In this, the first issue of THE HERALD, we present to the people of Sharpsburg, Etna, and the sevral adjoining towns, our first effort in journalism. We may have been possessed with too much ambition when we conceived the idea to establish a weekly newspaper in Sharpsburg; but, nevertheless, are perfectly willing to give it a trial, notwithstanding the several objections offered by some of our citizens, who predicted that such an enterprise would be rewarded by the utter derision of the people. To start a newspaper is not a difficult matter, especially in a town where there is no journal published, because the idea is novel; it strikes the people favorably; but, the difficult part about newspaper publishing, is to make your paper interesting; to make it contain all the news of interest to its readers; and last, but not least, is to conduct it on a principle that will gain for it the respect of the people. Sharpsburg, at the present time is one of the most thriving towns in Western Pennsylvania, and contains a population of between three and four thousand people, which with Etna and the several surrounding towns held for the establishment of a local newspaper.
There are towns that have but half the population we have that support three weekly newspapers which all pay, and why cannot Sharpsburg, that has the name of being a first-class business town, support one? We have given this question considerable study before we undertook this enterprise, and we feel assured that our efforts will be rewarded. All we ask of you is to be as lenient towards us as possible in your criticisms; to regard us as amateurs in the business, and not to look for editorials that will compare favorably with a "Greely," or a "Dana," and secondly, your support, for we assure you that there is nothing that will give a young editor more encouragement than to see his paper well patronized by the public. If the people will bear those two points in mind, we assure you we will do all in our power to make this enterprise a credit to our borough, and we hope the time will come when THE HERALD will be spoken of as one of the successful organs of the county.