The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1872-07-19
THE DEAD JOURNALIST.
RecoiIeciIsns or the Late James Gsraea
Bennett.

ReceIIeciIsns Of the Late James (:srSe,
BeRnett.
From the New York Sun. -.
made the acquaintance of James
Gordon Bennett something more than
third of a century ago. had written
from an interior country town circum
stantial account of domestic difficulty
in which the parties were of high so
cial consideration, and whose disagree,
mcnts were the subject of much public
discussion, and which finally culmin.
ated in suit of divorce in the Courts and
in the Legislature Of the State. The
Herald was then in a comparatively
feeble condition, giving small promise
of its future prosperous career. 1t
struggled along during the first years
of its existence, encountering obstacles
and embarrassments that seemed insur.
mountable. But Mr.. Bennett was far
seeing. sagacious, Industrious, persever-
ing, and determined to succeed. NV
communication Was suited to the tone
Of the Herald, and it was published with
characteristic comments and illustra-
ti0ns. -.
This led to an association between US,
which ran through several years, dur
ing which our relations were as intimate
as any he then had with persons whose
pens were engaged on the Herald. He
was an enigma, but I studied his char
acter carefully. and came to know him
as thoroughly as such a sPhinx-like per-
son could be understood. He possessed
cGrfoin o,,ol;};ao tl,ot -, o,,raJ s,,o,asc -,
the great ente: prise TO which he de-
voted his life. He had quick percep-
tions, and knew almost inluitively what
would chiefly engage the public atteh-
tion on publication day. And his tact
and address in seizing in advance upon
the topic that was to become the sub
lect of conversation in the city, gave an
interest to the Herald enjoyed by none
of his coDtempories. He wrote with
great facility, in q pleasant, readable
style: but he lacked conference, COM
psctness, and continuity of purpose, as
we'll as logical force, and hence failed to
impress himself upon the popular
mind. So that the Herald, although
generally read, never controlled or di.
rected public opinion. The editorial
matter was written in a taking but loose,
and slsp-dash style, without
regard to consistency or any settled
principles.
When | first became familiar with
the internal arrangements OF the Her.
all, the personnel of the establishment
consisted of Thomas P. Kettell, who
wrote the money articles, for which
Bennett Obtained all the credit; Will
liam II. Attree, the police and city re-
porter, a little jew named Lee, who
atterded the Courts, and furnished the
leel Intelligence; and Frederick Hud-
-on, who collected the ship news.
kettell was the best financial editor of
his day. He was. careful in his facts,
had thorough knowledge Of the sub
jects he was called upon to discuss, and
wrote in an accurate and precise style.
llis financial articles constituted one of
The most important features Of the pa
per. He was the originator Of the
money column, which no paper of any
pretensions is now without.
Attree was an incorrigibl. reprobate,,
hull of ability of a certain kind, and an
admirable reporter. That is, he had
the faculty Of turning everything into
rldicule that jumped exactly with Ben
netts humor. He would attend pub
lie gathering of any kind, and gave a
readable caricature of the proceedings,
interpersed with ludicrous comments,
%:d en- amusing description of incl
dents and circumstances that never oc-
carred. Bennett was always quarreling
with Attree, sdgmatizine him with ali
sorts OF opprobrious epithets, and
threatening to discharge him but his
consummaie audscity saved him.
When President Van Buren Waited
the city in the summer of l84O there
was a great procession and parade. The
Democrats turned out in force, banners
flying, music filing the air, with eyerv
appliance calculated to make an i'm.
preston on the people. Here was an
opportunity for the display Of Attree's
peculiar talent, and it got noised about
that thes Herald of the : following day
was TO eontsin a full account of the af.
ia'r, with ludicrous cuts apdcsricatures,
and there was strong desire among
.ne Democrats 10 battle the scheme.
Aaron Vanderpool, afterward Judge OF
me supren,e Court, but thep q member
o. Congress, and known as the "Kin-
aerhook Roarer,n y interested himself ac.
1seiy 70 prevent the success OF the un-
uWeeriat.aking. He had the assistance Of
William B. Naclay, then a growing pol.
n'clan. AS preliminary step, they
procured Attree to be piled with LIQUOR