USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Discovery and conquests of the Northwest, with the history of Chicago, Vol. II > Part 18
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On June 30, 1851, Mr. Wheeler sold his interest to Thomas J. Waite, who became the business manager, but died of cholera August 26, 1852, his interest being taken by Henry Fowler. June 12, 1852, Mr. Scripps, who had been for some years the leading editorial writer, sold his one-third interest to a party of promi- nent whigs, and General William Duane Wilson assumed the editorial management, while Mr. Stewart took charge of the local news column. About this time the establishment was removed to No. 53 Clark street, in the Evans block, opposite the Sherman house, where the Tribune was conducted as an active free-soil paper, and supported General Scott for president. March 23, 1853, General Wilson sold out his interest to Henry Fowler & Co., the company being Timothy Wright and General J. D. Webster, and Mr. Stewart became the editor. The following July Mr. Fowler retired, on account of
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History of the Chicago Tribune.
failing health, and T. A. Stewart & Co. were announced as the publishers. In November they began to take the Associated Press dispatches, which in those days " did not amount to much, though they were about as good as the best." In January, 1855, the paper was enlarged to ten columns to the page, making it, as conceded by its rival contemporary, The Chicago Democrat, "the largest daily in the west, except one or two in St. Louis." The size was, however, reduced back to its former dimensions under a new management a few months later.
June 18, 1855, Mr. Joseph Medill, coming to Chi- cago from Cleveland, Ohio, purchased a one-third inter- est in the Tribune, and July 21 Mr. Stewart announced through the paper his retirement from the position of editor and publisher. About the same time Dr. Charles H. Ray, who had become editorially connected with the office the preceding April, bought a one-quarter interest. Mr. Timothy Wright now took the lead, Wright, Medill & Co. being announced as the pub- lishers. A few months later Mr. John C. Vaughan, who had been associated with Mr. Medill on the Cleve- land Leader, joined the firm, which then became Vaughan, Ray & Medill, the two first named being the editors, and Mr. Medill acting in a managerial capac- ity. The paper was reduced in size, as previously mentioned, but it gained enormously in circulation and power. July 1, 1855, its circulation was stated as about 1,440 daily and 1,000 weekly. Three months later it had risen to 3,000 daily, 5,000 tri-weekly, and 4,500 weekly, the expansion necessitating the putting in of a new steam press of the Hoe pattern in place of the old "Northrup," and in connection with this change the Tribune introduced the first copper faced type that was ever used in Illinois. A little later Alfred Cowles was taken into the firm, which became Ray, Medill & Co. on the withdrawal of Mr. Vaughan March 26, 1857. From this onward the paper pros-
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History of the Chicago Tribune.
pered well through the "flush times" that preceded the panic of 1857, and then it suffered severely, in com- mon with about all the business interests of Chicago and the whole west.
Three months after his retirement from the Tribune Mr. Scripps joined William Bross, subsequently alder- man and later lieutenant governor of this state, in pub- lishing the Democratic Press, the first number of which was issued September 16, 1852, at No. 45 Clark street. For a time the new paper was strictly " conservative democratic," but after the passage of the Kansas-Ne- braska bill it became free soil, and at the organization of the republican party it earnestly supported that party. The Democratic Press is entitled to the post mortem dis- tinction of having paid special attention to the then infant manufactures and commerce of the city. Its statistical articles, compiled by Mr. Bross, formed the beginning of the series which has constituted the well known Tribune annual review for many years past.
The panic of 1857 played havoc with the finances of both the Tribune and the Democratic Press, and the pro- prietors concluded to join their forces, this being all the easier as the two papers had occupied almost pre- cisely the same ground politically. The consolidated paper was named the Press and Tribune, the junction dating July 1, 1858. That title was retained till Octo- ber 25, 1860, when the word Press was dropped, the then re-adopted title of the paper being the same that it bears to-day. The consolidation was the means of effecting a great saving in expenses, but it did not enable the proprietors, Scripps, Bross, Spears, Ray, Medill and Cowles, to avert the threatened bank- ruptcy. They were forced to assign in the following November, and obtained an extension of three years on their indebtedness, which, however, was all paid off in the first twenty-one months. During this time Mr. Scripps was the senior editor, and he held the position till his appointment as postmaster at Chicago by Pres-
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History of the Chicago Tribune.
ident Lincoln, March 28, 1861 About the end of 1858 the company removed its office to No. 51 Clark street, and the paper was published from that stand till the removal to the present location on the southeast corner of Dearborn and Madison streets in May, 1869.
