mediately enlarged to its intended size—three times larger than at present. In the meantime we hope to make up in quality what is lacking in quantity.
This promise, it is only fair to say, was not too conspicuously realized.
The first number of the Free Press contained only few hundred words of local news, none of which is told in anything like modern style. One of the items deals with the paper's own makeshift press
Our Press.—The most important means of our weekly communication with the public —our press—is entirely of Oregon manufacture. Mr. Victor M. Wallace, of this city, is the ingenious machinist who constructed it, and he is entitled to great credit for the excellence of his work, and the admirable manner in which it operates. Although it is made of wood, Mr. W. thinks it will be able to tell the truth quite as well as an iron one.
An item which, from the point of view of news coverage, leaves much to be desired, gave short shrift to the report of the grand jury. It read:
Grand Jury.— The grand jury rose yesterday, after a sitting of five days, which time they found 14 bills of indictment for the various offenses of gaming, violation of the license law, and larceny.
These indictments, however, with some exceptions, were "quashed," either from defect in the law or want of perfection in the indictments. The members of the grand jury, neverthless, are deserving of much praise for the faithful manner in which they performed their duty.
The names of the exceptions and the details of the charges faced did not appear in the Free Press.
The death of Colonel Gilliam, to which previous reference has been made, failed to disclose use of any of the arts of the reporter. A 20-line poem of eulogy signed "B" preceded an 80-word "obit" which omits nearly every detail of a modern obituary. Following is the item:
Death of Col. Gilliam.— The painful intelligence of the death of Col. Gilliam has occasioned feelings of the sincerest sorrow among our citizens generally—for he was widely known and greatly respected. The circumstances of the times make his death a public as well as a private affliction. He was the commander of our army now in the battle-field, and as such his loss will be deeply felt and deplored. His remains reached this city on the 1st inst., and on the
