120 PAST AND PRESENT OF Peter McCourt . Mr. McCourt had previ¬ ously been engaged in publication and edi¬ torial work. In the year 1876 he estab¬ lished the "Advertiser" at Georgetown . The "Advertiser" was a vigorously con¬ ducted newspaper which did not receive the support that it merited. Mr. McCourt closed his business in Georgetown in the year 1882. Returning to Charlottetown, he was for some time engaged as a member of the "Patriot" staff, but finding his work- uncongenial, he closed his engagement and soon afterwards began the publication of the "Watchman." The "Watchman" is, like the "Herald," a weekly newspaper, and it continues to receive the patronage of a special clientele composed of those who ad¬ mire the strenuous writings of its energetic editor. ""There remain to be noted only the pa¬ pers published in Prince county. In the year 1865 Mr. Joseph Bertram , an active and enterprising member of the printing staff of the " Islander ," set up an office in the town of and began the pub¬ lication of the " Journal ." Con¬ tributions to the " Journal " were made by Mr. C. W. Strong , who was subsequently associated with Mr. Bertram in the publi¬ cation of the paper, by Mr. Henry Lawson , Mr. W. L. Cotton and others, and it grew in circulation and influence until the year 1872, when, upon the death of Mr. Bertram , it was sold to Messrs. Graves & McMurtry . This firm continued the publication until 1875, when it was dissolved by Mr. McMurtry 's death. Mr. W. A. Brennan , a son of the last proprietor and editor of the " Islander ," then entered into partnership with Mr. Graves , under the firm name of Graves & Company, and in 1880 obtained the sole control of the paper, which he has since held. In 1882 Mr. Brennan established the "Agri¬ culturist," especially devoted to the interests of farmers and horsemen. Despite the fact that his plant and materials were twice swept away by fire, neither the " Journal " nor the "Agriculturist" ever missed the pub¬ lication of any issue, and both have grown and prospered under Mr. Brennan 's capable management. Mr. Brennan was for many years greatly assisted in the editorial de¬ partment by Mr. S. M. Bent , who died at his post in 1904. The "Progress" was established at ¬ merside in the later sixties by Mr. Thomas Kirwan . After some time the property passed into the possession of Mr. Robert T. Holman , an extensive merchant and strong Liberal, who employed Mr. Henry Lawson and Mr. Thomas Gorman , successively, to maintain the editorial department and fight the battles of the Liberal party in Prince county. After the departure of Mr. Gor ¬ man for Ottawa, to become chief corre¬ spondent for the Toronto "Globe" at the capital of Canada , the "Progress" was suc¬ ceeded by the "Pioneer." The first issue of the "Pioneer" was published at Alberton on the 4th of July, 1876—the year of the Centennial Exhibi¬ tion—when high hopes were entertained that the Prince Edward Island Railway was about to make all the little towns along its line populous and prosperous. Mr. John L. McKinnon , its proprietor and editor, began his journalistic work with an absolutely new plant and materials of every kind, and the "Pioneer" was particularly well printed from the first. It was a family newspaper, strictly independent and impartial as to poli¬ tics and religion, and its columns were well filled with the current news. During the epidemic of small-pox which a seaman J.