Evening star., 1948-12-01

e A. P. Mr.. Diehl died in 1946.
-AP Photo.
sion, incidentally, was reversed three
and a half years later by a United
States Circuit Court of Appeals
ruling in another-not libel-case
which held that Judge Browns posi-
ton was "untenable.") Stopped in
his attempt to get at Dana through
the criminal courts, Mr.. Moves en-
tered a civil suit in New York. The
case never came to trial. On April
7, 1897, a little over two years after
the original editorial, the Sun ran
this item:
"A CORRECTION.
"On February %. 1895, the Sun
published an editorial article entitled
The Work of Rascals,' in which GER
tain severe structures were made
upon Mr.. Frank B. Noyes Of The
Washington Star. q
I'VE desire to correct our state
ment in reference to Mr.. Noyes and
to withdraw any remarks rejecting
either upon his personal or business
integrity. The article was written
under a misapprehension as to the
facts in the case, and we regret its
publication in the Sun, as doing a
grave injustice to gentleman whose
character is above reproach."
Again the headlines broke out
from coast to coast. "Dana's Malice
Costly" observed the World. ex-
planning that with the apology went
payment of all the costs of litiga-
ton. The Mud Bucket Retracts,
wrote Godkin in his New York Eve
ming Post. Dana was at the time
over 10. Mr.. Noyes never attributed
the editorial to Dana himself. feel
ing that it was the work of Laffan
and part of the Suns bitter fight to
save the United Press. BY the time
the correction appeared. that fight
was lost cause. The United Press
had dissolved and the A. P. was go
ing ahead.
Elected A. p. President.
In 1900 a decision by an Illinois
court, holding the A. P to be COM
mon carrier-and antedating. on
other grounds, the United States
Supreme Court decision making A. P
generally available
led to it's dissolution and, immediate
reorganization under the laws OF
New York and in this reorganiza-
ton Mr.. NoyeS was elected president
an Office which he retained until his
resignation in 1888 and his designa-
ton by the Board Of Directors as
honorary president. He was hon.
orary president for the rest of his
life. resigning from the board
in 1s47.
Their joint efforts in the Associ-
ated Press had brought Mr.. Noyes
into close contact with Victor Law
son and in 1901 Mr.. Lawson per-
suaded him to come to Chicago to
run the Chicago Record Herald
Mr.. Lawson had sold the Chicago
Record to Herman H. Kohlsaat, who
merged it with the Chicago Times
Herald. One of the conditions OF
the sale was that Mr.. Noyes would
become a director of the new COM
pany. First declining, Mr. Noyes
later agreed to run the paper as
publisher and aftet a year he be-
came editor and publisher. Under
the agreement, he was to become
sole owner of the paper after the
paper freed itself of debt.
They were interesting years in
Chicago. One acquaintance he made
there was with a young political
reformer. Harold L. Ickes. who was
campaign manager for the mayor
atty campaign of John Harlan (son
Of the former justice). Mr.. Noyes
supported the Harlan ticket. Of Mr.
Noyes' years in Chicago, Mr.. Ickes
has written:
What struck me particularly
about Mr.. Noyes in Chicago was
that, in my experience, he was the
only publisher of metropolitan
who was not satisfied to
sit in his Office and form his opin-
ions of local situations on the basis
of reports brought to him by men,
bers of his staff. He liked to go
about and judge for himself Ac-
cording to my view, he ran first
rate newspaper. 1t was not per-
sonal organ in any sense. 1t seemed
to me to be on the lines of the
Morning Record of Victor Lawson S
on which. as 1 have said, I worked
ar one time. Politically, Mr.. Noyes
was a Republican, but he required
more than strict PARTISAN
ship on the part of a candidate or a
public officer.
Mr.. Noyes had the respect of Chi
cagoans generally while he was in
Chicago. know the personal regret
that 1 felt when I learned that he
was returning to Washington. Chi
cago was the loser by the falling of
the Record Herald into other hands. "
Returned to Star in 1910.
After his fathers death in 1908,
Mr.. Noyes was persuaded by his
brother, Theodore w. Noyes, who
was serving both as editor and as
president of The Star, to return to
Washington in 1910 to be president
of The Star Co.
AS president of The Star Co., Mr..
Noyes put into effect modern busi-
ness practices and until a few years
before his death presided over the
business interests of the paper. In
February of 1948 he resigned as
president to become chairman of
the board. He was an excellent
executive, following the policy of
most successful executives in dele
eating responsibility and holding
himself aloof from any detailed re-
sponsibility himself.
His knowledge of detail was pre-
else. He was familiar with every
operation of the paper and a con-
slant, and alert, reader of the news.
For we'll over a quarter of a CEN
tury he served both the Associated
Press and The Star as president.
His presidency of the Associated
Press placed on him a moral respon-
sibility that he felt very deeply. No
member paper Of the Associated
Press was ever held more strictly
for detailed compliance
with the conditions of A. P. member
ship than was his own paper