Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-22
The Editor of The Star Passes
Away After a Brief Illness.
Was Conspicuous Among the Men Who Worked
for the Aggrandizement of the National :
Capita1-Of Untring Energy and
Unfai1ing Resources.

! of the great men of the day. Those were
the times of the news letter The lele
graph. even then novelty. was but lit
tie used in relating current events. The
! Washington correspondent was virtually
the sole medium of communication be
! tween the country and the capital. ne
press gallery of Congress was compara-
lively Small. bur 1t was composed of men
of marked ability and trained observation.
Into this fraternity young Noyes was
promptly welcomed. his colleagues recog-
nizng him born journalist.
+ In 1855 Mr. Moves undertook trip To
Europe. in those days an enterprise of
serious moment for young man of slen-
der means. He adopted the idea of Bay
ard Taylor and covered most of bis jour
ney through the countries of the old
world on foot. describing his experiences
in series of brilliant letters 10 the Port
land Transcript After several months
spent i'm Europe he returned to Washing
! ton. and at the close of 1870 he became a
reporter on The Evening Star. which had
been started in 1852 and>was at that time
under the mana cement of Mr w. ID.
Wallach. More Ian half a century ago.
therefore. Mr.. Noyes became connected
with the newspaper with which his name
has been identified by the journalistic
world of America.
On The Stars Staff.
The Star was then small sheet of four
pages, struggling for circulation and ad-
vertsing patronage. lC had TO fight for
recognition one of the local journals.
1t was sprishtiy and covered wide
| range of matters in it's daily issues. Its
editor was man of parts with a keen
eye for the merits of young men He
recognized his new reporter 5 possessing
both the nose for news and the ability TO
tell his story in an attractive style. He
gave him ample opportunity to prove his
worth assigning him to the widest imas
iVl.z n tafx
political meetings. lectures. debates in
Congress. church affairs-young Noyet
turned his hand TO whatever called foi
eatment He covered the ground active
ly There were 10 horse cars and. far
less. cable electric cars. in those days
There were no bicycles. There were no
telephones. The omnibus was the sole
| aid to locomotion and the transmission %
intelligence within the city. and the young
reporter was often obliged to cover many
miles daily in order to finish his task
His crisp picturesque style soon stamped !
the columns of The Star with his indiviU
| uality and caused its readers 10 increas.
| in number
In 1856 Mr.. Noyes. feeling himself to b.
established. married Miss Elizabeth 3
Williams, daughter of Rev. Thomas W.T.
| liams Of Maine.
| The next few years were filled with ex
citement for all Americans and especially
| so for the residents of Washington. Ma
tional affairs were rapidly approaching ,
crisis The federal capital was the scene
| OF dramatic debates and occasionally o
physical encounters between the charp
| pions Of the sections, the lines Of cleavage
between which were becoming more ano
more distinct. The Star. devoted to the
printing of the news, was growing stead !
| lily. Mr.. Noyes extended his usefulness
as general reporter and Office assistant.
He developed an exceptional grasp of ma
tional questions. His circle of personal
| acquaintance was constantly widening.
liz NOR mo IN h i'm trfi
| mately and to trust to his discretion.
During the Civil War
After the Lincoln Administered ION as
sumed charge of affairs and the war be-
gan this young man was admitted to the
confidence o. some OF the highest officials
OF the government During those trying
times. when the alarms of war were con
stantly sounding. The Star was recog-
, niZed more and more widely trust
worthy newspaper and official announce
ments were frequently made through its
! columns. in large part in consequence of
the standing of Mr. Noyes with the gov
| ernment authorities He enjoyed an ac-
Quaintance with President Lincoln which
was of great service TO him in his re-
portorial work. With Secretary Stanton
/ that most difficult of cabinet officers. he
stood exceptionally high. Mr.. Moves was,
indeed, one of the very few newspaper
men with whom Stanton would talk. He
often intrusted the young reporter with
grave government secrets in order that
he might understand the drift OF events
and shape the printable news accordingly.
There were occasions. however. when
{ these two were not on the most pleasant
/ relations. the reporters sturdy insistence
! upon obtaining the news now and then
bringing him in contact with StantonS
rough methods. The great war Secretary
once threatened to have MIR. Noyes ar
rested for some imagined offense but
the threat did not cause the younger man
! to WaVer.
1t was this unflinching devotion 10 his
| duty which won for Mr.. Noyes the admi-
ration and respect OF the newspaper fra
! ternity at the capital His editor, Mr.
Wallach. intrusted matters TO him in an
! increasing degree. and after few years
gave him the title and imposed upon him
! the responsibilities of assistant editor. in
which capacity he for many years prac-
/ tically supervised the entire publication
Purchase Of The Star.
| Mr.. Noyes was firm believer in the
future OF Washington and In The Star
as its chief purveyor of news, and in 1867
looking forward to the days Of municipal
/ growth and activity following the war
he obtained from Mr. Waliach an option
| on the newspaper and organized a COM
| pany of friends and associates TO purchase
1 and publish It, These others were Samuel
/ II. Kaufman. then an employe Of the
Treasury Department and a man of ex-
tended acquaintance with the printing art
George w. Adams. one of the best know n
| OF the Washington correspondents for
out town newspapers; Alexander
Shepherd. later the founder OF the Great
| er Washington. and Clarence Baker. In
the new organization Mr.. Noyes In rec
ogntion OF his familiarity with the paper
! in all it's branches. was made editor-in-
chief. which position lie held continu-
ousi. throughout the remainder of his life.
The story of Ar Noyes' editorship OF
! The Star is virtually the story of the
! growth and development of the District Of
Columbia during the past forty years
From the outset the new owners decided
10 devote the paper TO the local welfare
1t has never been swerved from that pur-