Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-01-09

PATRONAGE was trade, deals, and It'll
Imperative that the goods thus
acquired should be worked on some
or, another and put Into gen
eral circulation. The boys proved to
be efficient circulators. IS
During the period when the HERALD
a weekly. I had only onA helper.
a young man named r. A.. Perciyal.
He came with me from southern Min
nesota, and we gave him a home at
house as long as he was in Grand
Forks but. when the daily edition
was launched the force was MATERIAL
~ Increased, and at n time four
little tarspanered shack in Trailra adj
dition. These we're f. d. Barcalow.
Prank Hewes. Chape Smith. and T..
X. Hassell. Did YOU know that Judge
Hassell. was one of the original Her
alb force? u had nearly forgotten
1t myself, but Mrs. Winship knows,
and she says he was. Louie" served
the Herald in a clerical capacity for
some time, until he got into the news
T:dende. which he published for. a.
period just before he got into poiitics.
I think he is the only one Of the
q%uartette who has achieved a reason
able degree Of success.
The success Of the Morning Herald
was so phenomenal that w. J.IMur-
ply was encouraged to make the
Plaindealer an evening daily. and ne
launched it early in April, With this.
complement OF morning and evening
newspapers in Grand Forks one
would imagine that the field, was
thoroughly covered. and all legitimate
interests fully represented; but such.
proved not the case for In. less than
two months after the appearance Of
the Daily Plaindealer the third daily
was started. the Daily News, by Hans
brough & Briscoe. =
Early in March Grand Forks was
invaded by a syndicate Of Chicago
capitalists under the leadership Of H.
G. Stone. who was the personal rep
resentative Of Andrew Crawford, q
prominent millionaire banker. This
outfit made a great splurge when they
storEed the citadel Of our booming
httle town.. Nothing in it suited.them.
They proposed to remakc the town
and give 1t a conspicuous place on
the map. They organized the First
National Bank. the Grand Forks &
Missouri River Valley Railway. the
Pioneer Club. and various other minor
organizations. They plated additions
to the city and located railway depots
and workshops all over the prairie
west and south Of Trains addition.
They showed us how to do things.
They were gumps from Gumption-
vile.
There vas one thing, however, that
they did not have, and that vas a
newspaper. The P~laindealcr did not
suit them, It being friendly to its home
Eshelman. Mccormack & Griggs.
Vets s. McKelvey. Geo. H. Walsh and
others, whom Stone nj his co-adju-
tors thought it necessary to antagcnize.
The Herald did not suit them; it also
was friendly to the old timers. but dis
posed to give everybody . fair show.
1t suspected that the Stone, projects
were just paper ones, and it refused
Ito be used as a cats paw.
Stone imported Hansbrough 6.
Brisco from Baraboo, Wisconsin,
bought them a printing plant, and
during the month Of June the Daily
the villain it was after. the News sell
ected the, morning field and endeayor-
ed to make things lively TO me. At
this time my r%eportorial force was C.
a. Webster and Elmer E.. Adams, the
News had HI. c.. H~ansbrough and c.
A. French, and the P~laindealer w. J.
Murphy and A. w. Dunn. None of
I LlbC pa OClo LldO kSlo6 tG4pkl1k HOWo 66E-
vice, and were dependent for outside
news on late st. Paul papers. The
morning papers we're fierce for news,
and as the trains from st. Paul were
due late in the evening, there was
great hustling to secure copies Of the
Twin City dailies, This, assignment
was covered by Webster for the Her
aid, and French for the News. At the
outset the. rivalry was good natured
and generous, but later 1t assumed a
different aspect, each scout endeavor-
ing to Illustrate the other. frequently
buying every paper. on the train to
beat his rival. On n occasion Web.
ster hired a rig and drove out to this
Junction in order to forestall French
possession of the newsboy. but collect
ed all the passengers had. French
had no alternative but to wait until
The Herald 4 a. m. was on the streets
and then he hastily SKINNED the
cream OF the news from our columns
and went to press. This brace Of rival
reporters was incessently in search .,
little 'nutty'' OF the subject OF scoops
and on, one occasion. when DR.. Elliol
waS tarred and feathered.. they CO.
operated and brought about a. tragedy
that was both unjust and disgraceful
The struggle for supremacy between
the News and the Herald prolonged
for about a year, when the Herald re
cured q strange hold by acquiring the
Associated Press franchise, and com
mehced to take the night pony report
The News outfit had boosted that they
had secured the franchise and would
take the dispatches when, the tele-
graph company was ready to transmit
them. When the Daily Herald VIA.
first issued I had the forethought tc
secure an option for the franchise. and
IT. felt reasonably secure, despite tbs
proness OF Stone and his Chicago
pull"
This advantage secured h1 the Her.
aid, together with the Waning land
boom and the fixxle of The Stone pro
tecB, put a damper on the ambition:
LOT the Chicago Syndicate. . Two years
of hot. house growth and eTtravaSant
Expenditure had reduced Its e~xchequer
and failure had soured its active loca.
agents. They fell apart. Grew sus;
time the combination ceased to .func.
ton. Stone as the financial wiEarG
Of the northwest, threw up his dukes
Corset, the railroad magnate and a
bryo empire builder passed on Il
another field of exploitation. ant
Hansbrough. the journalistic star o
the combination, was cast adrtft with
paper plant that he expected to owl
In the process OF time was denied him
Euntil he dug up enough cash to releas'
the mortgage on the press.
In his dilemma Hans consulted me
and gave me to understand that j
Murphy and I would assist him to &c
out OF town he would seek Q greene
pastures. sounded Murphy. and "
agreed that 1t would be worth some
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