Newspaper Of The Week : Pravda

This is the first in what will be an occasional series which looks at some of the more interesting on-line world newspaper resources. And where better to start than with that paragon of heavy journalism - Pravda : a paragon which appears to have fallen on hard times.

The Russian word "pravda" means "the truth" : and makes a suitably Orwellian title for what was the official organ of the Soviet Communist Party between 1912 and 1991. In August 1991, President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree shutting down the Communist Party and seizing all of its property. For a short period a number of ex-Pravda journalists continued to run the paper until the name and familiar Order of Lenin medals trademark were sold to a family of Greek entrepreneurs. There followed a series of splits and splinters which the original Russian Communist Party members would have been proud of, until the present time when Pravda exists in two quite separate manifestations.

First there is Pravda the traditional newspaper which continues as a voice of the Communist left in Russia. It looks not too dissimilar to what it looked like in the Soviet era (see the illustration above) and if you are desperate to read it, you can obtain a full digital copy via PressDisplay.com (but beware, at just four pages, it is an expensive buy) although you will need a decent knowledge of Russian as a translation is not available.

In stark contrast to the seriously heavy Pravda newspaper there is Pravda online (Pravda.ru) which is a very different kettle of fish. With a content and style which makes an English tabloid look staid and restrained, Pravda.ru is the face of modern, brash, cheap and cheerful Russia. Today's headlines included such gems as "Man who decapitated and ate his fellow traveler in packed passenger bus due in court" and "Nude blond visits petrol station creating public disturbance (PHOTOS)" (their upper case emphasis, not mine). Lenin would have blushed, but you might want to pay it a visit.

The Times Archives, They Are A' Changing

My attempt to discover something of earth-shattering importance that happened on my birthday led me to the Times Archives, just at the point when they were being re-launched as an on-line, interactive service. And to mark the event (the re-launch, not my birthday) access to the complete digital archive (from 1785 to 1985) is free of charge for a limited introductory period. Never been able to resist any invitation which contains the phrase "free of charge", I signed up and entered the dusty digital cellars where some 200 years of scanned and digitized content is stored. And, of course, one of my first stopping-off points was the 17th June 1948 (I know Burnett's Second Rule of historical newspapers says that I should have been looking at the 18th June, but rules are there to be broken). It has to be said that the new Times electronic archive is still suffering from a few teething problems of the Terminal 5 variety. Sometimes you can do a search, sometimes you can't. Sometimes you get an image, sometimes you don't. And rarely can you print or save anything. So my search was limited to just the front page of that day's newspaper, and being the Times the front page was nothing more than a collection of classified adverts. But what better way of getting a taste of an age? The minutia of lost and founds, births and deaths, for sale and to lets provide a unique insight into the world when I was young (very young). Here is a sample:

BOX of BEAUTIFUL FEATHERS, mixed colours including the new Princess shades sufficient for brightening up dozens of hats and coats; Post paid. 0s. 6d. per box.-Fancy Dept., Pettitts of Reedham. Ltd.. Reedham. Norfolk. When visiting Broadland call in and see our wonderful collection of Rural crafts.

AN IDEAL GIFT. for boy or girl, suitable for use in house or garden, a Wigwam Tent. Self-supporting on four poles (no ropes or pegs needed). 4ft. by 4ft. by 5ft. high; strongest multi-coloured duck cloth: complete 87s. 3d. carriage paid -GEMS. 202. Cambridge Road. Norbiton, Surrey. Closed Saturdays.

HOME CANNING with the "HOMCAN" Outfit is the modern. most efficient, and simplest method of preserving your surplus fruit and vegetables. Thousands are enjoying its advantages and recommend it. -Write for details to Home Canning Equipment Co.. Ltd.. Africa House. Kingsway. W.C.2. T

SCHOOLBOYS' HOLIDAY CAMPS. Public and Preparatory Schools; August-September. Norfolk coast. -Brochure from O. K. Bond. M.A.. The Coign. Evelyn Drive. Hatch End. Middlesex.

GIFT FOOD PARCELS.-Why not express your gratitude by taking out an annual subscription to "The Times Weekly Editon " for your friends? Send to the Subscription Manager. Printing House Square the names and addresses of your friends abroad, together with 30s. 4d. for each.

COUNTRY HOUSE, looking south; easy car reach station, 35 minutes Victoria; 7 good rooms, plus usual: redecorated, modernized; garden, garage. £300 p.a.- 'Phone, Norwood Hil 146.

PRIVATE owner wishes to dispose of 312-litre Rolls-Bentley Gurney Nutting Owen Sedanca Coupe; £300 recently spent on overhaul: offers over 2,000 guineas considered. Ring Wargrave 402.

