New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-04-25

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dead "a hope that they would have spoke15
Of me- IL they had been In my place ara ,. ny
been In theirs took last peep INTO the nttle
snuRgery In which MF. Greeley haa aOne e.
much important work and san % ,, ny hun;
no more foregar.n But of most OF tne e
did c0rnpanions trusty only the, ghosts
were there to share my, last adlen.
thought Of the day when cHm hS,a
mnch / had hoped to do, of how little NAG
done: of the numberless talks which l mao
enioyed in the shabby rOOmi and mignC
have lapsed into maudtm depths OF auDlou u
sentimertaliiy if it had not been quite nme 70
lection 10 the uneelebrated who had dflIIe99
into the Office and drifted out OF II, ana passeu
away and been forgotten. recalled neetH9
celehrities and short-lived regulations; men
Who had made first Int, and never
made another; those who had 'rle eS
| hard. and never made q hit at hll'
| o this great absorbing, caVernons, mss,
ing. roaring, foaming maelstrom OF Journalisin'
| How RI sucks in talent, genius. learning,
brains, hopes, ambitions. aspirations VI tn1
| hundreds who are called, here few are CHOSEN
| What infinite variety OF ability It deman us
| What tact, knack, care and INDUSTRY we
must sneak we'll of each other, old h1ends, IOr
| nobody else will have much TO say OF US
| We are 10 the Temple Of Fame as cutD-
! stone brokers are to the legitimate EXchange;
| Ne must content ourselves with making all
| very little noise shall we make after we have
| finally departed.
| Something ought to soy specially OF my
| old friend, John Fitch Cleveland, whom we
/ buried on bright November day III 1875
have an immense respect for q man OF ngaiies,
| with the least deXterity; and my friend Wes
! particularly an adept Ia the manipulation OF
! those most exasperatipg and ncomprehensiDIe
columns-the election returns; ms ;t Hame APP
of several numbers OF that useful an
nual. The TRIBUNE ALMANAC; he held
for n time the responsible position. OF
financial editor, and wrote long articles, when
to me were equally mysterious with the cleo
zion returns. Yet 1 have no doubt OF the
| ability. and none whatever OF the honesty OF
| his reports from Wall Street and am sure
in that region of bulls and bears that he is
| pleasantly and respectfully remembered
There is no association or lucre, OF imam
cial phenomena, of panics and Black
Fridays to mar my own rec0llecuon or
his sweet nature, of bis amIa6Ie
manners and always Obliglng disposition. he
was one of the most competent Journalists OF
all work whom have ever known. He could do
ANYTHING tOleraby, and q great many things
| admirably, He bore up bravely, against tie
disease which was killing him; but we saw
him less and less frequently at The Office, ana
finally came the intelligence that We should
never sec him there again. / mention MT.
Cleveland partly because | was sincerely
attached to him, and partly because his story
| affords an excellent illustration or what L
have Just SAID of the fleeing character. OF
the journalists fame. / take peculiar
| pleasure and an honest pride in thus MENTION
ing to the old and faithful readers of The
TRIBUNE the names Oh some OF til9se 10 " wi use
| ability and labor they have been indebted for
pleasure and for information during all these
| years of its publication. never cared much
| for notoriety, and have been content to follow
/ NV profession in an Obscurlty which 1t might
l In, oh
| vet / like to have my old associates renlem-
| bered, and have found satisfaction, when
1 possibly the reader has not always shared, in
| mentioning mole than one OF them In these
| papers.
n is a particularly honorable feature of the
| history of The TRIBUNE that it has always ex-
| tended hospitable reception to young writer's
| who had their laurels yet to win. MIR. Gree.
| ley's literary taste was nearly perfect, and II
| good original poems were sent and happened
! TO come under his eye, they were pretty sure
| of a place in the columns. When Mr.. Z. 4.
! Sfedman, who was then q much younger
| writer than he now is, and by no means so
well known, offered his poem about Lager
| Bier remember that MIR. Greeley was much
| Dlessed with it, which was the more remark
| able because he probably did not know the
! taste, even if he knew the smell, OF the mild
| Triple which Mir. Stedman calculated so me
| iodIously. He called out from his den that
| the noein reminded him of Thackeray's
| Ballad of "Bouille Bats" "a remark
worth repeating, not because Mr.. Sted-
| mans poem is particularly like Nj.
| Thackeray's, but because it Shows that MIR.
| Greeley was familiar with the great nOVellst's
! best things There was o wedding about that
| time which created much sensation III New
! York society of a certain class, and which
was very fully reported and magnified and
| gloriied and commented upon IN the New
York newspapers. 1t was called " The Dia-
mond Wedding because the bride was re-
| ported to have received most costly gifts OF
1 NJ vii
light satire upon fashionable frivOlities aud
uneGuaI matches, which was printed. The
Young bard meant no harm, but he nearly
| involved the newspaper IN a libel suit
| son. and himself in duel with the irate pa
| IA of the bride, which would have been more
unreasonable still. AlasI this was great
| many years ago, but | remember that we had
| no end of fun out of it at the time. l cor
! dially bear testimony to the fact that Mr..
| Stedman was much pluckier about the matter
| fhan he would probably be in O like affair just
| now, since years have brought him multiplied
responsibilities, q literary reputation well worth
| nursing, and, if he will pardon me for saying
| SO, just little more OF the commodity called
| and known as common sense.
| IL the war advanced American journalism
| in every way, it did so particularly in the
| creation of a corps of clever correspondence,
| who reduced reporting in the field to something
| like science. Even before the war the cor
| respondence Of the newspaper was an impOr-
| tant feature and a.Ereat deal of money was
| iayished upon it. Mr.. TaylOr's letters / have
| already mentioned, as well as those written
| from Boston bV Mr.. Quincy and Mr.. Carter,
| and the rather independent bureau OF his own
| which Mr.. Pike maintained in Washington.
MI. Greeley himself was an admirable
| letter-writer, and did things in that way
which have never been surpassed Feats
were performed which are still mentioned with
| reverence and respect One of these was that
| OF Mr.. Mortimer Thompson, better known as
| q DOesticks,n who went down to Georgia TO
| attend the sale by auction of the slaves of
| Pierce Butler, tho husband of Fanny Kemble,
| and wrote an amusing account Of that yendue: