From: "Evelyn" ewoudenberg@roadrunner.nf.net To: NFLD-ROOTS-L@rootsweb.com & NFLD-LAB-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2003 6:58 PM Subject: TIDBIT INFO. PROVINCIAL NEWSPAPER "THE TELEGRAM" > A tidbit of history on our long lived Provincial Newspaper > "The Telegram", St.John's, NL......besides our many local Towns and > Communities own Newspapers, The Telegram is still a conspicuous form of news > throughout the entire Province. > > > The Telegram - History > > The Evening Telegram > Early in 1879 a printer by trade, William James Herder, took an idea and > made it into a reality. The reality was the first daily newspaper in > Newfoundland and Labrador that sustained criticism and skepticism to become > the oldest continuously published daily in the province. > Herder, born in Old Perlican, Trinity Bay in 1849, brought the first > edition of The Evening Telegram to Newfoundland tables on April 3, 1879. At > the time Newfoundland was governed by a responsible government; the fishery > was prospering; plans were underway for a railway system across the island; > and mining enterprises were beginning. Newfoundland had rejected joining > Canada in 1869 and was functioning as an independent country. > > > At the time of Herder's venture St. John's had a population of 30,000 and > Newfoundland's total population stood at 175,000. Competing for readership > were one tri-weekly newspaper and 7 bi-weekly newspapers. The 1860's had > seen the country's first daily printed but it quickly folded. > Alexander A. Parsons was made The Evening Telegram's first editor, a > position he held until 1901. Robert Mercer held the position of pressman for > The Evening Telegram from its beginnings until 1929. He began turning out > papers on a hand press which had a capacity for producing 400-500 copies > daily. In total the newspaper had a staff of 6 people. > Situated at 218 Duckworth St., downtown St. John's, was the Telegram > plant where the first edition was printed consisting of a single sheet, four > sides printed. The paper sold for 1 cent per copy. In a mere two weeks the > paper was expanded to two sheets, four sides printed each. Only 3 months > later, June 28, a quadrant press was introduced that could print 1000 copies > a day. The Evening Telegram did so well that by May of 1880 Herder was > seeing 2000 copies of his year old venture hitting the streets of St. > John's. > Naturally with increasing circulation Herder moved his operation to a > larger building on Gregory's Lane connecting Duckworth St. to Water St. A > new drum-cylinder Babcock and Cottrall machine was installed in the new > location which moved the Evening Telegram even further ahead in technology > with its' capabilities to produce 1800 papers per hour. > > In 1880 the Evening Telegram was housed in it's new building with a new > printing unit and also received, by accident, a new look. Pink paper was > sent to the St. John's Evening Telegram instead of the Toronto Evening > Telegram. This new look was maintained by the Evening Telegram until > February 7, 1942 when World War II interrupted shipments. > For the first thirteen years of publishing the paper prospered and it > endured when other daily papers were started and failed. On July 8-9, 1892 > however, St. John's and The Evening Telegram met with disaster. The Great > Fire destroyed half of the downtown area of St. John's, including The > Evening Telegram building. Herder only had insurance to cover 1/5 of his > losses but not wanting his successful venture to expire he rebuilt the > newspaper and on September 1, 1892 it was being printed regularly at a > temporary office on Water St. On January 1894 a new building opened on Water > St. between Gregory's Lane to house The Evening Telegram. > Herder's paper took rapid steps in advancing it's technology, so in 1895 > the first wet-mat stereotyping press was installed giving the paper the > capacity to produce 20,000 copies of a 4 page paper per hour. Again in 1906 > another new press was installed, this being the sixth since The Evening > Telegram began printing. A 12 page Duplex flat bed, direct printing machine > was installed, the first one in Newfoundland. The paper then changed its' > format from 4 columns to seven columns and in 1908 added a type-setting > machine to it's advancing technology. Prior to the installation of this > machine all type-setting was done by hand. Only 11 years later the press was > again updated to a 16 page tubular plate rotary press. > > Shortly after that, from 1919 through 1922, The Evening Telegram employed > Joseph R Smallwood as a reporter and editorial writer, occasionally. Of > course it would be Smallwood who would later bring Newfoundland into > Confederation with Canada and become Newfoundland's first Premier. During > Smallwood's political career as Premier he would later sue the Evening > Telegram and vocally oppose their journalistic