Voice of Iowa was commenced in January, 1857, under the auspices of the Iowa Teachers and Phonetic associations, James L. Enos editor-in-chief, assisted by a board of corresponding editors. It was continued through two volumes and was then merged with another journal.
In the autumn of 1864 A. G. Lucas & Co. commenced the publication of the Cedar Rapids Atlas. In January, 1865, it was changed to a weekly. Then it was enlarged. Its place in the newspaper graveyard was prepared a few weeks later. The editor and publisher had gone to study the geography of other fields, but he did not take his debts with him. The office was sold to satisfy them. This so weakened the shoulders of the Atlas that it was not strong enough to hold up.
The Western World was born into a cold and unresponsive world, and soon it joined the ranks of the dear departed.
Then came the Linn County Signal which its authors hoped would be a signal success. But its signals became tangled and it failed to kick over the goal of success. It kicked the bucket instead. T. G. Newman, the father of A. H. Newman of the Cedar Rapids Candy Company, purchased the remains. From them he made the office of the Daily Observer, with J. L. Enos as editor. From the Observer came the Cedar Rapids Republican. This was in 1870. In 1902 there was re-born the Cedar Rapids Times. The father Republican and the strong and lusty son Times are both in the full vigor of their powers, and this evolution of the two powerful dailies from the amoeba-like weakly Signal is the most conspicuous example of newspaper evolution and the survival of the fittest on record.
The present Cedar Rapids Times is not to be confounded with the Cedar Rapids Weekly Times which had such a long and prosperous growth under the management of Editor Hollis, and later of the good Doctor McClelland. The Weekly Times lived until the death of Doctor McClelland, and it was a power for good. Then came two gentlemen from Milwaukee who converted it into a daily. They had a great run as long as their cash and their credit held out. And they were good newspaper men, too. But they drew nearer and nearer the gateway to the great and yawning newspaper graveyard. There were many mourners in Cedar Rapids when the Times was buried. It had been purified before its death by its conspicuous work in a great tent revival conducted by an evangelist, M. B. Williams. This revival the other dailies refused even to mention. The Times had a great deal of broadcloth endorsement. But the eulogies proved to be its premature obituaries. Cash came slowly. Advertising was coy. With the fall of the leaves came the death of the Times. The Gazette bought up the household furnishings, the subscription lists and the good will. But the Times was buried, and the ghost of competition which had haunted the Gazette office was laid until the owners of the present Evening Times resurrected the name amid a riot of red ink during the strenuous municipal campaign of 1902.
The Cedar Rapids Standard, like the Cedar Valley Times, had a long life. It was first established in Marion in 1868, as the Linn County Signal, by F. H. Williams. The following year it was removed to Cedar Rapids, and Thomas G. Newman became the owner. In 1872 the name was changed to the Linn County Liberal, and the office was moved back to Marion. In 1873 James T. Simpkins became editor. The following year the plant made a final trip to Cedar Rapids and was changed to the Standard. For a long time it flourished, having a number of owners and editors. Among them were Thomas G. Newman, C. E. Heath, A. H. Newman, D. H. Ogden, H. A. Cook, Frank L. Millar, and in June, 1880, Charles H. Playter, of the Des Moines Daily Leader, came to town and bought a half interest of Mr. Millar. The firm name became Millar & Playter. This partnership continued until the fall of 1885, when Mr. Playter bought out his partner and became the sole owner. In the fall of 1886 Mr. Playter sold the Standard to S. B. Ayers, who conducted it through the triumphal period of Iowa democracy, when Horace Boies sat in the gubernatorial chair. It was a strong democratic paper and had a large patronage in Linn county at that time. Later L. S. Saner became the editor. But the hard times came. Rightly or wrongly they were blamed on the democratic party. Republicanism triumphed; McKinley was elected. The Standard of the democratic party was trailed in the dust. It soon died and took its place in the Cedar Rapids journalistic graveyard.
The Marion Pilot was established in 1871 at Mt. Vernon, as the Linn County Pilot, and C. W. Kepler was editor. In 1874 the office was removed to Marion and the paper was owned by Beatty & Whittits. It continued under this management for several years and was one of the strong republican papers of the county. In 1884 it was purchased by the Rev. J. W. Chaffee and its name was changed to the Marion Pilot. He built up a good paper, putting it in the front rank of the weekly papers of the state. But with his passing from the editorial chair and the rapid rise of the daily press in Cedar Rapids and its rival county seat newspapers its power and prestige waned. In 1906 it yielded up the ghost and was assigned to an honored place among those that have passed on.
