- Eureka 1910-1919 - (Part 2 of 12) -
“With the January 5, 1911 edition of The Herald changed ownership. T.C. Peffer and Miss May Peffer became the new owners. Mr. Peffer has lived in the county for 25 years and had served four years as county superintendent. George Tucker had been connected with The Herald for the past eleven years and George Wood for the past seven and one-half years. Mr. Tucker will devote his time to farming and the cattle business. Mr. Wood will probably engage in the newspaper business elsewhere. The Herald was started in July, 1868 and is one of the oldest newspapers in Kansas and has been published in Eureka continuously all that time. During this time, it has not missed an issue and has been consistent in living up to the original policy of its founder and first editor, S.G. Mead.
When The Herald was first established Eureka was a thriving village of seventy inhabitants. There were thirteen houses all told occupied as residences. At that time the nearest shipping point was North Topeka, then known as Eugene post office. The nearest stage route was the line from Lawrence by way of Burlingame to Emporia. There was semi-weekly mail from Burlington and this was the only link between the settlers of the Fall River valley and civilization. There were no bridges and high water often delayed the carrier or stopped him entirely.
S.G. Mead, founder of The Herald, reached Eureka about the middle of June, 1868, having made the trip by way of Leavenworth to Lawrence by rail, from Lawrence to Emporia by stage, thence to Eureka by pony. The equipment for the new enterprise arrived shortly after and on July 3 a specimen page was issued. It was warmly welcomed and every assistance was offered the editor but many shook their heads at the magnitude of the undertaking and doubted the ability of the county to support so great an enterprise. About 100 subscribers were secured on that first day and The Herald was established to stay.
The office was in a log cabin known as Fort Montgomery located at First and Oak Streets, (On the northeast corner). It had been built during the war at a time when Indian raids were feared. It was surrounded by a bank of earth and the bank of earth was still there when the paper was started and it contained a great number of dry logs. These were dug out for fuel.
The roof was shake (wood) and in most places wooden pegs were used. The paper eventually moved into a larger building east of the old fort and its pioneer days were over.
S.G. Mead, the founder and editor, started with a six-column folio paper, (folio is four pages). The subscription price was $2 a year. People then subscribed for one to twenty copies apiece, to help the new publication get on its feet. On August 6, 1870, the paper was enlarged to a seven-column folio. It is interesting to note that at this time the advertising rate was $1 an inch. On September 26, 1872, the form of the paper was changed to a five-column quarto freight paper.(Eight pages) In September, 1874, George Dunham bought a half interest in the paper and the firm was known as Mead & Dunham. Mr. Mead severed his connection with The Herald in February 1877 and Mr. Dunham and H.C. Rizer formed a partnership, Mr. Rizer being editor. The paper was changed back to a sevencolumn folio. On November 20, 1879, the paper was again enlarged from a sevencolumn to an eight-column folio. The subscription price had been reduced to $1.50 a year, if paid in advance.
Mr. Rizer became sole owner of the paper in July, 1885. He continued as owner until April 1883, when he sold out to Dr. J.P. Silsby. T.W. Morgan, now editor of the Ottawa Republic, was then local editor of The Herald.
On August 7, 1885, W.S. Marlin, then a young attorney of Eureka, took ownership, but that lasted only six weeks. On September 25, 1885, Z. Harlan bought the paper. He edited it for fifteen years. Mr. Harlan made several changes in the form of the paper while he owned it. He first made it a nine-column folio. Later the paper was changed to a six-column quarto, the same size that The Herald is now. Finally, he returned to the folio form, printing eight-columns to the page, and this was the style of the paper when Mr. Harlan sold it. During Mr. Harlan administration The Herald bought out the Greenwood County Republican, then owned by W.E. Doud.
In January, 1900, Mr. Harlan sold the paper to George Tucker, who with the first issue changed the form to a six-column quarto in which style it has been issued for the past eleven years. In July, 1903, Mr. Tucker sold a half interest in The Herald to George G. Wood, who continued as publishers until this week when the deal was closed which transferred the ownership and editorship to T.C. Peffer and Miss May Peffer.
In February of 1911, there was to be a girls basketball game between Hamilton High School and the Southern Kansas Academy and it was not played on account of a disagreement between the two managers. The Hamilton manager had chosen a student of the Eureka High School for his official and the manager of S.K.A. team refused to allow said student to officiate. Hamilton would not name another official. S.K.A. stood pat. The money was refunded to the spectators and the Hamilton team was forced to rustle for their expenses. About a half hour later after the above performance a team of girls from Eureka High School got together and played the Hamilton girls with the hope of getting at least a part of their expenses. The team from E.H.S. was composed of the first team forwards and center and the substitute guards.
The Eureka High School football defeated the Council Grove Highs, contenders for the state championship, in a hard-fought game in November of 1911 at the fairgrounds in Eureka. The game was called for 2 o’clock but was delayed because the visitors insisted upon playing White, a man who was barred by the Emporia Conference rules, under which the Eureka team is playing, and a violation of which would throw them out of the conference. The objection to White was that he is over twenty-one and a post-graduate. After much bickering back and forth, the Council Grove coach withdrew White and the game began. The score of the game was 11 to 10.
A survey done in 1911-12 of the roads and bridges in Greenwood County shows the county has 1,840 miles of public roads and streets. In Eureka city there are 35 miles of streets and 35 miles of walks. The county has 45 steel bridges and 27 concrete and stone arch bridges. Janesville Township had the most public roads with 226 miles.”
