History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

CHAP, VI.] DTHE NEWSPAPER PRESS. 331

The first type-founder in the vernacular language was a Parsi, the late Mr. Beramji Jijibhai Chapgar. In former years all publishing work was done by lithography. The first compositor in English was also a Parsi. In conducting the vernacular newspapers in Bombay the Parsis stand foremost. For a long time they had the monopoly of publishing newspapers and doing general printing work. The Marathi papers and printing establishments, though conducted with ability and possessing much influence, are a growth of recent years. The first native who was employed as a manager of an English newspaper was a Parsi. The first native reporter upon the staff of an English newspaper was a member of the same race, who was subsequently promoted to the post of manager and sub-editor. At the present day the manager of the Bombay Gazette is a Parsi, Mr. Jehangir Beramji Marzban, a grandson of the founder of the vernacular press in Bombay. As newspaper work increased in Bombay with the general progress of the city, the reporting staff was brought out from England, but Parsis are also still employed as shorthand reporters. ~The Times of India; which was the first English newspaper in Bombay worthy of the name, included among its proprietors the leading Parsis of the time. The most popular vernacular literature is chiefly cultivated by the Parsis, and disseminated far and wide through their agency for the good of the people.