By Ellen O’Malley

Executive Editor

GLOBE — File this under, “you can’t make this stuff up.”

An unwed mother forced to go before a judge to reveal the child’s father; currency exchanges and deliveries from Wells Fargo with amounts of cash, gold and silver; a “rich story of rich Chinamen;” a “queer case” went before the courts; and a man wanting a certificate to declare his wife an adulteress. 

And it all was reported on the front page of the Arizona Silver Belt. The year was 1878 and it was the third issue of the paper. Yes, that’s nearly 140 years. 

Discovery of the relic all came about by accident. While staying in Bisbee, Silver Belt owner John Tompkins came across the original front page at an antique store. 

“I had to haggle with the owner a little, but I knew I had to have it,” Tompkins said. “My first thought was to have it framed and get it back to the newspaper office where it belongs.”

Recently, Tompkins visited the newspaper staff and presented the framed treasure to Publisher Sherri Davis. 

“We were amazed at the stories that appeared on the front page as well as the layout,” Davis said. 

“There were no headlines. And some of the language we wouldn’t even consider saying today, let alone printing,” Davis laughed. 

The staff also enjoyed going over some of the ads, which included Globe City Blacksmith Shop; Redmen & Wiley Market advertising fresh mutton; and U.S. Bakery, George Kalbfell proprietor. One ad encouraged customers to give him a call, which would have meant actually visiting his carpentry shop on Broad Street.

There also was a poem.

“I was surprised by how much national news was reported,” Davis added, saying some of it was rather silly and not relevant to Globe. “It’s definitely entertaining, though.”

From Virginia: Virginia annually fritters away fifteen millions of dollars exclusively on whiskey, and, in proportion to its resources, no State in the Union can hold a candle to it in the bell-punch line. 

From Springfield, Mass: Wicked men…play checkers and dominoes in the temperance society’s rooms, and then go to a barroom close by to settle the bets that have been lost and won. 

If Tompkins had his way, he’d go back to the old style of newspaper writing, including editorializing on the front page. 

“I find these old papers interesting, to say the least, and rather amusing,” Tompkins laughed. “And I think we need more amusement in our lives today.”