Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

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PIONEER HISTORY OF INGItAM COUNTY

issued, and we doubt if in all Christendom its like was ever seen
before or since. We have a copy of that first number before us
now, and one single glance over its columns produces a sensation
similar to having your hair combed with a three-legged stool by a
spunky wife. With only type enough to "set up" one page at a
time (the balance having been sifted into the highway), and that
of three or four different sizes, all of which had to be used on the
same page, to which might be added a total ignorance of the art of
newspaper making, no wonder that it was unanimously voted a
monstrosity the moment it made its appearance. The editorial
matter was in worse condition even than the mechanical work.
When we came to write we learned where the real labor of making
a newspaper was. After two or three hard days labor and the
spoiling of many sheets of good paper, the following "editorial"
was produced, which is copied as near like the original as can be
done with modern type:
"Having located in this village, for the purpose of establishing
a newspaper, it is but just and proper that a few words of explanation be said. The first thoughts we had of settling here were
suggested by two or three business men of the town. Flattered
by the representations made by them, we concluded to visit Mason.
The Citizens seemed all awake, and the prospect of a Newspaper
being printed at their county-seat, seemed to coincide with their
views. We concluded, at once, that if the business men would
unite in the support of a paper we would try the experiment,"
etc., etc.
The above is the first that we ever made to write for the press,
but its production was the best lesson of our whole life. In that we
beheld unmistakably our total ignorance of composition, and lack
of literary ability. We learned, too, that if we should ever become even a passable scribbler, study and practice were necessary. The resolution to succeed was then and there formed, to
which may be attributed the influence and prosperity of the News
afterward.
We have given the above specimen of editorial skill contained
in the first number. This may look tolerably well to an eye unpracticed in the "art preservative" but come to dress it up in the
mechanism of the original and it presents a very different appearance. The following is a sample of the mechanical skill displayed