The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1881-11-30
NEKgpAPER ENTERPREsK
AN ASTONISHING ASCENT ON THE Lad
DER OF JOURNALISTIC SUCCESS.


DER OF JOURNALISTIC SUCCESS.
CHATTANOOGA, Nov. 25, 1881.
To the Editor of The Morristown Gazette:
But few men in Tennessee, as you
are well aware, have made anything
In the newspaper business. The
most of them have made inglorious
failures, while a few, only a few,
have made money. Twothirds,
perhaps, of the-papers now in exist
ence, from Memphis to Bristol, are
scarcely earning their proprietors
decent support. They are dragging
out hard and vexatious existence,
falling for the want of patronage and
entailing poverty upon their pro
prietOrs.
There are, as intimated, some ex-
ceptional instances, and, among
them, we mention the Chattanooga
Times. 1t forms a striking eXcep-
ton. This, as you know, has not
been It's history until within the last
two or three years. For a long
time it did no good. 1t was dead
load upon its proprietors 1t had
no circulation of consequence and
but little advertising patronage. 1t
was considered fatal to touch it with
a "ten-foot pole" It's existence, for
years, was a chequered one, under
going many changes and passing
into different Lands at various stages
of its existence.
This was it's history till Mr..
Adolph S. Ochs got hold oft. When
he bought it and took charge of its
fortunes, it was as fiat as founder
and as dead as herring. The adj
venture was regarded by his friends
as one of stupendous folly. How
could he, they thought and said, es,
cape the rock against which all his
predecessors dashed their all Judg,
ing from the past, it was a perilous
undertaking, enc that gave no as
surances of success in the future
but only foreshadowed certain bank
ruptcy. Besides, Ochs was quite 6
young man, with but little expert
ence in the management Of a jour
nal. To be sure he was a practical
printer and had served his time al
a cease" That was all. He had
never assumed the cares and respOn.
sibilities of conducting a newspaper
This is the astonishing feature il
his case, one that creates surprise
and leaves the public to wonder how
he has proved such a marked sue
| cess, for bear in mind the Chatta
nOoga Times, as now managed anC
controlled, is a marvellous success
1t has gone up and up ever since he
took hold of it, until now no one
doubts its prosperous future. II
has an immense circulation in city
and county and controls a degree 0.
advertising patronage that but few
journals in the State can boast Of
To give you some conception Of its
value, he sold One-half interest to q
moneyed gentleman Of Nashville fol
$4,000. Eight years ago the con,
Germ could have been bought tol
fifty bushels of chestnuts
How does it happen then that il
has proved such a success in the
hands of A. S. Ochs? There is but
the one answer to the question
Ochs has developed into a remark
able business man. That tells the
tale. He has but few superiors, il
any, in the State. In fact, he is q
prodigy. This is the word exactly
the one. Of all others, | want tC
use He has qualifications that but
few men possess anywhere for the
newspaper business. He has exec
utive ability of a high order, re
markable business concentration and
a watchful eye to every department
of his operations. His mental GRASP
is a wonder 1t takes in everything
so that there is not a nook or corner
of his business he does not under,
stand.
In speaking of the Times, | have
only alluded to its financial success
not to its editorial management
I would be doing Col. MCGOWAN, its
able and accomplished editor, in
justice were | to say that he has no.
contributed to its success. ItwoulC
be grossly absurd to suppose that {
daily paper could succeed without Z
strong and able editor, such as Ne
Gowan is known to be. lie is one
Of the most versatile writers Of tbs
COMMUNICATIVE, analytical, bold
outspol1en and fearless. But few
men WELD a more ponderous pen
but few equal his sarcasm and his
cutting, biting, eXcoriating sen
fences. But few carry in their
craniums such a rich and varied
fund of information. 1t was once
said Of him, by one who knew him
well, that he was a walking en-
cyclOp@dia of information.
ALONzO DANTE,