The Tribune Company was formally incorporated by a special act of the legislature February 18, 1861, the incorporators being John L. Scripps, William Bross, C. H. Ray, Joseph Medill and Alfred Cowles ; with William H. Rand as a stockholder. The capital stock was placed at $200,000, and has not been increased since then, though the selling value of the same has long ranged in the millions. (A large block of it sold on the basis of $1,000,000 as long ago as Octo- ber, 1874, when Mr. Medill purchased from Messrs. White and Cowles enough to give him the controlling interest, which he retained to the time of his death, March 16, 1899, and that sale was made under the heavy depreciation of values which followed the panic of 1873). March 2, 1861, on the organization of the company under the charter, Mr. Scripps was elected president and Mr. Cowles, secretary ; and Dr. Ray be- came editor-in-chief when Mr. Scripps took the position of postmaster a few weeks later. November 20, 1863, Dr. Ray retired, and Mr. Medill was editorial superin- tendent from that date till August 1, 1866. Horace White, who had been connected with the paper ever since 1856, first as reporter and later as Washington correspondent, succeeded as editor-in-chief, having purchased the interest of Mr. Scripps, shortly before the latter died, September 21, 1866. Mr. White held the office till October, 1874. Under his administration the Tribune supported General Grant for the presidency in 1868, but switched off to the advocacy of free trade doctrines, and supported the nomination of Greeley for presidential candidate on the opposition ticket in 1872, the result being a great loss of income and influence, owing to wide-spread dissatisfaction among republicans
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History of the Chicago Tribune.
who had indorsed the course of the paper in its early advocacy of the principles of their party, the election of Lincoln, and a vigorous prosecution of the war for the suppression of the rebellion. Messrs. Medill and Bross protested against the radical change of policy, but were powerless in the matter, as Messrs. White and Cowles controlled a bare majority of the stock. This was " the reason why " Mr. Medill insisted in the sum- mer of 1874 that those two gentlemen must sell to him enough to make his interest a controlling one, or take the alternative of whatever consequences might ensue from his selling out entirely. From October 9 of that year till his decease, March 16, 1899, Mr. Medill was the owner of a little more than half of the stock of the company, and editor-in-chief of the paper. He became president of the company on the death of Governor Bross, who had occupied that position from the date of the retirement of Mr. Scripps, during which time Mr. Medill was vice-president. In his will he intimated it to be his desire that his stock in the Tribune Company should be held as a unit by his descendants (two daugh- ters and their children) for the next twenty-one years.
Mr. Robert W. Patterson, the husband of Mr. Medill's youngest daughter, was secretary and treas- urer of the company from the demise of Mr. Cowles in December, 1889, to the death of Mr. Medill. Follow- ing the latter event, Mr. Patterson was elected president of the company and editor-in-chief of the Tribune, and the position of secretary and treasurer was taken by Mr. Alfred Cowles, son of the man who had occupied the place from 1861 to 1889. Mr. George P. Upton, the dean of the editorial force, has been vice-president since January, 1890.
In May, 1869, the Tribune Company moved into a new building which it had constructed on the site it now occupies, the lot being 120 feet on Madison and 72 feet on Dearborn street. The structure was of Joliet stone, four stories in height, and cost $225,000. It was
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History of the Chicago Tribune.
supposed to be "fireproof," and for that reason was uninsured, but went down (or up) in the terrible heat of the great fire of October, 1871. The publication of the paper was resumed Wednesday, October 11, from a temporary home at No. 15 South Canal street, and on the first anniversary of the fire the Tribune was issued from its present building of five stories in height, which had been erected by the company at a cost of $250,000. December 1, 1897, and subsequently, the company purchased the buildings occupying the sev- enty-two feet next adjoining on the south, and took a lease of the ground from the board of education, the whole being school property. This makes a total lot of 144 feet on Dearborn by 120 feet on Madison, which the company will improve at a cost of not less than $400,000, and perhaps considerably more, on plans which were not decided on at the time this sketch was written. The extension is needed to provide for the still increasing business of the company, the mag- nitude of which, perhaps, may be inferred from the unparalleled fact that the advertising for the year ending with December, 1899, footed up the enormous aggregate of 18,929 columns, which cost the adver- tisers a total of $1,119,793.
