An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 80

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company
Number of Pages: 1146

USA > Washington > Kittitas County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 80
USA > Washington > Yakima County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 80
USA > Washington > Klickitat County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 80

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ACADEMY EMMANUEL.

An attempt was made by Martinus O. Klitten and Mrs. Caroline Klitten to found a private acad- einy at Kennewick to be known as the Academy Emmanuel. An excellent building, formerly erected in the town for other purposes, was purchased and remodeled for a school building. Arrangements were made to give general academic instruction, also preparatory and business courses. Before the school was ready to open, the building took fire

and burned down, in December, 1903, preventing the plans from being carried out as intended. It is, however, said to be the purpose of those interested in the academy to rebuild at an early date and to open the school as soon as circumstances will per- mit.

The development of this section of the country has been so rapid as to have rendered it difficult, at times, for its educational systems to keep pace with its growth. The building of new railroads, the con- struction of irrigation systems and the development of mining districts have caused such large influxes of population to this group of counties that the re- sourcefulness of the people has been taxed to the utmost to keep pace with the growing demand for the extension of educational advantages. For this reason at times the most expedient rather than the best methods have been resorted to, and the results have not always been the best that could be hoped for, but the successes of the past give earnest of still greater ones to be achieved in the future, and we may rest assured that the sons and daugh- ters of those who established the educational sys- tems of this district will carry them on to full maturity of development.

CHAPTER III.

THE PRESS OF CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

Among the forces which figure in the upbuild- ing of a community none, perhaps, is more poten- tial than a lively, up-to-date newspaper. The news- paper man, however, like others who labor for the general good of humanity, is usually but poorly compensated for his toil and effort, and unless he can find a large part of his reward in the conscious- ness of having been a blessing to his neighborhood, he must forever remain in a large measure unre- munerated for his long hours of labor. Very many times the pioneer newspaper man is editor, compos- itor, reporter and pressman combined into one. His paper niust appear each week, must appear on time, if the overburdened editor has to work twenty- four hours out of the day. He is expected to keep the advantages of his town and county' constantly before the public eye. He must not fail to give praise where praise is due, and if he fearlessly ad- ministers rebuke, when rebuke is merited, he is li- able to be confronted by an injured innocent armed with a horsewhip or a revolver.

Then, too, the editor and his work seem never

to be fully appreciated. Even the most sagacious and public-spirited men of most communities fail to rightly estimate the value of a local newspaper as an agent in advancing the business interests of the town or city in which it is published and in augmenting its importance. In every town are to be found a very considerable proportion of business men who willingly give time and effort to the or- ganization and maintenance of boards of trade and to other movements for the attraction of outside enterprise and capital. These men may subscribe liberally for the establishment of promising enter- prises, though they contribute little or nothing to a means of greater importance and efficiency in the upbuilding of the town, the support of their local paper. Seldom does one find a newspaper that does not flatteringly portray the actual character of the town or community in which it is established. Into many a home does it each week come as a constant reminder of the town and its resources and many a sample copy finds its way into the far distant homes of persons contemplating a change of resi-

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dence, doing what it can to attract immigration and outside capital. Persons desiring to learn of condi- tions in a new country almost invariably write to the newspaper editor, feeling certain to receive a reply, for the newspaper man is invariably public- spirited, though the advantages to be reaped by him from the development of the community are slight compared to those accruing to other business men.

We will not attempt the almost impossible task of exhaustively tracing the history of the numerous journals which have gone out of existence. The newspaper business is a precarious one everywhere and the mortality among aspiring local journals is always very great, and in this respect central Wash- ington has been no exception. Of course some of the papers now deceased were started for special purposes and were not designed to outlive the cause which produced them, while others set out hope- fully, expecting a long life, but sooner or later suc- cumbed to the pressure of accumulating liabilities, to meet which the earnings of the business proved inadequate. The oldest newspaper in this group of counties still in existence is published in the oldest county, Klickitat. It is known as

THE GOLDENDALE SENTINEL,

and is published in Goldendale every Wednesday, W. F. Byars, editor and manager. The Sentinel has the distinction of being the oldest newspaper in eastern Washington outside the Walla Walla country and perhaps the Colville section, being now in its twenty-seventh volume. The pioneer paper of this county was the Sun, published for about six months in 1877 and 1878 by a man who is said to have become demented. The plant passed into the hands of Joseph Verden, who sold it to C. K. and K. A. Seitz. They founded the Klickitat Sen- tinel, the first number appearing in May, 1878, since which time the Sentinel has appeared unin- terruptedly. In January, 1881, Captain W. A. Wash, who had come to Goldendale in 1879 and had founded a private academy there, commenced the publication of a rival newspaper, the Golden- dale Gazette. These papers alone occupied the local field during the early eighties.

