Document text
The Country Editor..
APR. 1 9 1939
by
Henry H. Pratt
Editing and managing a country newsraper,though it be only
an eight -page weekly, is normally a grown man's job. Its editor
occupies a position much like that of the late President Arthur
J. Roberts,of Colby Collegeot the time he taught English there,
with a potpourri of other subjects.
"Just what chair do you occupy at Colby,Professor? a brother
professor from another college once asked him.
"Chair: chair:",came back Roberts, "I don't occupy any chair;
.~•4
I fill a whole settee."
So with the country editor. He has no staff on which he may
lean or with which he may share the editorial work. Ee may
be b4zakis manager,reporteroven typesetter,for his paper; he
may serve a dozen different functions,support the whole weight
of !lip raper.
Tben that weight settles on the shoulders of a young girl just
out of school --slight and slim young shoulders,even slighter and
slimmer in her own self-eEtimation--it might be expected to
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Fanry F. Pratt
exert a crushing force.
"It would have,too, said /ass Mary D. Kasgrove,editor of
the Bristol,N.E., Enterprise, If I had not been endowed by my
father and mother with rugged health and a cast-ironi4onstitution.
They made it possible for me to carry throughtand through their
traininn I had learned never to say tdie'lbut simply to do my bed.
under ar7 conditions.
"My father served in the War of Secession,and on the western
frontier. In May,i8, he was mustered out,with the rank of
captainvand with the seeds of future ill health planted in him
by those years of service. In 1878 he established the weekly
newspaper now known as the Bristol Entervrise.
"All the family helped him with the mechanical work in the
office. rven when we children --there wereoventually, six of us
were pretty small our hands could fold circulars and do other
simple work of the office. We used to gather around the home
dining room table in the evening --two or three or all of us --to
fold and place in envelopes many hundreds of articles for mailing
or other delivery.
"We were happy; father made it as much play as work for Us.
Our aroupw congenial,and though we always welcomed other chil-
dren into our finil circle,we didn't depend on them for our
enloivmemt;
"Then,as we grew olderoach of us had a period of helping in
the office. Father paid us for our work and we saved it toward
our later school expenses.
we were sufficient unto ourselves.
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Henry H. Pratt
"Wonderf44 training that'Ii3i4,,,in earning*nd Slav44. We
J
learned to appresiate the value of M044rtandiitselqu;valent in
H
labor. It probilily,cost'father no 'We thati to 4ave paid our
school expense e liaAer out of'his pocket,butlit tz4ined us in
the tignIty of wdrtiand in being prOvident for the future.
"So, when ill health came upon my father,at the time when
I was graduated from New Hampton Institute,and he needed
another shoulder beside him under the load,' was not entirely a
raw recruit. I had,in common with my brothers and sisterso
familiarity with the mechanical.routine of the office.
"But that load of resyonsibility,which began then to slip
on to my shoulders,was something new,something which staggered
me then,as the growing possibilities of a country newspaper have
ever since. Rut I seemed to be the one of the family to do this
work,and I went at it with the best that was in me.
"One whole winter father was away from the Office entirely and
my youngelibrother and myself _carried on; Eugene took care of
ndwsgathering,and I took charge of the busineat end. Even it
the times when fatter could be in the office, therifiere many' ppolt-
lams coming up from the annoyance of 'hick* must be spared as
much as possible —many things which I must settle for myself
from the very start.
Ny. whole outlook had to undergofr evision. All my school life
I had looked forward to being a teacher. I planned to take
.14Udergarten training. But*, that way seemed to be closing
..c1 ,t0,ia iite and *6 other way than this opening. .I. was led along,
w
r 1 1
L
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Henry H. Pratt
from one month to another,by the present necessitiestinto
newspaper work. Maybe I have become a teacher of a sort; they
say a newspaper office is a poor man's college,you know.
"There Is one thing,though,which has been a great consolation
to me through later years. It has been my privilege to educate
my two !ices for the very same work,and at the very same school,
which I hae chosen for myself —kindergarten teaching; so, vicar-
iously they will do for me the work I had set my heart ov. I
do believe in a Providence that shapes our ends.
"Settling the problems of a printing office have probably been,
very different from whatcopposing the difficAlties of a kinder-
garten would have been.
"It was not easy for the men in the office to take instruc-
tions from a girl —nor agreeable. Many and many a time did I wish
most fervently that I was a man forty years old; it seemed to me
that a personage of that sort would help me over many a rough
spot. I have found that workmen did not like to take instructions
from a woman; perhaps they become tired of that very thing at
home.
"I have always maJ.ntained thatoin newspaper work, a woman meets
w.i.th more difficulties than a mansnot only as far as the office
itself is concerned,but in the wtkrk of dealing with the public
as well.
"Almost immediately after I had assumed the sole charge of
the business,upon my father's death,peorle began to come to me
for loans of money; they tried to get me to sign notes; they
seemed to consider me an 'easy mark'. Not infrequently someone
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Henry H. Pratt
outside the office thought it a favorable time to make use of
me and of my paper to further his own political schemes,or
other tareets. And as the years went by I often wondered
if the IlL.senese men of the town would have done just the things
they did,had the editor of the Enterprise been a man —would he
ever have net. such situations at all.
"We had an outbreak of scarlet fever in town which threatened
to become epidemic.Prominent tradespeople rose in arms against
me for the mention of it which had come out in my paper.
"'People won't come into Bristol to tradetif you keep on talkbg
about it,' they objected, 'it will hurt business.'
"They even wert so far as to threaten a boycott of the paper
withdrawal of their advertisirgote., if I said anything more abcut
it. Fortunately,for me at least,there 'ere no fresh cases after
that ,so the affair settled itself. But you don't notice there
any special delicacy toward me,as a woman,do you?
"I was the first,and for some years the only,woman editor in
the state to carry the full responsibility of a newspaper office.
There are three others now—LABE Addle M. Towne,of the Franklin
Journal-Tranecrept,receivirg the paper from her father,Judge
0.A.Towne; Yrs. Charlotte Lance,of the Meredith News,who took over
the paper or the death of her husband; and Miss Suzanne Loiseaux,
of he rlvmouth Record.
"But on the whole, however, I have only appreciation for
the support of my employees and the citizens through the years
in which I have been in charge of the paper.
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Henry H. Pratt
"Inside the office problems occasionally arose which a man
would probably never have met. In the case of hiring one
foremanlyears ago,I am positively sure the problem presented me
for solutonwould never have been offered a man.
"Ie answer to my advertisement for a foreman several candidates
arTeared. One came in on the train,walked up to Central Square,
looked about him a few minutes with growing disgust,walked back
to the stationpand went out on the next train without honoring
me by so much as a look -in.