Besides absorbing the Gem of the Prairie early in its career, and the Democratic Press more than forty years ago, the Tribune took in, by consolidation with its weekly edition in 1856, the Western Citizen or Free West, which had been published by Zebina Eastman, and July 24, 1861, took on the subscription list and good will of the Chicago Democrat, the publication of which had been commenced November 26, 1833, by John Calhoun and continued by "Long John" Wentworth, till his old enemy, J. Y. Scammon, forced him to "give up" as the only means of escaping the payment of heavy damages for libel. It may be of interest to some readers of this sketch to be informed that the alleged "libel " consisted in the publication of a cartoon repre-
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History of the Chicago Tribune.
senting a number of "wildcats" in convention, the face of one of the said "cats" being a fair likeness of Mr. Scammon, the banker, and that the term "wild- cat" was used in those days to designate bank bills, the redemption of which was not regarded as very well secured. By this absorption of the Democrat the Tribune became the direct successor to the first news- paper ever published in Chicago. Furthermore, as no one who was engaged in editorial or reportorial work on any Chicago newspaper "before the war" of the rebellion is now connected with any other newspaper than the Tribune, the writer feels justified in speaking of the press of those early days in the following language, which substantially is a reproduction of words written by him for the jubilee number of the Tribune, published June 10, 1897, on the fiftieth anni- versary of its first issue :
The Chicago Tribune-and of course this is true of the other papers of that day-was, previous to the out- break of the war, a much more primitive affair than the crudest attempt at a newspaper now published in this city. And it would have been so if abundant capital and journalistic talent had been available, which was not the case. There existed neither the demand nor the means for the publication here of what now would be called a good newspaper. There was no wish for such a thing till the southern states undertook to secede, and volunteers began to rush forward to the defense of the Union. Then those of the people who remained at home wanted the news, and wanted it at the earliest possible moment. In addition to the great interest they felt in the progress of the struggle as a whole, they were intensely anxious for the wel- fare of friends and loved ones who had gone to the front. Each of many thousands of families in this sec- tion had a brother, a son or a father in the ranks, and their members wished for the fullest information ob- tainable in regard to the movements of small as well as
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History of the Chicago Inter Ocean.
large bodies of troops. With a vast increase in cir- culation of the paper the merchants saw it to be to their interest to advertise as they never had done be- fore, and this enabled the Tribune to send out corre- spondents and pay for the use of the telegraph wires to an extent not previously dreamed of as possible. Then, wide fluctuations in the values, first of the bills issued by private banks, and afterward of the national cur- rency, with a vast development of speculation in stocks and produce, made it absolutely necessary for thou- sands to read the daily paper who previously had read only a weekly or none at all. And so was born the journalism which to-day has grown up to a lusty man- hood; for when once the people found their "new felt want" supplied, the appetite simply grew with what it fed on. The death of Mr. Medill has removed the last one of the men who controlled the newspapers of Chi- cago during the formative period, and very few of those who were privileged to assist them are left behind. It needs not here to speak of the living, further than to state that the management of the Tribune practically is in the same hands now as for several years past, and there is no room to doubt that it will continue to be, to quote from the closing paragraph of the sketch written by the late Governor Bross for the first edition of this work, "one of the most influential, prosperous and powerful journals in the nation." It is, in fact, one of the very few really great newspapers of the world.
THE CHICAGO INTER OCEAN. BY WM. H. BUSBEY.
The first number of the Daily Inter Ocean was issued March 25, 1872. The founder was Mr. J. Young Scammon, an old, highly esteemed and public spirited citizen, who, realizing that there was a demand for an uncompromising republican daily, purchased the Associated Press franchise of the Republican, which
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History of the Chicago Inter Ocean.
had been wrecked in the disastrous fire of 1871. To keep the franchise alive, Mr. Scammon continued the publication of the Republican until all arrangements were perfected to start the new daily, with new men, new type and new machinery.
The republicanism of the initial number of the Inter Ocean was of the most stalwart order, the propri- etor indicating the spirit of the paper in the crisp declaration : "Independent in nothing ; republican in everything."
Mr. Scammon went into the enterprise with char- acteristic zeal and energy, and calling to his assistance a number of practical and experienced men, soon made the Inter Ocean a political power, not only in the city and state, but throughout the northwest.
