The _Saturday Record_ is the outgrowth of a little amateur paper started away back in 1879 by Ralph Van Vechten, at present vice-president of the Continental and Commercial National Bank of Chicago. He was then a student with a taste for printer's ink and he started a little literary paper, known as the _Stylus_. Soon after that he was joined by Arthur J. Huss, and the two of them ran the _Stylus_. In the spring of 1882 Mr. Van Vechten went into his uncle's bank. The paper passed into the hands of A. J. Mallahan, and after a little time was temporarily discontinued. But Mr. Huss gained new courage and perhaps new capital. September 10, 1882, he started the _Cedar Rapids People_. It continued as a seven column folio until March, 1884, when it was bought by Fred Benzinger and R. Baer and its name changed to the _Saturday Evening Chat_. July 1, 1887, Fred Benzinger bought out Mr. Baer's interest and ran the paper for a number of years until he went to Chicago, where for a time he was one of the prominent figures on the old Chicago _Times-Herald_. Then the paper was acquired by B. R. Hatmaker, forever famous because of the sobriquet for Cedar Rapids which flashed into his mind one dreamful day--"The Parlor City." In 1889 Ernest A. Sherman came to this city and was city editor of the morning _Republican_ for a while. In February. 1891, he started _Town Topics_. He ran it until late in the spring of that year and then he consolidated with Hatmaker's _Saturday Record_. He became the editor, and Hatmaker was business manager until 1892 when Mr. Sherman bought the whole business. Since that time the _Record_ has been a permanent feature in Cedar Rapids, the largest and neatest of the weeklies, being printed in quarto form on book paper with many illustrations and spicy comment on "mentionable matters" of Cedar Rapids, with all the local news well edited. THE IOWA POST The _Iowa Post_ was founded in April, 1881, at Iowa City. After passing through the hands of several owners, it was purchased in March, 1902, by Henry Gundling of Chicago and brought to this city. Mr. Gundling changed the paper from a weekly to a semi-weekly and in an incredibly short time he had trebled the number of his subscribers. Mr. Gundling had a high school education in Germany, followed by an apprenticeship there of three years. He had sixteen years experience in Chicago and he has travelled extensively on three continents. He is, therefore, thoroughly equipped as an editor and this accounts for the high standard of his paper which is eagerly read by a very large constituency in this and adjoining counties and especially at the colony of Amana. [Illustration: OLD M. E. CHURCH, MT. VERNON] [Illustration: STREET SCENE IN LISBON] THE WEST SIDE ENTERPRISE