The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1910-10-01
dent Cyrus Northropr. 4

- =
7 class Immediately on leaving the
university James Gray went into news.
!. paper work and has ever since been
connected with Minneapolis newspa-
pers excepting the two years. service
|: as mayor of that city At first he was
= engaged in general reporting. and la.
ter in executive and editorial posi-
lions, having been city editor OF the
Tribune managing editor of>the Times
and associate editor OF the Journal
and had business experience in the
advertising departments OF the Times
and Misunderstanding years at the
desk, varied only by short vacation
In the mayors office. -.
Familiar With Public Affairs.
Mr.. Gray's first work was on the
Tribune, having the city hall and
courthouse runs, which gave him ia.
miliarity with the people and fund
Of information on public affairs and
matters legal and historical, as we'll
as working knowledge of municipal
government. At the time of the Re.
publican national convention in 1892
he was so impressed with the dramatic
and tragic, the total eclipse of the
Plumed Knight, that he literally tore
of tremendous article on the down
fall of Blaine, prefaced with the lines
from Byron on Napoleon:
"'Tis done. But yesterday a King,
And armed with Kings to strive,
And now thou art nameless thing
So abject yet alive"
Reputation az Correspondent. =.
When the article appeared great
Eastern correspondents came in scores
to see the rural genius who had beaten
them all, and the New York Times
man and others telegraphed the entire
article to their papers. The reputa.
ton thus established was heightened
by his correspondence from Washing.
ton at the outbreak of the Spanish.
American VARIABLE. eloquent and Wig.
orous letters which attracted great at.
tention.
During his term as mayor he won
a number of triumphs for the people.
one in refusing to sign a contract or.
dered by the city council for the pur.
chase of coal because there was an
evident combine between dealers; I'M.
der Mayor Gray's orders wood and
shavings were used as fuel at the wa.
ter works until the trust surrendered.
Defeats Traction Company Plan.
Another victory of the people was
the heading off of "a scheme of the
street railway company to charge a
15-cent fare between the Twin Cities /:
the Minneapolis council had granted
this privilege by an ordinance. Mayor
Gray vetoed the ordinance, which was
passed over his veto, whereupon he Sc:
cured the support of the Pioneer Press
and the St. Paul city council and the
scheme was defeated.
When the smallpox epidemic broke
out, decisive and sweeping measures
of Mayor Gray stamped out the
plague; and another OF his popular
moves was his II haye-have your"
to bring home, ia q style worthy of
them, the boys OF the, Thirteenth reg.
iment from San Francisco.
Strong Editorial Writer.
James Gray is known, and widely
known, through his strong, fearless,
characteristic editorials, which have a
personality of their own so clearly
marked that people commonly say,
That's Jim Gray's; can always tell
his articles" His serious articles are
occasionally illumined by flashes of
native humor. It is of the grave,
serio-comic literary type. He is un.
consciously humorous while he de.
tends himself from the charge.
An important side of Mr.. Gray's ca.
reer is his public speaking, and he is
perhaps more widely known in this
capacity than any other; as an after:
dinner speaker he has made reputa.
ton that has became proverbial, and
he has handled gridiron dinners with
a Zest, JUNCTION and brilliancy that
have been pronounced incompatible
by President Northrop and other
we'll known men. The late Governor
Il have never heard, even at the
Washington gridiron dinners, a fea
ture that compared with it in original
tty of conception
Connected With Church Work.
Mr.. Gray has been prominently con
nected with church work in Minneapo
lis and has spoken from the pulpits
of score of churches of divers de-
nomination, and his address in South
Dakota on "The Layman's Age" has
been widely quoted,
Now, as to the nlan--and, after ALL
that is the important thing: Mr. Gray
is a. man of unbounded popularity
genial, and always ready with an apt
reply He likes people, and is there
fore generally liked; he is what men
call "a good fellow" and women. "a
splendid man." while politicians style
him "a good mixer"
Mr.. Gray's Home Life =:
Mr.. Gray was married in 1893 Il