The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-02-07

! the
! subsequent publications of his firm.
! Thus Parson BrownlOw's book was ad-
I Vertised so extensively that $4,000 copies
! were subscribed for before publication
and others Of the Childs & Peterson
/ books were almost equally successful.
Partnership with Bippincott.
In 1860 Mr.. Peterson retired from the
| firm and Mr.. Childs entered into part
! nership with J. B. Lippincott & Co, a
business connection which continued
about a year. Mr.. Childs then COM
/ menced business for himself He con-
/ unued successful and in 1868 he pur-
chased the Publishers Circular, an ad-
| Nertlslng sheet then published in New
York. He remOdeled and edited this pa
| per and issued the first number under
! the title of the American Publishers
| circular and Literary Gazette on May
| ], 1858. The Circular was a great success
! from the start, and continued under the
! charge of Mr. Childs until 1869. when his
| increasing cares of the publication Of
the Public Ledger forced him TO part
| with it,
The American almanac. which had died
! from want of support was likewise IA ken
hold Of by Mr. Childs. and. under the
! JtIe OF the National Almanac. rea ched,
! IN 1865 and 1864, a sale of 10000 copies,
| equal 10 the total sale OF any ten years
/ of its predecessor
| IL IA oHtllol AdckelZle USED 10 re-
late that in 1855 Mr. Childs said TO him.
| i will yet be the owner OF the Public
! Ledger" Mr.. ChildS's ambition. If the
| statement be true, was very high. for in
| 1898 the Ledger was one Of the most
| prosperous and powerful newspapers in
! the United States and he was but
| struggling bookseller. occupying p sin
| gle room In the Ledger building. But
| time worked many changes. and in 1854
! Mr.. ChildS had an opportunity 10 make
! good his boast
The Ledger was founded i'm 1886 by
| three journeymen printers-Aiessrs.
! Swain, Abel and Simmons-and had
| prospered greatly. The Ledger had been
! founded as a penny paper, and had
| gained a very large circulation but when
| the price Of white naDer increased so
! enormously as it did during the civil
| war, the great circulation was actually
a source of loss, since the white paper
| on which the sheet was printed was
| worth more than the printed sheet sold
| for Under these circumstances the
| Ledger, i'm spite of its popularity, was
falling steadily behind. and was pub
| lished at a loss of about $4,000 a year.
Buys the Ledger.
1t required great courage to purchase
a newspaper under such circumstances,
| but Mr.. Childs determined to take the
| risks, and purchased the Ledger for
| sum slightly in excess Of the amount Of
| its annual loss.
THE Ledger was purchased Mr..
| Childs relates, "on the Sd day of De
| cember 1864. A week later I announced
! two simple but radical changes. 1
| doubled the price of the paper and ad-
| vanced the advertising rates TO proht-
| able figure. OF course there was an in
| slant and not inconsiderable falling of
| of patronage. Although at first L lost
| some subscribers and advertisers they
| We're soon won back again.
| Il worked hard to make the paper a
| success; for several years 1 seldom left
the editorial rooms before midnight,
| avera ging twelve to fourteen hours
! day at the office. l StrOVe to elevate its
| tone and think 1 succeeded. If asked
| what / mean by this perhaps l had bet
| ter quote the friendly words Of the late
| Rev DIR. Prime: Mr.. Childs excluded
! from the paper all details of disgusting
| crime; all reports of such vice as may
! not be with proprety read aloud in the
| family; that poison the minds OF young
! men: infame the passions and corrupt
| the heart: all scandal and slang, and that
whole class of news which constitutes
| the staple of many daily papers The
/ same rule was applied to the advertising
| columns, and from them were excluded
| all that in any shape or form might be
| offensive to good morals
! On the Goth day Of June, 1851, the pres
| ent Ledger building, then one Of the ar
| chitectural features Of the city, was
| completed and formally opened. The
| event was marked by a gathering Of
| newspaper men from all parts OF the
| country. At the banquet which followed
| Mr.. Childs proposed the health Of his
| friend and associate. Anthony j. DreXel,
| the head or the great banking house
| bearing his name. This was a formal
! acknOWled cement of a lifelong friend
ship which had grown up between the
| great banker and financier and the young
| publisher from the early days of Mr..
| Child's career. and which grew stronger
| with the lapse of time until it was ter
| minated by the formers death, in July,
| 1898.
Knew Men of Letters.
AS a publisher and bookseller Mr..
| Childs became intimately acquainted
| with many distinguished men in the
world Of letters. In his "Reminiscences"
| he records incidents of his friendship
| with Hawthorne, Washington Irving. W.
| d. Tickner James II. Field, ex-President
] Pierce, Longfellow, Lowell, Oliver Wen
| dell Holmes, John LOthrop Motley, ".
| II. Prescott, George Bancroft, c. l.. r.
| James, T. Buchanan Read. Paul Du
| Chaillu, Thomas Hughes, Joaquin Mil
| Ter Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, Ed
| ward Everett Hale, Thomas II. Benton,
! Gen. Scott and hundreds Of other au-
| thols Later his prominence In the So
| ciaI world of Philadelphia and his un-
| bounded hospitality brought together un-
! der his roof many other eminent men,
| and enabled him to form lasting friend
! ship with very many Of the great ones Of
! the world. The reception which he gave
| TO the emperor and the empress of Bra
| iii was attended by over six hundred Of
| the most notable persOnages in the
| United States. The duke of Bucking-
! ham. whom he entertained while in this
] country and by whom he was in turn
| entertained when he visited England, be-
! came his intimate friend
/ But of all Mr.. Childs's friends there
| was no one who ranked higher in his es-
| timatiOn than did Gen. Grant. He first
| met Gen. Grant in 1868, just after the
| fall Of Vicksburg, and from that time
| until the soldier-presidents death they
| were close and intimate friends In
! September 1868, Mr.. Childs determined
! TO take vacatiOn-the first long rest
| which he had allowed himself i'm his
| long and busy life. He spent several
| months in England and on the continent
| and was everywhere received with the
| greatest honor. In England he was the
| guest of Charles Dickens, John Walters
| of the London Times and the duke Of
| Buckingham. His reception on the con-
| tlnent was not less flattering. At Rome
where he spent Christmas day, he found
| Longfellow and 7. Buchanan Read His
three-months holiday he always de-
! scribed as one Of the pleasantest periods
! Of his life.
a Friend of the Printer.