Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-10-18


also his newspaper instincts became full
ly developed. he wrote to the New
York Tribune OF the scenes in Paris at
that time, ard his correspondence is
even regarded TO this day as a model Of
that department of Journalism. This
work brought Mr.. Dana into close rela-
items with The Tribune. and soon after
he accepted sn offer from Horace Gree
ley to become I1fagirg editor CT that
paper.
The mana Eing editor Of a paper even
. that time was its executive officer.
ard in the fierce competition which wss
then raging between The Tribune and
The Herald the highest executive quail
ties Were 6elrarCed tc match the extra
ordinary Es-ius sf James Gordon Ben
nett. Mr.. Dana revealed them. He did
not write mcch. hut almost everything
that ws-s written sTas written ct his su .
sestion, Mr.. Greeley Gsvoting tis atief.-
tiun especially to the rourcaI ard
economic direction OF the paper. Nr.
Dana drew to The Tribune scme ef the
ablest writers ard thinkers Of the time.
Mr.. Bennett 5iscct cred that the ycrtng
managing editCr CT The Tribune had
quite as keen "a nose for reWs' as he
II
ment Of the relative Importance # news.
He finally disagreed with Greeley as
20 policy ara retired. when Secretary
Stanton Offered him the post CT assistant
secretary Of war. and he undertook these
labcrs with extraordinary energy. kuoh
Of the time he was With General Grant
III the west. He was several times TN
der fire. showing Sreat cCoin5ss and
courage. After the war Dana rlipIt
have accepted several CfTers to re-sutar
business. life, Du. Ike fGsciuations of
journalism caused Lsm TO decline every
proposition CT trct sort made to him. 4
company WSs crEs nised to create ard
publish a great Republican rewspa. =
IN Chicago, and Mr.. Dana wac onereG
the eGitorsLi3. and a small interest ir.
II was given to him. Later he sold ont
his interest IL this paper ard wert 10
New York, where some OF his Cid-,inn,.
Republican friends helped him TO tu,-
the New York Sun. which was to be pub
hshed as : isw pc:ced EcpuL. .icar new
paper.
Mr.. Dana tcck charge On TIE 1st of
January. lSfS. the TGD,r then ha-in-
about 10000 circulation. ard his ccnsn;c-
uous career began with that issue cf tho
PAPER Here he finally developed his tai
ent for finding news and news thatvculd
sell 1t was his aim rot only to get the
news. but 10 so present il that the mere
reading Of it would be Interesting and
entertaining. Eis idea was that fact
II itself Ct nc particular CONSEQUENCE
might nevertheless in the tcliir- Of II he
made as Interesting as more iruortart
news. IrccT his management the paper
secured at ore time as high a circulation
as l5o,00o ana its Sunday edition even
more than that
Mr.. Dana, like Caleb Gushing. seemed
to thrive upon hard work. Iertal aprli-
cation was a delight to him. He learned
botany while riding to and from his Of
fee. In his spare moments he r7asterad
the Icelandic language. He knew Dante
probably better than any ether Areri-
can in New York. Spanish literature de-
lighted him, and he mastered it at odd
moments. A learned hcrticulturfst. the
gardens Of his summer place were filed
with choice flowers, and for trees he had
an affection which led him to know them
al and to raise up ! his Island retreat in
Long Island sound every variety of fir
tree capable CT living q a temperate eli
mate
Mr.. Dana was nearly so years Of &c
before he began, Of his own experience.
TO Know the luxury of wealth When he
went to The Tribune as managing editor
mis- salary was S12 a week and he was
10 years Of age before he mad received
more than $50 a week.. The royalties o.
his book Of household poetry and upon
Appleton's encyclopedia brought him
RrSer income than that, although his
money came to him mostly after he be
came editor of The Sun. In his later
years Mr.. Dana received $4,000 a year
from The SUn and handsome dividends
upon the stock. majority Of which H.
controlled.