methods. > Forty-three years after the paper first printed and grew to be the only > successful daily in Newfoundland, William Herder died. After his death the > newspaper was reconstructed and a Board of Directors was established with > W.H Herder as president and H.A Herder as vice-president. Both were sons of > the Herder. Other changes took place as well within the paper. William > Herder's Evening Telegram had been pro-liberal but after his death the > policy became "Newfoundland first, regardless of party." > During the 20's St. John's saw the start of the Tely 10, a ten kilometer > road race started in 1927 and sponsored by The Telegram. It started will a > small list of runners and has now escalated to over 1000 runners. > In 1929 the Evening Telegram also started a subscription list for victims > of the south coast disaster which amounted to $250,000. > The 1930's saw some firsts at the paper with the first colour (red) being > printed in an ad, but it was not done again until 1958. In 1935 the > newspaper hired the first staff photographer, Albert Young. He was also the > first official press photographer in Newfoundland. By the end of the second > world war The Evening Telegram had it's own electronic engraving plant for > photographs. It was the first in Newfoundland. > Within 4 months of each other in 1934 both the President and > Vice-President of the company died and a year later, Dec. 31, 1935 another > Herder was appointed President. Ralph B Herder became President until 1955 > when he died. Along side him was James M. Herder as vice-president and > general manager. The newspaper only saw its' first advertising department in > 1941 with John G. Green as manager. > In 1952 a weekend picture magazine was added to the Evening Telegram and > circulation was around 20,000. In 1956 a 96 page Hoe press was bought and > the top 2 floors of the Parland Building west of Gregory's Lane were leased > where all the press machinery would be housed. The old building where the > press machinery had been was renovated into a newsroom, offices and an > accounting department. By the spring of 1961 all departments were moved to > the Parland building on Duckworth St. > The next decade remained relatively quiet with some technical advances > happening like changing the front page format from eight columns to six > columns of type in 1968. The newspaper also purchased a Justape computer in > 1967 which allowed type to be set faster and in varying line widths. > Articles were easier to read as a result because the line width was > increased. > In 1970 Jim Herder, the last son of the founder of the Evening Telegram > died. For 91 years the newspaper had been published by father and sons. On > August 1, 1970 Thomson Newspapers of Toronto and London bought the Evening > Telegram and remained owners until 1996. > Since January of 1958 the paper had been reduced to publishing 5 days > instead of 6, but in September of 1971, 6 days of publishing was resumed. > Shortly after on Oct 21, 1971 53 employees of 3 production departments set > up picket lines but returned to work a few days later on October 25. > Another strike would hit the newspaper on August 2, 1979 when again > production departments walked out. They were striking for shorter contract > terms and increased wages. August 20, fourteen news staff joined the 20 > striking pressmen and composing room staff. On November 14, 1979 the strike > ended with only minor incidents occurring over the month, such as the > obstruction of delivery vans. > A few years later on October 31, 1981, when Herder's grandson Stephen R. > Herder was publisher, the Evening Telegram moved to it's home on Columbus > Drive where the paper still resides. A Goss offset machine was installed > which gave the paper an eighty page printing capacity with more colour > capability. > It was not, however, until April 1989 that the Evening Telegram would > start publishing 7 days a week to become true daily newspaper. Shortly after > the newspaper would gain full process colour capability. The newspaper was > still published for an evening edition until 1993(? or 1994) when it was > published for morning distribution. The Evening Telegram kept that name > despite the difference in publication time until 1998 when it became what it > is today, The Telegram. > Non-publishing days > > 1892 - For six weeks the Evening Telegram was not published due to the Great > Fire that destroyed most of the downtown area of St. John's. > > Late 1920's - A hydroelectric power failure due to a mudslide caused the > paper to miss three days of publishing. > > 1952 - A press breakdown caused one day to be missed. > > Jan 30, 1975 - An electrical failure during a storm caused a one day break > in publishing. > > April 14, 1984 - A 2 day sleet storm caused the loss of electricity and 2 > days of missed publishing. > > Jan 12, 1991 - A snowstorm caused the missed day of publication. >