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Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 21
by Edward F. Bush The Klondike, 1886-99(continued)Concluding Days of 1899 A police ban on carrying firearms on the streets of Dawson was opposed by the Nugget but supported by the News. As late as early November 1899 the News observed that there were still a few roughs who carried guns in their hip pockets, but police vigilance made armed violence in Dawson at the height of the stampede much less frequent than in many an American city of Dawson's size. The rough ways of the frontier, however, had their lighter side, as witness the reception given a former suitor who attempted a belated apology to an irate virago: She hardly waited for him to get through before she produced a "Malamute persuader" with a twisted cracker and wound the same with artistic accuracy about the deep-dyed villain's ears. Her honour having been thus vindicated the happy pair (her husband) went to Lousetown and from there went into temporary retirement at West Dawson to enjoy another honeymoon. [34] By November 1899 the News noted the passing of the crudities of the mining camp, gradually displaced by "the enervating luxuries of a gay metropolis." Tuxedos and beauty parlours had made their appearance to the disgust of many of the old sourdoughs. The fantastic prices of the previous summer were gradually declining: turkey now retailed for $1.25 a pound whereas the previous summer it had been double that. A turkey dinner could be had in a Dawson restaurant for $1.50 compared with $5.00 the summer before. Fortunes changed hands with dramatic suddenness: a man who had been a penniless indigent last winter had just gone "outside" after having sold his claim for $7,500. The advertisement columns of the News in August included two bath houses, a palmist and three dance halls. The Nugget disclaimed indignantly at the open and thriving trade done by prostitutes on 4th Avenue. Rival Plants: News and Nugget Late in July the Nugget boasted a new printing plant, described as a large cylinder press, and a Thorne typesetting machine. With its 5 August edition, the Nugget expanded from four to six pages. The editor proudly announced that a new type was to be used with the cylinder press which would be much easier to read in poor light. The possibility of the paper launching out as a daily had been considered, but the decision deferred for the present. In its 12 August 1899 edition, the Nugget crowed over the News, boasting that the Nugget had the first typesetting machine in service in the territory, the bulky device having been brought in over the White or the Chilkoot Pass and thence downriver to Dawson. The advantage enjoyed by the Nugget was not to last for long. Presumably, before this date all Dawson newspapers had used hand-set type. Typesetting machines, whereby an operator could work with much greater facility from a keyboard like that of a typewriter, had been developed during the last two decades of the century and had come into use on large metropolitan dailies. In A History of Journalism in Canada, W.H. Kesterton states that this important printing device, the invention of Otto Mergenthaler, first saw service on the New York Tribune in 1886 and was introduced into Canada by the Ottawa Journal in the 1890s. [35] By 28 August 1899 the Nugget had expanded to eight pages, but was content with publishing semi-weekly on the basis that there was not sufficient news to justify a daily. Even before the advent of the government telegraph line, the News had no doubts as to the need for a daily. Not to be outdone by its rival, the News boasted a cylinder press (probably steam driven), a Thorne typesetting machine, and job presses for printing contracts, and had an engraving machine on order, expected over the ice the following winter, which would permit the reproduction of halftone illustrations. In a leader of 10 November 1899 the editor announced "Dawson has now a daily paper, the Dawson Daily News, which in typography and make up present a very creditable appearance for a publication emanating from a point so near the Arctic circle." [36] A perusal of these early issues confirms this claim. Over 15,000 copies of the Special Mining Edition issued in September 1899 had been circulated, many of which were sent to leading newspapers in the United States and Canada. The News might well be proud of this special issue. Late in 1899 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer paid the News the following tribute that was indicative that the New's plant had kept pace with its rivals: One of the great enterprises of Dawson is its great printing house, established by the Dawson News Publishing Co. The plant is extensive and thoroughly up to date. It includes three power presses, typesetting machine, boiler and engine, paper, and card cutters, job and newspaper type, as well as over 100 different styles of large wood type, typewriters, safe and complete office fixtures. [37]
Certainly the News, and to a somewhat lesser degree the Sun and the Nugget, had taken on the format familiar to readers of the metropolitan dailies in the 1890s and 1900s — use of headlines; use of the "inverted pyramid" style of presentation (headings in decreasing size descriptive of further detail), an anti-chronological style but one enabling the reader to scan the news quickly; greater variety of type, and its use, with clear spaces interposed, to produce an attractive appearance in contrast to the solid columns of type characteristic of the papers of an earlier period. Advertisements were plentiful in the three papers, representing all phases of retail trade, professional and catering services, and steamship and railway companies; leading American railways, such as the Great Northern, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, and the Sante Fe advertised in the Dawson papers. If one characteristic stands out in Dawson journalism of 1898-1908, it was the rancour and vituperation of its editorials. In this one would accord the Nugget and the Sun first place, but the editors of the News did not hesitate on occasion, stung by their contemporaries, to descend to mud slinging. Perhaps the Nugget set the pace for the future in its 5 August 1899 edition. It's a bad beginning you've made, neighbor. Come right out