Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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.40TH ANNIVERSARY UNIVERSITY OF 'SOUTH CAROLINA CROWING FOR A G EATER CAROLINA Annivrsar COLUBIA,SOUTH CAROLINA, MARCH 19, 19840th Anniversawy THE STOI Forty years ago the first issue of The Gamecock rolled from the press in the form of a four-page tabloid newspaper. This first issue, dated Jan. 30, 1908, is now on file in the Caroliniana Library at the uni versity. Robert E. Gonzales was the first editor of the paper. ' Published three times a month by the Euphradian and Clariosophic literary socie ties, the subscription rates were $1.50, "payable in advance." Advertising was not used until nearly a year later when the in side pages were adorned with large adver tisements of fertilizer plants in Charleston. Contained in the first issue were edito riais, athletic news, YMCA news, a current events column and several local depart ments. On the staff was an editor from each of the campus literary societies who were to publish society news and programs. i Gonzales stated in his first editorial that no other university in the United States with an enrollment of 300 then published and maintained a weekly newspaper. According to Gonzales the newborn pa per, "will serve to bring professor and stu dent in closer touch, it will promote better feeling between the Normal, Academic and Law Schools-which, in passing, is sadly needed-and it will cause everyone to real ize more fully what university life should mean." Half the front page was devoted to the Y OF A NI By JAMES SHERIDAN 'Campus Editor %fA 6GA M ECOCIC ,Ae GaMali.a 1908 *Ra/4e-t e. Cone .WSPAPER sc 1907 football season. Football had been abolished after the 1905 season and was re stored in 1907. The other half of the page carried the story of the resignation of Dr. E. S. Joynes from the university faculty. On the editorial page is a current events column discussing the introduction of a pro hibition bill in the General Assembly by a Mr. Nash of Spartanburg. At the time U. S. Senator Ben Tillman was busy trvinr to prevent wet states from exporting whis key into dry states and there was a com mentary on this in the column. Also on the page is a column of Euphra dian news. The next page is composed of humor, poems and a feature on univer sity president Benjamin Sloan's excellent golf game, which he still played at the age of 72. The remaining page contains news of the YMCA and the true account of a nocturnal chicken raid. This was in the day of fre quent fowl forays upon the chicken houses belonging to faculty members. In the Nov. 25 issue was an editorial de scribing the plight of The Gamecock as a prime case of "sink or swim, live or die, sur vive or perish." The financial backing of the paper was nil. Only 20 students sub scribed to the paper outside of 175 literary society members. Evidently the editorial served its purpose as publication of the paper has been continued to the present day.