In 1885, however, both papers passed into the hands of a stock company which united them un- der one management. The new journal took its name from each of the old publications, being called the Goldendale Sentinel, and under that name it is still issued. This stock company was made up of business men of the town and county and was incorporated with a capital stock of $3,500, divided into thirty-five shares. Two directors were elected annually by the shareholders, and one of their number was to be selected as manager to take full charge of the company's affairs. The first an- nual meeting of the stockholders was held the first Monday in August, 1885, at which R. O. Dunbar and J. T. Eshelman were elected directors. Mr.

Dunbar was then chosen as the new company's first manager and editor, although he had been act- ing in that capacity since the merger went into ef- fect, May 21, 1885.

The original shareholders together with the re- spective number of shares each held, were: W. H. Boyd, I; William Cumming, I; W. R. Dunbar, 5; J. T. Eshelman, 5; J. M. Hess, 2; Ophelia Cram, 1; T. L. Masters, I; Joseph Nesbitt, I ; C. S. Rein- hart, 6; E. B. Wise, 2; R. O. Dunbar, 4; William VanVactor, I; Frederick Eshelman, I; G. W. Stapleton, 1; J. M. Luark, I; W. J. Story, I.

The shareholders of the company at the time of organization were drawn from the ranks of both parties, with the understanding that the Sen- tinel was to be published as an independent paper. To publish a neutral paper is, however, almost an impossibility, as it is extremely difficult to find a person to take charge who is entirely non-partisan. For a while the Sentinel maintained its attitude of strict neutrality, but in a few years it became Re- publican in its sympathies and has ever since been unswerving in its fidelity to that party.

The Sentinel is still under the control of the stock company, but most of the stock has now passed into the hands of the present editor and busi- ness manager. Mr. Byars, a man of long and suc- cessful experience in the newspaper business, has been associated with the Sentinel at intervals for eleven years, and for the last five years the manage- ment of the business has been exclusively in his hands.

The columns of the Sentinel are filled each week with city, county and state news, interestingly written ; its editorial columns have always borne a high reputation. It has always devoted itself un- sparingly to the advertisement of the county's re- sources and the advancement of its best interests, with the result that the Sentinel has been no small factor in the region's growth. Its popularity is attested by a circulation of over 1,000 paid up sub- scriptions. It is a six-page seven-column paper.

It is a task that would hardly give adequate re- sults for the time expended, to compile a complete list of the editors and managers who have served the Sentinel. The changes in those departments have been extremely frequent. But to show that the Sentinel has been ably managed and edited it is only necessary to mention some of the men who were from time to time associated with it. Among the names we find the following, who have achieved eminent success and are known throughout the state of Washington: R. O. Dunbar, associate jus- tice of the supreme court of the state; W. R. Dun- bar, formerly register at the Vancouver land office; C. S. Reinhart, clerk of the state supreme court ; H. C. Phillips, present register of the United States land office at Vancouver; State Senator George H. Baker, Honorable Joseph Nesbitt (deceased), and others.

The old office of the Sentinel was destroyed by

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fire in 1888 and with the building almost the entire plant, entailing a great loss to the company. Re- cently the company erected an exceptionally fine, commodious building on Court street, which is oc- cupied exclusively by the Sentinel Publishing Com- pany. The equipment for both newspaper publish- ing and job printing is also very complete.

