Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-08-15
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
SAYS EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION
OSTLEADERINMR LEES DEATH

1 &lvA1As ILL ~ LILA 1 -
and we can add nothing further, ex-
cept to testify to his noble, kindly,
qualities, words and deeds and his
sincere friendship that we. in COM
mon with others, priced so highly Oil
account Of the thoughtfulness and
geniality with which it was ever mani
Tested. We feel that to quote the
following from the Hannibal, Mo,
Courier-Post, by the editor, w. H.
Powell, zone of his boys" is all that
| is necessary to complete the worthy
record of his life and properly to illus
trate what we have said as to the
principles that actuated his every act,
word and thought:
Business associations, when they
extend over years and encompass the
variety Of experience that go to make
up a mans life-work, weld tie of
friendship second only to the tie of
blood-relationship. Such was the
friendship that existed between A. w.
Lee and the men who are identified
with the five papers over which he
had supervision. His boys were,
after his family, his first considera-
ton. Every man connected with the
business in which he was the head
was made to feel the personal friend
ship and personal solicitude that Mr..
Lee had always for their welfare.
"a w. Lee was, in the truest sense,
a business man, but his first principle
was the doctrine that wage-worker
Is not tool. The writer has been
associated with him for ten years or
more. in all the various steps Of news
paper life from carrler-boy and al
ways he has seen the careful constd-
GRAFTON for each employee, personally,
that distinguished A. w. Lee from the
ordinary employer. The times when
the erstwhile employees assumed the
responsibilities Of business partners
were prouder moments for Mr.. Lee
than for the boys themselves, who
we're thus beginning their careers,
and the young men who have been
assisted to places of more or less
Importance In business life, regard
less of the fact that they have since
made good remember A. w. Lee
with gratitude as the man who made
| 1t possible for them to become factors
| in communities where money rules.
He was business man, but his
methods were not of the kind that
have for their watchword the heart
less expression. Business Is bust
ness Volumes could be written upon
individual instances of his kindness,
his generosity and his faith in man,
kind. One Of his characteristics that
assumed the Importance Of a principle
of his entire life was his steadfast
trust in young men. Give boy a
chance was fayorite maxim of his,
and one he followed in his business by
giving to young men responsibilities
! that seemed too great for them to
shoulder. and by telling them that he
| had explicit faith in their ability to
carry out the work laid down for
them. Never did his plan fail He was
known among fellow newspaper, men
and business men as wonderful
organizer. His power in this line lay
in his ability to choose men worthy Of
confidence, then reposing in them con.
fdence in proportion. to the RESPONSE
bilities he gave them.
| GA w. Lee was self-made man.
Left without resources even before he
completed his college career, he press.
ed on and by dint of hard work sue
ceeded in acquiring an education.
Z HE was one Of the youngest stu
dents ever registered at the Iowa
State University. Newspaper expert
ence at Muscatine, Ia, Hutchinson,
Kan, and Chicago, H., fitted him for
the ownership of a paper, and he be-.
came publisher of the Ottumwa Iowa
Courier in 1890. Having made sue.
cess Of that paper, by employing bust
ness methods and pursuing a straight
fordward, progressive course, he pur-
chased the Times at Davenport, Iowa,
and later the Journal at Muscatine.
In the meantime he had surrounded
himself with number of young men.
all experienced in the newspaper bust.
ness and versed in the methods follow.
ed by him. The Lee Syndicate of
Evening Newspapers, even while II
was made up of the three Iowa
papers alone, became power in the
newspaper world and other members
Of the profession acknowledged Mr..
Lees ability by electing him to proni.
nent places in the National Editorial
Association.
1 Desiring to extend his field Of USE
fulness and the field of the organiza-
ton he had builded. Mr.. Lee added" to
it by the purchase last January of the
Hannibal ,Courier-Post. few weeks
later the La Crosse (Wis.) Tribune be-
came part Of the organization also
It was then that Mr. Lee withdrew
from active connection with any single
paper. He had up to that time been
publisher of the Ottumwa Courier
The management Of each paper was
placed in the hands of a capable pub
Usher. and almost the only boast Mr.
Lee was ever heard to utter. was that
the institutions of which he was the
nominal head no longer needed him al
the helm. He took great pride in tbs
fact that he had brought together ar
organization, made up of five separate
corporations, each of which was indie
pendent of the othersr and entirely
able to make its own way even with
out his guiding hand
TT was at this time that Mr.. Lee de-
cided to go to Europe. there to enjoy
a vacation Of several months entirely
free from business cares. Accompan-
ie6 hfS wife and Htfla danOhter