"But another of these candidates made up for all the slights,
intended or otherwise,of the rest. Yes, he wanted to stay,
aymuch as the other warted to go. He insisted or staying,my
wish in the matter notwithstanding. Yo-no,money was no object
he'd stay for his mere living expanses. Sleep? He'd sleep
anywhere --on the bed of the presson the feedboard, in the waste
paper--anywhere,so long as he might have the job. Perhaps,
he suggested, there might be a spare corner in my own home
where a mattress could be spread for him on the floor.
"Ee covered so much ground in his fervent application--
progrebsed so raridily--that in an hour's time he got to the
point of proposinp a business partnership with me. In order
to brirp this about in the most permanent and inclusive manner,
he proposed a union of domestic as well as business interests.
"No, I assured him emphatically,he wouldn't fit the job.
Finally,I got rid of him,but didn't convince him of my entire
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Henry H. Pratt
lack of interest. Soon afterward I receined his picture and a
lonp,bewilderinp letter,tellipp of his still undashed hopes and
continuing courage. The picture was enough to kill any
incipient leanings even if one had never interviewed the
originalspersonally.
"It has been strictly business --not pleasure,' assure you
which has taken me to many places.
It was embarrassing to be
the only woman sttendirp the Board of Trade meetingstand the
patherinps of the 7Tew Hampshire Weekly Publishers' Association,
held annually in Boston. It didn't relieve my sensitivity
muchoregarding the situation,when one of my young salesmen in-
ferred that it wasn't entirely proper for me to attend the
Association's meetings.
"However,in those years when I was first carrying the whole
respon&.b.L.ty of the officelafter my father's death, I felt
that I imperativel needed every mite of help I could glean
from evPr7 possible source.
"Yewohanpinp conditions arising from the World Wart:And
succeeding one another with confusing rapidity,difficult for
even an exrariencad editor to meat,demanded new measures.
There were new labor conditions and new competition.
I found it was impossible to figure costs and selling prices
by the methods I had learned with my father, it was necessary
to give considerable study to such things,to keep afloat.
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Henry H. Pratt
years
"In these tryingAI owed much to Judge Towne,of the Franklin
Journal -Transcript. Fe had been a close friend of my father,
an he gave me liberally of his counsel.
*During my father's long period of ill health,the
machinery of the printing office had become more and more
obsolescent. The times called for new, modern machinery.
Friendly business advisors counselled me to sell the plant; they
said I had a whIte elephant on my hands. But the months went
and n :'chaser appeared. Yonth after month I wofully scanned
the accounts --no relief. Carried forward by such tide of
affairs --to sirk or swim -surely I needed new energy from whatever
source it mipht be had to keep afloat.
"I found it in the meetings of the Association,and I braved
all the impropriety that might lurk in my attendance there to
get it. Judge Towne again came to my support; he encouraged me to
ketp coming,and I attended every meeting,religioukly. And in
all those years,notwithstanding being a woman innovation, I
experienced notl'i.rg 1 -Nut the most courteous treatment from
the members of the Association.
*I wasothough, the innocent cause of one bit of perplexity
to the Association —all because I am a woman. It occasioned some
embarrassment all around,but furnished enough merriment to make
up for it,I guess.
Country Editor
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Henr-4 H. Pratt
'That yearlthe Publishers' Association corrittee arranged
to hold their annual meeting at the Boston City Club. They
completely forgot two facts: that the Association included a woman,
and that a cast iron rule of the Club forbade entrance to a woman
above the first floor. They remerbered it when it was too late
and the arrangements had all been made.
"What to do?
"The corrittee went to the City Club management. Would they,
just this once,pleaselunder the circumstances,adrit a woman?
Nolsirs,they would not: Their rules were of long standing,and
rules were rules,whether of the Medes and Persians or of the
Boston City Club. No woman ever had been admitted to the
sacred precincts above the first floor,and no woman ever would be.
And that was that.
"Vainly our committee pleaded and stormed. They even threatened
to change their arrangements and go to a hotel. At long last,
or the rerreeertation that I was an important reporter,permission
Was river or me to go up to the meeting.
"All this I knew nothing about until I arrived at the guarded
entrance of the Club. There one of the older salesmen,with
whom I had been acquainted for a number of L;ears,was waiting
to take me in charge,and assist we to gain entrance to the room
above.
"Several tires we were stopped by a guard,but,rather to his
bewilderment,' surmise,my companion escorted me riabt past him,
chins up and no explanations.
"Personally,I was not much elated over the affair but the
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Henry H. Pratt
Association laughed over it for a long time; they haven't entirely
forgotten it yet.
"That's all about being a woman. Now about being an editor.
"This differs from other lines of business in that an editor
alone makes mistakes --at least one might infer that from the
ado made over his slips when they do occur.
His errors are
published to the whole country round; other businesses have the
privilege of more or lees privacy in that respect. And a little
mistake made by an editor often carries great significance with
it.
"*I wart to see the one who set that ad. I had put in the paper,
yesterday,* burst in a subscriber,grimly.
"'Why? What's wrong with it?' I temporized,for the woman was
very definitely angry.
"Whovae set that ad. made it look ridiculous...and he did it
on purpose,too; I know he did.'
'Oh, I eor't think so,' I soothed; 'but if anything is wrong
with it I'll make it right...if you'll tell me what it is.'
"No, I want to see him. The one who set that ad. haS a grudge
against me...or else he is a foolvone or the other. I want
to see him.*
'I knew that if she was allowed to have it out with him,
personally,it might lead to recriminations which would take a long
time to die down. Country people are fond of twitting one another
about the sIns of their grandfathers. I just couldn't let her
(lea' wit17 m1
"'I can't tell you,' I finally said; 'if you'll tell me about
itpand if it warrants any action or my part,I'll attend to it.
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Henry H. Pratt
Otherwise
"But that wouldn't do. She flounced out of the office,
unsatisfied, her secret with her,intact.
"Mistakes are more serious in a country weekly than in a big
daily because of the thoroughness with which the country paper is
read. It goes home,lies conveniently on the sitting room table
throLhout the week,is reae,reread,read again by every member
of the family CT() car read,is considered,digested,even to its
most Immble,ircorspicuous two-line advertisements. The sliFhted,
error has a poor chance of caping detection under that scrutiny.
"It is a serious matter for an editor to jump at conclusions;
one must get at the bottom of things before passing judgment
and putting them into print. What may begin as a small controversy
in country towns ends by involving the feelings of a large part
of the population. We had such a discussion over a schoolhouse
once. Opinions or lloth sides were strong and feelings ran high.
It would have been an easy matter for an editor to express some
ill-considered opinion which would have added much to the bitterness
of the dispute. I spent a great deal of time getting to the bottom
of it,talking with both sidestgetting facts in the caselbefore
dealing with it in my paper.
