Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-30
South Americas Greatest Newspaper

- NEWSPAPER editor from the
Argentine Republic who made, a
80 little while ago, a short visit to
&&M the United States, was not in the
- least impressed with two things
Of which we are proudest-the enterprise Of
our newspapers and the philanthropy Of our
citizens. In his own city of Buenos Ayres,
says a writer in Worlds Work, he is ia
miliar with a newspaper philanthropy I'M
matched in the worlds, in fact, editor-in-
chief Of a paper that not only has the most
magnificent newspaper building in exist
ence, but also gives more to the public
than any other journal known. This man,
Senior Ezequiel P. Paz, edits La Prensa
CThe Press), the greatest newspaper in
South America, owned by his father, DR..
J. c. p. Paz, formerly Argentine minister to
France and a man who has done what no
other journalist has done. In Buenos Ayres
and in fact throughout the Argentine Re-
public, La Prensa is not only a newspaper,
but a free doctor, a free lawyer, a free Ii
brary, a free forum, a free hall, a free
museum, a free hotel for distinguished for
eign visitors.
The paper began as humbly as any Of
the ten other Spanish newspapers of
Buenos Ayres in 1869, with J. C. p. Paz as
fllNbl Il oOlN IL ~ dlbh6 " uh-
successfully until 1874. when the owner be-
came so involved in the revolution Of that
year that he had to flee an exile to Monte
video, in Paraguay. A meritorious service
as ambassador to France, during which he
nurtured his great plan, followed his re-
turn. Finally, seven years ago, he sent
Carlos Agote, a well known engineer, to
visit the great newspaper plants in the
world-in New York, in London, in Paris.
simultaneously Alberto de Gainza, archi-
tect, went to work on the building. Gainza
was to erect a magnificent building; Agote
was to see that a newspaper plant installed
in it was as good as any in the world. This
task he carried out by ordering Hoe presses
and other American machinery, as, for ex-
ample, six passenger and five freight ele-
~vators; even to ink and paper the equip
ment Of La Prensa has been furnished in
the main by American firms. In 1896 the
building was finished at a cost Of 81, 900, 900
in gold. Instead of making money in the
newspaper business and founding with 1t a
hospital, a library or a college, DR.. Paz
with his wealth housed his newspaper in
splendid apartments in a building too vast
for a newspaper alone and instead of rent
ing the rest of the building, after our fash
ion, he established in 1t the museum, the
library, the reception chambers for foreign
visitors and the other features that make
La Prensa such a marvellous institution. He
himself stood in the background; 1t was not
he that was doing all this-it was La
Prensa.
Features of the Establishment.
The paper is an eight-page journal with
the inside pages devoted to news and the
outside pages to advertisements The es-
Enlistment is at first glance an imposing
gray marble structure, standing on the
finest boulevard in the city. Towering
nearly 200 feet above the pavement is a
colossal figure of golden bronze, by THE
bault Of Paris, representing La Prensa
(The Press) holding in her hand a lantern
like your Statute Of Liberty" said Senior