MINK COAT, darkest Canadian skins. latest design, as new. £1,450: immediate sale. Owner going abroad.-Write Box R.1259, The Times.

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE.-Applications are invited for the Posts of (1) SECRETARY and (2) FINANCE OFFICER, with accountancy qualifications, to the Hospital Management Committee of the Orpington and Sevenoaks Group. The salaries of the posts are fixed by the number and classification of beds in the group and are expected to approximate, for Secretary £1,070 -£1,420 and for Finance Officer £860 -£1,130.

HOLIDAYS at Home or Abroad through the " WEST " Fully inclusive service. Holiday Camps from £9 1s. Isle of Man from £11 15s. Eire from £14 10s. Switzerland from £19 15s. Brittany from £16 15s. also France. Norway. Write WESTMINSTER TOURING ASSOCIATION LTD., 92, Victoria Street. S.W.l. Tel., Victoria 6301

DOMESTIC Help also Cook-General required immediately for small, modern luxury and labour-saving house in London; two adults in family only: liberal outings; excellent wages; own bed rooms, radio and television in modern American kitchen. Experienced Persons write, with copy references, to Box 0.6701 A.K. Advertising, 212A. Shaftesbury Avenue. W.C.2.

CLERGYMAN'S daughter 50 seeks post; good cook and driver; country lover; references. Miss M. George, Guyhirn Viarage. Wisbech.

As some other newspaper once declared "All Human Life Is Here". You could happily put together an half hour documentary on what these few adverts say about the state of Britain in 1948. The persistence of shortages and rationing (feathers to trim up your dress, home canning to make your broad beans last longer, and subscriptions to the Times for Cousin George in America who is kindly supplying you with food parcels); the low price of property (a seven room country house just 35 minutes from Victoria for just £300 per year); the revolution taking place in the new National Health Service (and how much better things would be if we were still paying the Finance Officers £850 per year); and the emergence of new cultural trends (the holiday camps and the television being provided for the cook-housekeeper).

And this is just one page of one day taken from over 200 years of newspapers. I have a feeling that I will not get much work done until the free offer comes to an end.

A Birth And A Bludgeoned Raisin

Why do we have this almost insatiable urge to discover what famous events happened on the day of our birth? Having just celebrated my 60th birthday I was tempted to send off to one of these companies which promises a "genuine facsimile" of a newspaper published on the day of your birth, but being a tight-fisted old bugger, I decided to search on-line instead. As I discovered, there are a number of problems with this approach.

In the first place, in order to discover what happened on the day of your birth you need a newspaper published the day after your birthday. None of the companies specialising in novelty birthday gifts have managed to face up to this paradox and one can only imagine the disappointment of their customers who have shelled out good money only to read about things which happened before they were born.

The second problem relates to the still largely Americo-centric nature of the Internet. I managed without too much difficulty to locate newspapers from 18th June 1948 (and therefore reporting events on the 17th June) but the list of available titles was composed of papers such as "The Fresno Bee" and "The Mansfield News-Journal" (not the Mansfield in North Nottinghamshire I might add). I am therefore in a position to tell you what happened in California and Ohio on the day of my birth and, for the moment at least, that is what you will have to put up with.

The most notable event was the crash of a DC6 passenger plane in Pennsylvania will killed all 43 people on board. The discovery that your arrival in the world coincided with a burning plane ploughing into a 60,000 volt power cable is not guaranteed to fill you full of birthday joy. Moving quickly on, I also discover that as I entered the world with a cry and a scream, Lucile Williams left the world with a cry and a scream as she was being bludgeoned to death by her husband in Everett, Washington. Continuing the good news run, as I was taking my first breath, John W Reeves of Fresno was taking $2 worth of petrol from a filling station without payment. When the Filling Station owner tried to stop him, Reeves shot the man dead.

Searching for happier news from the overseas sections of the papers, I discovered that to mark my birth (well that's how it feels) an earthquake killed 10,000 in China, a mine explosion killed 52 in Japan, a new and more bloody phase of the Greek Civil War was launched, and 50,000 workers went on strike in France. And, in a gesture which I am still unable to quite understand, to celebrate my birth, the field price of raisins jumped by an unprecedented $5 a ton.

You have to admit, that star in the east had nothing on that lot.

Wandering Around In History.