THE KLICKITAT COUNTY AGRICULTURIST

was established in 1893 by W. J. Story, its pres- ent editor and proprietor, and step by step has grown in force and influence until it has become one of the leading journals of Klickitat county and has attained to a prominent place among the strong newspapers of the state. Politically, it is Republi- can. In size the Agriculturist varies from six to eight pages, six columns wide. It is printed upon an unusually good grade of paper and typograph- ically is creditable to its mechanical department. Its equipment is among the best to be found in the country offices of the state. The circulation at present exceeds 1,000. Editor Story and his paper have ever stood for progress and for more than a decade have been in the forefront in advertising the rich and varied advantages of Goldendale and the great county of which it is the county seat. Due credit is cheerfully given by Klickitat's citizens for the good work done. The office of the Agricultur- ist is located on Main street in the city of Golden- dale.

BICKLETON NEWS.

Less than two years have elapsed since S. G. Dorris, an Oregonian, installed a plant at Bickleton and began the publication of the News, but even in that short period eastern Klickitat has experienced a wonderful development and the News has kept pace with this rapid progress. The first issue of the News appeared August 2, 1902, and consisted of only two small pages; today four pages of five columns each, all printed at home, are published weekly. The equipment of the News office consists of a 14 by 20-inch Peerless jobber, a Fairbanks- Morse gasoline engine with electric attachment; paper cutter, and several hundred dollars' worth of new modern type. The paper occupies its own building, erected by Mr. Dorris for that special pur- pose. It is a stanch supporter of Republican doc- trines and a vigorous advocate of the interests of its town and the surrounding country.

CENTERVILLE JOURNAL.

The Centerville Journal is a ten-page, four-col- umn weekly published by the Journal Publishing Company, Klickitat county. It is independent po- litically. The Journal has been edited and man- aged by Kelley Loe since it made its appearance, August 8, 1902. Mr. Loe has liad some former experience in editorial work, having published a

newspaper in the state of Missouri. The Journal is a meritorious publication, neatly printed, and al- ways filled with interesting matter, and it is con- stantly enlarging the circle of its influence in the community.

THE ENTERPRISE,

published as a weekly at White Salmon, Klickitat county, by Thomas Harlan, editor and proprietor, is the county's youngest newspaper, having come into existence May 8, 1903. It is a six-column folio, meritorlous in mechanical execution and in its edi- torial and news columns. The plant is small but new and complete and the paper is Republican in politics.

KLICKITAT LEADER.

The year 1890 seems to have been propitious for the beginning of newspaper enterprises in Klickitat county. July 19th of that year there appeared the first issue of the Klickitat Leader, published in Centerville. It was under the management of Frank Lee and announced itself as "principally owned and controlled by farmers, edited by a farm- er and run in the interests of farmers; down on all rings, monopolies and tricksters." It was issued by a joint stock company, capitalized at $4,- 000, known as the Farmers' Publishing Company. For a few years the Leader struggled to exist, but finally expired June 6, 1893.

GOLDENDALE COURIER.

Beginning March 7, 1890, a weekly newspaper, known as the Goldendale Courier, was published at Goldendale for several years. The first manager of the paper was J. M. Cummings, who made the following announcement to the public: "After ex- amining the field thoroughly we feel convinced that the people of Klickitat county stand in need of a people's advocate, a paper that will at all times advocate the interests of the people, and this the Courier will ever be ready to do." The Courier started, as did most of the publications of the county, as an independent sheet, but afterward be- came identified with the People's party. About 1896. the Courier ceased publication.

THE YAKIMA REPUBLIC

is one of the oldest papers in central Washington. It was established in 1879 in Yakima City, but when the new town of North Yakima was started it was moved to that place, where it has since been published. The publication was known as the Record until it came into the hands of Captain Charles M. Holton, who changed the name to the Yakima Republican. Again, in 1889, it experi- enced a change of name, becoming the Yakima Re- public. The paper has always supported the prin- ciples advocated by the Republican party. In Oc-

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tober, 1903, a daily edition was added which has been very successful and has given North Yakima its first permanent daily. It is a six-column folio, and, being a member of the Associated Press, re- ceives reports from that standard service. The Re- public office is supplied with up-to-date equipments, including a Mergenthaler typesetting machine, Babcock news press, folder, etc.

Both the Daily and Weekly Republic are pub- lished by the Republic Publishing Company. W. W. Robertson, who owns practically all the stock in the company, is the editor of the two papers. Mr. Robertson has been conducting the Republic since 1898. He is recognized as a newspaper man of ability and has gained for the Republic an hon- ored place among the state's journals.

THE YAKIMA HERALD.

The Herald, after fifteen years of successful ex- istence, having been established in February, 1889, still remains one of North Yakima's strongest jour- nals. As is usually the case with newspaper ven- tures, it came "to fill a long felt want," but con- trary to the usual experience of such enterprises, it sprang at once into popularity and has been liber- ally patronized ever since its initial issue appeared, February 2, 1889. The original publishers of the paper were E. M. Reed and James R. Coe, the lat- ter of whom had started the Democrat in the fall of 1888. In 1892 Mr. Coe sold his interest in the paper to his partner, and Mr. Reed continued the publication, with the exception of a few months in 1893, when it was leased to Watson & Coe, until September, 1897, when Charles F. Bailey and George N. Tuesley acquired control of the journal. A year later Robert McComh purchased an inter- est and Mr. Tuesley assumed the active management of the enterprise. February 1, 1904, L. E. Board- man bought a half interest in the Herald and with George N. Tuesley is now publishing the paper, the former being its editor and the latter its business manager. Such in brief is the history of the busi- ness career of the Herald, though, as is stated in its issue of January 6, 1904: "An interesting story could be written of its trials and triumphs."

"The hard times from 1894 to 1898," says the article referred to, "could tell a tragic tale of the struggle for existence, not only of the paper, but of numerous of its loyal patrons in business cir- cies here, all of whom fortunately stemmed the tide of adversity and came out of the blasting ef- fects of financial depression in living shape, but vis- ibly racked by the contact.

"From its first issue the Herald has had the con- fidence and support of the people, not only of this city, but of the entire county; and from its files can be gleaned all the important history of the sec- tion. The material advancements and disappoint- ments; the joys and sorrows of the people; mar-

riages, births and deaths, all, if told in chronolog- ical order, would tell the complete story of the growth of this modern little city from a dull, dwarfed sagebrush village, tell of the development of thousands of acres of apparently worthless, idle and unprofitable arid lands to the most productive and valuable in the inland empire, tell of the in- crease in population of from less than a thousand in 1888 to 7,000 or 8,000 in 1904, and a correspond- ingly large increase throughout the county, and of the growth in values multiplied by the number of years since the time that enterprise and development joined hands in the valley."

The facilities of the Herald are among the best in central Washington. It has a fine cylinder book press, two jobbers and a stitcher, all operated by gasoline power. Its job business is an extensive one and many neat and attractive pieces of work, which would have been considered a credit to offices of greater pretensions, have been turned out.

THE YAKIMA DEMOCRAT.

The Yakima Democrat is a weekly publication, of which J. D. Medill is editor and proprietor, is- sued every Saturday at North Yakima. The Dem- ocrat is a six-column, eight-page paper, with an extensive circulation throughout Yakima county and central Washington. It is now in its eleventh volume, having been established in 1893, its first number appearing September 26th of that year, bearing the name of the Weekly Epigram. J. T. Harsell was the publisher of the little sheet, which was issued from a job press. It was diminutive in size, being but little larger than a handbill, but what it lacked in quantity it made up in the qual- ity and sprightliness of its news items.

Mr. Harsell continued to issue the paper as an adjunct of his job office until September, 1897, when J. D. Medill, who owned the plant of the de- funct Daily Times, purchased the Epigram office, consolidating the two and placing Mr. Harsell in charge. This arrangement remained in force until May, 1898, when Mr. Medill himself assumed charge of the paper and he has since continued to edit and publish it.

January 1, 1899, Mr. Medill changed the name of the publication to the Yakima Democrat and its policy from independent to Democratic. Under his management the paper gradually grew to its pres- ent size. The Democrat is now the only Democratic journal published in central Washington, and is one of the most influential weekly papers in the state. January 1, 1904, the publishers of the Democrat purchased the plant and good will of the Yakima Washingtonian and consolidated the two under the name of the former, by this means largely increas- ing its circulation. The Democrat is the city's of- ficial paper and stands in high repute among its contemporary newspapers.

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NORTHWEST FARM AND HOME.

