Telegram-herald., 1890-05-22

49,. CSrrusw.a<--a-f-e-t
NEw YoEE, Nay s." hss n.-.s eSeu<as
q 1hs gEeai s1ssogi - - = ~
thAs gass1ou basors Ehs profession -
ca2ss q ne suaotion feea after Esvls~-
Lng s1Ds ed Eles u prozalia1nt p4pso
and eontrzsting The won1<rfOl psrsoz-
aaty n thssr editorials With r-s Lax q
II II moss journals n0w. Have 01aver-
al stucsron, the growth q poPo-Ataoa
and nreAss q fairy good writers re-
duced the great O0s - tae fai-zs q ren-
dared hlm obsolstes
When began . resa The newspapers
no one ssksa; What does the New York
Tribune say} They asked; WHIST does
Greeley SAY Similarly they zsAed. What
view does Prentice take q IT. These Two
dominated TIE thought Of the Wabash
valley Ia those days, aided or thwsrted,
of course, q some extent BY John d.
Defroes and the editors az Cincsnaatl.
Toledo and ST Louis. The sEnalsSs item
IN the Louisville Journal was potent with
the personality OF George ID. Prentice Ii
WA poPularly taken for granted thai
Horace Grealsy wrote every important
editorial IN The New York Irlouns. And
when Toledo, Washington, Cincinnati OF
other city papers were quoted, the first
question asked was rs to the name u tho
editor. DE was responsible . degree
unthought Of now; the great mass OF
reades accepted or rejected statement
ON his authority alone.
AT somewhat later date every city
had its recognized editorial authority.
whose utterancss III his particular neld
carried tremendous weight. y hundred
thousand voters accepted the opinions Of
Deacon" Bross as second only 70 tho
gospel. From ocean 10 ocean Samuel
Bowles had a personal following that no
man now has. Whitelsw Reid as Agate
gained personal strength in the west
which is not even now exhausted. The
signature "E. ID. NJ" in The Cincinnati
Gazette would cause 10000 old sub
scribers 10 read the dryest article. Hal
stead, Medill, Watterson. Cowles. Dana,
Wash. Mclean, Richard Smith and
many more had each his personal fol
lowing, and In different line so had
Storey. Of Chicago, and the De Youngs,
of San Francisco.
In like manner the journals of many
smaller cities acquired prominent per
sOnality. Ii was not The Dayton Journal
but Major Bickham who was quoted;
not The Omaha Herald, but DR.. Miller;
+ not The Denver News, but Byers, and 50
on all over the country. Major Bickham
I had literally created newspaper power
at a center where there was apparently
overwhelming competition from three
sides; and when Omaha had, perhaps, q
population Of ten thousand DR.. Miller
made The Herald sound as if it were the
exponent Of an iflteroceanic and trans
continental metropolis. 1t is pleasant tC
note that both these gentlemen are stiI
vigorous and their personality still shines
through the editorial accumulations o.
recent years.
When this editorial personality hac
declined and almost ceased in the east i
seemed for time TO increase in the fal
west, and many a small town would
have been totally unknown save for tht
editor. If any one had cared to inquire
The Kansas Gazetteer would have told
him that White Cloud was a village il
Doniphan county; but "Sol Miller
White Cloud Chief was known an(
quoted far and wide It had a personal
ity which completely overshadowed tina
Of the town.
The same was measurably true Of Tn
Parsons Kan Sun, The Salt Lake Re
porter, The Territorial Enterprise 70
Nevada, The Burlington Hawkeye, Pio
neer Index, La Crosse Democrat, anC
many other journals in the new state
and territories. When Helena. Mont.
was so far in the wilderness that on
armed himself for an Indian fight t
reach it, il had one of the spiciest paper
in the United States, and more than ON
village station ON the Pacific railwa,
boasted Of "a paper you could swear by,
rs the citizens put it. Where are all th
young men who made their youth am
hurnor, their strong hope and buddin,
talents manifest in these papersi Ab
sorbed by the great city daihes-thos
who are still at the desk-their person
alty is lost. but tho great daily pay
them better than the personal organ did
The panic Of 1873 and the foIlowin,
"hard times were contemporary with
tremendous change in journalism. Tn
great newspaper corporation has take
Its pick Of the local geuiuses. and in it
many departments they are. so TO speak
swallowed up; they write, perhaps. bet
ter than ever, but the reader no longe
feels that he is In close touch with th
one he knew 60 well.
Of the editors in the greatest cite
(great mean. in their relation 10 thei
sections) can Just now recall but thre
whose personality is greater than that q
their papers. and in many respect
greater than that Of the city in vhic
each Is located. viz: Charles A. Dams
Murat Halstead and Henry Wattersor
Henry w. Grady was fourth. bat hi
place Il not filed and II is very doubt
= 4.