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We see a copy of the “Missouri Advocate and St. Louis Public Advertiser.” The first two pages are taken up with a verbatim copy of an Address by Henry Clay in Kentucky. He ends his address thus, “That I have often misconceived your true interests is highly probable. That I have sacrificed them to the object of personal aggrandizement I utterly deny. And for the purity of my motives, however in other respects I may be unworthy to approach the Throne of Grace and Mercy, I appeal to the justice of my God with all the confidence which can flow from a consciousness of perfect rectitude.”

On page three the news begins. “With feelings which could only be created by a similar occasion we announce today the arrival of General Lafayette on the steamboat Natchez. Thrice welcome thou Son of Liberty and Companion of Washington to the Home of the Free.”

Here is another news item, “Our readers will see that the Allies have become tired of waiting for the death of King Ferdinand of Spain and have resolved to take out letters of administration and divide the old man’s estate while living. This is a novel proceeding and may be filled with many advantages unknown to the old method of settling affairs.”

Then there is an article urging that St. Louis be made a port of entry. “Seeing no possible objection to the measure, but on the contrary everything urging the adoption of it, we trust that our Government will not hesitate to grant a request so reasonable and necessary to our immediate welfare and prosperity.”

And then, “The Proprietor of the Mansion House Livery Stable respectfully informs the citizens of St. Louis that he is now prepared to accommodate then with Carriages, Barouches, Dearborns, Gigs and Saddle Horses.”

Next follows a “St. Louis Wholesale Prices Current.” Here we read that ham was 5 to 8 cents a pound, corn 18 to 20 cents a bushel, lard 6 to 8 cents a pound and whiskey 25 to 28 cents per gallon.

Then there were quotations of “Exchange.” United States “paper” was from 1 to 2 per cent premium. Drafts on Philadelphia and New York, par. Illinois State Bank, 68 per cent discount. Missouri Loan Office, 25 per cent discount. Commonwealth of Kentucky, 50 percent discount.

“Valuable Real Estate for Sale. The late residence of Col. Elias Rector near the mounds, containing Eight Arpens of Land, situate immediately north of the City of St. Louis. A good dwelling house, barn, stable, carriage house, ice house, garden, and an excellent well of water.”

(From The St. Louis Story by McCune Gill, 1952.)

Joseph Charless sold his paper [Gazette] and retired from editorial life in St. Louis. Under his skillful guardianship, the Missouri Gazette had grown from a twelve-column paper printed on a sheet of foolscap to twice that size printed on an imperial sheet. The number of subscribers consistently increased, from 174 at its beginning in 1808, to 1,000 by 1820. It was due to his tenacity of purpose, his untiring industry, ability and tact, and a strength of will which no disasters or threats could overcome, that Joseph Charless became a recognized influence in St. Louis during his lifetime, and his paper a living testimony to his energy and ability long after his death.

Upon the retirement of Charless, James C. Cummins became the new proprietor and editor of the Gazette. His first change was to substitute for the former motto of the paper another, “Principles Not Persons”, which he considered “more generally applicable to the duties of a newspaper editor.” The following year the office of the Gazette was moved from the southeast corner of Fifth and Market, where it had been since early in 1820, to a house on Main Street, “nearly opposite the Copper and Tinware Manufactory of Messrs. Neal and Liggett”…

Cummins closed his account with the Missouri Gazette on March 6, 1822, just eighteen months after his purchase of the paper from Joseph Charless. On that day Edward Charless, son of the founder, became its new proprietor and editor, and a few weeks later [he] changed its name to the Missouri Republican.

(Exerpted from Early St. Louis Newspapers, 1808-1850 by Dorothy Grace Brown, June 1931). 

