178 "THE PORT FOULKE WEEKLY NEWS." 



(where it had been carefully stowed out of sight until 

 the auspicious moment should arrive,) demands were 

 made upon him to read it aloud. This he was about 

 to do when some one claimed that so important an 

 event should not pass off so informally. "Agreeably 

 to national usage, we should call a meeting, organize 

 it by the appointment of the proper officers, and name 

 an orator for the occasion. Then, and not until then, 

 can it be said that we have properly inaugurated the 

 important event which has transpired. The public of 

 Port Foulke will not rest content with any less con- 

 spicuous mark of glorification over so momentous an 

 occurrence as the establishment of a free press on this 

 remote frontier of civilization." 



To this proposal no objection was made, — indeed, it 

 was received with much favor ; and the meeting was 

 accordingly organized by unanimously calling Mr. 

 Sonntag to the " chair." After naming the requisite 

 number of vice-presidents and secretaries, Mr. Knorr 

 was selected orator by acclamation. And now there 

 commenced a violent clapping of hands and a rattling 

 of tin cups, mingled with cries of "• order " and " hear, 

 hear ! " in the midst of which the orator mounted the 

 locker and addressed his auditors as follows : — 



" Fellow-citizens : — Called by the unanimous voice 

 of this unenlightened community to inaugurate the 

 new era which has dawned upon a benighted region, 

 it is my happy privilege to announce that we have, at 

 the cost of much time, labor, and means, supplied a want 

 which has too long been felt by the people of Port 

 Foulke. We are, fellow-citizens, no longer without 

 that inalienable birthright of every American citizen, 

 — a Free Press and an Exponent of Public Opinion. 



" Overcome with the gravity of my situation, I find 



