The sun., 1918-07-07
BY FRANK M. O'BRIEN,

A story of THE Sun would be in
complete without sketch Of its little
sister. THE EVENING SrN was estab-
lished by Mr.. Dana nearly twenty
years after he bought THE Sun. He
saw a place for l cent evening
newspaper, for the only journal OF
that description then published in
New York was the Daily Neus
which was largely a class publication
The leading evening newspapers were
the ErcniH0 Post. the Commercial
Advertiser and the Mai and Express
selling for 3 cents and catering to a
highbrow or partisan clientele.
The first EVENING Sun was issued
on March II, 1887, at an hour when
the St. Patrick's Day parade was
being reviewed by Mayor Hewitt
With its four pages of six columns
each. its brief, lively presentation of
general news. and its low price. the
payer was an immediate success
though not the success that 1t is to-
day, with it's sixteen pages, its wealth
Of special articles, and the many fea-
lures that make it one Of Americas
best evening newspapers.
The new paper had no titular
editor in chief. Mr.. Dana was the
editor of THE SUN and had the gen.
eral guidance Of the evening paper.
Dana's associate, the publisher Of THE
Sun. William NJ. Laffan, took a deep
interest in the welfare of the new
venture. and THE EVENING SUN was
often referred to as his baby"
The first managing editor of the
paper was Amos J. Cummings, with
Allan Kelly as city editor and John
Mccormick as sporting editor. When
Cummings went to Congress L. J.
Edwards took his place and remained
as managing editor until August, 1889,
when Arthur Brisbane returned from
the post of London correspondent of
THE SUN to manage the evening
paper.
It was Brisbane who induced Rich
ard Harding Davis, then a young re-
porter in Philadelphia. to come to
New York. AS Davis was walking up
from the ferry one morning in Octo-
Der, 1889. on his way to take UP his
new duties, he was taken in hand In
City Hall Park by a bunco steerer.
Davis listened to the mans wiles,
turned him over to the police Of the
City Hall station, and then hurried
to THE EVENING SUN Office to write a
story about it for the paper. Davis's
ivan Bibber" stories, the first Of his
originally printed in THE EVENING
Sun in 1890. As a reporter under
Brisbane Davis picked up much Of
the information and experiences that
colored his fiCtion.
When Brisbane went to the Pulitzer
forces he was succeeded as managing
editor by w. c. McCloy, who had been
city editor. and who remained at the
head of the news department for more
than twenty years.
Jacob A. Riis, who had been the Po-
lice Headquarters reporter>of the Trib-
une since 1877, went to THE EVENING
SUN in 1890. coincident with the pub
LEGATION OF his first popular work,
How the Other Half Lives" Others
of his works. including THE Children
OF the 1OOT anu oul AnuioCiiS
Street" were written while he was
the chief police reporter of THE EVEN
ING sun. Riis's work was valuable,
not only to the paper, but to the city
itself. His writings attracted the at
tention of Theodore Roosevelt when
the future President was head OF the
Police Board of New York 1Ss5-1SsO,
and the men became close friends. To-
gether they worked to improve con-
ditions in the tenement districts. and
Roosevelt called Riis New York's
most useful citizen"
Thomas NJ. Dieuaide, whose work
for THE Sun in the Spanish War has
been referred to in these articles, and
of THE EVENING SUN. was one OF Riis's
colleagues. Dieuaide was the author
OF THE EVENING SUNS broadside
against the black vice of the East
Side. Printed in 1901. shortly before
the beginning OF a Mayoralty cam
paign, 1t was a prime factor in the
election of reforming administra-
ton.
Famous Graduates of the Evening
Richard Harding Davis was not the
only fiction writer to graduate from
THE EVENING SUNS school. Irwin >.
Cobb got his start IN the North as an
EVENING SUN reporter. He came to
New York from Paducah, Kentucky,
rented a hall room. and sat down and
wrote to the managing editor of THE
EvENING Sun n letter OF application
30 humorous that he was employed
Immediately. His report OF the peace
conference at Portsmouth New
Hampshire, following the Russo-Jap-
anese War, attracted wide attention.
stephen French Whitman and Alger-