As narrated above, the Daily Republican is the outgrowth of the daily Observer. In 1872 the Observer was transferred to the Republican Printing Company, and the name, which at first was the Cedar Rapids Republican, was changed to the Daily Republican, the present name of the paper.
A daily and weekly issue was published and the paper grew rapidly. For a time it was edited by William B. Leach. In 1877 it passed into the hands of the Republican Printing Company, who put in a great amount of capital and enlarged the office. There were many editors during this period. In March, 1881, the office was leased to J. R. Sage and D. G. Goodrich, with an option of sale within a year. During this period the paper was changed from an evening to a morning issue and an Associated Press franchise was secured, giving the paper full news service.
Before the lease had expired Messrs. Sage and Goodrich had exercised their right to purchase the plant. On March 1, 1882, it was transferred to J. R. Sage, Johnson Brigham, Fred Benzinger, and H. P. Keyes. This quartette reorganized the old Republican Printing Company, with J. R. Sage as president. Nearly two years later Mr. Sage transferred his interest to Mr. Brigham, and later on Messrs. Keyes and Benzinger transferred their interest to L. S. Merchant. Messrs. Brigham and Merchant conducted the paper, Mr. Merchant as business manager and Mr. Brigham as editor, until 1892, when Mr. Brigham sold his interest and went to Des Moines to start the first Iowa literary magazine, the Midland Monthly. Mr. Sage had previously gone to Des Moines to become the director of the Iowa weather and crop service.
Mr. Brigham's interest was purchased by Luther A. Brewer, who had been assistant business manager, W. R. Boyd, who had done some editorial work for the paper while living at home in Cedar county, and by L. S. Merchant. The paper was at the beginning of what seemed to be an uninterrupted period of ownership and prosperity when death suddenly claimed Mr. Merchant in 1894. Mrs. Merchant retained her husband's interest and the paper went on as before and waged a fight against free silver in the campaign of 1896 which made it nationally prominent. Mr. Brewer in the meantime had built up a very large job printing and book binding department.
In 1898 the entire plant was sold to H. G. McMillan, of Rock Rapids, at that time United States district attorney, and Cyrenus Cole, who had for many years been associate editor of the Iowa State Register. Mr. Boyd became postmaster at Cedar Rapids, but Mr. Brewer remained with the paper as its business manager for some time. An evening edition, the Evening Times, was started in 1902, and made a rapid growth. It now has the largest circulation of any daily paper in Cedar Rapids.
In 1907 Mr. Brewer left the business and opened up a big book-making plant of his own known as The Torch Press. In July of the same year however, The Torch Press bought out the interest of Mr. McMillan and the Daily Republican and the Evening Times have since been owned and published by Messrs. Brewer and Cole. The substantial building on Second avenue which had been erected during the regime of Messrs. Brigham and Merchant proved far too small and the property was sold. A large and modern newspaper and book-making building, four stories high, was erected at the corner of Fourth avenue and Third street, the present home of the Daily Republican, the Evening Times, The Torch Press Printery and Bindery, and The Torch Press Book-shop, which latter is managed by William Harvey Miner and is the biggest and most largely patronized book shop west of Chicago.
There is not a great deal of "history" concerning the Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, which has been one of the conspicuous successes among Iowa daily newspapers since it was started in 1883. On June 10 of that year, the daily Gazette was founded by Messrs. Otis and Post. A weekly issue of the paper was started at the same time. In March, 1884, the Gazette Company was organized, and in July of that year the entire stock was purchased by Messrs. Fred W. Faulkes and Clarence L. Miller. The paper has had the same ownership ever since that time. The late editor Faulkes was a pungent and versatile writer, and under his editorial management the Gazette rapidly rose to a commanding position in the Iowa newspaper field. It began as a republican newspaper. But after the memorable Frank D. Jackson campaign in 1893 Editor Faulkes became estranged from Governor Jackson and some of the other leaders of the republican party. Thereafter he was inclined to espouse the cause of democracy and the Gazette came to be regarded as the democratic newspaper of Linn county. Still later it grew more independent, in matters of politics.
