RUNNING A ONE-MAN NEWSPAPER

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 148, 25 June 1938, Page 27

RUNNING A ONE-MAN NEWSPAPER

*f& those accustomed to metropolitan dailies with huge circulations, imposing : offices, batteries of linotypes, presses, teletypes, and with a staff of several hundreds, the idea of a newspaper produced unaided by one man may sound ridiculous, writes Arthur Miller in the "World Digest" In the Australian bush township where I lived .as a boy the sole newspaper was the "Times," owned, edited, and operated by a single man. The proprietor ran the show from start to finish. He gathered news; canvassed for advertisements, wrote all copy, set up the type by hand, ran off the issue on Thursday, using a flatbed PEess driven by a small oil engine. Last of all, he wrapped up the papers-for posting. When Quinn first took over the "Times" the press was hand-operated, so'his wife lent a hand on publishing day. With the advent of the motor, however, the good lady retired to the kitchen and attended,to her own, affairs.:,'." ■.:. , " ; -V f j, i ■!; ■" As might be expected, the composing department disliked setting up more than the minimum amount of type demanded by the editor and the advertising manager. Whenever possible, matter wasallowed to stand over for a few years. For instance, in the issue of August 8, 1922, the latest rainfall figures were for 1917, while the postal and.astronomical data was dated February, 1921. As the front page had been standing since 1914, it Wasn't strange that letters were missing there. But the four hundrtdt-. subscribers 'didn't mind.' .•'. ■ \ '■;.'■:';'.'• f .' ;'■' • : y The Gfreat War rather, a ;nuisance. Quinn 1 had to run long articles on dead and wmirided soldiers, which meant a great Asfljof-Avork every Wednesday. Although entirely- without assistance, the boss's time was not spent in', bis''office,' On the contrary, tie found time to sell insurance and milking machines, did job ; printing at high rates, was,a leading light in the social, world, as well as being.captain of the rifle club and a keen angler. After the Armistice news became rather scarce,,so Quinn sought for B'i

[means of filling page two without too much effort or payment. His best friends said the "Times" was- "falling off." Subscribers refused to renew orders. Facing bankruptcy. Quinn set out to do some solid thinking. Then a circus came to town one hot Saturday afternoon. Next morning the rector was .horrified to find a cryptic message chalked on the notice board •outside his. ivy-covered church: "Willie I enjoyed the circus immensely." Nothing more. Some kid.must have done the job under cover of darkness. But the ' parson's Christian name, was William land he had taken his family to the big tent.- - Straightway he claimed that it was an insult to the church, for "circus" meant service. The reverend gentleman was unpopular, and he knew it. ;His sermon that day mentioned., sacrilege, and he wrote an indignant letter to the "Times,*' protesting against the outrage, and tainting that the Press was responsible for. the growing hostility towards relfgion. Quinn chortled with glee. The touchy padre had played right into his hands. So he ran the letter, together with a sarcastic reply defending youth, the freedom of the Press, toleration, ' and liberty in general. Hastily the cleric grabbed a pen and wrote a stinging retort to "certain base insinuations." The battle was on. For six months the controversy raged. Nearly everybody took sides, but few remembered just how the feud started. .Personalities and sectarian hatred replaced; hot air about "principle of the thing,**'■''a fair deal," and *\JamneA Jntolerance.'' Subscribers'paid ; up-arrearswithfc smile.' Suddenly Qinnnclpsed; down the correspondence, dropped the whole business,like.a hot potato;, didn't want a libel action, v.Theni ftie parson received a call'to" 4 city parish."' The name 61 th person who scrawled the fatal message was never made;public.; Many contended that the "Willie" referred' to the parson's, son, and not- the William Arrowflyte himself. Finally;; I Quinn became tired of the place, settling out to the "Post" in a neighbouring town, and the paper went out of !.existence. '■■'' '.'.',",. -:.,:'! ■~..,',,