THE SECOND EDITOR

It had been my ambition for years to engage in newspaper work. A partner in business, in early days, had been a printer, a reporter and an editorial writer on a large daily. The experiences he related only increased my desire for the work. Coming home, (Oberlin had been called home for many years, while wandering from place to place, my mail was sent here to be forwarded, or held, as the case might be,) from the cattle ranges of the Dakotas and Nebraska, in November 1881, where my occupation had been that of a cowboy, with a good rating. Commencing with one outfit at $40 per month as a common hand, and quitting as foreman at $75 per month, and everything found, in charge of property worth from $50,000 to $75,000 might be said to measure a mans worth, on the cattle range.

Conditions were such that the Oberlin HERALD was for sale, the proprietors were very anxious to dispose of the plant. Learning that fact a move was made looking toward its purchase. Several prominent citizens urged me, very earnestly, to invest, finally the deal was made. A cowboy became a full fledged newspaper proprietor, editor and business manager. There was, at that time, another newspaper, the Oberlin Times, published in the city. The next week after the purchase of the HERALD, one of the editors of the Times inquired, "What in h--l did a cowboy want with a newspaper?"

There was a great array of talent in the editorial work on the other paper, three distinguished lawyers, it rather disconcerted me. The proposition had not been looked at from that side, but it gave me little concern, it was my determination to win. It  was quite an undertaking for a man inexperienced, in any of these matters, to buy a newspaper, a farm and get married all within a half a year; but that is what happened to one of the editors of the HERALD. He has the wife and farm at this date.

Under my management the business, influence and prestige of the paper grew apace with the country. Within three months the subscription list and good will, of the rival paper was bought, for $35, the material boxed up and shipped away. It was not all smooth sailing in those stirring stormy days. Some errors were made, to be sure, but in the main the days with the HERALD were pleasant. Starting a new paper, the Sentinel, in Kenneth, then the county seat of Sheridan county, that promised much, and was a splendid enterprise, the HERALD was sold to Hon. F. L. Henshaw, who had been in my employ for several years as foreman.

In less than two years the Sentinel was sold and Oberlin, again became our home. December 1st 1891, just ten years from the date of the first purchase, it was my pleasure to become the editor, and part owner of the HERALD, for a second time. After a few years my health compelled me to quit the work, otherwise closing a very pleasant experience. There is a warm spot in my heart for the HERALD, and especially its old-time patrons. Today while writing these lines the longing for the work comes back to me, with a force that is almost irresistible. The pages of the HERALD tell of the struggles of the people on the northwestern frontier, for thirty years or more. It is with no small degree of pride that a part of the making of the HERALD is claimed by me, and that on some of its pages are written the events and history of this county by my hand, in those early days. Yours very truly, W. D. Street

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