To Our Subscribers.

I am aware that a good paper would be much more acceptable to our readers than apologies, but I trust they would pardon, did they know have of our troubles.

In the first place the Editor is green at the business, has a green and semi-green “devil,” and a “Jour,” that wears mustaches: and in the next place the office is badly “pied,” as the printers say: If there are any who don’t understand this term, it means a general mixing together of the type, which democratic meeting much resembles a committee of the whole in our Legislative Assemblies, in every respect except noise.  They are strikingly alike in this respect – they separate much more readily when they are DRY, but it takes much more time to regulate an office in this condition than most people are aware of, and we beg the indulgence of our patrons for a few weeks, when we hope to have a more satisfactory state of things.  For the next three weeks I expect to be away from the office, after which I shall be here at all hours of the day, ready to be kicked by each subscriber in turn.

We have not yet secured correspondents in all the different companies in the army from this county we have written to several, some of whom have answered while from other no word has been received, probably owing to disturbance of the mails.

Our news department is more limited this week than it will be when we get things in their right places.

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, Saturday, October 18, 1862, p. 2