USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume III > Part 12
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I. H. Adamp.
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tions, and expressed them in vigorous Saxon. It was this which gave the paper its control in political and other affairs, made it the leader of men. Though in the first turbulent years filled with crime and law- lessness he was in constant danger of the assassin's knife or pistol, his words were never moderated by fear, nor did he abate one particle of their force because of the appalling threats uttered against him by thugs and outlaws. His paper stood all the tempests unterrified and unpurchasable. No man dared approach him with a bribe to advocate or denounce any policy or scheme. When he attacked the evils of gov- ernment, county, city or Territorial it was for cause, and the battle was maintained until the evil was checked or overthrown. In politics he was a relentless partisan. So also were his opponents. It was a time of war, when the heart of the nation was stirred to its depths by the cruelest, bloodiest conflict of the age. Its blood was up, all masks dropped, an epoch filled with carnage, the rush and roar and destruction of tramping armies. The spirit of hell was abroad in all the land, and its waves dashed fiercely even against the eternal walls of the Rocky Mountains. Men were not handled tenderly with gloved and delicate hands, but with bayonets and sabres.
Byers was an indefatigable, traveler and explorer, penetrating and describing every part of the Territory, epitomizing its geography, topography and general features with a view to the proper direction of the tireless prospector for hidden secrets that might be discovered and transmuted into commerce, wealth and enduring strength. He was wonderfully observant, accurate in his accounts, entering no quarter without recording its resources, principal streams and available treas- ures. No man living has seen so much of our country as he, nor has any one described it so fully. O. J. Goldrick, for many years local edi- tor and traveling correspondent of the " News," was an extensive trav- eler also, but his letters were volatile, of the breezy, descriptive order, relating to humorous incidents by the way sufficient for the day, but leaving no lasting impression. Next to its chief proprietor the most valuable contributor to the columns of the paper was W. R. Thomas,
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who in the course of his long connection with it as reporter, corre- spondent, city editor and editor-in-chief, visited and gave accounts of every county, town and hamlet, with admirable precision. A collection of these well digested articles would make a very complete history of the early stages of the country.
Up to the completion of the Denver Pacific Railroad in June, 1870, the "News" had been an evening paper; after that time and to the present a morning edition has appeared with uninterrupted regularity. In the autumn of 1870, Mr. Byers purchased the interest of his partner, Mr. John L. Dailey, and became sole proprietor. The remainder is related in the second volume of this history, page 481.
William N. Byers was born February 22d, 1831, in Madison County, Ohio, descended from an old Scottish family who, becoming radically identified with the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century were driven to the borders of Ireland, and then took part in the historic siege of Londonderry. They subsequently emigrated to America and settled in the wilderness of Western Pennsylvania, where his father was born. At a later date the family located in the Scioto Valley, Ohio. His mother was of the old German Brandenburg stock. The early years of the subject of this sketch were passed upon a farm. In 1850 his parents moved to lowa, where in 1851 William engaged in govern- ment surveying, and in 1852 went to Oregon, where, and in Washington Territory, he pursued that calling for a time, and then passed on to California. In 1854 he returned to the "States" and settled in Omaha, in which but a single house had then been erected. Resuming his pro- fession, he surveyed a large part of Eastern Nebraska, and laid off into lots a considerable portion of the city of Omaha. He was for several years a member of its Board of Aldermen, and was also a member of the first Territorial legislature of Nebraska. In 1859, as already related, he came to Denver. He was a member and Chairman of the first convention for the organization of a State government here in 1859; also a member of the Constitutional convention of 1864. In this year he was appointed postmaster of Denver, holding the position two years,
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when his numerous business engagements compelled him to resign. In February, 1879, he was again tendered the same position, which was accepted, and its duties discharged throughout the term of four years. There were many who believed he had justly earned the distinction of first Governor of the State of Colorado which he had done so much to build, but the exigencies of party politics determined otherwise. Happily he has lived to witness the fulfillment of the greater part of his enthusiastic predictions respecting the development of the city and State of his adoption, and the accumulation of a handsome fortune enables him to view with serene placidity the rapid growth of all ele- ments of industrial and commercial advantage that he so clearly foresaw as among the possibilities of the future.
