Lögberg-Heimskringla - 17.03.1995, Page 16

16 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 17. mars 1995
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by Guðny Cronshaw
he history of Interlake
journalism started in
1877. Therein lies the
story of Framfari and
how it eventually ap-
peared in the English translation. The
first major Icelandic settlements were
made in the Gimli and Riverton areas
in 1875. We like to think, and even
say, that Framfari was the first
Icelandic newspaper to be printed in
this country. However, the fact is that
in that first year, 1875, a handwritten
sheet was issued under the name of
Nýji Þjóðólfur and its editor was Jón
Guðmundsson. Three numbers
appeared but there seems to be no
record of them in existence.
For the next couple of years people
were occupied homesteading and
dealing with the frightful smallpox epi-
demic. However, the question of a
newspaper soon became a subject of
serious discussion. On Jan. 22, 1877, a
meeting was held at Gimli and it was
agreed to form a company to buy a
printing press and other necessary
equipment. Share subscriptions were
sold and when half the money of the
agreed cost of $1,000 had been collect-
ed, steps were taken to order a press,
type and other essentials from
Minneapolis. The name Framfari was
chosen and we are told the literal
translation is Advance and/or
Progress. Pulication started that fall of
1877, although there were some defi-
ciencies. Lack of supply of Icelandic
type letters was seen in the first few
issues but soon rectified.
There was much interest in the
paper and the leading men of New
Iceland supported it wholeheartedly.
Of these, the largest parts were played
by three men on the Board, Sigtryggur
Jónasson, his brother-in-law, Jóhann
Briem and Friðjón Friðriksson. The
site of the pr'ess was at Lundur, or
Lundi, now called Riverton. Some
would have preferred it to be at Gimli,
but the deciding factor undoubtedly
was that both Sigtiyggur and Johann
lived by the Icelandic River.
No editor was named in the first
eight issues but they were likely edited
by Sigtryggur. With the ninth issue
Halldór Briem, a kinsman of Jóhann,
took over and continued until its
demise. The two printers were Jonas
Jónasson, a brother to Sigtryggur and
Birgir Jónasson. There was a totai of
75 issues dating from Sept. 10, 1877,
to Jan. 30, 1880 with another special
issue dated Apr. 10, 1880. This last
issue was put out by Sigtryggur himself
using the name Framfari and from the
same press but at his own expense. He
made a statement to the effect
“this issue does not really belong to
Framfari proper.” However, it has
been incorporated into both the
Icelandic and English collection of the
newspapers.
The demise of the paper can be
attributed to several reasons. The
number of subscribers was small and
some fees never arrived; some share-
holders never paid up so those who
had invested money lost it all. Guðlau-
gur Magnússon, a Western Icelandic
scholar, also made the following com-
ment on its expiry: “Dispute and parti-
sanship on colonial matters, religion
and almost every possible subject in
New Iceland, were the overthrow of
the paper.”
Be that as it may, today this makes
fascinating reading. Fierce controver-
sies, especially relating to religion and
church affairs arose, which led to con-
siderable discord. In today’s world
lawsuits would be pending. Since the
original purpose of the paper was to
keep the settlers in touch with each
other, there was colony news; to keep
in touch with Iceland, news from
Iceland. The editors also attempted to
keep people informed on world hap-
penings so in each issue, sections were
devoted to news from other countries.
Direction and advice was given to help
them in their struggle for survival in a
foreign country — on baking bread in
the manner customary to this country,
cultivation of grain and gardens, fish-
ing matters and so on. The colonists
were urged at every opportunity to
adopt the ways of their new country
and to learn its language; so in some
issues there would be a short article in
English.
There was not much advertisng as
such, but a Mrs. Finney from Win-
nipeg, advertised fairly regularly. One
ad, which was headed “Icelanders”,
concluded by stating “I have hired
Halldór Sigfússon as my clerk. He is
Icelandic and will look after you in
every respect.”
There were announcements in most
issues covering a range of topics; such
as: the distribution of Framfari;
request for repayment for the payment
of train ticket from Quebec to
Winnipeg by the Canadian Govern-
ment; at the Gimli P.O. were 3 regis-
tered (money) letters and the names
were given; 60 bushels of potatoes to
sell at 40c a bushel; missing, an ox,
which can be recognized on account
of an improperly healed broken bone
in its left thigh.
A statistical report in 1877 detailed
the number of people in New Iceland,
dwellings, cellars, fencing, the hay cut,
amount of potatoes sown and harvest-
ed, number of fish caught, net length
and so on. Below it was an exhorta-
Continued on page 13
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