The Columbus journal., 1911-02-15


a.Aying, anvil ringing, the man mate.
rializing IN idea-what is finer? l
saw such . sight the other evening
through . window. It gave me .
thrill, and l said to myself, "The only
saint is the man Who has found his
vork."-Elbert Hubbard.
HORACE GREELEY'S CENTEN-
Horace Greeley was born on . farm
Eve miles from Amherst, N. H., on
February 8, 1871. His father was
poor and Horace had little opportuni.
| ty to obtain more than the most print.
tive education. As . small boy Hor.
ace Greeley was an omnivorous reader,
and with the aid of an excellent mem.
DRY he succeeded in acquiring not only
a thorough knowledge of the English
language, but . large amount ofhetero'
genous information, which proved of
great value to him in later years.
At the age of fifteen he entered the
Office of The Northern Spectator at
East Poultney, VT, IS an apprentice.
He seemed to be born TO the trade, and
soon he was the best printer in the
shop. 1t might also be added that
even at that time he was q better
journalist than the editor Of the paper.
Greeley remained with that paper un.
til it died from lack of support five
years later. During those years he
sent the greater part Of his meager
wages to his father, who had removed
to farm near Erie, Pa.
After the Spectator had suspended
Greeley worked his way to his fathers
farm, earning Is much as he could on
the way by working f,r a few weeks
at time on different newspapers. AT.
ter a few months he made his way to
New York. He arrived there with
but = few cents in his pocket, no other
clothes except those he wore, but eager
and ambitious to become q great jour
nalist. For eighteen months he work.
ed as compositor at poorly.paid, odd
jobs, then together with another young
compositor. he opened q printing off,
ce. After one or two unsuccessful ef:
forts to start a newspaper, Greeley. in
| 1894, undertook the publication Of q
weekly literary journal. called The
New Yorker. Two years later the pa
per had 100 subscribers. The panic
Of the following years nearly caused
the suspension Of The New Yorker and
it was on its last legs when, in 1883,
Thurlow Weed made Greeley editor Of
the Jeifersonian, a whig paper estab'
lished in Albany during the campaign
that ended in the election Of William
H. Seward rs governor Of New York.
As editor of that paper Greeley he.
came q prominent figure in state affairs
and, although he was only about TWEEN.
ty.seven years of age, he was recongiz'
ell as one of the strongest political
writers of the day.
Two years later Greeley was chosen
to edit the Log Cabin, the whig cam
paign paper of 1910. His success in
creased Greeley's prestige and gave
him the courage to establish newspa-
per of his own, April 10, 1871, was
the birthday of the New York Tribune,
which under his management and direc
ton became one of the greatest news.
papers in the country and . great poll.
teal power. The subsequent history
of Greeley was inseparably linked to
that of the New York Tribune, At the
head of which he remained for thirty
years, severiDg his connection with
that journal only few days before his
death, which occurred on November
%, 1872.
1t would be difficult to overestimate
the influence which was welded by the
pen of Horace Greeley. He had cour-
age and he had an honest conscience,
and these were backed by a mystery Of
incisive, clear English. He was one of
the foremost advocates Of . protective
tariff and that the north was brought
TO the intense hostility to slavery that
eliminated in the birth of the republi-
can party and the emancipation pro.
clamation Of Abraham Lincoln Was in
. large measure, due to the editorial
columns of the New York Tribune.
Greeley held public Office but once.
when he filled an unexpired term in
congress for q few weeks. He was
nominated for the presidency by the
democrats and the liberal republicans