The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-10-18
VANDERBILT NEVER
SAID THOSE WORDS
Famous Phrase in Regard TO
the Public Originated by
Angry Chicago Editor.
MISTAKES OF RAILROADS
ABOUT M0LDlNG OPINION
Daniels and Hooper Know How
TO Create Favorable Sentl-
ment, Says Official.

"'Tne public DC damned was not said
Us Vanderbilt n was put into his mouth
hv Clarence Dresser editor % tho 'hi-
,,-o Eyc. Vttly two-by -four sheet that
died long ago. know all about That
story" sAid nn eastern official recently
Dresser WIS personal friend ot mine I;
knew him Tor many years. BE told me
The rtory himself. and admitted that
VANDERBILT never used the phrase. which
IKE Milwaukecs beer has made him
famous Vanderbilt will 20 down in his
tori ne the originator of those four ia
nous words. which have spread all over
~. earth. and hnyc now become one OF
the worlds proverbs.
y, WAS ,hir way: Dresser was in
N..y Yorl. and dead broke He never
hnl dollar anyway. Ike most news
rareumen. tie wanted to get home TO
Chicscn and went direct 10 Vanderbilt
for q pass.
Vanderbilt told him to go 10 the proper
o0Icia, and n he. Dresser were entitled
fp transportation he would get H. and II
were not ~" would not. Dresser walked
ont of Nand"rbllts cnlc" straight INTO
thnt or another road and promptly got
his pass without ANY questions h'inE
lilo arrived In chicago mad clear
tnroUch and ~ ou'" sat down To- MS
d,sk and wrote r"d-hot roast on Van
dcrbili with Tho Public BE Damned I'm
gIaring headlines across his front page.
Railroads Not Advertisers.
IN took. Tho phrase went All over
the country. and has today become tho
war cry ~ All kinds "f rcformcrs when
fhey want 90 put IN" supposed ainiuh"
of the corporations int" ono catch line.
vanderbilt would have given Dresser
2 pass foI iife rather than hav" had
that thing happen. " simply illustrates
lle power of the press. iho wicked sting
that licE I'm tho sharp end OF a lead
pencil. II tho right man uses ~
Railroad mon don't know any more
about public opinion than preacher does
about politics. TT admit that large
par, NJ the hundreds Of thousands OF
dollars the railroyds spend on publicity
iE wasted aud often worse than Wast'd-
II often not only does them N" good,
hut actual harm.
WHO are th, two best known railroad
advrrtiSrrs in America" Daniels OF N"
New York Central and Hooper Of tho
others usr men outside ot the railroad
business to reach the public
Daniels. for instance. turns to ElhcTi
Hubbard as far from rallroadug as "A
uses hundreds nf thousands of his Mes
sagc Ia Garcia. story that has no hint
of railrnading ia IT,
Creating Public Opinion.
"Most ot the printed stun disbcd out 10y
The railroads today Is read hv no one
bat railroad mon. and they do not need
" The public does not read VI, and
could mol understand it n they tried.
'ti violates two fundamental rules Of
r"echnr The public car. aud through that
to mold public opiuion. Tho first Is that
one must treat his subject. not dircCtl"
hut through some other subject I'm which
tho public Is interested like baseball or
: chickens Tn" second is that the stun
SurEcd out hv railroad men rs too tech
ncni. TIL" public hates figures.
Ard above al. notic" this. iust 20 IL
iusiratc 40" innocence 81 most railroad
men " ~ tEay try tu write. Did anyone
eyer So" an argument written by a rail-
foad man. say oH freight rates, that
/Nas Intended To- bc read bv a woman?
Not only 10 read, but TO understand. and
above an Tor her to become interested
in?
And everyone knows that women. more
Than any other one element. control pub
lie opinion. Yet. vcDr after yrar the rail
roads so on IN hclr blind way wasting
ih"ir good money to iced the waste paper