"Partiality,even a bias of which the editor may be hardly
conscious,ualess he meditates on it,is another serious thing
for 4 ialer. To say nothing of the ease with which an
editor may fall into a savage libel suit,the people for whom a
40 40
courtr7 editor prints his paper are4delicately sensitive,pick to
$4
wrath. retentive of petty grudges that he must weigh with
A
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Henry H. Pratt
nicety the proposed contents of his paper before they go to
press.
Many bickerings and jealousies arising in our town meetings
can be either allayed or aggravated by the way they are treated by
the local paper.
"In the early days of my experience there were three churches
in Bristol. To avoid all semblance of partiality we had the habit
of rotating the notes from these churches,in the column devoted
to them,so that each,ir turn, would have a space at the head of
the column.
"The pastor of the Methodist church became dissatisfied with
this way of doing things. He was pastor of the most prominent
church in town,he said, and his church should have its notes at
the head of the column...always. Further,he argued,the editor of
the local paper was a Yethodist,too---she should be interested,
herself,in havirp the notes from her church stand first in the
column.
"The editor demurring,he clinched his argument by warning thet
if the notes from his church were not placed first,in each edition
of the paper,there would be no notes,from his church.
"I took the ground that,while it was true that the editor was
connected with the Methodist church,it was equally true that the
EnterI.rise Wiak a non-sectarian paper,and was interested,not in
an. bk7ct-on or group of the town,but in the community as a whole.
So...I couldn't prart his request.
"There were no notesfrom the Methodist church in the paper
for some time.
Country rditor
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Henry H. Pratt
"Thinking of what I said a moment ago about how thoroughly
the weekly paper is read reminds me of what a man said to me
once.
"He has from time to time a small article to sell; whenever
a surr,ly comes in he places a 15 cent ad. in the paper.
""oil know,' he said to me one day, 'I'm thinking I won't
advertise any more. Got so I sort of dread the day the paper
with my ad. comes out. Just as soon as the paper's off the press
my 'phone starts ringing...people makinp inquiries about what
I've got to sell. The: make me an awful lot of trouble answering
it.'
"And some of' our country papers have a tremendous influence
with their readers.
"One of our business men came into my office once to object
to something I had mentioned or advocated --I don't remember now
just what it was. But he felt a little stirred up about it,
I recall.
"Do you know,' said he, 'you want to be careful what you
advise peoi-le to do,in your paper. Thy,if you should print in
youv paper that a certain man in this town ought to be murdered,
and should repeat it a sufficient number of times,some one would
1,e sure to eo it.'
"'Thank you,' I replied, 'that is the biggest compliment
ever received.'
"Our strongest papers are those which were established years
ago,by men who were part and parcel of the people among who*
the PaPEr Waii to circulate ,have been built up by the stout
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•iienr H. Pratt
integrity of their founders,and are still a prized family possession
of their descendants. They have always been edited by men
are of the same clay as their readers; they are products
XIde
the soil. ThaAunderstaud those editorstand
editors have a real sympathy with them. The
who
of
they feel the
strength of these
editors comes from tte ashes of the fathers. They belong.
They have prown up among their readers,boys and men; they are old
family friends.
"I do not think a stranger could come into one of our New
Hampshire touns,and get any great influence as editor of its
paper/for a long time. Sincerity and a genuine interest in
the town constitute the sources of an editor's influence;
he must be the kind of man people can have confidence in. His
influence doesn't der.end so much or what he says.
"Subscribers are,on the wholespretty loyal to their weekly
papers,especially to the papers"of the soil". And yet an editor
has to "heware of offending them; he has to understand them,
feel as they feel. The loss of subscribers,where they are numbeld
by hundreds,is serious; a dozen is a high per cent.
"But I do not think it is necessary to lose them —not if one
is considerate of them. Let me give you an instance of what I
mean.
"Forty years
in pretty close
affair. It did
Involving,as it
ago,in the area of an editor with which I have been
friendship, a man was mixed up in a shooting
not result fatally,yet it had a criminal intent.
did, people of prominence,locally, the affair made
a stir. Naturally,it was the duty of the paper to give its
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Henry H. Pratt
subscribers the truth about it.
"But a relative of the offender,also a man of local importance,
insisted that no mention of the affair be made in the local paper.
Here was a chance for th3 eeitor to lose substantial suiscribers.
"Having grown up with these people and being one with them,
the eeitor sat eown with this relative and talked it over with
him. The editor explained that the affair would be talked over
by the townspeople anyway,that it would be spread abroad in a mess
of untruths,half-truths, and surmises,that it would be better for
the offender's family themselves to have an accurate and truthful
account given out by the paper,and it would discharge the duty
of the editor as well.
"The fam.L1;y agreed that the editor was riqtht,when it was
presented to them in that way,and the editor and the relative com-
posee,tor,ether,the real story for thelpaper. It Was published just
as written out in that conference. Thus was the family influence
saved for the paper.
"All but one ...a woman. She,too, was related to the offender.
She has never subscribed to the paper since...and that was forty
years ago.
"I know of no business that offers greater diversity than a
newbkatier. We are called to the family afflicted with sickness
and sorrow; we are also taken to the house of mirth. We are
canoe! or the telephone for information as to how long it takes
to blanch or sterilize corn when you can it; we are asked for help
to identify some bird on yonder twig, One has need of a gigantic
Country Editor
Henry H. H. Pratt
t.
memory,tact,and patience; we are supposedA understand all mysteries,
and 411 languages; to be able to decipher all penmanship. How
would answer a person,who should ask you,in the course of
dictatirp in rews,if you wrote 'sleight of hand'?
"A newspaper office is a bureau of general information --employ-
ment agency --even marriage arrangements are not beyond us.
Listen to this which came to us from far spaces;
*I have here a coppy of your Nice Frittering Littel Bright
Clean paper of July 16, 19-- 300 miles from
railroad.
Gentleman age 3S Never was maired
Can give good reference
wishes to Corespond with a young Lady of good address
No others pleas answer
will answer all letters Confedensal
Hedley City
Britch Columbia...Canada
the above add and oblape
sirs you will find Inclosed I persume your charge is
10 cents per line But put it in a good place I Inclose
$2.00 I have meet many of the pepul from your part of the
states and I Like them and ther ways
I am a sistzen of Idaho"
COUntV,)- Editor
-17-
err7 7, Pratt
"Or this:
"American Widor,Middle age, Wanting a
American Widder,With no inComerance Middle Age."
"There have been given us unintended smiles to temper the
unpleasantness of eollectinp our money:
"why doo you send me this Dun didant I col
on you last Aug the S A pay for the paper A
dident I col pay for the paper on the first
day of June last I have the reseats A I go by them
not by the tages in my paper for it art corect
it had orto of ben sean to at the time I pade.
if you are not satesfide with what I hay pade
for the paper you stop it for I dont like to
bea dunnd thru the male I think I hay taken the
paper ever senc it started but you can stop the
paper. I um willing to pay for what I hav
can
I hay taken the franklin par for 9 years never
a Dn.
