were vie-
torious. When Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, pro-
vision must have been made for the prompt dispatch of the
news because many of the handbills contained the expression,
"by special express." Benjamin Towne, even after he had sus-
pended publication of The Pennsylvania Evening Post, occa-
sionally printed handbills under the head, "All the News for
Two Coppers." These he sold on the streets of Philadelphia. In
spite of the stereotyped words, " Important Intelligence," many
of these handbills gave the gist of the news in large headlines
across the page.
ADVERTISING OF PERIOD
During the early part of the Revolutionary Period, editors not only increased the stock of patent medicines carried on their shelves, but did a more extensive business in the selling of slaves. The following advertisement from Hugh Game's Weekly Mer- cury for January 25, 1768, is typical:
To be sold an excellent negro Wench about twenty years old, with a male Child about three months old; the Wench has had the Small- pox, can cook, wash and iron, can be well recommended, and is sold for no other fault than being too fruitful. Enquire of H. Gaine.
This advertisement was followed by another also offering a slave for sale, but in this case one should " enquire of the printer" Hugh Gaine. Strange as it may seem, the editorial trade in slaves was possibly the largest in Boston. Many of the adver- tisements of runaway slaves differed slightly from those of the Colonial Period in that personal descriptions included such items as "an iron collar around his neck," "manacles on his wrists," "three scars on his back where he was burned for run- ning away two years ago," etc. The interpretation of such items belongs to another history than that of journalism.
Many of the papers fairly bristled with advertisements like the following: " I intend to leave this Colony immediately. Pay- ment of all debts to me should be made at once. (Signed
)" A collection of these advertisements would make a
fairly good index of the leading Tories who fled to foreign coun- tries to avoid the disorders of the Revolution.
