Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-27
SKETCH OF BRISBANE

81 notice picture Of Arthur Brisbane
in one of the current magazines" said
seasoned New York newspaper man. Few
people IN the United States. outside of those
In the newspaper business. could tell you
out of hand Just who Arthur Brisbane Is
But everybody inside the newspaper pro-
fesson has heard about him. Brisbane, to
give him his briefest description and the
most fitting one just now. Is the young
man who made Mr.. Hearst. Nobody who
knows the circumstances Of his connection
with Mr.. Hearst's newspaper enterprises
has the least doubt OF this.
He Is, in addition. the highest-salaried
newspaper man on the globe. His salary
as editor of Mr.. Hearst's evening New
York newspaper is said to be $4,000 a year.
If you take pencil and pad and figure 1t
out carefully. you Will find that this means
81 ,OGO a week-fair wages: but nobody in
the business doubts, either. that Brisbane
is worth that much to Mr.. Hearst. In ad-
dition to mis- $4,000 a year he is said to de-
rive percentage Of the New York evening
papers receipts. The story goes that Mr..
Hearst promised him. some years ago,
percentage of the papers receipts when the
paper should pass its 10000 a day circula-
ton mark. Brisbane pushed the paper past
that figure and is deriving his part OF the
harvest.
las a matter of fact though, Arthur
Brisbane never needed to work at all. He
was born well-to-do. and could have lived
very easily and worklessly on the bully
good income with which he was provided
at his BIRTH But he preferred to work, as
men Of brains must prefer. he was eau-
Gated at one Of the great universities, being
graduated before he was twenty. When he
was twenty he walked into the Office OF
the New York Sun and asked for some
l&I NHnh "
still has, its Kindergarten SO called;
school for embryo journalists. that Is. Inc
nkely-looking young chap who looked as
If he might turn out to be newspaper
tie stunts at salary of $15 a week. He
was watched by his elders. If he made
good, he was put ON space'-that Is:
he was attached to the regular stan and
paid column rates for his stuff he didn't
show the right kind OF material he was
gently dropped
Now. to show you what kind Of an tndi-
vidual Arthur Brisbane was and Is, he
stayed in the Suns kindergarten just four
months before he was put on space. Then
he Joined the staff. At the end of one year
after he had strolled into the Sun ONCE
and asked for some work Arthur Brls-
bane was the European correspondent OF
the New York Sun. and newspaper read
ers who like the best. will remember what
brilliant series of weekly letters he sent
to the Sun, while he was its European
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES ne QaQ DdT6iy UcSuA W
shave. at that. I remember Brisbane very
well when he was cub reporter around
New York-a slight. light-haired youngster,
with nothing remarkable about him, appar-
emily. and extremely dudish in his dress;
but he had cold way of looking you right
straight in the eye and a jaw that squared
when he became earnest. and a pair OF
hard, close-set lips, and the general air,
If You took the time to look him over under
the surface Of his dudish clothes, of
young fellow who was going to arrive.
when he was recalled to New York by
the Sun people to establish the New York
Evening Sun, he took to that task with
the Joy most men would experience in Sit
ting down to a good dinner, and 1t was
nothing for him to work eighteen hours
day. In the meantime-this story Mas given
to me, and repeat it for wha. it is worth
he had become engaged to famous
western beauty. a girl destined to be worth
many millions of dollars. The girl, it
seems. had somewhat domineering dispo-
sition-the arrogance OF wealth, not TO put
too fine point upon it. After the engage
ment was announced. so 1t is said she
exhibited tendencies Of this disposition,
and the engagement was broken-that all
the gossips ever heard about 1t. But 1t
is stated by persons who speak as with
authority that Brisbane broke it himself.
After leaving the Evening Sun he went
to the New York World. of which he was
managing editor for seven years. Then
the New YorEsJournai. and Brisbane Joined
Mr. Hearst. Brisbane had always held
sociaiistic ideas. His father before him
had been a high-grade socialist. and young
Brisbane got his beginnings in that hne
right from headquarters. He was delighted
to get chance to air his theories. and Mr..
Hearst gave him full sway. Everybody
knows the result. Many people who decry
yellow journalism nevertheless get hold or
the evening newspaper which contains
Brisbanes editorials He will write an edf-
torial advising mothers how to take care
of their babies in a scientihc manner on
one day. and on the, next he will write
a suceinct account of the Darwinian the
DRY of evolution. He has genius for put
ting difficult facts in simple language.
Loads of fellows have attempted TO lmitate
his STYLE but none has succeeded at 1t.
brisbane is tremendous force for tenn
perance in New York, and he Is arraigning
the race tracks all the time in screening
editorials. His friends jolly him about this,
but he maintains that no man IN the posi-
ton of a teacher has to practice what
he breaches these modern days. 1 want
them to do as I advise. not as I do, he
says He gets all KINDS OF en1oyment gu.
of life himself, and somebody even &C
cused him q year or so ago OF owning some
race horses himself. 1t Is cinch that ne
owns whole lot of fine hunters. and he Is
one of the crack riders OF Long lsiana; ne
belongs to the 400 Of New York He Is
by birth an aristocrat, and Is alwayS sur
rounded by people Of the leisure CLASS
Yet he enters the Hearst arena, with all
that that lmp1leS, although IL Is ~ CI'J sou
eraily understood that he doesn't care to
soil himself in that arena. he IS oniy
a little beyond forty today, and ne mas
lived about three lives already. He loves
to work, is hard as nails. a good athlete.
who has en- several occasions shown DULLES
how dangerous man he is to tackle, ana.
altogether an unusual character. Inose
who know him we'll are very fond OF him.
I am of the opinion that he really believes
a good deal Of the socialistic doctrine that
he writes. He probability knows tnat ne
nt.or5oes the thing, but he says. in es-
sence. as to this, that he is Completed to
write down to the groundliigs to get them
To understand what he means. There IS
no writing man in New YORK VINO "leios
The Stranger in Paris.
Vance THOMPSON. in Everybody's Magazine
1Iava Won been in Paris? At a hotel or