New-York tribune., 1918-05-15

ms Iather he was the managing ed;+or
OF me Herald" and he was thersforo
wen ntted ny experience to assumo ~ .
"eadshlp Of the establishment. ''''
Radically Changed Herald.
Upon his accession he quickly i'm
pressed his own individual nersoy.i;t,, 1; :,
upon ,ne paper and made a number ~
s~;nv I,~a. changes. perhaps the most CON
sonal to impersonal journalism. The
elder Bennett had been an cxtrs,ro oxs NE
ponent OF personal journalism. He had
written in "The Herald" great Loo
about himself, his family, his propertv
ana ana MS own personal opinion, and had
also made almost daily personal refer
ences; complimentary or derogatory. to
ms ms fellow editors and other public men,
me me younger Bennett changed all that.
he sel1om permitted any mention of
himself, his family or his affairs to an.
pear in the paper, and he avoided "a
lar as possible personal attacks upon
other men. Moreover, he endeavored To
make his paper sort of journalistic
republic, in which all men should be
equal. To that end frequent changes
were made III the organization of the
stan, and man who one day was writ
ing editorials might the next day be a
AS PoA tcI az once t1eA0QuartorS.
1T was Mr. Bennett's policy also to
make news as we'll as merely to record
1t. Possibly this trait was an Inherit
ance from his father. There is a story
that the elder Bennett one day sum
moned his city editor and told him that
his department must furnish a sensa-
tion for the next days paper. The city
editor protested that there was no SEN
sational news in sight. "Then," said
Mr.. Bennett, "send reporter out and
have him kill somebody. We must have
have a sensation" The younger Hen-
nett did not create sensations of This
kind, but he sent Henry NJ. Stanley into
the heart of Africa to find and, if pos
sible, to rescue David Livingstone, and
he sent the ill-fated Jeanette expedi-
tion through Bering Strait to explore
the Arctic seas and, if possible, trav-
erse the Northwest Passage from Amer
lea north of Asia to Europe. He also
interested himself in the ways and
means of transmitting news by joining
in the construction of one of the great
transatlantic cable systems. In 1887 lie
started the Paris edition of "The New
York Herald" and thus largely intro
duced American journalistic methods
to the European Continent Nor as the
proprietor and director of "The Her
aid" did he ever regard himself as su-
perior to playing the part of reporter
or correspondent. On one notable oc-
casion not many years ago he person
ally interviewed the Sultan of Turkey,
at great length for "The Herald" De-
spite the free use which he was then
daily making of the telegraphic cables,
he transmitted this interview by mail,
and when asked afterward why he did
so he replied that there was no espe-
cial hurry in getting it over, as he was
sure that the interview was exclusive
and no other paper could cheat" "The
Herald" on it.
Directed Paper by Cable
Although he made his home in Paris
and spent much time in travelling in
European waters in his yacht. Mr.. Ben
nett kept himself in close and constant
touch with "The Herald" Office in New
York. Every day long dispatches were
sent over the cables conveying to him
information of the state of the Office
and in return conveying his orders for
the conduct of the paper. At such long
range he dictated its news and edito-
rial policy and the management of it's
business affairs. In like fashion he en-
gagged, promoted and discharged en-
ployes, complimented them upon their
work or reprimanded them for their
errors. In order to keep him accu-
rately and minutely informed of all
details in the making of the paper a
copy of 'The Herald" was sent to him
its articles marked, and he seldom
failed to scrutinize every column of it
with painstaking and critical care.
In early life Mr.. Bennett became
much interested in various out-ofdoor
sports, in which he attained much per-
sonal proficiency and of which for
many years he was generous patron.
He. was an enthusiastic yachtsman and
POLO; player, and was also proficient in
swimming, horsemanship and fencing
He introduced polo into America, re-
vived coaching in France and organized
international automobile and balloon
contests.
He started ocean yacht racing in
1867, when, with his chooner Hen
rietta, he defeated the Fleetwing
and the Vesta in race from Sandy
Hook to the Isle of Wight. In 1883
necessary for sending an American
rifle team to compete in an interna-
tional shooting match at Wimbledon.
His contributions to various benevo
lent purposes were numerous and gen.
erous. In 1874 he gave 100000 for
feeding the homeless poor Of New
York, making Mr.. Delmonico his agent
and requesting the aid of the police in
carrying out the plan. In 1S79-'80 he
contributed 100000 and raised much
more than that amount through 1.-THE
Herald" for the relief of the famine
sufferers in Ireland, and sent supplies
thither in special ship chartered for
the purpose. For many years "The
Herald" raised each summer fund to
supply free ice to the poor in the tene-
ment districts of New York City.
Object of Many Attacks
Although he as rule avoided per-
sonal attacks upon others, Mr. Bennett
was himself frequently made the OBJ
ject of attacks and nvdious COM
ments, which he usually took in a good
natured way. When Jay Gould gave
to the press long, letter attacking Mr..
BENEFITS personal life Mr.. Bennett
published it in full in "The Herald"
with the curt comment that Mr.. Gould
was a gentleman. When John Kelly.
then leader Of Tammany Hall, made a
public attack upon his character, Mr.
Bennett contented himself with the re-
mark that "the proprietor of The
Herald lost his reputation long be-
fore Mr.. Kelly was ever heard Of"
This method of receiving personal
attacks was adopted by Mr.. Bennett in
his boyhood, when he was student in
the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. He
was there one day told by monitor
that he must personally fight one or
tne other pupils hand to hand and thus