Ere
st
and again one woman called in to complain that the items about
her family were not worded as nicely as in other cases.
tam n man wanted the items written about him to be written as
they would be if we were writing about H P ,mention
lug the name of a prominent town family. Here is a woman angry
A eer-
because we reject her items telling when some of the neighbors
call on her; another person takes us to task for omitting
his item inforrnirg the public that Er. Smith has just pot a new
set of false teeth with which he is well pleased.
"We have,as you notice,a small stationery store in the room
across the hall. One of our older residents came in one morn-
ing,when we were all busytas usual, in search of a calendar
Country Editor -18-
Ferry F. Pratt
pad. He scrutinized our display,and the prices,ranging from one
cent up.
"Finally he picked up one whose price looked harmless.
"/A cent apiece..eh?'
"I apreed.
"'An' 'tother one over there...same?'
considering, 'I duano....I dunro,now whIch one
of 'em would fit best. This one seams a little mite too long,
'tother one a hair too wide,seams so. I durro....I durno.'
"At length I suggested that he take one home and try it.
"IS-kose it don't fit,when I pet it home?'
"Br.LnE, it back an0 change it,ther.
"'Oh, kin I do that?'
"Wellonow,I will...if I kin change it.'
"He trudged off home with one; in a little while he was backtc
exchange it.
"His wife had some Christmas folders left over from the year
before but no envelopes to fit them. She came down to see if
/a had any of prep,,, size. We looked over the entire stock but
there ware none of the correct size.
"'Well,' I finally told her,' you can cut sone of these over
to make them the right size.' I showed her how to do it.
"Oh, thank you...thank ycu,' she exclaimed,overjoyed.
'I have some envelopes at home that I can make do now you've
showed me how,and I won't have to buy any. Thank you ...so much.'
Country Editor
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Ferry 7. Pratt
"An old gentleman —who has passed or now --wandered into the
office one dayfback when father was here. He was much interesteid
in looking things over,and spied an unabridged dictionary llxing
on the desk.
"trY:...that's a big book...now ain't it?'
"Yes,' father agreed/it is.' Then he went on to astound
him.
"There's every word in the English language in that book...
thousands and thousands of them.'
My soul! I want to know,' marveled the ingeruous old soul
"Yes,sirtevery word a man can usetor warts to use is in that
book.'
"The old man gaped a minute.
""ut what sticks me,/ he said,' is how you find /em when
you went t' use
"So father explained to him all about the alphabetical arrange-
ment...the indexing...how to look up words. Truly, the news-
paper office is a public educator.
"This old gentleman,by the way, was the original of one of
the characters in one of Fred Lewis Pattee's bocks.
"There were labor troubles strewn along My way. I had
a foreman once who was rather eccentric. The girls in the office
became more and more afraid of hlm,not because he called them
'blockheads/ and other names,but because he would follow it up
by throwing at them anything which came to hand. On publication
days the atmosphere of the office iv:is fairly electrified.. More
than once a shooting -stick came flying through the air to land
r!ountry itor
-20-
Henry H. Pratt
at their very feet.
"Shooting -stick? That is an iron bar about a foot long,
shaped to drive home the wedgestor quoins,which lock the type
in the forms.
"So I dismissed him on a Saturday night,fearing for the actual
safety of the girls.
"He spent that night ,and all day Sunday,on top of one of our
highest hills,without food,fihting the matter out.
"Monday morning he came back to messoaked with the rain which
had fallen Sunday,to present to me the reasons why I,rather than
he,was to blame. Then,failing to convince me by peaceful means,
he threatened to sue me for not keeping him as long as he
expe,Aed.
"The tramp printer used to be a picturesque character. He's
gone now,but he hung on to the country offices long after he
had disappeared from the cities. He was often a godsend when he
hapIened along in rush times.
"Seymour...at least that was the rare he went bythere, although
he had other names which I never knew...was one who came around
on this beat for years. Fe was a nomadic sort,like them all,
never stnrina for more than a few days or weeks,in the same place.
"I remember once when Seymour came to UF tost-opportunply,and
did faithful,expert work at the case for two whole weeks. Then,
without warning,he asked for his pay,one morning. No kind or
amount of persuasion could induce him to stay. He felt 'religion'
coming on,he said, and he must go. The 'religion' was another
attack of the wanderlust which never let him rest for long.
Country Editor
-21-
Henry H. Pratt
14 present foreman,Yr.Thayer,who came to me from South
Paris,Yeine,more than twenty years ago,says he knew him there.
Betheloraine; Berlin,7.17,; Canaan,Y.F.; Milford,Y.K., were
points he visited with some regularity. He says theSeymour had
a very pronounced way of making you feel you ought to help him
whenever he came in for a job. Lore and more he drifted into
being priaairiallytramp with his request for work coming to mean
nothing more than a hand-out for him. In fact about the last of
my knowing him,I was rather afraid of him,especially if he came 17)
m I think he must have passed on by now; I haven't seer
him for a lor.g time.
""r.Thayertells me of rother tramp printer he knew,by name
of "Gallishanks"lhowever that may be spelled. But he never came
to my office.
"These tramp printers were good for nothing else than setting
type by hand.
"The country newser office is,I presume, still the lur7cing
place of trade slang wh1 has lOng disappeared from the city
offices. Some of them seem to be appropriate,if rather ir-
elegant, as pukes',for medical advertisements.
"I never heard a man laugh harder .than did one of my foremen
when the 'devil' came back with the 'coffin'. He had beer sent
to the storage room to get a 'coffin.' he had no idea what a
coffin' was but he had been with the foreman long enough not
to ask questions.
"He wa: Lone a long time; finally he came back with a long,
na/.I.ow box in which some irk rollers had arrived
Country Editor
-22-
Henry E. Pratt
"The foreman roared till the presses rocked.
"That's the only thing I could find that looked apything
Like coffin t' me,' protested the poor 'devil',sheepishly.
'n' I looked all over the rlace.'
"Apair the foreman went into spasms.
"I didn't know myself what a 'coffin' was; the term had .never
been in use in my office.
"A 'coffing,' the foreman calmed down enough to explain
at lastolis the board fitted to carry the forms from the composing
stone to the ',rashes; that's what I warted.'
"The 'printer's devil' was a more or less harmless young
thing who came lit° the office to learn the printer's trade by
sweeping out the office,running errandsopicking over the 'hell
m.4„
boxt4is still a universal character in printing offices. The
'hell-box/,with which the 'devil' is thus associated, receives
broken type and slugs which are to be subjected to heat..to melt
them over.
tWee
"Our4has also been the hiding place of 'type -lice'. Only
'frehhmen' in the office ever saw these; they were a part of
his --or her --initiation into the printing mysteries.
