The Skidmore New Era modestly printed this news in the last column on the last page of its March 16, 1905 edition:
Our New Machinery
Within the last three weeks there has been installed in our office a new Potter Jr. press and a new gasoline engine.
The press is of the cylinder type and prints two pages of the paper at one impression. It weighs about 5,800 pounds and covers a floor space of about 35 square feet, and is capable of making from 1,500 to 2,000 impressions per hour. Besides printing the paper, this press can be used for almost any kind of job work that can not be done on our small job press.
The engine is a two-horse power furnished by the International Harvester Company, through Manchester and Dodds, their local agents. It is a little beauty, and has, so far, furnished enough power to run both presses at the same time.
The power is transmitted from the engine to the presses by means of an over-head line shaft, making it possible to operate both presses at the same time. It may be we are a trifle proud, probably too much so, but we believe this is one of the best, if not the very best, outfit of this kind that can be found in any small office in Northwest Missouri.