Page:Oregon Literature by Horner.djvu/41

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
OREGON LITERATURE.
27

active men have to think and to do than has any other influence in our state.


INFLUENCE OF NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES.

The pioneers well remember the time when the newspaper came in the semi-annual mail and was ravenously devoured. They wanted to know about the old folks at home, then afterwards came the war and other national topics of importance. Harper's, Leslie's, and the more expensive current literature, found their way into many of the more prosperous homes. A taste for literature and the news was being awakened so that in a short time the newspapers began to multiply; the monthlies became weeklies; the weeklies, semi-weeklies; the semi-weeklies dailies; and, if there are to be many victories such as Dewey's, the people will rise up en masse and demand an hourly bulletin. The thirst for news and information on national questions will ever serve as a tonic to create a desire for abundant reading, hence will produce a better market for literature.

It is true we have not published many magazines; but it is not for want of talent, or scenery, or demand; we have simply not had the time and we could get it done cheaper in the East than we could hire it done in the West. But every one remembers the "West Shore" whose pen was dipped in poetry and whose brush was colored with the tints of the rainbow; how it visited our homes and