'I nemamINer when a young woman,dressed in a clean,crisp shirt
welist,and other garments in accord ,was shown the 'type -lice'.
wet
They were visible only in aAgalley,fron which the ink had been
washed with lye, and rinsed with water,the wedges having been
loosened to allow the type to spread a trifle,to reveal the 'lice',
"Type -lice' infest this office,' the iniatcr told liar, 'they
hide in between the tTreland are so tiny that you
Country Editor
-23-
Henry H. Pratt
have to look close and hard to see them.'
lye -water -ink
'She bent low over the loosened,pessmak soaked
"'See them?'
"'No'.
"Look closer...get right down over,where you can see between
the type. See 'em?'
'She bent,har nose almost on the type,when a sudden blow jumped
the loosened tiire sharply together and whatever 'lice' there were
betwecn the tyre srrayed all over her in a fountain of inky
AmmedJamo.1Ye-wate"
"o learn to distinguish 'cap periods' was another irdispansatile
requirement of the 'freshmen' heir.'
To understand the country editor one must understand the
environment in which he lives,ard moves,and has his being.
Country people are a peculiar folk. Their individual
characteristics are pronourced; their rough angles areAlot
smoothed ad polished by the friction of large MRSFOE of people
jostling together. They are stubbornly themselves,like the granite
hills —proud of it.
They are a plain-spoken peorletalrost brutally frank to
one another --and to the editor of their newspaper --quick to sus-
pect motives,easily offended, jealous of one another,retentive of
grudges,even to the third and fourth generation. They wear
thair k.1 -t5 on their sleeves --to one abother,rever to strangers.
The take themselves and their doings seriously,magnify things
or petty sir,rificarce. They move in small orbits,are interested
in small happerirgs--the doings of their, neighbors around the
corner,in Tannery Village,the Fast 7eighborhood,Slab City.
Country Editor
-24-
Henry F. Pratt
Of these people is the editor of the country newspaper part
and parcel. He may be a superior part; he may have a broad
culture; he may be of deep education,but of them he is,body and
soul. He is a product of the same soil. He understands them as
no outsider ever can. He feels with them,their prejudices have m
echo .n
own scul,albeit overlaid with better judgment.
Ard for tber he works and shapes his paper.
It is not an imitationson a small scale,of a city paper. It
is distinctly a country papertintended for country peopleos they
are. It is turrosed for home -staying -folks. And how they stay:
New ANOA,1047,a,A
Said a good wcman,living on the outer edges of a snallAharlet
4
of a ScoreAhousesobesides the storelchurchlard schoolhouse:
"Land sakes! I don't go much of anywhere --stick right 'round
home. I don't know nothing that's going on. I ain't been
down to the village for,i don't know how long--more'n a year,anyvay."
For the needs and wishes of these people theAditor purveys.
Remarked an editor of a weekly raper in. a 4,000 population
tonoviti;in f ft:, riles of Boston:
"I don't try to compete with the big dailiesoor cover the
ground the cover. ry paper is distinctly to tell the local
people local news,to do for them what the dailies cannot do.
paper has a different field,ard in each town or area the paper there
will be suited to the special needs of that area.
"For state,national,foreign news,in the main,theY can see the
big dailies. These papers can afford to have their representa-
tives at the center of events; they have expert reporters.
"Al]. I could ,°o,in covering this stuff would be to rehash what
Country Editor
-25-
Henry H. Pratt
they have said. I should feel silly.doin it,ard I should feel
silly trying to give any original comment out of what I can per-
soral/y know.
"My weekly paper is the raper that goes home —through the mail
mostly. For many of the women it is the only paper read.
The men...about 805 of them I should seyiv.see ore or another of
the big dailies from Boston. But they do not take them home.
They read them a.n the barber shop,the office, or store. But the
weekly paper le the rarer that covers the family. I have a
practically complete coverage of all the families in my area."
°fie r
The following -eemitorelom4Pimme- to the local paper have been
taken from a country editor's scrap book,compiled through many
years. They were not all seut in to the same weekly paper,and
4/ww
it must not be thought that they wereApublished,at least not in
this primitive form in which they were submitted by the writers
country editors are too cultured Tfor that. But in them can
be ts•la the sensitiveress,the jealousies,the interest in petty
thirgs,the quaintressothe plain-spokerress,of the country folk
or e generation that is passirg,ard the more than sirrle er':ucation
of a people largely gone. The pallid copy loses a lot of
the suggestiveness of the handwriting,the letter forms,like the
color from a dried flower. But one carrot read these without
gaining a bit more aiireciatior of the country folk as their
editor sees them.
Something which restores to a harried editor faith in the
intrinsic honor of country peoples
Country Editor
-26-
Henry- H. Pratt
"Am sory to Say I shame that I hant paid you
Before i have had lot of letters from you And 1
will Say you Are A pert' let Gentleman 1 would of
paid you Before But 1 hant had the money And so
i have keep thinking i wood have it But i Any
nearer the money then 1 was when I Begun i have
Big Famly to suport i Cart pay my bills But 1
have Borried 46 0 0 Dolars with i will Send you
And i Ask if you would Bee so kind As to send me
receat in Full and stop the As i
Ant Able to pay for it
vour truly
A brighter outlook for business:
"Gents
what will you P,.,int me one dozen bills
ilk sample
Or th verse:
Your
"Dear Sir
Inclosee you will find an order for $3.75 to
pay for Corf. Ylnutes received. Will say that
the next time you send me such a batch of min-
utes I shall return thOse I cannot sell. I
dont intend to pay you or anybody else for a
half dozen or more to look at.
Yours in Christ.
"Friere you may stop sending me the
paper when my subscription expires.
I am withlr two months of my 83" birthday and
no children to leave it to.
Country Editor
Henry H. Pratt
Whitmanesque.
"Good Old New Hampshife
is not to be forgoten
if her hills are rough and steep
She is the pride and Joy
of the pleasure Seekers
Of her Sister States
Her Mountains high and Valleys low
which make the landscape
of our old Granit State
That gave her the name
The Switzland of America
And well may she be proud
Rocky clefs and Mountain Steep
all look into the mirror at their feet
which the beautiful warters
of her lakes and rivers
which the Sparkling springs
And narcin brooks make
The steamboat on the Lake
The Railroad on the River bank
Let the wether be wet or dry
They make their regular trips
They will leave you most anywhere
From the lowest Valley
To the Mountain top
People come here for Summer
To catch a Trout or Shute a Duck
To kill a patridge a Moose
A hair or a buck
Twas high in the mountain
God hung his Sign —man
We read in the paper of our Sister States
The death of Some Nobleman
The standing of another
7117 he was born on that oldi Farm
Or sutch a hill,in Butch a Town
in New Hampshire
Dear sir i send you the above,if you think it Worthy
of print you may mark it for the Enterprise this is my
first prehaps it Would read as a Poem better than Portry as
you think best.