John L. Dailey, born November 19th, 1833, in Seneca County, Ohio. In 1848, when a lad of fifteen, he was apprenticed to the printer's trade in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 1855 located in Omaha and there pursued his trade in the office of the Omaha "Nebraskian," pub- lished by Hon. Bird Chapman, the first Territorial Delegate to Congress from that Territory. For a time he was the only compositor on the paper. He afterward published the Dakota City "Herald" for nearly three years. Came to Denver in 1859. His career in that city has been epitomized in Chapter XXIII, Vol. II, and in the annals of Ara- pahoe County, this volume, to which the reader is referred.
John Arkins, present editor and manager, was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, educated in the public schools, and in 1857 began his apprenticeship as a printer in the "Republican" office at Red Wing, Minnesota. In 1861 he enlisted in the Fifth Minnesota Infantry, and served three years in the Western army under Grant and Sherman ; came to Denver in 1873, and became foreman in the office of the "Sun- day Mirror," established by Stanley G. Fowler. From thence he went to the "Daily Tribune" as foreman and manager of its typographical department, and thence to Leadville as chief proprietor and editor of the " Leadville Chronicle," the further history of which will be found in Vol. II, page 472. As therein set forth, he purchased an interest in the
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"Rocky Mountain News," in 1880, and from that time until September, 1890, was its principal editor and manager. The journal was then issued from a single cylinder Potter press, capable, under high pressure, of printing 800 to 1,000 sheets an hour. About six months later he pur- chased a double cylinder Hoe press, then deemed wasteful extravagance far beyond the needs of the office. This machine produced about 2,000 sheets an hour, a remarkable advance of enterprise. But with the con- tinued growth of the city and the multiplication of subscribers, it soon became essential to make still further enlargement of printing facilities, therefore, in 1886, the old "marvel of speed" was supplanted by the Hoe web perfecting press, of a capacity of 10,000 an hour. This in due course (1890) was superseded by a Goss web perfecting machine equal to 12,000 an hour. In the meantime the size had been enlarged from seven to nine columns, making it the largest daily in the country. As a further radical improvement for the collection and distribution of telegraphic intelligence, the firm of Arkins & Burnell, secured by arrange- ment with the Western Union Telegraph Company, the stretching of an independent press wire from Kansas City directly to the editorial rooms of the "News" for its exclusive use under lease, a method long before adopted by the press of the larger cities east of the Missouri River. Prior to this important innovation, the Denver offices were receiving an average condensed report of about 29,000 words of news matter weekly. Under the leased wire about the same amount is received each day. No other city in-the Union of the same size and population has the advant- ages of so great a report. The office is at this time one of the finest models of its class in the entire West.
That Mr. Arkins is a man of acute perceptions, of quick, nervous energy and indomitable perseverance, is manifest to all who know him; that he is capable of producing excellent editorial matter when moved to it, is a part of his record; that he is a steadfast, helpful friend to his friends, is proverbial; that he is almost extravagantly generous, kind hearted, sympathetic and charitable, hundreds will attest; that he is always just or intensely scrupulous in politics, will not be claimed; that
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he is prone to lash his enemies with whips of scorpions, and exalt his adherents, is the natural outgrowth of an ardent, impulsive temperament. Strong, impetuous, bold and daring, he is fond of leading, directing, dominating, yet he is one of the most captivating and companionable of comrades in social intercourse, known and admired throughout the broad field of journalism from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. His capa- bilities as a manager are seen in the phenomenal augmentation of value in the "News" property from $150,000 in March, 1886, to nearly $400,- 000 in 1890. As the successor of Mr. Byers in the " New Era," he became the potential force of the paper. From the poor and humble printer of 1879, he has risen to affluence, and to a conspicuous position among the strong influences of his time.
