The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-06-03
GREAT JOURNALIST GONE.
DEATH OF JAMES GORDON BENNETT,
OF THE NEW YORK HERALD.
A Wonderful Career-The Napoleon of
the Modern Press.

A Wonderful Career-The Napoleon OF
the Modern Press.
James Gordon Bennett, the editor and pro.
prletor OF the New York Herald, whose mortal
illness has already been announced in THE
NEWS. died at his residence, near New York,
last Saturday afternoon. sketch of the
career of this wonderful man will interest
every reader.
His parents were French Catholics, who
lived In Scotland, where, about the year 1900,
he was born. He was educated for the priest
hood at the Roman Catholic Seminary oil
Aberdeen, but afterwards, changing his mind,
emigrated to America, where he landed at
Boston in 1919. Three years later he came to
Charleston to work for the Courier as the
translator of South American revolutionary
newr In 1924 we find him In New York
wanting to teach schools, but getting NO
pupils. Whereupon he began to lecture In
the Fulton street Dutch Church on political
economy, but soon found that he. must earn
his bread by hack.writing for the newspapers.
He acted for a year or two as Washington cor
respondent of the New York Enquirer, and 1t
was In this position that his writing first at
tracted attention.
In New York, In 1888, the Sun, one cent
paper, had appeared, to be followed, in 1884,
by another one cent paper, the Transcript,
both OF them scholarly, plodding Journals.
Bennett, with the aid of two young printers,
on the 9Th Of May, 1885, published the frat
number of the third one cent paper, the New
York Herald. He was thlrty-ive years old;
he had FIVE hundred dollars; his office was a
cellar In Wall street; his desk, counter and
folding board we're plank resting on two emp
ty barrels. Bennett wrote his own wrappers (if
he had any to write, notes, news, leaders, and
even advertisements, on board. He was his
own agent and errand boy, and he took what
little there was Of cash. He originated in
America the money report. He reported
everything minutely. When he was burned
out and robbed he began again in another eel
lar. he concentrated his abilities on always
giving the best report of the largest affair, in
good type and on good paper. What Inter
.ests everybody" was his motto.
Ofthe history of the Herald from 1885 until
now we have little materials 1t has grown
into circulation of eighty or ninety thousand
copies day. 1t has at times reached twice
that number. Its reports Of prize fights and
horse races gained for 1t large constituency.
Everything was minutely described, with
detailof trifes that was sure to entertain the
undercurrent of society, which loves trldes.
Jenkins is q valuable addition to paper
that serves people who love to 60 to
operas, camp-meelIngs and dog-aghts. To
this sort Of people Bennett FIR many
years displayed q journal which gave great
deal of minute, light and cheerful news. His
style OF writing was that Of French comedy
In which all the characters speak as If they
were perpetnaly struggling their shoulders
Nobody could so easily manage squad of re-
porters as Bennett could. Before the Mexican
war, the Herald had a correspondent In Texas,
and six in Europe. All Benefits trips, of ten
miles or ten thousand miles, resulted In his
securing correspondents and bookfuls of sta
tsiics.
Meanwhile he was writing such words as
these :: ssJournalism is o new science" He
was ,rylng to give the greatest number oil
little facts about the news that everybody
reads, and he paid news correspondent who
had wanted to write book notices as much for
not writing them. When everybody except
the public tunotionsrles was interested In the
Grand Duke, the Herald followed him up and
told how he held ills pistol when he shot
buffalo calf. Some editors called that foolish
ness; but 1t served even more purposes than
that of gossiping about the one man who was
uppermost in the curiosity Of the people;it
convinced the army officers Of the Herald's en-
terprise; it convinced the Grand Duke that
there must be great papers In America; and the
Russian mobiles, diplomats and newspaper edl-
tors will always bear In mind that what they
wanted to read was In the Herald, and they
will therefore ascribe to 1t immense influence.
In time of extraordinary friendship or OF ex-
traordluary complications between Russia
and America, the Herald will be powerful with
the American Government and people, be-
cause 1t will be considered influential at st.
Petersburg. So its glitterlng cavalcade march
Ing into Africa, with gaudlly-apparelledc camels,
with drums aud with banners decked In reds
and yellows, trying to discover, at cost Of
ten thousand dollars, a lost Englishman
whom the world knows by heart, Is an enter
prise-not strictly journalistic, according 10
the old conservatism-that will make the
Herald talked off Inf England and in the East,
andrefexly In America.
or course Mr.. Bennett smassed colossal
fortune. Five years ago, he retired from the
active management of the Herald, his son
taking his place. But until a week ago, when
his fatal illness began, he continued to take
an extraordinary interest in the eyents Of the
day. On Tuesday last, feeling his end to be near,
he sent for Archbishop McCloskey, who admin
istered to him the last sacraments OF bis
church, and the telegr aph tells us that, when
his last hour arrived, the Napoleon Of the
press sank calmly and peacefully to his rest.
THE TREATY FAILURE.
Helpless Condition OF the AdmEnlstra-
r.on-All our Claims Dishonored-A