The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-10-24

V9Pcn kupu-~01S uuRo$ too Nnsp ears
with I'll IT, cares. when hi
death WA announced there was !
universal query; what will become o
the Sun nows''
ThA question must be answered scm'
time scon, in the nature Of things. for Mr.
Dana has turned four score. and man nj
that time Of life does not 60 through such
an ordeal q his last has been without
drawing very heavily on his reserve. III
has been strong. hearty man all his life
and hs dream has been to get good look
at tho Twentieth century. SO strong and
hopeful has he boon, 20 secure In his own
strength, that. a. ncari gushing school
girl say tho other day. IT would Just kill
him to die"
Nobody looking At him any time In tho
tan years since he passed the biblical thrco
score and ten could associate him with the
thought Of death Though the cartoonists
always, for some reason. draw him little.
he Is q big man. tall and wide, with noble.
square shoulders and long. straight legs.
Hk town house liz In Madison avenue and
:. good two miles above his office. but al
nost any night In tho hast decade he has
tone the distance Of evenings on foot.
There was no finer sight In tho metropo-
aia for many years than this fine, statu-
eeQue figure leaving The shabby old Sun
building and starting homeward Al 0
O'Clock In the evening Park Row is rag
ing torrent OF huinanity, and he who walks
therein must elbow his own way. MIR.
Dana used TO come to the door alone. STAND
for moment like diver hesitating before
his plunge, then buttonng his coat and
taking new grip on his st!ck-in he went,
and presently his white beard was seen
floating on the current here and there,
and presently beard and owner came ashore
on the other side. Then at four mile
stride the old editor started across the City
Hall park, shoulders well back. form swing
ing steadily and the sturdy legs cleaving
their way. II you were close enough you
might have heard the whistling aria Of n
new opera or line from the divine com
edy, uttered In fine mellow tones--for all
the world as II tho walker were a healthy
youth OF 20.
or recent years you may have noticed
that there has been less In the Suns ed
itorial page about the youths OF 70."
less about the glory OF living to 90 or 100
years. | have been told that MIR Dana has
lately said less and thought more OF death
than formerly, How much truth there
may be in this / don't know but remem-
Der with something like a pans that tho
last time / saw him mount his own STAIR
way In the Sun office his step for tho first
time seemed rickety. II may be that this
latest Illness. was the outward expression
OF an inward failing that has long Leen
known to him. He Is not the man to talk
of H,lch things Indeed, thol S' he had his
share OF cgotism, he was never responsive
to questions about himself that failed 10
touch kindly chord.
A QUIET LUNCHEON.
For some years il WA Mr.. Danas prao-
tico TO eat his luncheon in tho Sun build
ing In this office OF Mr.. LifIan. the pub
Usher and the editors closest associate. N
we except Paul Dana. who has had the
good fortune - have been brought tn ms
his illustrious fathers intimate friend and
pal" These Mpchcons, however were
rigidiy exclusive. waiter brought In
from neighboripg restaurant a brace OF
chops and bottle Of claret and over this
simple fare the two men spent an hour q.
give and take at--thc Lord knows what
conversation. Laffan is a wlre-edgc north
OF ireland man, though educated at Black
Rock and In France. II 10 said--and /
think truly--that he ewes his Intimate az
ISOLATION with Mr.. Dana 10 the fact that
he can talk Chinese inscriptions. pottery
well az Dana Both men. like the late
M, THEIRS, have the "foible OF omnlsci-
ence, and of that boundless store nj re
clnhite and useless information vhirh
marks the deeply learned each had hia
hiSFc Lafian came 10 the Sun as an art
ana theatrical critic, having failed In Ral-
amorc publishing penny paper. He adj
Vahctd speedily from that somewhat or
nhuiehuni position to be business MANAGER
or publisher, and so near TO :he EDITOR
mat nobody on the Sun ever caroi IA try
ssues with him for priority II IL only an !
occasional genius who can do business and
Chihese pottery, too, but Lafiau Is OF that
sofs, and everybody attributes his fuccess
IN the Sun office TO that versatility.
- lew years ago. when the Sun and
world We're at each other hammer and
tongs, the World used to declare every dav
or no that this man Laffan" had hynnotized
pana ana would come into the Sun as
OWNER when the editor died As for The
nypnotlsm' think my explanation is
uuer. Tho succession to the property ID
anoeher matter, OF which. doubt. nobody |
KNOWS very much save thoee who have |
.lsn' TO- Whoever owns the paper, therc
.sn, any Question that Mr.. Dana contro,s |
~, anu mas Tor many years without cues |
tlon Of his authority. II was se ,yh, hn,to,
cleveland In 1884 and came out in IN,
absurd campaign for Ben Butler.
"A MILLION A WEEK"
And this I know he did asains, tho ma.
vice and desire OF all his associates who
foresaw the disaster that followed. In 10 |
This time the Sun had ileld Of its own
all to Itself Il was the only a-eent morn
'ns paper In New York and used 10 Inv
great sttess In Its advertisements ON 10
circulation OF "a million a week, There
was no other auch circulation In America |
then' Tho Sun was then is four.nayo
oaiiy and perfect model Of contpaetness
ana typographical beauty-.it you mad eycs
TO read solid agate.
The bolt to Butler happened or,nor,r n.,,,
Tor the World. and when the oampaiea wa
over the World was found TO hay, le,ncs
itseif to good share OF that ''milliop a
week. Especially in the South. where ,he
name o. bu,ler was poison, the Dana M
per lost all Its grip. Four years later 1,
nsd by NO means gained what Il had ,o.t
~ 1888. whereas the World had kent boom
ing on Yet tho Sun continued 10 pound
cleveland, though II was a fight puIclv
personal to Mr. Dana and waged once NOR
against the will OF his partners. who
shared In the losses but not IA The nun
Tue defeat OF Cleveland sostened ,Le cftec,
OF this bolt, but In 1892 by which inns ~
txrA \. S~xIx.