Alright, different attack angle: you wouldn't have reached 70k readers in 1910 because the barrier to entry for mass circulation was much higher :)
And even if you had reached 700 readers with your 5-cent pamphlet, it would have cost you $50 to print the 1000-copy run, and you'd be $15 in the hole. Whereas you posted to Medium for free, with no editor or publisher in the way. You're out very little, and presumably your stuff is still out there for more people to find. Not true with your pamphlet in 1910.