Every so often, someone saunters into the Gazette office with an old newspaper which they have found stuffed away in a drawer or an attic. It's always a kick to see the old issues as they remind us how much things have changed, especially prices.

But in all my years in the newspaper business in McCook and Benkelman -- extending back 45 years -- I have never seen an older paper than the one Bill Wilkinson of Culbertson brought in last week.

The old, yellowing four-page paper -- named "The Sun" -- is dated July 24, 1880. According to a note written at the top of the back page, the paper was printed in a sod building with a dirt floor.

The pioneer Culbertson newspaper office was located north of where R & W Repair now stands, at approximately the same location as the former New Moon bar and grill.

Bill found the newspaper, which is still in surprisingly good condition, while rearranging the contents of his garage. The 1880 newspaper was at the bottom of a box of items accumulated by his late parents, Leroy and Ilo Wilkinson.

To put the age of the old newspaper in perspective, it's interesting to note that it was printed almost two years before McCook came into existence. The line at the top of the newspaper says "Vol. 1, No. 16." This indicates 1880 was the Sun's first year of existence and that July 24th paper was the newspaper's 16th issue.

Now for the good stuff. What kind of items did the 1880 Culbertson paper contain?

Well, it should come as no surprise, the first thing Bill pointed out to me was the annual price. Back in 1880, the grand total for a one-year subscription to the weekly Sun was $1.50. Divide that and it comes out to about 3 cents a week.

In fact -- back in 1880 -- you could get four months of the Sun for 50 cents, which is the price of a single issue of the Gazette today.

Another startling example of the difference in prices then and now was an ad for an ornate Beatty organ. The price for such a masterpiece -- including its walnut case and French veneering -- was $85 (total) in 1880.

Today, Floyd Hershberger of Hershberger Piano & Organ Company told me an organ of similar quality would cost thousands of dollars. "It can go much higher than that -- into the tens of thousands -- depending on how big and fancy the organ is," he said.

As a newsman, it was interesting to me to read the type of news items which filled the columns in 1880.

Here are a couple of examples from the July 24, 1880 Sun:

"Horse thieves from counties east of here in the valley and in Kansas, as a general thing flea to the western counties and particularly Hitchcock county, for safety. And they are almost invariably captured and returned to the proper counties where the law is administered unto them. While all the horses stolen belong to parties in other counties and the thieves belong elsewhere, the citizens of this county should be watchful of their interests." That was not the only mention of horse stealing. There were three other stories in the old newspaper referring to the same problem.

Also in the 1880 Culbertson Sun, readers learned that "the population of Chase County is not large, but the valuation of the property in that county is $200,000." And, down in Collinsville (now Benkelman) the Sun's correspondent reported: "Dundy County is settling up and bids fair to equal her sister counties at no distant day."

The 1880 Sun needs to be preserved. If I was Bill, I would keep the old newspaper in a safe, secure place and make sure it didn't get put on the auction block. The Sun may have sold for only 3 cents in 1880, but it's precious and priceless today.