My Sunday newspaper column
Way back in the day, the news business sure was different.
A few weeks ago, as we were cleaning out the newspaper library, we came across a Sept. 13, 1899, copy of The Greensboro Patriot. The Patriot was one of the newspapers that served the 10,000 people living in the city at the turn of the century. (The Daily Record and the Greensboro Evening Telegram were others.)
This edition is brown with age and nearly crumbles at the touch. It is as different from the newspaper you hold in your hands as an Underwood typewriter is different from a Dell laptop. But in its own way, it is one heckuva read.
The paper is only two pages, and, for those who think our type is small now, get out your magnifying glass. Ads for doctors, dentists, lawyers and architects line one side of the front page. Fordham's Drug Store on Elm Street was one year old then, but isn't an advertiser. Nor is Lunsford Richardson who had just developed a line of home remedies including what became known as Vicks VapoRub.
The front page is all local news, although it's not the sort of local news you're used to today. In one sense, you might call it a gossip sheet, in the most innocuous sense of the term. The comings and goings of many of Greensboro's citizenry are featured prominently. A brief sampling:
"Rev. Charles Wharton, of Warrenton, is visiting relatives in this vicinity."
"Mr. and Mrs. Will H. Matthews have returned from their northern trip. While absent Mr. Matthews purchased a big stock of clothing and furnishing goods."
"Mr. W.R. Rankin has returned from Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York, where he has been looking after the fall and winter purchases for his firm, Rankin, Chisholm, Stroud & Rees. Mr. Rankin says he did not bother the 'bargain house,' but bought real values."
No other information is offered on the trips. However, other items on the page provide a glimpse into the world then.
"The tallest stalk of corn we have ever heard of is on the farm of Mr. J.G. Gamble of Summerfield. It is fourteen feet and three inches in height and has on it one large ear of corn, which is eight feet from the ground."
"Mr. R.S. McClamroch was aroused from sleep one night last week by a noise out in the yard. He got up and secured a revolver in time to see a man's hand reaching through the slats of the window blind. Mr. McClamroch did not wait for his nocturnal visitor's next move, but fired immediately. He is quite sure the burglar was struck by the bullet, though no trace of blood could be seen."
"All the boy readers of our paper will note with pleasure the generous offer of Rankin, Chishom, Stroud & Rees. See their ad. for particulars. We wish to say that we have examined the knife shown in the advertisement and it is a thorough, first-class production -- not a cheap little nothing, but a good, substantial knife -- one that any boy will be proud of."
There is also a bit of news, which leaves more questions than it answers.
"Last Thursday while a force of hands on the Southern Railway were cleaning out a ditch near where the A. &Y. track runs under the main line, a few hundred yards west of the depot, the body of a dead infant, securely tied in an old sack, was unearthed. The body was badly decomposed and was very offensive. It was thrown onto a car being loaded with dirt and carried out north of the city where it was dumped with a lot of refuse. The matter was not reported to the police until Saturday morning when Chief Scott and Officer Jordan went out and made an investigation but no clue as to the identity of the child could be discovered. This is the second dead baby found in Greensboro during the past six months."
In 1899, the Boer War was going on overseas, as was the Philippine-American War. They aren't mentioned. There's no news from Washington or Raleigh, and no sports news or celebrity headlines. Celebrities in those days, I suppose, were authors Booker T. Washington, Henry James and Booth Tarkington. (Greensboro’s William Sydney Porter was in prison at the time and didn’t take the name O. Henry until a few years later.)
Both the world and the news business have changed drastically over the years, in ways good and bad. The News & Record is moving toward more local content in the newspaper and on the Web, although I doubt we’ll go as far as The Patriot. And we’re working on sharpening our news edge, not blunting it.
But there is an allure to the paper's cordial writing style, its sense of community and its intimacy with its readers. Those characteristics that make reading the Patriot so inviting can teach us something.
Comments (1)
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Indeed, the face of local news has changed but who would have ever thought it would come to this? Kudos to you and your staff.
Posted on October 30, 2005 1:33 PM