James M. Burnell, the junior partner, was born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1851 ; came to Denver May 23d, 1862, and soon afterward went to Central City, and on December 2d, 1869, entered the printing office of Collier & Hall, owners of the "Miners' Register." In February, 1871, he returned to Denver, taking a situation as compositor on the "News," where he remained three months and then entered the office of the "Daily Tribune," finishing his apprenticeship at the trade in 1874. The balance of his career to the present date is related in Chapter XXII, Vol. II. That the great prestige which the paper enjoys and the com- fortable fortunes Messrs. Arkins & Burnell have achieved from its business, are directly ascribable to their genius for management, is well known.
IV. R. Thomas was born in Barryville, Sullivan County, New York, September 12th, 1843. Seven years later the family moved to Penn- sylvania. William R. was educated at Monticello Academy, New York ; entered Williams College (Mass.) in 1861, and graduated in the class of 1865. His mind tending toward journalism, and his uncle, Lieut. Gov- ernor Wm. Bross, being one of the proprietors of the "Chicago Tribune," he was assigned to a reporter's position on that paper in 1865, where he remained until June, 1866, and then settled in Denver. His first newspaper work in Colorado was on the "Miners' Register" at
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Central City, where he remained as associate editor from October, 1866, to May, 1867, when he entered the office of the "Rocky Mountain News," and during the nine years of continuous service on that journal, held every position from reporter and correspondent to managing editor. In March, 1875, owing to impaired health, he retired and worked on a farm until May, 1877, when he returned to the "News" and remained until it was sold to Mr. Loveland in 1878. In January, 1880, he became city editor of the "Evening Times," remaining until May, 1881, when he again took up the life of a farmer, continuing until September, 1886, when the "News" again demanded his services as city editor and edito- rial writer, a pursuit which he has followed continuously to the present date (1890). His work is that of an accomplished and thoroughly con- scientious journalist, eager to reach the truth of things and to set forth his facts in a manner not to be controverted. His mind is a veritable lexicon of information concerning the development of the Territory and State, for there is scarcely an event which he has not recorded among its annals since 1866. He has witnessed the inception and the advances made by all subsequent settlements, the movements of political parties, the building of railways, the founding of manufactures, in short every transition that has left an enduring impression upon the face of nature. In 1873, while editor of the " News," he was appointed Adjutant Gen- eral of territorial militia by Governor S. H. Elbert. During the stormy controversy with Acting Governor Jenkins and Governor McCook in 1874, an attempt was made to remove him from the office, but Mr. Thomas secured an opinion from the Attorney General at Washington which denied the power of the Governor to vacate the appointment, and after a caustic public expose of the transaction, having won his battle, he resigned. Mr. Thomas has enjoyed the esteem and confidence of all the more prominent of our public men, for in the years of his exercise of the duties of chief editorship of the leading journal which made and unmade public servants at will, he wielded vast influence. While as may be truly spoken of all editors, he was not always right in his argu- ments and conclusions, and left many a deep and bitter sting through
Henry &. Acker.
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his trenchant reviews of men and affairs, he aimed to be right, and in the main was right. He was a true and devoted friend to those he admired, and a relentless pursuer of those who incited him to wrath. While in his present calling of an impersonal writer, his handiwork is not identified by the general public, it is nevertheless an important fea- ture of the pages of that paper.
Capt. James T. Smith, a gentleman who has been so long and intimately associated with the "News" as to seem an indispensable part of its editorial force, was born in Rosscommon, in the West of Ireland, May 4th, 1849, of English and Scotch parentage, English by the father's side. At an early age he immigrated to America and was educated in Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut. At the outbreak of our civil war, although but a mere boy, he enlisted in the First Regiment of Vol- unteers as drill master and color sergeant ; was promoted to Lieutenant in 1862, and served until the close of the rebellion ; commanded a com- pany, "a forlorn hope," in his brigade at the storming of Port Hudson, Louisiana, in June, 1863 ; served in the regular army from the end of the war to 1870, in September of which year he came to Colorado, and was engaged as editor of the Golden "Transcript" until 1876; was elected secretary of the last Territorial Council, and entered the "News" office in 1877. The same year he took charge of the Colorado "Democrat" in Denver. July 21st, 1878, he was instrumental in pur- chasing the "News" for W. A. H. Loveland, and remained as chief editorial writer until 1879, when he returned to Golden. In the fall of that year he came back to the "News." In 1881 he was elected City Clerk of Denver, serving two years, then re-engaged with the "News" until 1886; then went to the Evening "Times" as city editor, re- maining four months ; then back to the "News" again, continuing until April 30th, 1890, when he retired to engage in the purchase and sale of real estate ; a few months later he again went to the " News." His only engagement in politics was as the candidate of the Democratic party for the office of Secretary of State in 1876; was elected Secretary of the
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State School of Mines at Golden in 1876, which position he has held to the present time.
