The herald., 1896-06-28
!. THE RISE OF JOSEPH PULITZER


being Cardinal Vaughan, Sir Lewis
Morris, Rev. Carr Glynn, Sir james
Reckitt, Sir Robert Heal Cook, editor OF
the Daily News, and others equally emf
nent, and an address was presented tt
him on behalf of three of the most in
fiuential societies in Great Britain
thanking him for services rendered IN
bringing about a peaceful solution OF
the perplexing international problem
which at one time threatened serious
difficulty between the United States and
its mother country on account of the
dispute over the Venezuela border
claim. The incident serves as a sugges-
Philadelphia Times to review a romance
in real life-a career which reads like
q fairy tale, tale which, he says, should
remain for ever a spur to the deSponu-
ent and a hope to the discouraged.
Joseph Pulitzer was born in Vienna.
When he was but boy his father died,
and to the surprise of the acquaintance
of the family, which ranked high and
was supposed to be in affiuent circum-
stances, it was found that the estate
was very small. Young Pulitzer, in
order that he might not be burden
upon his mother, determined to enter
the army, and with that purpose in view
he applied to his uncle, who was a
colonel in one of the Austrian regl-
ments, and who as such entered the
service of Macmillan in Mexico When,
however the young man was examined
as to his physical- fitness the defect in
one of his eyes was discovered and he
was consequently rejected. Determined
to carry out the project which had now
become his sole ambition he travelled
to Germany and endeavored to become
one of the soldiers'of the King of Prus-
sia. Here again the vision which might
mar his aim when seking the death OF
an enemy proved an insurmountable
obstacle Next England was the coun-
try he wished to defend. but England
would have none of him. The unfor-
tunate physical disability stood in his
way. The civil war at this time broke
forth In the United States, and. with
the little money which now remained to
him. he sailed as a steerage passenger
for the shores of America, landing an
almost penniless young man in the city
of New York.
What few pennies he had only sufficed
to buy him bread, and. therefore, he
could not purchase lodging. Since he
has become the editor of one of the great
newspapers of the country and entered
into the enjoyment of yearly income
which princes envy, he, walking about
this city in the companionship of the
late John A. Cockerill, then one of the
leading editors of his journal, said to
square and pointed toward a bench on
which poor, decayed specimen of hu-
manity was stretched: THAT is where
1 also slept many night. I had no bed
when I first came to this city: l had no
roof over my head. Every pleasant
night until I found employment slept
upon that bench. and my summons to
breakfast was frequently the rap of
policeman's club"
What did you do about rainy nights"
asked Cockerill.
Come with me-" was the answer. Mr..
Pulitzer took his companion nearly two
miles further down Broadway, and.
turning into Park place. showed him a
number of trucks which We're placed
there every evening on account of the
insufficiency of stable-room in that To-
cality. These vehicles We're long and
broad and roomy, and. while the bed of
cobblestones beneath them was not al
together soft, yet it was drier than that
Furnished by an uncovered bench.
Pointing beneath one of these Mr.. Pull
itzer said Under such wagon as that
and on that spot slept on rainy nights" :"
Within a short time, however, the
Impoverished Austrian met a fellow
countryman who had just enlisted in the
German regiment then being recruited
in New York for the Union army and
bear arms in defense of the federal gov
ernment. Uncle Sam was not at that
time inquiring too rigidly as to the ply
sical condition of those who responded
to the continual call for troops and Pull
itzer found no difficulty in becoming
enrolled. He remained with the regiment
throughout the war and when at it's close
he was honorably discharged in New
York city he still spoke very little Eng
n f1 Of ttat his RI
companions were all of foreign birth and
spoke only their native tongues. A fell
low Austrian who had been his most con-
stant companion suggested that they
should go west to seek their fortunes
They went into railroad ticket office
and, throwing down their joint capital
asked for two tickets to carry them as
lar west as that sum would take them
and they received in turn two passages
not for St Louis, but for East St. Louis
the small town on the eastern side of
the Mississippi, which was devastated
by a cyclone few days ago. When they
reached there, the great bridge not hav-
ing been built across the turbulent river
by Eads, they found the Father of Wat
ers barring their progress to the city on
the opposite bank. Pulitzer had not a
penny in his pockets and yet he was de-
ternined to continue his journey as far
as st. Louis.
He got in conversation with the fire.
man on ferry boat and obtained per-
mission to take passage across the river
provided he would assist in replenishing'
the furnaces with coal during the rest
of the day. The task he gladly under
took, and as a result of the intimacy
thus established he was continued at the
employment for some time, and was af-
terward told how he could procure po-
sitiOn as stevedore on the levee in st.
Louis.
Next day he found himself engaged in
hauling bales of cotton aboard one of
the Mississippi steamers. Later on he
became q fireman, travelling between
ut. Louis and New Orleans. The knoWl-
edge thus gained enabled him to branch
cut as a boss stevedore in st. Louis.
This ambitious enterprise, however,
proved unsatisfactory, and again he
found himself without penny, and also
discovered that his physical condition
had been weakened by exposure that he
had to undergo in performing the tasks
of the levee. In this emergency he ap-
piled to employment agency for work.
When asked what he could do he said
"anythin." The only position then open
was that of a coachman to private
gentleman, and upon being asked if he
would accept it he gladly accepted and
at once entered this new employment
He continued in this capacity for only
two weeks, his employer diScharging
him because he feared that the coach
mans defective vision might some day
cause a disastrous collision.
In connection with this brief phase of
Mr.. Pulitzer's life well known archi-
tect, who was once a state senator in
Missouri and who knows Mr.. Pulitzer
&-II IL.