Page:History of Oregon Newspapers.pdf/313

304 later on the Detroit Free Press under W. F. Storey. He was already a reporter when Lincoln was nominated for the presidency.

One of Mr. Ireland's first typesetting "sits" was on the New York Tribune, where he was one of the few typos who could decipher Horace Greeley's notorious scrawl. (75).

Before coming to Oregon in 1861 D. C. Ireland worked in the Scribner book-publishing plant in New York City. Later while fore man, for several years, of the printing plant in the state penitentiary at Jackson, Mich., he invented the side arms of the Gordon job press. Up to that time pulleys and belts had been used to transmit the power to the wheels.

While in St. Paul employed as a printer on the Pioneer Press he married Olive Lightburn, adopted daughter of Mr. Prentiss, publisher of the paper. Just before starting west he served 90 days as a volunteer in the Union army. In the spring of 1862 he started west across the plains, bringing with him a stallion that became famous as a sire. The name was Emigrant. A short period of work on "the old mission farm" at The Dalles, two years on the Oregon City Enterprise, a spell of running a pack train into the Boise basin placer diggings, a bit of prospecting on the Fraser river, in British Columbia, where he made some money, a successful investment in an Astoria salmon cannery, and he was ready to start the Astorian.

Mr. Ireland started both the Weekly (Friday) and the Daily Astorian. The daily was launched May 1, 1876, ten years after he had started the Oregon City Enterprise, three years after the Weekly Historian, and one year after his son, Clinton L., who has devoted a lifetime to publishing in Oregon, was born in Astoria.

The Daily Astorian was a neat little five-column folio, of which the Vancouver (Wash.) Independent said a few days later: "It makes the best first appearance of any daily ever started in Oregon. . . . well filled with advertisements . . . a newsy sheet."

One feature which would distinguish it from the papers of today was the 16-section head on the telegraph news of the day, all of which was run under the one heading.

Mr. Ireland had led up to the daily by issuing a thrice-a-week within six months of the launching of the weekly.

In January 1877 the Astorian installed a steam engine to operate its press. "The steam engine is pronounced a perfect success," chuckled the paper in its issue of January 11, 1877.

Ireland sold the paper to John F. Halloran in 1880 for $10,000 in gold. (76).

After several changes of ownership succeeding Halloran, who associated with him P. W. Parker (77), the Astorian was purchased by John S. Dellinger in 1903, and Mr. Dellinger published the paper until his death February 3, 1930. Mr. Dellinger was a publisher of