E. H. Rounds was one of the editors in 1860-'62. Edward Bliss, during the same period; O. J. Goldrick during 1863-4-5; Capt. George West in 1865-'66; Dr. J. E. Wharton in 1866-'67; W. R. Thomas, with one or two brief intervals, from 1867 to 1890. O. J. Hollister was asso- ciate editor in 1868-'69; J. E. Hood in 1869-'70; Chas. E. Harrington city editor from 1870 to 1874; M. E. Ward occupied a position on the paper during the same period. W. B. Vickers, one of the brightest of its writers, was managing editor from 1875 to 1878; Deacon John Walker, city editor in 1867, and Michael J. Gavisk during the last year of Mr. Byers' proprietorship.
The "Denver Times." The original base of what is now one of the largest and most enterprising evening journals in the West, was laid August Ist, 1870, as a theatrical programme, or advertising sheet called "The Lorgnette," established by Mr. Clarence E. Hagar, a compositor in the office of "The Rocky Mountain News." At that time the principal, indeed the only reputable Opera House in the city was Guard Hall, which had some years previous been erected by a stock company for the use of the Governor's Guard, but afterward converted into a theater. In 1872 the "Lorgnette" was enlarged to a six column folio, and the name changed to the "Daily City Item," when it became a medium for commercial advertising. Some months later, Mr. S. T. Sopris, another employe of the "News," purchased an interest in the paper, and April 8th of that year the title was again changed to the "Daily Evening Times," under the management of C. E. Hagar and S. T. Sopris, editors and proprietors. It was printed by John L. Dailey & Co., who owned and operated a commercial printing office, with the first presses propelled by steam power within the city of Denver. It was a small sheet, containing well compacted epitomes of current events transpiring in a metropolis of about 4,500 souls, just emerging from a long period of stagnation by the stimulus of its first railway, the Denver Pacific. It continued under such direction until April 23d,
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1872, when Mr. A. J. Boyer purchased Hagar's interest. During that year Horace Greeley was nominated for president, and the "Times" espoused his cause. June 5th, following, it was enlarged. On the 10th Sopris retired, selling out to Boyer, who ardently supported Mr. Greeley's candidacy. On the 24th the paper was bought by Edward Bliss who had been one of the members of the old "News" printing company, who took down the Greeley ticket. August 19th it passed into the hands of the "Times" printing company, Roger W. Woodbury, president, editor and manager, Mr. J. A. Blake taking charge of the business department. September 2d, following, it was still further enlarged, and November 25th, it was furnished a "new dress," R. W. Woodbury, sole editor and proprietor. May 25th, 1873, it was again enlarged, to a seven column sheet ; and January 2d, 1875, the columns were widened to admit more news matter. In June, 1874, Mr. Wood- bury purchased an old and ugly brick building on Lawrence street, which then contained but one or two business houses, since it was the extreme limit of commercial thoroughfares in that direction, mainly occupied by private residences, moved his presses and material into it, and resumed publication. The "Times" had its birthplace in the rear part of Grant's bookstore on Larimer street on the southeast side between Fifteenth and Sixteenth; was moved thence to the corner of Fifteenth and Lawrence, and finally to the site now occupied by the "Times" building, erected some years afterward by its proprietor. Under his management, though small, everything being reduced to the minimum degree of condensation, it was brisk, enterprising and reliable. Its columns were singularly free from sensationalism, its editor striving to make it an honest, truthful and trustworthy exponent of public opinion upon leading topics, abhorring the prevalent empiri- cism, the shams and tricks so efficiently employed by some of his contemporaries, hence it soon came to be respected as a clean, upright and worthy representative of the better elements of society. Mr. Woodbury was the embodiment of energy, laboring early and late, collecting most of the news and preparing it for publication, and at the
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same time conducting the business affairs with tireless fidelity. No man in the community wrought more zealously than he for the advance- ment of the public welfare. The "Times" became one of the most ardent advocates of the admission of Colorado into the Union, and when this was happily consummated, of the election of Chaffee and Teller to the United States Senate. When the author of this history assumed the editorial management about June ist, 1878, the business of the office had become so great as to demand the entire time of the proprietor. Accuracy, with brevity of statement was enjoined upon the new editor at the outset, the avoidance of Quixotism, and above and beyond all, incessant activity in promoting every enterprise calcu- lated to advance the growth of Denver, was exacted. Woodbury was inspired with unbounded faith in the resources of the country, and con- sidered it the first duty of good citizenship to encourage their develop- ment, to the end that the city might grow and prosper.