A paper of entirely different character from the other publications of North Yakima is the North- west Farm and Home, owned by the Washington Farmer Publishing Company and edited by Leigh R. Freeman, Mrs. Freeman being associate editor. This paper was established in 1847, near Fort Kearney, Nebraska, by Joseph E. Johnson, who sold the plant and business to Mr. Freeman in 1859. Mr. Freeman then moved westward and published the paper in twenty-five places before he finally set- tled in North Yakima. He reached Yakima county in 1884, where he absorbed the Yakima Record and later the Pacific Coast Dairyman. In addi- tion to being a farm and stock paper, the Farm and Home is a descriptive magazine and advertises the west in the east, where many papers are sold.

The Northwest Farm and Home maintains branch offices at Seattle, Portland and Vancouver and is widely circulated throughout the United States.

THE SUNNYSIDE SUN.

In April, 1901, William Hitchcock made a pre- liminary canvass in Sunnyside to see what the pros- pects were for a venture in the newspaper business. As a result of his efforts, he secured 200 subscrib- ers, not a very promising number, but he neverthe- less went ahead and purchased a small outfit. The first issue of the Sun appeared May 24, 1901. Many well disposed people thought the undertaking un- wise, but the editor lacked neither the necessary courage nor force to succeed and the auxiliary country promised well for future growth.

When the paper was started the office was fitted out with one small press and a few fonts of type ; now it is one of the best equipped offices in the county, being fitted wth a Monona cylinder job and book press, gasoline engine, eight by twelve Chan- dler & Price gordon press, paper cutter, stapling machine and up-to-date type, body and display. The very excellent special edition published in February of this year is a good sample of the class of work done in that office. From that issue we quote the following paragraph :

"There is probably not another paper in the Northwest, published in a town no larger than Sun- nyside, that would attempt such a thing. Four thousand copies of this issue will be circulated. They will go into hundreds of homes in the middle west and will, no doubt, influence many people to come to Sunnyside. To such, the Sun extends its cordial welcome."

THE PROSSER RECORD.

Among the representative papers of Yakima county is the Prosser Record, published at Prosser, by G. E. Boomer. The Record is a well edited, neatly printed journal devoted to the interests of

Prosser and the surrounding country. It came into existence about four years ago as the successor of the American, which had been established in Prosser as early as 1894, but had ceased publication in 1896. The first owner of the Record was A. W. Maxwell, who sold out to August & Brownlow, after con- ducting the paper a year. The present owner, Mr. G. E. Boomer, obtained possession of the paper only a few months ago, but in that short time has made himself a force in this section. The Record is an eight-page, six column weekly, Socialistic in poli- tics. In connection with the paper, a well equipped job office is operated.

THE COLUMBIA COURIER

made its bow to the public at Kennewick in 1892, its publisher then being E. P. Green. It was a four-page, four-column paper, using a patent inside. There were at that time not half a dozen families in Kennewick and vicinity. The size of the paper was increased three different times until it became a twelve-page sheet. It was purchased March 2, 1903, by C. O. Anderson, the present owner and editor. A well equipped jobbing office is main- tained in connection. The Courier is a creditable little paper, devoted to Kennewick and the sur- rounding country.

THE MABTON CHRONICLE,

a six-page paper, was established by Bernard J. Pacius, March 12, 1904, in the thriving little vil- lage of Mabton, as an independent weekly. The property is owned by the Chronicle Publishing Company, of which Mr. Pacius is a stockholder. At this writing (June, 1904), Mabton is about to secure another paper, the Enterprise.

A comprehensive history of all the publications of the past in Yakima county would include men- tion of a number that have long found repose in the journalistic graveyard. It would be an almost impossible task to fully treat of the history of the numerous publications which have failed to survive the storms of time. Among the pioneer newspapers which flourished for a time and then passed into oblivion may be mentioned: The Yakima Signal, started in Yakima City in 1883 and published for a number of years; the Yakima Sun, a short-lived paper which made its first appearance in Yakima City in 1885, ostensibly for the purpose of fighting "New Yakima," as North Yakima was then called ; the Yakima Argus, first published in 1884; the Times, which made its bow to the public the fol- lowing year; the Prosser Falls American; and nu- merous others.

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An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 80

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1904 Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company Number of Pages: 1146

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company
Number of Pages: 1146