, 1866-04-13
New York Newspapers 1wcHGY.Flve
Years Ago.

lF7ou, thc New York Evening Post. 1oth-l
The New York Tribune today enters upon
GRATED BY a general enlargement aud improve
ment Of that sheet, and tonight the assocla-
tiou Of it, owners celebrates The completion
of its first quarter Of century By dinner at
Dclmopico's-
The Tribune vas started BY lfr Greeley, On
1Iurrison's funeral. Its capital WAS but one
thonsand dollars, the smallest SUN, probably,
upon which any prosperous duly Journal
was ever begun. Tits pititul amount.
besides, was borrowed money: and so
twenty-five years ago that the editor Of the
T,i6une bss since frankly avowed that he
would not hare started the paper but for the
met that his prospectus had been Issued be-
fore the death o. Gen. Harrison. The success
Just reward Of the enterprise and industry
with which 1t has bean conducted; and al-
though, IN common with many others, we
have been compelled 10 differ from many Of
the positions assumed in Its editorial columns
1t cannot be forgotten that the paper has been
q bold champion Of free labor In tho days
when no iuconsiderable degree Of courage
was required for the expression Of unpopular
opinions.
The condition Of New York journalism a
quarter of a century ago forms 50 striking
contrast With the advantages OF the present
thst Ills curious. to recall come, os the early
memories. Then, there were no telegraphs
nor fast ocean steamers, 10 "Associated
Press" to systematic the collection ofnews,
no "llghtn!Ds" :" presses, no schemes for laying
cables under the sea, no great newspaper
Offices filed with ingenious contrtvnnccs for
| saving labor. In. the spring OILS when tbs
| first number Of the Tribune appeared, It
came into direct rivalry With the Herald,
which was then young paper, while the old
| the Commercial, ddrtTtiser, the Journal Of
| Commerce, and the Courier and Enquirer. Levi
| D. Stanlm published The Pfkbtidn, the Sun
was conducted by Moses 7. Beach, and the
present editor Of the Times was subedltor
with Mr.. Greeley. The World wasnot thought
Of, and the Timts did rot appear until the
| Tsiouns was ten years old
In those days pony expresses were run on
election nights, and 10 times Of great excite
ment the Herald and the Tribune raced loco
motive engines against each other In order to
remember. the sharp reporter engaged for the
Tribune " appropriatiug" an engine which
WAS waiting, under steam, for the use Of the
opposition agent, and 30 beating the Hsrald
At Its own game. Such passages rs this
gave zess ssa to 1as pursuit e tnte-
monious discussions between the
rival sheets. Nor was the competition
confined to enterprises like these, For want
Of the boupd1ess facilities now afforded by
the organized enterprise Of the newspaper
otllces, there we're curious experiments In IN
of North River steamboats, by corps OF pria-
ters, who had speech ready for The press tn
New York eight hours after Its delivery In
Albany eatEler-plGeons, carefully trained,
few from Halifax or Boston with the latest
news from Europe tucked under thel1
their trainer IN his room near Wal
street; m adventurous person, known at the
! time By the mysterious little Of "thc man In
tie glazed cap," made voyage across the
Atlantic IN common pilot boat twenty years
ago, secretly and with only three Or four com.
nals which determined to beat " the Others
in their arrangements for obtaining early news
from abroad The hero Of this exploit Is now
the foreman Of one Of the leading daily Jour,
nails Of this city. He failed in bis enterprise
then, but through no fault Of his.
In those days, also, the hattie with slavery
was fought bitterly The '.Unton-sayess" al
the North bowed down 10 the Southern slave
holders, and when nine years had passed over
the Irtbune, the Compromise of 1850 was eF
Of the editor Of that sheet, Who Is now en-
gagged In the pleasanter task 0: writing the
history Of the death of slavery. Two years
previously, the revolution OF ISIS wrapped
Europe in the flames Of war. and the renders
Of the Tribune will remember Its glowing &C
count Of the grand battle Of SlleEenasnon,
which was not heard Of IN Ireland until long
afterwards, hut in which the Tribune fully
believed when 1t Published the Ingenious
| hoax. =.
The dlngy building in which the early 5ears
Of the Tribune were passed was burned IN
| le45, md the reappearnnee OF the paper on
| the following morning, although at the time
| The p,pprietors did not knnw but they wereir-
irrefrierably ruined, was regarded by fts admir-
erB and opponents alike IS an example ofehter-
| nrise deserving the warmest praise 1t vas a
nrnftabie fire for the Tribune. Although the
snow lsy knee-deep upon the streets, 80 that
the freincu we're powerless to arrest thu
flames, Mr.. Greeley and Mr.. McElrath stood
mu.iug upon the ruins and then turned to
their work rs naturally - If nothing had hap
pened- The paper appeared on the follow.
Ing morning only an hour behind its usual
time, and its patrons WED With the conduc.
tors OF the opposition Journals IN extending
helping haua- Upon the site Of the old
building rose the present oue-Slaulm's
Pkbeian disappearing from the little gore oi
land upon the corner which 1t had occupied
and In the ensuing autumn the Tribune was
fully re1nsthted, having added strength to fta
editorial force and improved lis facilities fos
conducting business. A year or two later 1t
! passed from the sole proprietorshfp Of Gree
ley i NcElrath into the management Of a
toint.stock company, which has since con.
tro1led its fortunes. !
IN the carly days, the doctrines Of the
French sehool of socialists fnund favor In the
office ofthe 1ribune-lt has since ceased its I'D.
l yocacy OF them, and Mr. Brisbane no longer en-.
! Joys tie use of his semi lweekly column fol
discussions upon the benefits Of association