Country Editor
-28-
Henry H. Pratt
Fine writing from the far places:
0A noble man's the Handiwork of God.
Though dead,They speak to us as in the days
gone by. To man's lone heart,Thou hast brought
nigh. Oh man of Great invention the sound of
vioces still. Ediron,we Hail Thee,Man of Great
renown, with Honour. Not for pomp or Glory.
Heir to His Kingdom,God's Eandiworker,And round
the Social Hearth. The vioce of They,Though
dead They speak. Come,like the vioce or some
sweet dream. Oh Great of our Great Our God,
The Ore Essential. Oh Wondrous Power on Earth
an' 7 Feaven. We Fail Thee. Power of all. Who
bast to Van such wonder's given,Oh Robe of Flesh,
that sinks within the Dust from whence we came."
New hie- e.
"That restless being that revels in charge
and contrast has been amply pleased the past few
days with the variety of the week's weather.
We have had hours of sunshine and of shadow;
storms of snow and storms of rain with the suitable
accompaniment of hail ancl sleet; days made cold
the crisp winds of the lingering winter and
days warmed by the breath of approaching spring."
"row is the sweetest season to
Milimmit and feel once more"Life's
if deferred till August,we Fomise
and heart and suffer neither -pride
age to hinder us from being
children once more."
revisit
morning", but
to oran house,
,poverty or
'In looking over the Atlas the other night,we
discovered that was not the only place on
the martand is not the largest R R Center of
North America. It is not yet a seaport. Neither
is the National Capitol located here. We will how-
ever wager a peck of teens we have the most cortIr
thing of its kind in existence. We have seen
earths largest R R Depots,which are located in
Boston also the great Victoria bridge at Montreal.
The Foorac Tunnel the sky scrapers of Chicago the
view varble State capitol of Minnesota and several
otIner thirrs of the giant world but we have yet b
see the thing designed or created by man that cost
in proportion to a building 7 x 14 ft which was
recently built in the rear of our brick school house.
Courtry 7ditor
-29-
Henry H. Pratt
FOR SALE-- My place in B ,contair-
ing 35 acres,wood timber and pasture. Five acres
tillage: (rocks,weeds and bushes). A few old
hedgehog trimmed,natural fruit apple trees.
Non-trellised,rever bearing grape vines. Huge
mass of corplomerated junk. Several ancient,
dilaridatedontediluvian vehicles; must be un-
loaded with premises. For a quick sale,will throw
in a view of Newfound Lake and -White Ms.
House,barn and other buildinps included. Price
decidedly unreasonable. Terms C.O.D. Reason
for selling, too old and decrepit to carry on.
For more particularsoinquire of any
native; then consult
EXPLANATION:
Condemnation is easier than praise.
I have condemned my place. If you say
ar:,-thirg It will he good.
"For Sall
Sorrill maire eight years old.
"We never saw the like what our. advertisement
doge in your paper before we got our paper our
cows were sold 3; gone
"Mrs. E. 7, Bis working out
doiro pereril house work by the Ougher.
cards of thanks.
"I wish to thank all my friends who so kindly
helped me in the sickness and death of my wife."
"We wish to express our thanks to all who
assisted in our loss of a husband and father."
Country Editor
-3o-
Ferry rratt
Items of interest —to the writers:
"We have had so prach rainy weather lately that
the planting is not all done. We saw a Sabbath
School Superintendent last Sunday start out as
soon as the school was closed to look up sore
help for next days planting
"Mrs Flla M is still confined to the
house of her late sickness."
"Mrs. Jennie H is on the gain of
her sickness."
"There will be this year many conjunctions
and fewer ol4,ositions then usual between batch-
elors and old maids."
"Mrs and Brother were in
S-nday to see theair sister
Who is expected to pass away at any oupher."
"Yrs. has pot the pneumonia.
Also a babey boy born Dec. 26th."
"Er and Mrs of Boston and miss
of North Sanbornton are recent
guesses at
de
"It is reported by Mrs that Mrs.
Perkins is 6razy and that is an absoluie Falshood."
"We hear Mrs. Jed Smalley of East
is dead and the rest of the family are sick
with the same."
"Samuel Smith lost a nice horse last week
....stoppage.
"Mrs has a corset lamb not three
months old which weighs 30 lbs."
Country Feitor
-31
Henry H. Pratt
"The question if you meet any one is not
how do you do but has your water stopped. Never
was such a time known."
"The erouth is taking on a serious aspect ir this
section. George Palmer who
lives on a hill near the village,is driving his
stock over a mile to water. Another week of
dryness will compell him to do the same thing
for his home
Funeral services were held at
the house on friday last at ter o'clock
J.T. F was manager."
w A very excellent program
was rendered and everything went off in a very
aloe manner and every one home having enjoyed a
verz; nice evening .A large number attended
and the affair was very financial."
Tellirp the editor:
"When I sined for the paper paid
for the sane and shall not ever pay another sent
and further more you need not bother youre self
to send it any more as I shall not take them from
the °flee any more.
"Dear Sir:
Since sending my last communisation I rec
your letter and have this to say in reply. I am
perfectly willing to not send any more items for
when an eeitir gets so rarro minded(as this is
the ease with you) that he is unable to see
only one side of a thirE the sooner all relations
are severed the better.
w
"Please Dont Send the paper ony more for i
dont Want it."
"As I have look your paper over sevrell
drifent Times I have not been able to fiend any
West M atames I would write a few Itemas
each weak if you caired to have me as I suspose
our rule is to give your raper one year free for
writ.i.ng the itmas if you cair to have me Write tam
Country rditor
-32-
Henry H. Pratt
Pleas send me a line an Preeticlars. in regard
when the Itmas must bee sent in to you to Print
each week as I note your raper is Printed
Thursdays I Euspose the Itanes should Bee in
By Tuesday each Week my address is
Mrs.
A school board member publishes his reports
"Schools Closed June 29 After A turn of ten
weeks. No 6, was taught by Miss A L•
making her seven Turmes in this school. She is
one of our best Teachers Ard the Schollers showed
grate Improvement.
The exercises wear perfict the Parents showed
grate Intrist in the School sixty two to visit
the school the last day
No. 10 was taught by Miss Mary L the
school was a good one the scholars mad good
inrovemerts if thear is any fault it is with the
Perance not with the Teacher."
Another educational report:
"District No. 1
This district has had 3 Terms of School of 9
weeks each Taught by Sara IT one of the best
of Teachers
She had 3 District united 1 in B.... 2 from
A they ran just like Clock Work She did
not have to oil up much either.
