The Washington times., 1928-11-27

slinu1isl his duties.
Funerais services will sbe held to.
morrow afternoon at the Merrill
home in Manhasset. q. 4 Burial
will be III, All Saints Churchyard at.
Great Neck. II. 4.
For more than a year Mr.. Mer-
rill had been incapacitated. In
June OF last year he suffered from
hardening OF the arteries. which
developed into q paraIytic stroke
and he was forced to give up Ac.
tive WORK. He went TO Vienna for
treatment by specialist. but
showed little Irnproveme5ia.
He suffered from II severe cold,
upon his return and went to- the
sanitariunl.
For almost Sol years Mr.. Merrill
was B power and tremendous sin..
fiuence for good. Iii American jour
naIisnn. For 20 Of those years he
was i high, official Ia the Hearst,
organization.
y Character Versatile
Mr.. Merrill was of that rare t1pe.
of newspaper executive who IS
equally effective a. editoE.in-c chief.
or as publisher. His brain Rass
OF ! caliber which grasped alike
brilliant editorial policy and intri-.
cate business detail.
IN his dual capacity az editor and
publisher he counted among his
friends Eresfdellts Of the United
States, members Of the Cabinet.
Justices Or the United States Sti-
preme Court and other noted men.
In America and abroad.
Yet he was cf such 4 modest and!
retiring nature that his name seldom
came beneath the public eye.
All the rewards ZOE life come In.
the days work. ne frequently said.
Mr. Merrill was born in Salisbury
N. H, on February an, 1851, the son
of the Rev. Hpratio Merrill. ii Con.
gregationalist minister, and Sara B.
Whitman Merrill. He studied sin
Boston Latin School and finished his
educat ton in Paris where he gave
some attention to art.
In 1879 he became q reporter on
III Philadelphia North American.
Within year, despite i1.s youth, he
was made telegraph editor Of that
newspaper which was one Of the old.
est In America.
Critic Ot Drama
within another year ne was made
dramatic critic IN. which capacity
he made many friends; among them
the late Charles F'rohman and his
brother Daniel
After several years Mr.. Mer6ill
left the North Americas to write
q book on the railroads OF the
United States. This work took him
into every section and gave him
an intimate acquaintance with the
country possessed by few other
men. Also If gave him q remark
able insight into railroad finance
which later aided materially in The
building OF his personal fortune.
The age Of 23 saw Bradford Mer-
rilI nnauR ging edit0r Of the PiiIa-
delphia Press. Within fiye years,
under his direction, itabecafhe one bf
the most powerful newspapers in
the United States.
Manvs at the staff BECAME "a
nous among them Rich2rd Hard-
ing Davis; the novelist.
Hair Snow White
By this time, Mr.. MerrilIs hair
had become white as snow. giving
him an appearance Tar beyond his
20-odd years.
A tale lis told OF q meeting in
Philadelphia between William Gil
lette. Daniel Frohman and Mr..
Merrill. all then in their youth.
Gillette proclaimed his ambition to
be great theatrical star; Frohman
to become q great theatrical man.
ager. Mr.. Merrill announced he
desired above all else to manage q
great group of newspapers from
one office. In each instance the
ambition was attained.
Mr.. MerrilPs success in PhiIa-
delphia attracted such wide atten-
tion in his profession that In 1891
he was invited to become nanag.
ing editor Of the New York Press.
Rapid strides were made by that
paper under his editorial manage!
faent, but his influence upon the
country at that time went far
beyond that.
About the time Of the election
OF William L.. Strong as mayor of
New York in 1894 Mr.. Merrill gave
a luncheon in honor Of the mayor.
elect. Among the guests was
Murray Crane, later United States
Senator from Massachusetts.
Slipping back OF Mr.. Merrill's
chair. Mr.. Crane whispered:
who is that young man seated
beside Mr.. Strong. In the past
90 minutes I've seen him make no
less than three speeches to the
mayor, each time he pounds his
fist into his palm with vigor
I have seldom seen
"That young man." smiled Mr..
Merrill, 'fis Theodore Roosevelt. i
invited him here so that he and the
mayor could become acquainted
So impressed with Mr.. Roosevelt
was Mayor Strong that he made
him president of the New York Po.
lice Board, where he remained un-
til 1897, when he became Assistant
H..