, 1884-10-11

Inc oHpioJe ulu not Know MT. storey, but
be said nothing. The cold man sat on the
arm OF a chair, and, seizing a lot OF copy
paper, began making letter SIS on 1t, one TO a
sheet. As he would write a big s he would
throw the sheet on the floor and take another
one. The employe spoke at last:
Say, that paper costs money. Don't be
throwing il arouad in that way
Mr.. Storey rose and walked out without
saying anything. The employee afterward
became managing editor.
Excuses were poor things 10 go him with.
Il made Il mistake about that said an edi-
tor TO him once Il don't hire you 10 make
mistakes was the quick Response. @Be a
little careful how you make excuses to the
old man was a standing motto in the Office
DE would have more patience with "a man
who told him LIE had done wrong through
mistaken Judgment than he would for any
other prstext. IL was almost impossible TO
make any other explanation which Mr..
Storey would not instantly and mercilessly
aSsnil with greater vehemence than he had
the original offense.
A copy reader, whose work had been slow
and Unsatisfactory, was brought 10 book for
something, and the chief under whose Inn
mediate supervision be vas explained that he
had an awful sight Of work and couldn't
get through with it,
AaAA ~ 1919 ~ nj OhLIA Nta III
Storey. III you are short OF help hire more.
No one has a right to have more work in this
Office than he can do properly. Don't ever
make such All excuie again.
The tales Of Mr.. Storey's gross abuse OF his
employees emanate from men whom he found
u~ntrustworthy or from persons who never
knew him and who retailed idle gossip coli
cerning him. No newspaper man Of percep-
ton and Judgment could listen day after day
to his calm dissection OF the paper and his
observations OF men and things without
profit. He was impatient with men who did
not know their business, or who w~illfully
neglected II. Others found him strict, but
just and generous.
Very few of his employees ever made any
effort in those days to maintain friendly re
lations with him. II he went away no one
babe him goodbye, and when he returned no
one greeted him. There wero no courtesies
us between man and man. An old editor
meeting him in the elevator would make no
sign OF recognition They would look ut
each other and pass on II Mr.. Storey had
anything to say 1t was always sud without
preliminary hourishes.
The employe who sought him in his room
must have genuine business ON hand or he
would be met Jelly and summarily dismissed.
Autocratic as he was in many ways, he
would always listen to the suggestions OF any
experienced employe, and If they were IN
wise he would demonstrate it in u few words.
He would not be bored by callers. Many a
nuisance has been quickly suppressed by his
refusal to look up when addressed, or by his
cold, husiness-like ~salutation, with a face like
marble; What do you wantIn
Though foremost In many fierce battles,
social and political, and rendered very con-
spicuous by his sole editorship, he never
seemed 10 fear personal harm. Suits for
libel and threats OF bodily violence had no
terrors for him. His heavy gold headed cane
lay on his broad desk but beyond this he
had no means of defense. His room was easy
OF access, and anybody bent on mischief
could have assaulted him with impunity. He
was not afraid to print the truth, and be only
lost his patience when he found that he had
been involved in trouble by the publication
OF falsehood. He sincerely believed that the
way TO make men better was to expose them.
When Senator NJ. H. Carpenter was the
subject Of much newspaper condemnation he
telegraphed Mr.. Storey that il he did not
cease his attacks on his private character he
would institute a suit for libel in the sum Of
800, 900. Don't make a d. fool OF your
self, was the prompt reply, sent by wire with
Storey's signature.
He had an inveterate fondness for
pateLted contrivances. II a man could con-
vince him that his machine would be desira-
BILE in the office he would buy il Instantly.
One day a member OF the staff was telling
another that he had had some trouble with
his throat and that the doctor had used a
laryngoscope Oh him. A third party stand
ing near said: "Sh-hi don't mention that
word again The old man will hear you and
make us all use them.
A mechanic who had been summoned TO
Mr.. Storey's room to make a few changes in
speaking tubes undertook to be agreeable.
why said be. you are lame, Mr.. Storey;
l never knew you were lame.' d your
soul, I'm not lame" was the reply.
Quick as he was with his passionate re-
marks, he was, as one of his Oldest employees
says, SLOW TO WRATH particularly il any
thing had ever happened to make him Loo
favorably upon an offender. He has been
known to try men who had proved derelict
over and over again. II will try him once
more, ~ he said OF an employe who had been
dismissed for drunkenness, "for the sake of
auld lang syne.H
When a man who had been in his employ
In a mechanical capacity for many years al
last fell a victim TO consumption and was
unable to work, a member OF the staff pre-
sented the case to Mr.. Storey and suggested
tnht ne might pension MIN on.
"Neveri" said the editor, with his wonted
firmness- II has been in my employ for
twenty years, and during all that time he
has had Il good salary. It is not as II he had
been working on a p~ittance. He has been
well paid. To pension him now would imply
that this office is indebted to him. | win
help him while he needs It, but let it DO
understood that it IL charity and not a rem
sion
When a man voluntarily left his employ
DO never took him back. lie could not
understand how anybody would want to
leave his office for any other. He held all
his contemporaries in great contempt, and
was never influenced by their course, unless
it was to take one ~antagonistic
The general who suppressed his Newspaper
during the war, the burlesque actress who,
assisted by some OF her retainers, assaulted
him on the street, the judge who committed
him to jail for contempt, the gambler with
whom be had a shooting affair on Randolph
street, the physician who attended hi~ second
wife In her fatal illness, and a score Of others
who at one time or another crossed his path
were never lost sight OF. At first he assailed
them numerically and at last, having pur-
sued them TO his hearts content, he gave
orders that their names should never again
be mentioned in his paper unless they died or
did something diSreputable. His few friend
ships were warm and lasting.
In 1873 Mr.. Storey's personal tastes seemed
10 undergo a change. He began to long for
social recognition, and with this is view, it
is thought he became snowy and expensive
in his personal and household expenditures.
He had plans prepared for the ~costliest house
in America, and began work upon it. For a
time he devoted many hours daily to this
project, and seemed to enjoy the change.
The castle, still incomplete, though work
has been in progress for five years, stands on
the Grand boulevard, below Fortieth street
1t Is OF marble and contains eighty rooms