"Last year at this time,my book shows,' sub-
scribed to your splendid paper for Miss Julia
to be sent to It expires
this month and I cannot renew it for her because,
as you know,she expired too and I miss her keenly."
A postmabter fills out a return P.O.card,notifying the editor
of 4 :-:4bscriberts refusal of his paper at the office,stating
as
Reasor: "The time is out and tha ant a gonter
them out."
Courtr7 rditor
-33-
Henry H. Pratt
in Memoriam:
One has gone from midst our number
One whose voice we loved to hear
He now sleeps in deaths cold slumber
Where no sorrow will he fear.
He was kind,so ford and gentle
That we loved him,ah to well;
But a band of angels found him
And they wooed him home with them
And ir robes of radient glory
They have clothed his youthful form
And for gentle deeds of goodness
He'll receive a starry crown.
Could we gaze beyond heavens portals,
To the regions of the blest,
We should see sweet James asleeping
Calmly on his Saviours breast.
He's escaped the care and sorrow
Of a sinful world like this;
'od hath lert,ard he hath taken
What he lent because twas best.
Ther,fond parerts,cease thy weeping
For the idol thou hast lost.
Let hope whisper of the meting
Thou mayst have when life is past
r7ourtr7 "Tditor -34-
Henry F. Pratt
"Daniel C of 30s ton is spending his vacation
with his wife. Mrs. C is recuperating from
an operation with her mother."
"Ned a little Dog belonging to once a resident
of Bristol past away in on the morning of May 27
after a few days of suffering with heart trouble caused by "Ord-
agelbeing nearly Sixteen years of age.
Past Away
1 Little red: shall we count him dead
The unforgotten ti s said never dies
Though mound of earth in gardin corner
'Neath the Appel tree shad shows where he lies.
2 A faithful little friend for nearly sixteen yearn
Grateful for evry kindness shown;
And were there eny faults to find,
He never held those faults his own
3 His gratitude unflinching love
His patience trust outdoo who can?
His courteous ways to thoes he loved,
For !Ted was of his race a gentleman.
Dear Ned I sometimes wondring muse
If that thy days and being can be o'er
Or whether for your ill used race
Some other planet may not be in Store.
8 Through love to him,the love I bare
To all his kind took deeper root
And pleading Dumb creation's i4ights
Shall be of dear Ned's life the fruit.
9 Yes as long as I can speak or pen can hold
Gainst cruelty a line to trace,
LitLle Ned shall live in evry line
The noble benefactor of his race.
Pleas will you cive this writing a space in your next Ishue
1.4* f!orveriert; if any ristakes are seen pleas rectify.
Country Editor
-35-
Henry F. Pratt
(1) "Er. B
Why dident you publish those lines I sent you
about two weeks ago,in regards to my woman
sickness
Do you charge any pay for publishing it.
Er.. S. D. H
(2) "Mr. B s folks considers they are as worthy
as ary ore else Mrs. S.D B WYo has
been on the sick list .is now on the gain.
(3)
"Yr. Editor.
In re04 to your letter that you sent
Er. B last week
I am much obliged to you for it.
But I would like to inform you that I have
found items printed this'week and last week And
the people wasart any dangerios sick then I was.
And prirted almost the same way Yr. B.
wro+la ry sickness.
And at the time Mr. B sent you the adver-
tisement I was dangerious sick And I understand
the meaning of such things I am quite as respectably
as Yrs. Q.... G of G
Era. S. D. B
"Notice
please Publish these Items as I send them in
and. let nothing be left out. as I dont wish to
Select. Items and have so many of them left out.
Yours truly
Country Editor
Henry H. H. Pratt
"We do not get many such things as you have just been reading,"
said Miss YUsprove, "rot now.
That generation is passing and
a younger generation is coming up,better educated. Education
has permeated the rural areas tremendously in the last score of
years. Schools are better,and children are responsible for a
great deal of adult education by carrying home from their
schools a good deal of what they learn there. No one appreciates
the progress of education among our rural areas more than the
editor of the country newspapers. It is something which presents
itself to h m every day.
"Just by wa;, of illustrating that improvement I want you to see
pupils in
three essa7s,written byAthe third grade of our schools
Taken
together they make a fair average of the grade. These were writ-
ten in a contest on the subject:
"How to Make Bristol a Prettier and More Attractive Town."
Tile first is by keeping our streets clean,I
mean by that never throwing old papers and peelings about.
Secondly by planting vines and flowers in the back yards,this
helps to cover ur many unsightly places. Third by cleaning
up the ruins of the hotel. And again by trying to close up
the poolrooms,and by obeying the laws of Bristol,in this way
we may become good citizens
"To make the
Put more garbage
the road for the
To keep our
quiet day. Set
around the town
stores."
younger boys stop smoking and swearing.
barrels around. Have some chairs beside
old people to sit on when they get tired.
own yards clean. To remember Sunday as a
out trees around the town. Set out trees
Have lower prices on things at the
Country Editor
-37-
Henry H. Pratt
A third,typed by himself:
In oder to have Bristol a more attractive place. We
oupht to move the comP,on into the midle of the squear,so
that armone cominr into the village would turn around it just
like the silent policeman,and take the silent policeman outl
Put the flag pole on the south end and put the stone that has
the names of the men that were in the Civel War,next tt the
flag pole. have seats go up as far as the midle and have the
cannon next,bave some more seats go up a ways. Have room
enough for a drinl4ng fountain and a band stand,and have bard
concerts.
In another wayswe ought to have some men and wemens toilets
on the park. And have another hotel built where the old one
bernt.
They ought to clean ur the park. When anyone has a barna,
instead of throwirp the pealing in the street have some garbage
cans around the street and have a man go around and empty
them every week."
The prospect of more and better writers through the progress
of education naturally Interests us editors. There are few
columnists among rural people; it is only occasionally that we
contact anyone who can help us cut with special features.
We run a eolumn contributed by Mr. George Proctor, on out door
topics; our local conservation officer has given me some material
from time to time. He is much too busy to devote more than
scraps of his time to writingthowever. Once I had a local
humorist writing a column for the Enterprise whose work was
so good that many people bourht the paper for the sake of his
feature. But people like these are rather rare with me.
Country Editor
Henry H. H. Pratt
"In former days a newspaper office was often called a 'poor
man's college'. There is a considerable list of names of those
who received their start,at least, in the Enterprise office
and later held high positions. They gained much of their educa-
tion in spelling,composition, and punctuation by picking type.
"1 mention Dr. Fred Lewis Pattee as one of these. He has
reflected little glory on the Enterprise office by the renown
he hae won as head professor of literature at Pennsylvania
State College for 34 years. He has become an international
nutl'orit, in American literatura.,especially in literary criticismk
and is the author of mal!ybooks, both novels, and critical works.
