New-York tribune., 1922-08-15
Northcliffe's Rise to Power
Begun on &lOO and ON Idea
Al 20, with Little Capital, He Founded ANSWERS -
Which kevoiutonized British Journalism; Poll.
cles of His Times Potent i'm British War Plans


Times of London-or, more strictly
speaking, for himself as it's editor
the title of "Thunderer" 1t was Dclane
who made that paper one of the great
est political and diplomatic powers in
Europe. 1t remained for Northcliffe
so to transform that paper and so to
vary its activities and energies as
fairly to win for himself a place com
parable with the places of those two
famous predecessors; while in the per-
sonal romance of his career he easily
outranks not only them but most Jour
nalists of the world
Alfred Charles william Harmsworth
was born at Chapelizod, County Dublin,
ireland, on July Is, 1865. His father
was Alfred Harmsworth, barrister at
law Of the Middle Temple. London.
and his mother was Geraldine Mary
harmsworth, daughter of William Maf-
fett, of Pembroke Place, County Dub
lin, Ireland. Half English and half
Irish often make a good combination.
IVY ieSeiNeo d SoOQ eQucatl0n,
and by personal preference took to
Journalism in a very humble capacity.
he was employed to write "Answers
TO Correspondents" for a weekly paper.
task which required much patience,
much research and endless labor of
the nose -on-the -grindstone kind Ap-
parently there was little scope for
lmagination; or at least for it's prac-
OF
gested to him, he being a youth of
vision, the way into the great enter
prise of his life.
Conceives his First Paper
He conceived the plan of publishing
weekly paper called "Answers," de-
voted primarily to answering all man.
variety of interesting miscellany. So
at the age of twenty~three, with
capital of perhaps a hundred pounds
ste Ring, in dingy and cramped little
office at 26 Paternoster Square, he
started Answers to Correspondents
as it was first called; afterward simply
Answers" The first number was
dated June 2, 1888; the first article in
it was an item of eleven lines about
"a Living Clock" about an idiot boy
who repeated stentoriously the strokes
of clock bell; and the table of con-
tents comprised such entries as "Ass
Drawing Water silk Stockings"
Walls to Servants" George III at
Home and Living on Nothing Year"
There was nothing about it to indicate
that a new power had arisen in the
world that would depose the Walter
outthunder Barnes and eclipse the
fame of Delane as the maker and un
maker Of ministries.
But "Answers" prospered; and in
writing the whole thing himself, as
young Harmsworth did for some time,
the rising editor got much valuable
discipline, In the second number he
announced that the first had been a
great success, and that the next month
he would publish Grand Extra
Double Summer Holiday Seaside Num-
bert" Indeed, the thing was enor
mously successful, and turned him such
profits that he was soon able to begin
buying other periodicals of all sorts,
whenever he found one that was for
sale cheap and which he thought might
be improved into profitable enter,
prise Before he was thirty years old
he owned more than thirty periodicals,
of almost every imaginable kind, from
"Comic Cuts" to the London" maga-
zine.
His first venture in daily journalism
was the purchase Of "The Evening
News" He made that in partnership
with his younger brother, Harold Sid
ney Harmsworth, now Lord Rother-
mere-one of his younger brothers,
rather, since he was one Of a family
of fourteen! Now "The Evening News"
was joke. They say that nearly half
million pounds had been spent in try
ing to make it succeed, to no avail. 10
make present of it to anybody would
have been good deal like the gift of
Mark Twain's Beef Contract. But the
Harmsworth boys bought the sthing
than six months the paper was paying
them handsome profits.
By this time the founder of An
swers" was a rich man and was on the
road to social distinction. He might
have rested content. Instead, he prob
ably did not say but he certainly meant
an adaptation of Paul Jones's epigram
He had not yet begun to publish papers.
Buys "The Daily Mail"
His next venture was "The Daily
Mail" He started it as probably no
other paper was ever started. He or
ganized his staff, set it to work, and
printed the paper every day for three
m onths, for Office circulation exclusive
ly. Only a few copies were printed
each day, just enough to distribute to
the staff for them to study for changes
and improvement.
When at last it was sufficiently to his
liking, he issued it to the public 1t
caused a great sensation, being quite
different from any other paper London
had even seen. 1t was very able, very
unconventional, very enterprising, alto
gether fearless. 1t was the enfant
terrible of British journalism. Con-
seryatism was shocked; but in the
end enjoyed it, 1t was a paper for the
masses, but the classes soon found that
they could not afford to ignore It, Soon
it had an enormous circulation, and it's
proprietor began establishing various
other editions of it, in other parts of
the United Kingdom and on the Cont
nent
Another Of his properties was "The
Weekly Dispatch" which attained an
enormous circulation through the mails
as we'll as on the newsstands, and
welded the peculiar power which per-
tains to great weekly papers which are
read and reread all through the week
instead of being disposed of in single
day. But all these were mere pre-
liminaries to his crowning undertaking.
That e