Since the death of Fred Faulkes the Gazette has been published under the supervision of its business manager Clarence L. Miller. Like the other dailies of the city it has abandoned the weekly field.
The Saturday Record is the outgrowth of a little amateur paper started away back in 1879 by Ralph Van Vechten, at present vice-president of the Continental and Commercial National Bank of Chicago. He was then a student with a taste for printer's ink and he started a little literary paper, known as the Stylus. Soon after that he was joined by Arthur J. Huss, and the two of them ran the Stylus. In the spring of 1882 Mr. Van Vechten went into his uncle's bank. The paper passed into the hands of A. J. Mallahan, and after a little time was temporarily discontinued. But Mr. Huss gained new courage and perhaps new capital. September 10, 1882, he started the Cedar Rapids People. It continued as a seven column folio until March, 1884, when it was bought by Fred Benzinger and R. Baer and its name changed to the Saturday Evening Chat. July 1, 1887, Fred Benzinger bought out Mr. Baer's interest and ran the paper for a number of years until he went to Chicago, where for a time he was one of the prominent figures on the old Chicago Times-Herald. Then the paper was acquired by B. R. Hatmaker, forever famous because of the sobriquet for Cedar Rapids which flashed into his mind one dreamful day—"The Parlor City."
In 1889 Ernest A. Sherman came to this city and was city editor of the morning Republican for a while. In February. 1891, he started Town Topics. He ran it until late in the spring of that year and then he consolidated with Hatmaker's Saturday Record. He became the editor, and Hatmaker was business manager until 1892 when Mr. Sherman bought the whole business. Since that time the Record has been a permanent feature in Cedar Rapids, the largest and neatest of the weeklies, being printed in quarto form on book paper with many illustrations and spicy comment on "mentionable matters" of Cedar Rapids, with all the local news well edited.
The Iowa Post was founded in April, 1881, at Iowa City. After passing through the hands of several owners, it was purchased in March, 1902, by Henry Gundling of Chicago and brought to this city. Mr. Gundling changed the paper from a weekly to a semi-weekly and in an incredibly short time he had trebled the number of his subscribers. Mr. Gundling had a high school education in Germany, followed by an apprenticeship there of three years. He had sixteen years experience in Chicago and he has travelled extensively on three continents. He is, therefore, thoroughly equipped as an editor and this accounts for the high standard of his paper which is eagerly read by a very large constituency in this and adjoining counties and especially at the colony of Amana.
The West Side Enterprise is one of the latest newspapers in the Linn county field, having been started December 30, 1909. But it is one of the liveliest as well as one of the latest. W. I. Endicott is the owner and publisher, and he is a whole newspaper force in himself. Every issue of the Enterprise contains something which makes somebody sit up and take notice. It is a paper devoted to the work of booming the west side; but it is read on both sides of the river by an ever increasing number of readers.
The Iowa Staats-Zeitung was established in the year 1879 by A. Hunt, who continued as publisher and editor for many years—until he retired from the newspaper business. The paper was then bought by John Young and afterwards sold to the Charles Stoudt Printing Company, who came from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids to make their home. The company consists of Charles Stoudt, the publisher, and E. J. Stoudt, editor. The paper is one of the largest German weeklies in the state, publishing from twelve to twenty-four pages each issue and going all over the state. It guarantees to have the largest circulation of any German paper published in Iowa.
Several other Cedar Rapids newspapers ought to be mentioned. The Cedar Rapids Listy, a Bohemian humorous paper, was established in 1906. Fr. Hradecky is its editor and publisher. The Optimus is a republican weekly edited by E. C. Barber, and is a most uncompromising foe of democracy in all its form. It was established in 1906. The Slovan-Ameriky is a democratic Bohemian paper, one of the oldest, for it was established in 1869 and has held the even tenor of its way since that time through the sunshine and storm of democracy. John B. Letovsky & Sons are the editors and publishers, and they have been putting out a good paper week in and week out, year after year.
The Tribune is the organ of the Federation of Labor in Cedar Rapids. It was started in 1903 and has had a remarkable success. Its first editor was G. F. Taylor who gave the paper a great start and it is now edited by R. G. Stewart, who fills its columns full of gingery stuff week after week and shines best when there is a big political scrap on hand.
