Page:History of the newspapers of Beaver County, Pennsylvania.djvu/19



The newspapers published in Beaver before the "Western Argus," were included in the period from No- vember 4, 1807 to September 1, 1818. They were in- fluential in their day, and supplied a want that was felt by all classes of people, the politicians, the tradesmen, the office holders, and the humbler workers who were the backbone of the rapidly growing population.

These papers changed from hand to hand, or in name, with great rapidity, doubtless under the stress of adverse circumstances, and the lack of suitable patronage, so that there was no permanency until eleven years after the first one began its existence. Materials were neces- sarily high and subscribers and advertisers few, and the comparative sparseness of the population, made the official and legal printing a small item. Labor was cheap, and the purchasing power of the people was poor, and subscribers paid so little in cash, that the burden of securing enough to pay the expenses of the printer, was a heavy one and could not be borne long.

It must be borne in mind that at this time there was but a small population in the county, not larger than New Brighton at present; that the most thrifty town in the county, Fallston, was a mere hamlet with a flouring