in the open and hoist your flag. There is nothing we like so well in this country as plainness of statement. Don't try to carry water on both shoulders at once . . . . Such wishy-washy stuff as you have been handing out so far might do very well in Tacoma, but will scarcely pass muster in the Klondike. [38] Journalism in the Klondike was nothing if not partisan. By 25 October the Nugget was referring to the Sun as "this harlot of journalism" for its defence of government officials against the unmeasured abuse of the Nugget, at the same time resenting its own sobriquet "the yellow rag." [39] Both the News and the Nugget opposed the government, asserting that the mining regulations, the royalty on gold output and import duties would strangle the territory whereas the Sun made allowances for the extraordinary conditions in this region populated largely by aliens and administered by a government necessarily ill-informed concerning the best interests of the territory. Late in 1899 there appeared briefly a weekly, known as the Gleaner, founded by a William Semple. It has been described by a contemporary as one of the hottest sheets ever published in Canada and I don't except the Calgary Eye-Opener." [40] In December the Sun agreed to print the Gleaner on condition that any articles verging on libel be first shown to the Sun's editor. Somehow the arrangement miscarried, for the Gleaner was sued and convicted of libel and its editor hastily left the territory. In its Boxing Day issue the Sun apologized to the crown prosecutor, F.C. Wade, for the Gleaner's statements. The Sun pointed out that British practice did not permit newspapers to comment on a matter before the courts. The Gleaner's brief but colourful career has left little but its reputation to posterity. In rendering judgement in a contempt case, Justice Dugas commented critically on the character of the Dawson press that abused its privilege by unwarranted attacks on respectable individuals. No particular paper was cited, but the News apparently felt that a response was necessary and alleged that it had followed the line of "clean, unobtrusive journalism." The proprietors and editors were aliens, but had not lost sight of the fact that they were living on the soil of a friendly nation where it was incumbent on visitors to observe "the reasonable laws of the country." The editor ended with the doubtful claim that both Canada and the United States "abound in clean, healthy newspapers." [41] Perhaps in this connection and undoubtedly inasmuch as two of the newspapers were foreign-owned, late in 1899 the Yukon council introduced a regulation requiring proprietors, editors and managers to file an affidavit with the clerk of the territorial court within a month, citing the names of each journalist, his nationality and his place of residence, and calling for 12 months' notification prior to entry to the Yukon. Fines ranging up to $500 were prescribed for non-compliance. [42] The News objected to the declaration of nationality as an invasion of privacy and discrimination,"for that smacks too much of czarism, and Dawson is not Russia." [43] The Nugget predictably objected to the ordinance while the Sun found no alternative because the two foreign-owned papers, it averred, had given the Klondike press a very bad name in Canadian journalism. The News observed that although the journalistic code was similar in both countries, it was more strictly enforced in Canada. The Nugget, maintained that the registration of newspapers violated the freedom of the press and was not to be tolerated in any democratic state. With the completion of the government telegraph line in September, news from the outside became immediately available to the Dawson papers, each of which paid a fee for access to telegraphic despatches. On 28 September 1899 the News claimed to be the first to print telegraphic news. Access to the government telegraph line led to an acrimonious row between the News and the Sun which continued into the new year. By October 1899 the South African War had broken out, with its series of British reverses in the early phases. On 23 November the News criticized an unspecified contemporary for printing fabricated telegraphic reports from South Africa when it was common knowledge that a news blackout had been imposed. The News asserted that it had an American press agent in its employ, hence that News despatches were reliable. On 27 December 1899 the News attacked the Sun for having printed as its own copy telegraph despatches which were the property of the News. The Sun had been taken in by a ruse, printing a fake telegram which the News had devised as a plant: the Sun was a receiver of stolen goods. The following day the superintendent of the government telegraph service promised an investigation. On 30 December the Sun answered the charges; THE DAWSON DAILY NEWS IS A LIAR The Nugget at first favoured the Sun: ordinarily the editor disapproved of strong language in the editorial columns, but perhaps in the circumstances its use was now justified. On 3 January 1900 editor Woodside's intemperate harangue in the Sun caused the Nugget to entertain second thoughts. Woodside accused the News of bribing a government telegraph official to gain first access to the line although as the official government paper, this perquisite properly belonged to the Sun. On 1 February 1900 under the banner headline WOODSIDE IS A PERJURER the News countered with Crean's statement that the telegraphic despatch in question, describing the Jeffries-Sharkey fight, had been sent to both papers, the Skagway operator having admitted clearly the telegram for transmission to the Sun as well as the News. [45] The unresolved row continued for many months with the Sun as late as November denying the charges of "the Boer organ." In its edition of 22 May 1900 the Sun claimed to have proof that the Skagway agent was in the pay of both papers, but in the Sun's service under an assumed name. The issue, so far as has been determined, rests at that, the charges and refutations rumbling away into the distance like the aftermath of a summer storm. The gold rush and frontier phase of Klondike journalism had set a standard for acrimony and editorial abuse that would be maintained in the next, more settled decade.
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