In 1852 one A. Hoyt came all the way from New York to blaze the way of modern journalism on the prairies of Iowa. He established a paper called the Prairie Star. But the Star didn't shine long. Mr. Hoyt found Iowa so different from old New York. Like the wise men of the east, after he had let go of most of the treasures he brought with him he retraced his steps to the east and the paper passed into the hands of J. H. and G. H. Jennison. They were Whigs with a big W and they renamed the Star as the Linn County Register.
When the republican party was organized, the Linn County Register became one of its most able and enthusiastic advocates in the county. The late Judge N. M. Hubbard was in active politics at that time and during that memorable campaign he conducted the Register. Ah, "thim were the days." The judge was a past master in the art of "skinning" an opponent. That was the method of political fighting in those days and no editor ever had a sharper knife than Judge Hubbard. He used to say in later years that it was one of the most enjoyable periods of his whole life.
"I made the paper grow," he said. "Everybody wanted to get it to see whose hide was put on the fence that week."
The judge lived to tell the tale, but after the fun was all over and the battle had been won he decided that railroad law practice was more profitable than editing a newspaper. The Register passed back into the editorship of J. H. Jennison. The next year Robert Holmes became its editor and subsequently its proprietor. He held this position for five years and it was five years of the most important period in the history of the county. Mr. Holmes successfully conducted the paper through the great struggle of the Civil war, and up till 1863 when he sold it to A. G. Lucas. Its name was then changed to the Linn County Patriot.
In September, 1864, there came from Cedar county, a young soldier-lawyer, S. W. Rathbun. He purchased the plant and changed the name of the paper to the Marion Register. He has been editor of the Register ever since that time. He has a few more gray hairs, a few more wrinkles, and a bit more avoirdupois than he had then, but he still wields a trenchant pen, still makes the Register a readable and interesting paper. It has been one of the most influential papers among the weekly press of Linn county, and has always been firmly republican.
The Marion Sentinel was originally called the Springville Independent, being established at Springville in the year 1879 by Fred Chamberlain, who afterwards served as county superintendent of the schools of Linn county. It was a seven-column folio, independent in politics, the forerunner of the independent papers of the county. It grew rapidly, and by 1884 had increased to a twelve-page paper. An edition was also published for Prairieburg, and one for Central City. In 1885 it had a circulation of 1600. It met with some reverses in 1886 and on July 1 of that year it was moved to Marion and its name changed to the Linn County Independent. Mr. Chamberlain made a big success of it in Marion. The name of the paper was then changed to the Marion Sentinel. Later O. M. Smith was taken into partnership. The paper then changed from an independent to a democratic paper, and has remained democratic until the present time, the only simon pure democratic paper in Linn county at the present time.
In July, 1891, Mr. Smith sold the paper to Mr. J. J. Galliven, at that time employed as train dispatcher for the Milwaukee railroad. He conducted it for less than three months, selling it on September 19, 1891, to its present owner, T. T. Williams. During the greater part of the time since then C. S. Shanklin, one of the ablest political writers of the state, has been in charge of the Sentinel's editorial page. The paper is one of the brightest and newsiest in the county.
That splendid Linn county paper, the Mt. Vernon Hawkeye, was established January 1, 1869, by J. T. Rice, as the Linn County Hawk-Eye. Mr. Rice was well known in the early history of the county, and in late years was a resident of Denver, Colorado, where he died within the past year.
The Hawk-Eye was bought by S. H. Bauman on June 1, 1869, within five months after the paper was established, and its name was changed to the Mount Vernon Hawk-Eye. Mr. S. H. Bauman continued the business and was joined in partnership by his son, A. A. Bauman, January 1, 1892. On July 1, 1899, S. H. Bauman retired entirely, and the paper was then conducted by his sons, A. A. and Fred A. Bauman. This partnership was dissolved November 17, 1909, since which time the paper has been published by A. A. Bauman.
The paper has always been republican in politics and has never been shaken by the winds of temporary popular prejudice or passion. It has had an abiding conviction of political honesty and integrity and it has been conducted on a high plane. It has rendered good service in the building up of Mt. Vernon and the county generally.
