Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 3.djvu/377

Rh new press with new type, and R. L. Doyle taken in as partner.

In making this change the paper was enlarged by the addition of one fourth of an inch to the length of the printed page—a fact which the editor emphasizes. At this point the old Ramage press was practically laid aside.

In July, 1861, the manager of The Press, Victoria, British Columbia, conceived the idea that it would be good business policy to send a man to Olympia to print a sheet containing the latest war news, and have it ready to send by each steamer leaving Olympia for Victoria, thus enabling The Press management to place the latest news before its readers, upon arrival of the steamer, without having to wait to print it. This sheet was called the Overland Press, and it was in charge of J. R. Watson and A. M. Poe, and for a few weeks was printed on the press of the Washington Standard. In August, however, the old Ramage was secured and used for a year or more.

In 1863 Watson took it to Seattle, and printed the first paper there, the Seattle Gazette. A little later, some time in 1865, it was used in printing the Intelligencer, started by S. L. Maxwell, for the first time. Some time afterwards it was used in printing the first daily in Seattle, which, it is believed, was the first in the Territory of Washington. Twenty years thereafter, or thereabouts, it began to be considered an historical relic, and was stored in a room in the University of Washington, Seattle, and there it is today.

When the press came to the Pacific Coast is a question not yet fully settled. The writer is of the opinion, however, after most careful research, based largely on printed evidence in his possession, dated as early as 1852, that it was sent from New York to Mexico, thence to Monterey, California, in 1834, where it was used by the Spanish governor for a number of years in printing proclamations,