George H. Himes TWO HISTORIC PRINTING PRESSES. George H. Himes, secretary of the Oregon His'crical Society, has written: The first printing press used by Americans on the Pacific Coast was sent from Boston, Massachusetts, to Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1819, by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (the Foreign Missionary Society of the Congregational Churches of the United States), with type, fixtures, paper, etc., all together costing $450.00. It was used by the early missionaries at Honolulu for printing translations of different portions of the Scriptures, hymns, etc. A brass tablet upon the press bears the following inscription: "A Ramage Patent Printing, Copying and Seal Press, No. 4." Description: Height, twelve inches; length of impression lever, two feet; platen, twelve by fourteen and three-fourths inches; bed, twelve and one-half by sixteen and three-eighths inches; length of track, thirtyone inches; size of largest sheet that can be printed upon it, ten by fourteen inches. The press stands on a strong wooden frame thirty inches high, twenty-six inches wide and thirty-seven and one-fourth inches long, in the form of a Roman cross. The impression is applied by means of a screw instead of a compound lever. Speed probably about one hundred and fifty impression per hour. The American Board Mission in Honolulu sent the plant as above noted to the American Board Mission in Oregon, of which Dr. Marcus Whitman was the head, and it arrived at Vancouver, on the Columbia River, about April 10, 1839. It was transported by canoes and pack animals to Lapwai, now in Idaho, as quickly as possible, placed in position, and the first proof sheet struck off on May 18, 1839. A dozen or more editions of portions of the New Testament, primers, hymnbooks, etc., were printed, and in 1847 it was removed to The Dalles. Early the following year it was removed to the farm of Rev. J. S. Griffin, near the present City of Hillsboro, Washington County, Oregon, and used by Mr. Griffin in printing a monthly magazine called The Oregon American and Evangelical Unionist, which was suspended after eight issues. Years later Mr. Griffin presented the press to the Oregon Pioneer Association, and through this organization it came into the possession of the Oregon Historical Society, and may be seen in the rooms of that society in the City Hall, Portland, together with a number of the publications printed upon it. The first newspaper on the Pacific Coast, The Oregon Spectator, was issued February 5, 1846. The press and type were brought to Oregon from New York late in the previous year by the Oregon Printing Association. The press used was a Washington Hand Press, bed, twentyfive by thirty-eight inches, and this is still in active service in the office of the Oregon State Journal, Eugene, H. R. Kincaid, proprietor. The Printing Association, above alluded to, was composed of the following persons: William G. T'Vault, president; James W. Nesmith, vice president (afterwards United States Senator); John P. Brooks, secretary; George Abernethy, treasurer (he then was the Provisional Governor of the Territory of Oregon); Dr. Robert Newell, John E. Long, John H. Couch, directors. The constitution of the Printing Association was as follows: "In order to promote science, temperance, morality and general intelligence; to establish a printing press; to publish a monthly, semi-monthly or weekly paper in Oregon-the undersigned do hereby associate ourselves. together in a body to be governed by such rules and regulations as shall, from time to time, be adopted by a majority of the stockholders of this compact in a regularly called and properly notified meeting. 66 There were eleven Articles of Compact.' No. 8 says: "The press owned by or in connection with this Association, shall never be used by any party for the purpose of propagating sectarian principles or doctrines, nor for the discussion of exclusive party politics." William G. T'Vault was the first editor, with a salary of $300.00 per year. He resigned at the end of two months. His successors were Henry A. G. Lee, George L. Curry, Aaron E. Wait, Rev. Wilson Blain, D. J. Schnebly, and C. L. Goodrich, in whose hands the paper expired in March, 1855. John Minto A GRANGER'S LOVE SONG. Come to the grange with me, love; Come to the farm with me, Where the birds are singing and the flowers are springing, And life is happy and free. While the wheat grows in the field, love, And the fuel is cut from the grove, Neither want nor cold shall the night dreams haunt; Only plenty and comfort and love. Chorus Come to the grange with me, love, etc. We'll build our home by the hill, love, On the gentle slope where the lambkins play Chorus In the labors, joys, and cares of the grange, love, Life's duties we'll meet in companionship sweet, Chorus Narcissa White Kinney DESCENT OF THE AVALANCHE. We are told so often that it is wasted effort to try to reform the world or any portion of it. Especially is this said in reference to the temperance reform. The drink habit is such an ancient habit! The liquor traffic is so fortified by appetite and wealth and politics, which they tell us nothing can destroy. Do you see those rocks upon that mountain side? Rocks hoary with age! Seemingly strong as steel and firm as adamant. Before man was, they were! Can they ever be removed? But see again! God's agencies are at work. Just a flake of snow, a drop of rain, and God's hoary frost. Then another drop and another flake-and another and another; months pass, years pass. The rock remains, but the glacier grows. And now see again! A new agency has been at work-God's golden sunbeam, until at length that mass of icy snow stands so nicely poised that it only requires the flutter of an eagles wing to send it down a thundering avalanche -and every jutting crag and every opposing rock is only a crushed and mangled mass at the bottom of the precipice! Can the liquor traffic ever be destroyed? For years past God's agencies have been at work. A demonstration in a laboratory, a lesson in a public school, a lecture on a public platform, a written page, a printed column! Saloons go on. Patrons throng their doors. None notice the ever increasing multitude who are total abstainers. Few note the fact that yearly the drinking man is outlawed by all business firms. Few hear the tread of the youthful feet-keeping time to the music of "Alcohol a Poison, a Poison"; "Saloons Must GoSaloons Must go." But the avalanche is growing and |