The Walker News was established as a seven-column folio in February, 1883, by David Brant, at present the owner and editor of the Iowa City Daily Republican. He continued as owner and editor for seven years, and then the paper passed to the hands of Charles A. Durno, Mr. Brant going to Cedar Rapids to become city editor of the Gazette.
In July, 1891, Mr. Durno sold a half interest in the business to C. O. and J. Barry, who, in January, 1892, acquired the remaining half interest, Mr. Durno retiring. Mr. Durno was later appointed to a position in the government printing office at Washington, D. C, and died in that city a few years ago. The Barrys are still in possession of the News, which is one of the brightest and most influential newspapers in the county.
The Center Point Journal is a republican weekly, owned and edited by J. A. Mahuran, one of the ablest of the Linn county newspaper men. The paper has had its ups and downs and for a time it was chiefly noted for its ardent campaign for a fishway in the dam across the Cedar river at Cedar Rapids. That was during the days of Editor Barber.
The Journal grew out of the Lotus which was started at Center Point, May 15, 1873, by J. F. Wilson & Co. T. J. Metcalf was its first editor, and he filled the leaves of the Lotus with spice and sweetness until 1874 when W. T. Baker took charge and subsequently committed suicide. But that was not the fault of the Lotus. The office was then sold to H. A. Cook, of Cedar Rapids.
In 1876 T. J. Metcalf and S. M. Dunlap purchased the plant and changed the name of the paper to the Center Point Mirror, the first issue appearing November 18. Then Mr. Metcalf bought out Mr. Dunlap's interest, and afterwards G. L. Wilson became the owner, changing its name to the Courier-Journal. M. A. Oxley and Charles F. Floyd afterwards bought the paper and it finally reached the hands of its present owner.
Springville is one of the best of the Linn county towns and it has one of the best of the Linn county papers, the Springville New Era. Its first issue appeared August 9, 1882. It was a six-column folio, independent in politics, and was established by J. B. F. Butler. In November, 1882, C. S. Shanklin became its editor. At this time it was changed to a six-column quarto. It became a democratic paper but lately grew towards independence in politics, a growing tendency among modern newspapers. There were some more changes of ownership and finally the paper was purchased by O. E. Crane, its present publisher and editor, under whom it has risen to a popularity and prosperity never before attained.
Lisbon has one good weekly, the Herald. The Sun was the first paper having been started August 27, 1874, by J. W. Zeigenfus. It was not a success at the start, or at least it did not bring in the coin of the realm rapidly enough to suit its proprietor, and he soon sold it to C. J. Weatherbee. He held it for a few weeks and sold it to W. T. Baker. Baker managed it admirably for a time but he later shot himself through the head in his office and for a time the paper was conducted by W. L. Davis for his widow. Then the Rev. Dewalt S. Fouse became its editor and did some good work upon it. So did A. M. Floyd, one of the best of Linn county's newspaper men. But finally the Sun went down.
The Herald has been vigorous and active and prosperous since it was established in 1894 and it was never so prosperous as now. Under the able management of Will F. Stahl the paper has grown in size and in circulation and every issue is filled with up-to-date news and interesting comment. It is a paper of which Lisbon should be proud.
Situated in a valley of entrancing beauty, the valley of the Wapsie river, Central City is one of the most beautiful towns in Iowa and it certainly is one of the most up-to-date. Much of its growth and its prestige is due to the fact that for many years it has had a first-class newspaper. The Central City News-Letter, which was started in 1888, has had a line of able men as its editors and they have all done their best to make the city grow. None of them ever worked harder at it than E. S. Weatherbee, who is the owner and the editor of the paper, the postmaster, the mayor, and an all-around booster for his town.
Since 1889 Coggon has had a newspaper, the Coggon Monitor. It has had a number of owners, but it is established on a firm basis. Clarence Cole was the editor until April of this year, when he sold the paper to William Crosier.
In 1893, the Mount Vernon Record was established and it has had a successful and gratifying growth under the management of Lloyd McCutcheon, its publisher and editor. Advertising came slowly at first, as it always does to a new paper, but at present the merchants of Mt. Vernon are giving it good support. The paper has been "progressive"—strongly progressive in its editorial policies and there are many progressives in that neighborhood who have backed it.