If you can't find me, if I don't seem to be around, the chances are that once again I am lost in some old newspaper. I know that I have written before about my passion for old newspapers. The chances are that you don't share it, in which case you can skip to the end of this post. Do something interesting and useful like watching TV or playing Space Invaders. But, just in case you are a fellow newspaperphile (there must be a better term for "lover and collector of old newspapers"), then let me share a recently discovered site with you. It is American and it is called NewspaperARCHIVE.com and it does seem to be more than just devoted to high-priced, novel, birthday presents. It is a commercial site and therefore you do need to subscribe if you want access to the full collection of some 2,700 titles and 77 million pages. But there are several free areas and you can subscribe to a free daily newsletter called "The Daily Perspective". This provides a marvelous insight into the historical background to both modern-day events and also important news stories which have hit the headlines on that particular day in previous years. Links to these individual newspaper pages are also free and therefore provide endless scope for just wandering around in history.

As far as I have been able to discover, there is nothing similar covering the UK. There is the British Library Newspaper Collection which is supposed to be moving towards a digital collection but that is so inaccessible it is hardly worth bothering with. There are probably reasons why the British Library see it as their duty to restrict access to the national collection of newspapers, but whatever they are they are not good reasons. There are the numerous websites with names like famousdayinhistory.com which will sell you a fancy photocopy of a newspaper from your birthdate at an inflated price. And there are some individual newspapers which are making their archives available to subscribers, but such projects are still in their early stages.

So until something better is available in this country I spend my spare moments - let's be honest, my spare hours, sometimes entire days - searching through old newspapers with marvelous names like the Fayetteville Democrat and the Appleton Post-Crescent. Some people are only happy when kitted out in hiking boots climbing over the hills and moors of the countryside. Me, I like my slippers and a good glass of beer, a pile of old newspapers and an aimless journey through history.

That's How The Story Ends

Still trying to keep to my challenge of reading a different newspaper every day, today I try a variation on the theme. To test the validity of the claim that "nothing ever changes" I decide to limit myself to a newspaper published on the 7th January 1908 - just 100 hundred years ago. Access to the newspaper is easy thanks to the magnificent Library of Congress "Chronicling America" project which aims to make good quality digital images of newspaper archives available. But, be warned, only follow the link if you are prepared to get sidetracked from what you are supposed to be doing for a day or two.

Limiting myself to just the front page, here is a quick analysis of the stories that made the headlines in the San Francisco Call of the 7th January 1908:

* The start of the second trial of wealthy coal and railroad heir Harry K Thaw for the murder of the New York architect Stanford White. The article contains a sensational description of the opening of the trial - at which Thaw pleads insanity - and the part played by his wife, Evelyn Nesbit. The illustration is of the good lady herself who - it is said - testified on behalf of her husband in return for a divorce and a $1 million settlement.

* A developing row between the US President - Theodore Roosevelt - and the head of the Navy personnel department, Rear Admiral Willard Herbert Brownson. Brownson resigned following the decision by the President to appoint medical officers to be in charge of hospital ships, which was seen as an insult to the US Navy. The headline - "President Puts Navy In Uproar Over Brownson" - has a nice contemporary feel about it.

* The report of an "incident" in which a noted San Francisco capitalist - George Whittell - is accused of pushing the son of the President of Guatemala down a flight of stairs. The dictators' son - D Cabrera - bruised his bottom and his pride and demanded $50,000 in compensation. The incident occurred after Cabrera had been out on the town with Whittell's son and, it would appear - led him into bad ways.

* Other choice bits include a report of how the Navy has decided to encourage its sailors to take exercise and has therefore agreed to pay the bill for a Navy rating's broken jaw which he received in a football game. The re-arrest of a businessman who faces charges or perjury and corruption with regard to the purchase of public land. It appears that he was sentenced to 24 hours in jail but was released at tea-time, his sentence having been halved for "good behaviour"! A competition in which you can win yourself $5 by writing a witty and original answer to the question "why do women kiss when they meet?"

So, there we have it. A political scandel including the President, a sensational murder trial, a society scandel resulting from a drunken night out on the town, a corrupt businessman getting a few hours in jail; ..... very little has changed in 100 years,

One of the great advantages of reading newspapers which are 100 years old is that you know how the story ends. Thaw was convicted or murder and found insane. He spent some time in an asylum but his money bought him a degree of freedom and he went on to commit further crimes before dying, aged 76, in 1947. His partly-fictionalised story forms the basis of the current best-seller "An Interpretation of Murder". Roosevelt survived his row with Rear Admiral Brownson and went on to have a century of stuffed bears named after him. Brownson had two battleships named after him. I have been unable to discover whether Whittell ever paid Cabrera's son the $50,000 in compensation. Cabrera senior - a nasty piece of work by all accounts - went on to rule Guatemala until 1920 when he was forced out of office. Something of an eccentric he tried to get the cult of Minerva adopted as the official religion of Guatemala and built several Temples to Minerva.

It would be quite nice if we knew how the various stories that populate the newspapers of the 7th January 2008 ended. But there again, perhaps we are better off not knowing.