Page:History of Oregon Newspapers.pdf/191

182 Noltner was a rather thorough-going Democrat, and when he was accused of receiving support for his paper form D. P. Thompson, of decidedly the opposite political faith, in his issue of January 22, 1886, he was emotionally upset and replied:

"When S. B. Pettengill, editor of the Standard, states that the editor of the World has received any encouragement or financial assistance or promise of any, or has solicited the same, directly or indirectly, from Hon. D. P. Thompson, or any other Republican, or that the World is published in the interest of any Republican ring or clique, he utters a most malicious and cowardly falsehood, and gives additional evidence that he is the utterly worthless prevaricator and slanderer that his own writings have heretofore proven him to be, to my entire satisfaction. A. NOLTNER."

Noltner's paper was a sort of Christmas present to the Democracy, for its first number appeared on Christmas day, 1885. It started and for the most part was maintained as a six-column, eight-page paper. It advocated tariff reform, and opposed Chinese immigration, saying in its salutatory that the "presence of the Chinese in any large numbers has a deliterious [sic] effect on all classes of labor. We champion any lawful [his italics] means that will rid the Coast of the leprous heathen."

The World gives clues to a number of papers operating at that time. In this same first issue it is announced that the Drain Echo will be issued in a few days. Papers quoted are the Baker Sage Brush, the Pacific Journal, and the Adams Times.

Under Noltner the paper, like all of his, was heavily political, running regularly eight or nine columns of editorial, largely on political subjects. Out of 63 editorial items in the issue of March 19, 1886, only 20 were on non-political subjects. Nor could he keep his political sentiment entirely out of the news columns. Like a good many others of the editors of his time, he did this sort of thing—over the story of the Republican convention, run April 30, 1886, he used this not exactly unbiased headline:

After selling the World in 1891 to W. W. Copeland, Anthony Noltner bought the Dispatch, which was the old Examiner started by John Milliken in September 1889, under a new name. He continued the evening (except Sunday) daily conducted by Milliken and ran it until January 11, 1894, when he sold it to J. B. Fithian and