186 



50. Salem Daily Journal. The second attempt to 

 establish a daily penny paper in Salem, was made by Edwin 

 Lawrence, in 18.54. He published the first number of the 

 " Salem Daily Journal" on the 24th of July, of that year. 

 It was published in the afternoon, as the Chronicle had been in 

 1848. The experiment was not successful, and the publication 

 was abandoned November 24, 1855, after a trial of over a year. 

 The Journal was at first neutral, afterwards favorable to the 

 Native American party, and in the fall of 1855 approved the 

 Republican nominations. Mr. Lawrence, previous to his re- 

 moval to Salem, had published the Newburyport Union, Lynn 

 Bay State, and Essex County Freeman. 



The notice of the Daily Journal, the fiftieth of the list, con- 

 cludes our brief account of the periodicals of Salem. The 

 reader has doubtless observed that but few of these many en- 

 terprises have been permanently successful. Most of the jour- 

 nals which we have named, died in early infancy: only three of 

 the whole number have survived a generation. The multipli- 

 cation of newspapers during this period has been exceedingly 

 rapid, and yet where one has succeeded perhaps fifty have failed. 

 Often commenced merely as business speculations, rather than 

 to meet the wants of the community, they have not been sus- 

 tained by the public, because not needed. 



When Mr. Hall issued his proposals for the publication of a 

 "Weekly Publick Paper" in this place, such a vehicle of infor- 

 mation was greatly desired. Newspapers were few in number 

 and confined to the large seaboard towns. They were looked 

 for and read in the country with the deepest interest. The ap- 

 pearance of the weekly sheet was an event of importance to 

 people of all classes. Now they abound everywhere. Almost 

 every considerable village in the country can boast its local 

 print. Then, the expense attending the publication of a newspaper 

 was very great. Paper was scarce and costly, and other materials 

 obtainable only by importation from the mother country. The 

 style of the papers, in respect to typographical appearance, 

 was quite inferior. The old Essex Gazette is a curiosity of the 

 printer's art, although it was in all respects a superior paper 

 for those days. 



During the past fifty years the art of type-making has ad- 



