The Washington herald., 1907-03-25

fighting for its own saints and its own
scOundrels without let or hindrance,
Lastly comes the great American news
paper Of to-day, printing the news. and
with Il something for every member of
the family It takes a lively interest in
politics at times. but instead of being
tied 10 any particular party's apron
strings. IS more often entirely indepen-
dent as 20 men and measures.
The development of the American news
paper is best shown IN the evolution of
the handling of news. When William
Henry Harrison. ninth President Of the
United States, died a month after he had
taken the oath OF Office. IN 1Sn, and was
succeeded by John Tyler. one of the
greatest newspapers in the country told
all il thought worth while about the
death Of the President in a quarter of a
column Ii didn't mention the fact that
Mr. Tyler would succeed him, evidently
assuming that everybody ought TO know
who was Vice President. 4 few weeks
later the editorial columns biazed with
comment about Tyler. but the news said
never a word.
When Lincoln was assassinated the
leading New York newspapers next
morning published four columns about it.
The Heralds display headline was the
single word Important" Sixteen years
later when Garfield was shot the first
days news was given 10 New York in
thirty-slx columns OF reading matter. No
portraits were printed of the President.
and the only illustration was diagram
of the railroad station where the assassin
attacked his victim. After another twenty
years Mckinley was shot at Buffalo. One
New York newspaper next morning had
twelve pages of matter concerning the
assassination, including twenty-One half
tone engravings. and cartoon depicting
the grief of the stricken nation.
IN December, 1875. there was a great
FIRE in New York which destroyed s20,-
100000 worth OF property. Until that time,
when fires had been reported at all, 1t
was with a mere statement of the num-
Der of buildings burned and their value.
James Gordon Bennett wrote the story
of tho big blaze, and put In the human
interest features, describing the work
Of the firemen. the trouble with broken
hose, and incidents among the spectators,
That was the beginning of the STORY
fu detail" Il sold ., eco copies of the
paper. and by request was printed again
the next day with additions. In lS1 this
same paper devoted a page 10 the be-
ginning OF the great fire IN Chicago and
a year ago it found FIVE pages OF matter
10 print about the great San Francisco
COnfiagTatiOn.
When the yacht America won the cup
in 1851. which no European ever has been
able 10 recapture. the New York papers
"a shr .,
OF a column. The last time the race was
run a Sunday paper found ten pages of
news in it.
Before the telegraph came New York pa
pers employed swift yachts TO meet YES
sells coming from Europe; carrier pigeons
were sent from Halifax. where the ocean
ships first landed, and pony expresses
were maintained between New York and
the Capital During the Mexican war a
Baltimore newspaper organized a pony
express from Baltimore 10 New Orleans,
and got its war news hours ahead of the
government service The first use 10
which the telegraph was put was to carry
news for the papers. IN 1916 Henry Clay
made a speech on the Mexican war at
Lexington. Ky. II was taken eighty miles
TO Cincinnati and from there telegraphed
TO the New York Herald. which printed
It next morning Ia full It was the first
speech ever sent by wire, and its pubnca-
ton caused a veritable sensation. In that
same year, when the Oregon boundary
question was the burning issue and trou-
bic with England was expected, the cry
Of ''Fifty-fOur-forty, or fight caused a
combination Of papers to charter a swift
pilot boat 10 get the latest news from
England.
When Lincoln was killed more than
three weeks elapsed before the comment
Of the European press appeared in Aneri-
can newspapers. When Garfield was shot
the press associations furnished two col
umns next morning OF what the monarchs
and newspapers Of the Old World had 10
say IN deploring the tragedy. The oceanic
cable was a success as early as 1866, but il
was in the Franco -Prussian war OF 1870
that Il was first used for newspapers to
any considerable extent At first the cable
rate was 500 for twenty words, and it
took a rich newspaper TO pay the tariff
Practically all OF the papers in the years
just before the civil war had the same
makeup" Congressional OF Washington
news came first. then. the European news
If a vessel had arrived-and after that
whatever little local news that could
measure up TO the standard OF the day,
There was always some poetry, q chapter
OF a novel, and advertisements galore.
Charles A. Dana, OF the New York Sun,
more than any other one man was re-
sponslble for the revolution in the manner
Of handling the news He broke away
frou, fbs conventional r,offon that Wash
Ington events were always most impor-
tant, ana made each bit Of news stand on
It's own merit as to interest. This move
ment did away with the old style Of re-
porting the deliberations Of Congress YER
batim and in sequence. as is now done
only IN the Congressional Record. This
way of printing the news from Congress
was responsible for the fact that when
President Andrew Johnson was inpeached
the subscriber of the New York Tribune
uy9s forced TO read through four columns