It Wasn’t Easy For Charless

One ever-present problem was the frequent scarcity of news because of the irregularity and non-appearance of the mail from the East. At such times the editor was compelled to search for material to fill the columns of the Gazette. Another was the question of money and the pressing need of subscribers who would be willing to offer more than merely their names to the subscription list of the Gazette. The columns of the paper frequently bore notices such as this:

“The editor begs leave to inform those subscribers to the Gazette who are in arrears almost two years that he is made of flesh and blood, that Cameleon like he does not live on air, but endeavors to subsist like other folks, for this indulgence he is indebted to those who subscribed with an intention of keeping the ribs of the press oiled, and wished him to keep up that antique custom, eating and drinking.” (Missouri Gazette 4/19/1810)

(Excerpted from Early St. Louis Newspapers, 1808-1950, by Dorothy Grace Brown 6/1931).

The patrons of the Missouri Gazette are respectfully informed that after the present week, the paper will be considerably enlarged, and every exertion made to render its appearance respectable and its contents interesting.

At the commencement of a publication of this kind in a part of the country so remote from the theatres of commerce and foreign intercourse, numerous impediments oppose the procuration of the latest and most important intelligence, owing to the impracticability of obtaining an immediate exchange of papers with the printers in different parts of the Union: These difficulties are now removed, and the present editor pledges himself that, hereafter, the Gazette shall appear in as handsome a form, and as well stored, with the passing tidings of the times, as his utmost care and unremitted attention can make it.

(Originally published in the Missouri Gazette 9/14/1808).

The Salutory From the First Issue

With this number we begin the issue of a new monthly magazine, “The Herald of Music,” which we hope will be heartily welcome in the music world. We shall use every effort to make it not only interesting and popular, but also of such a character that it will further the cause of musical progress, especially in the West.

Among the leading and more attractive features to which we expect to add from time to time, if the success of our enterprise warrants, is, in the first place:

The publication each issue of twelve to sixteen pages of vocal and instrumental music, which will be mainly of a light, melodious and popular character, and yet will contain nothing trashy or vulgar. We shall endeavor to show by these publications that music of a higher class is not necessarily heavy or uninteresting. We feel certain that not only the general public but musicians, amateur and professional, will find much to interest them in this department.

Besides this strictly musical section we shall present discussions by prominent composers and eminent teachers upon such topics as are of general interest to the musical public.

There will also be reviews and criticisms of new compositions of note, written by thoroughly competent musicians and critics, which will be of great service to those who are on the lookout for new music.

Special care will be taken in the collection and editing of both general and local musical news, including correspondence from the different music centers of the United States and Europe, so that our readers will be kept informed of all important events in the musical world.

Another department which we expect to make of general use as well as interest is one which will contain practical hints and instructions to students of both instrumental and vocal music. This will be contributed to by teachers of known capability and experience.

In conclusion we would say that our aim is to bring before our readers everything which is good in musical science, theory, history, biography and literature, and if we succeed it is our expectation that the musical public will give us the support that our enterprise may deserve.

(Originally published in The Herald of Music, 7/1897).

Paper Attempts to Broaden Weekend Readership

The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, beginning on March 12 [1950], will include in its Sunday editions, besides “This Week,” a new type, “local,” color roto magazine to be called “Tempo.” Several reader preference studies have shown that this type of roto magazine section reaches 90% to 95% of the readers of a Sunday newspaper.

“Tempo,” according to its publishers, will concentrate its editorial and pictorial content on local subjects, with local people, local scenes and backgrounds being used to illuminate articles on a wide variety of topics from gardening to fashions; sports to interior decorations; personalities to home-building; beauty and health to food.

A special department has been organized at the Globe-Democrat with a staff of local writers, artists and photographers available for gathering local “slant” articles, stories and illustrations.
It is the consensus of manufacturers, advertisers and agencies who had a preview of the first edition of “Tempo” that this type of roto magazine section keeps the reader’s interest and attention much longer than the straight news “picture” roto section, and that many more metropolitan Sunday newspapers will develop local type magazines as a means of giving their readers more nearly what they want. The Globe-Democrat’s initial issue of “Tempo” will contain forty pages.

(Originally published in the St. Louis Advertising Club Weekly 3/6/1950).