"Of his early experiences he wrote U.SpOD the occasion of
the Enterprise's sixtieth anniversary,last year:
"I began to work as 'printer's devil' December 19, 1879,
and I worked until June 1883. During my first year it was my
duty to build the fire in the morning and keep it going during tiee
day,sweep up,waFh up rollers,pick over the 'hell -box'
and be useful generally.
"'I was a crude specimen when I entered the office at the
age of sixteentand I spelled 'country style'. I really never
had been schooled until I stood at a type -case and was compelled
to put all -but -unreadable manuscript into perfect form,rightly
spelled and rightly punctuated.
"'I lived at my old home over on the farm in South Alexandria,
two milee awa. All that first winter it was my duty to get to
the off.:.ce at 6:30 in the rorring and have the room warm when
the hnres came in.
TO do this I had to have my breakfast at
5:30 are or stormy mornings had to wallow through Bartlett's
WOMMIlmmimmommm
Country Editor
Henry H. Pratt
Woods on unbroken roads at temperatures I hesitate to record.
For this I received 50 cents a day and boarded myself.
I find by consulting the time book that I care-
fully kept,that during that first year at 50 cents a day I was
never absent from the office a single working day.*
"Mr. Wm. J. Randolrh,from 1908 to 1936 Register of Deeds
for Grafton County,was another 'pupil' of the 'poor man's college'
at 7ristol. Fe says of it,in parts
"'The sclloolirp which I received under the tutorship of
Yr. Musgrove was of great value to me,for at that time I was
taught the complete rudiments of typesetting,press work and
newspaper work. In great measure I owe my success
to the late editor of the Enterprise,Yr. musgrove,because he was
painstaking and very patient and considerate to his young appren-
tices,and was determiree we should make good if by rare fortune
Te had it ir us to do so.'
"Er. Randolph worked,subsequent to his experience in my father's
offiee,in the Government Printing Office,in Washington; on the
Lowell Daily Courier; he helped found the Sandwich Reporter,worked
on the Plymouth Record; edited the Meredith News for four years,
and operated a job printing office.
Country 7ditor
Henry H. Pratt
"Mr. Fred H. Ackerman,for 37 years postmaster at Bristol,
still
andAone of the town's foremost citizens,was also one of the
(pupils'
of.the Enteryrise office. He began work as 'printer's
devJal at the age of twenty,at 50 cents a day,standard wage for
the first year. For his second year he received 75 cents a
day; the third year,ft.10; he finally reached the high salary
of t12.00 per weeklapproximately the same wage as was being paid;
at that time in Concord,
"Mr. Ackerman boarded at the Hotel Bristol,Otis K. Bucklin,
proprietor. The cost of board was t.00 per week for room and
board. Mr. Bucklin made a discount for absence on week ends;
he kept no record, hut depended on the boarder to inform him of
the amount due.
"The newspaper game is boundless in its scope and possibilitts.
The vision of these possibilities is well-nigh staggering,for
one's strength and the time between issues are so limited.
"One of the things I should like to do is cover moro rural
life...life on the farms. I wish I could get out among the
Country Editor
-41-
Henry H. Pratt
farmers,make more personal contacts with them,talk with them about
life and conditions on the farm,and construct from these bits of
conversation stories of the real rural life.
"Another or my visions is more contacts with people about
the village. News —local news —quantities of news,about one andher,
are the standby of the country paper. I feel that if I could
get abc..ut more in the village --if I could listen in where people
are talk-ng I would get a lot of suggestions as to where news
miglit possibly lie. The'nose for news'is not always the gift of
people wl'o gather news for me,and I always need news.
"Avair,I Vhirk the paper should,each week,have some vital
Message for its readers —some worth while suggestions of constnuc-
tive things to do for the area we cover. There are many things
which ought to be done,which could and probably would be done,
if people thought about them,the reasons for doing them,and were
convinced of their practicability. There are matters religious,
educational,moral—all of which ought to come in for discussion
in our columns.
"Perhaps of much less importarce,yet something I would like to
dosis the presenting. of both sides of national issues. Those
are not so much the field of the country papers as of the big
dailies. But there are many of our subscribers for whom our
paper is the only one they seetand I feel that some attention
should be given to such issues.
"But to do that with any justice I should have to give to
them much study —more than I have any time for. We do carry a
WashArgton letter,ane one from our state capital,and those have t
Country Editor
-42-
Ho H. Pratt
sufrine.
7ature lore is very attractive to our readers --movements of
birds in various seasons,flowersorimals,fish--espeoially fish.
Located as we are on newfound Lake,which abounds in game fish,
and being in the midst of a region of trout brooks,and in easy
automobile reach of Lake WinnipesaukeeteverYbody fishes. It is
the big sport.
"Consequertlr I used to carry a very popular column on
rish--as complete a record as I could pet of the daily catches
of fish,with their weights,number,size,Rind, made in our area.
It attracted much attention. Eut...there again came in the
limitation of time and strength.
"Even the children set some store by the Enterprise.
One Fourth of July,in a recent year, Bristol held a field day,wit
the usual s,orts. One little fellow was victor in his class
of races,and felt his laurelsolaturally.
"I EaTrose 1-e felt quite sure that his name would aprear in
parer smorp the lirts of victors,for he came down to the
office the next day to ask ma to print an extra paperlin the
press run, so that he could have a copy all for himself.
"And no we touch the vital interests of all classes of people
in our community,as editors,reeivirr from them perhaps more
than we give them,but giving them all that is in us to give.
As a corclusior to 'is Y_usprove's story the fact should
be mentioned that in the year 1.936 her paper was awarded the
Silver Trophy offered by the TTew Eampshire Weekly P.:.blisherst
AXECCiatiOn. This Trophy is giver 3ach ,,,ear to the paper
Country Editor
-43-
h. Pratt
exhihitinp the most outstanding accomplishment. The Enterprise
was awarded this Trophy in the first year it was offered for
a splendid piece of reportorial work on the flood of that March.
fThe report was written in diary form --the day by day hapennings
in the flood area of the Bristol region. Three times a day
the editor travelled around,getting the height of the water
in the Pemigewasset River,the Smith River,7ewfound Lake and other
points,noting attendant circumstances_:;a matterf of interest.
The pnysical labor,to say nothing of the writingswas tremendous..
Miss Musgrove's modesty in withholding this honor frcm
her story is further evidenced by the way in which she tried to
disparage her own abililq as a reporter. Her daily notes
were rapidly scribbled on separate small sheets of paper intended'
she said, to be decently written out later in some smoother
general sor form,but that,owing to lack of time they were
f.,nally thrown into her paper in the crude form ofil sonal ex
Probably that was the ideal way of telling the story;
at least, the Publishers' Associatio# seemed to think sot and
our modern countfy editors are good judges of reporting.