Molong Express and Western District Advertiser
4 OCT 1933
OUR PAPER.
Fifty-seven
years ago to-day, in a little shed in Riddel Street, opposite where Mrs.
Hasemere's store now stands, the first number of the 'Molong Express' was published
by Mr. H. V. Leathem, father
of the present generation of newspaper men of that name.
Many and varied
changes have come to our old town since Cobb and Co.'s coach brought Mr. Leathem here from his home in Gundagai,
and through them all the history of the 'Express' has been an integral part of
the history of Molong has left its mark upon it, for in every fight the paper
has fought for that which it believed to be right, and in the best interests of
the town and district, and can proudly claim today that it has never shirked a
duty or accepted a bribe.
Throughout the long drawn out battle for direct
railway communication with the city, the sturdy old pioneer, who came to Molong
in a coach, spared neither time nor money in the endeavour to provide improved
means of transport for those who came after him, and it was largely a result of
his enthusiastic advocacy of this particular route that finally placed Molong
on the railway map of New South Wales.
Many years
later, when a second newspaper had been established, and its proprietor, the
late J. C. L. Fitzpatrick, of revered memory, sought political honor, the
'Express' stood solidly behind him, trade rival though he was, and left no
stone unturned to secure his return 'to Parliament, realising that the
interests of the district, always first with the paper, would also be first
with him.
How true that vision of devoted service was the years that have
passed bear witness.
The hurrying march of events that has touched our
district, moving one well-known figure here, and placing another there, like pawns
in a game of chess, has brought changes to the ' Express' also, and though Mr.
Charles Leathem is
still to be seen in the windy doorway, with a smile and a joke for his
innumerable friends, under his regime the old plant has been enlarged and
modernised, the hand press having been replaced by a faster machine, electrically
driven, and instead of the tedious old process of hand setting the type, a
modern linotype machine eats up the copy, and, like Oliver Twist, still asks
for more.
During the war period, when soaring prices and scarcity of material made
publication difficult, the management stoutly refused to consider a suggested
increase in the price of the paper, and later, though hard hit by the
prevailing depression, battled on, and now, feeling the throb and lift of returning
prosperity and encouraged by a gratifying increase in its number of
subscribers, has decided to extend the scope of its operations to embrace a
bi-weekly publication.
Many considerations urged this course of action. Our
widening circle of friends Suggested it, pointing out that happenings that were
interesting news if published on Tuesday were stale gossip on Saturday, while
our advertisers welcomed an opportunity of making announcements earlier in the
week than was afforded them at present, and so, on the fifty-seventh
anniversary of the publication of the 'Molong Express' this forward movement
has been launched, and it will remain with the residents of our town and
district to make or man a change which has been introduced to afford them even better
service in the future than in the past
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