The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1913-10-14


There is quite a stretch of wet water
and dry land between London, Eng
land. and Chicago, Cook county, IL
iinois. Also, there is a considerable
chasrn between the occupation of
hawking newspapers and blacking
boots, and that of publishing the
worlds greatest newspaper" James
Kelley has bridged both CULTS, and he
is still a young man, for today is his
forty-sixth birthday.
James Keeley is the publisher, gem
eral manager and vice-preSident of the
Chicago Tribune, and that journal is
THE Worlds Greatest Newspaper. 1t
says SO itself, right on the first page,
every day Of the week. Mr. Keeiey
was born on Oct. IA. 1867, in the white
chapel district of London, which is
far from being the wea1thiest and most
exclusive section OF the worlds me-
tropoliS. There young Keeley attended
school, iblacked boots and sold papers.
He had many rivals in the business,
but by the might Of his fists he speed
lily reduced them to slIbserviency, and
reigned as the king of the Whftechapel
newsies.
At sixteen Kelley decided to emf
from that section. He had the special
olfactory sense which enabled him to
his first copy was crudely written, he
soon improved his style, and became
one of the stars of the Journals city
room.
After some time as an itinerant re-
porter, during which period he worked
his way up to city seditor on papers In
Louisville and Memphis, Kelley went
to Chicago. It was about twenty years
ago that he began his triumpha1 ca
reer in the Windy City as a reporter
on the Chicago Tribune. He quickly
made hit with the city editor of the
rrih oil no
doubtless very careful to keep the fact.
to himself. He was given many big
ASST gnrnents both in and out of Chi
cago, and turned in more beats than
any other man in the office. He was
soon promoted from reporter to copy
mangler, then Tonight city editor, and
city editor. In 1898 President Patter-
son, of the Tribune. called Kelley into
his office and remarked, THE Tribune
needs anew managing editor. You
are it, And KeeIey was s'it," from
CRATE to America With him, to decide
was to act He found q steamship
agent who had shopworn ticket to
Leavenworth, Kan. Tickets to Leav-
enworth, Kas., were a. drug on the
London market just then, and Keeley
got the transportation at cut price.
Arriving in the Kansas city, the young
1ondoner refused to be cast down by
his inability to get a job as a cowboy,
a scout or a slayer of Indians. He
took to the streets. selling papers, pea
nuts, popcorn and other small mer-
chandise, and added to his income by
doing odd jobs for the army officers at
Fort Leavenworth He thought of be-
coming a soldier, but he was a born
fighter and he discarded the idea OF a
military career as being too peaceful
When Leavenworth palled on the
young soldier of fortune, he hoofed it
to kansas City. He got a job g carr
Tn11rnaf His
route was in the suburb of Wyandotte,
and Kelley began sending IN news
the word go. If the Chicago Tribune
is the worlds greatest newspaper, as
it modest1y admits, Mr.. Kelley is the
worlds grea test editor Maybe Kelley
is great in spite of his early environ
ment; and, again, maybe he is great
because of it.