The New York herald., 1920-01-20
Mr.. F. A. MunSey's
Purchase of the
New York Herald
Nr. Nss.e, Usp..d..

prom the Louisviiie Couriw
The picturesqucnsss 81 great person
aNtes which gave the American press
variety and color m the period of
Greeley. Dana and the isonnei,s bad
vanished from New Nofk Journalism
when Frank A. Munsey bought the
sun. but the sun had remained. infiu-
eneed by the Dana trnGitiors. a New
York Institution. even an American in
stitution OF rare distlrction.
The HErAin. which NJ Munsey has
purchased. was until recently a refiec-
tor Of the exceptional temperams nt
or the younger Bennett. who became a
notable figure I'm cosmopolitan life On
Young manhood and snJoyed an exccp-
tionaiiy long career. during which ne
won worid-wide replta'iou as an
able publisher and q reputation IN
newspsperdom as an eccentric. often
benevolent cespot
During the later years - me life 90
Joseph Pulitzer America hoasted two
famous heads Of daily newspapers Who
spent more time In their steam yachts
than At their newsra per plants. get donni-
rated all department. n the papers thssy
published. III health forced NJ. Pulitzer
&C leave his office. The fact tina, tho
world at best Is a small place fer an active
man sent Mr.. Bennett across the Atlantic.
sometimes into the Eastern seas. bat
never so far from New York that the
boys at the office forgot or dio not
whoiesomely fear the vigilance Of The
Old Man" at the other end Of the cable.
4 newspaper needs personal proprietor-
ship. Tho HERALD without Mr. Bennett
published by an estate lost yisibiy the In
terest which IL he'd for its readers In
America and Europe. ~ remained good
newspaper, but II no longer did things us.-
expected and startling. ]; no longer de-
veloped an avalanche OF news from some
faraway corner OF the world In respect
to an edict from yachtsman- publisher
cruising at the time in waters antipodai
to the point at which tho news originated.
No Chinese editors were imported TO argue
to American audiences that there should
be closer relationship between China and
<AAicIiCd. NJ TeportsT was dSSlbneO 10 TIE
trackless wilderness OF Central Africa.
None of the dramatic aspects of Bennett
journalism remained. The HERALD be-
came conventional.
Frank A. Munsey is a man OF interesting
personality, but he has not been. like
Dana, an editor devoted TO hts pen, or.
like Bennett, a publisher delghting i'm sur
prising his readers and his competitors
and centring discussion upon himself by
his spectacular direction OF his news
paper.
Dana was a Harvard graduate, q mem
Der OF Brook Farm Community. a man OF
letters in his twenties Bennett was born
to the purple Of Journalism and of life.
began as managing editor and soon be-
came by Inheritance n sole proprietor.
Munsey was a poor boy OF New England
village. Educated In the common schools.
he was by turns a clerk in country
store. telegraph operator. struggling
publisher of periodicals.. a writer OF books
for boys, before he established himself by
the success of the magazine which made
his name household word in America.
Now Immensely rich, even by Eastern
American standards, he controls, among
other enterprises. two prominent New
York morning newspapers. The unlocked
for has occurred. Benefits paper in Her
aid square. with its offshoot in Paris, and
Dana's paper In Park row are the prop
erty OF one man!
What Mr. Munsey intends to do with his
most recent acquisition is at present un-
known. His purchase does not obliterate
Benefits HERALD.