When in 1878 Senator Chaffee declined a reelection to the senate, and it devolved upon the Republican party to select a new leader, the "Times" promptly advocated the choice of Nathaniel P. Hill, who in that year had removed the Boston & Colorado Smelting Works from Black Hawk to the near vicinity of Denver, thereby adding a very prominent new industry to its progressive forces. It was this influence probably more than any other, that induced Woodbury to champion his candidacy for the senatorial succession. The legislature elected that fall, being favorable to Mr. Hill, he was chosen, without material opposition.
When the great mines at Leadville began to attract attention in 1878-79, the "Times" became one of the staunchest supporters of the mining interest, giving the latest and best intelligence procurable from all the numerous fields then opening. It strenuously advocated the election of Frederick W. Pitkin to the chief magistracy of the State in 1878, constantly urged the founding of new manufactures, the building of new railways, the extension of commerce, and instantly took up every cause which promised the advancement of the public welfare.
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In December, 1879, the author resigned, to engage in other pur- suits, when Mr. Woodbury resumed the editorship, continuing until the spring of 1880, when Judge Albion W. Tourgee-already famous as the author of "A Fool's Errand," a book that had excited deeper interest in social and political centers than any publication of its time-became the editor. Tourgee, although an estimable man, a clear and forcible writer of books, was not remarkably well fitted for the management of a daily newspaper in a city where he was almost a stranger. He was then devoting his leisure to the preparation of "Bricks without Straw," a work that brought him still further renown. He was succeeded on the paper by W. R. Thomas, and he by J. D. Dillenback, Capt. L. W. Cut- ler and others.
May 20th, 1882, soon after the completion of his new build- ing, Mr. Woodbury disposed of his printing business to a company, composed of his son, F. S. Woodbury, Thomas F. Dawson and Cap- tain R. G. Dill, who conducted it under the name of "The Times Printing Company." Sometime later both Dill and Dawson sold their interests to Mr. F. S. Woodbury, who managed the concern in his own name until May 28th, 1888, when it was purchased by Mr. W. H. Griffith, the present proprietor and manager, who immediately selected Richard Linthicum, then a reporter on the staff of the Den- ver " Republican," as managing editor. When the transfer was made the paper enjoyed only a very small circulation of about 2,500 copies. It had been declining in influence for some time, until the greater part of its power and value lay in its possession of an exclusive telegraphic press franchise for an evening journal. Its editions found no sale outside of the city. They were printed upon a single cyl- inder Campbell press of an obsolete pattern, at a speed of about 1,500 an hour, directly from the types, having no stereotyping appa- ratus. Mr. Griffith made no considerable changes until October of that year, when, abandoning his law practice he took personal direction of the editorial and business affairs of his new venture, enlarged it to eight pages, refurnished with new type and supplanted the Campbell with a
10 III.
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Scott perfecting machine equal to the discharge of 15,000 copies an hour. Simultaneously the force of editorial and local writers was increased, and the paper filled with the freshest of current intelligence, well digested and arranged. The work was pushed with surprising energy. The circulation multiplied, and within a year had advanced from 2,500 to 9,000 copies, and the advertising patronage in corre- sponding ratio. It has since advanced to about 16,000 copies daily.
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