Its radical republicanism and its devotion to the party it professed to represent were made so manifest during the presidential campaign of 1872 that it at once secured an influence in the party not equaled by many journals of much longer standing. The erratic course of other journals claiming to be republican also contributed much to the success of the new venture, and the circulation of the paper increased rapidly.
Mr. Scammon continued to be sole proprietor of the Inter Ocean until the spring of 1873, when the Hon. F. W. Palmer, of Des Moines, Iowa, bought a large interest and became editor-in-chief. Under his man- agement the paper prospered until the panic of 1873 prostrated the affairs of the country and caused the financial embarrassment of Mr. Scammon, the principal proprietor. In the fall of 1875 the corporation, under pressure of large indebtedness, was compelled to sell the paper to a new organization. This transfer placed the Inter Ocean under the control of William Penn Nixon, who had been for some years the business manager.
Notwithstanding the great depression of the times, the paper was put on a firm footing by the infusion of
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History of the Chicago Inter Ocean.
new capital and the introduction of new and improved machinery, and entered upon a new era of prosperity. Through all its vicissitudes the Inter Ocean maintained its political integrity, constantly gaining in influence and circulation until the aggregate circulation of the several editions was probably larger than that of any other political paper in the country. The Inter Ocean was the first newspaper in the United States to perfect and use a folder, or machinery for cutting, pasting and folding, attached to the press. This contrivance was the invention of Mr. Walter Scott, at that time super- intendent of the Inter Ocean's mechanical department. The Inter Ocean was the first newspaper in Chicago to print cable dispatches from London. It was also the first daily newspaper in Chicago to use illustrations.
From 1873 to May 1, 1880, the Inter Ocean was published at 119 Lake street. The establishment was then moved to more commodious and convenient quarters, in the new Inter Ocean building, 85 Madison street, and, May 1, 1890, to the still larger Inter Ocean building at the corner of Madison and Dearborn streets. In May, 1891, Mr. H. H. Kohlsaat bought a controlling interest in the Inter Ocean, and became the publisher. In May, 1894, Mr. Kohlsaat sold his interest to Mr. William Penn Nixon, who remained in control of the paper as editor and publisher until November 15, 1897, when Mr. Charles T. Yerkes purchased a controlling interest. Under the reorganization, Mr. Nixon was continued as publisher, and Mr. George Wheeler Hin- man was made editor-in-chief and manager.
Under the new management, the Inter Ocean was conspicuous for its vigorous editorial policy and for its improved news service. It was one of the first news- papers in the United States to urge a resolute war policy in 1898, and through the Spanish-American war and the war in the Philippines was the zealous sup- porter and defender of the army and navy. It led also in the advocacy of the expansion policy, and undoubt-
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History of the Chicago Chronicle.
edly exercised a greater influence in shaping the sentiment of the middle west than any other newspaper. It was "always American and always republican."
Among the things that gave the Inter Ocean in- creased prestige and influence was that throughout the Spanish and Transvaal wars it had a superior and exclusive foreign and domestic news service. In de- veloping and improving this, the Inter Ocean purchased the service of the New York Sun. As the Associated Press management had declared a boycott on the Sun, the Inter-Ocean became involved in a controversy with the Associated Press. The latter, in pursuance of its contention that the boycott was legal, cut off the press service without notice. The Inter Ocean made a fight for its rights and the case was carried to the Illinois Supreme court, where all the contentions of the Inter Ocean were sustained and all its rights and privileges in the Associated Press were restored. The question of damages was submitted to arbitrators, who awarded the Inter Ocean $40,500 as compensation for the arbi- trary withholding of the Associated Press service for more than two years.
The circulation of the Daily Inter Ocean has in- creased under the new management 100 per cent. The weekly edition has the largest circulation of any politi- cal weekly in the west.
THE CHICAGO CHRONICLE. BY CHARLES G. SEYMOUR.
On the purchase of the consolidated Times and Herald, for many years the democratic morning news- papers of Chicago, by a republican who announced his purpose to conduct the Times-Herald thereafter as a republican newspaper, the Chicago Chronicle Co. was organized for the purpose of publishing a demo- cratic morning daily and Sunday newspaper to occupy the field that had been abandoned. John R. Walsh, who had formerly been the principal owner of the
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History of the Chicago Chronicle.
Herald, became largely interested in the Chronicle, and gave it its financial strength. Horatio W. Seymour was publisher and Martin J. Russell was editor, both of them being stockholders also in the new enterprise.
The first issue of the Chronicle appeared May 28, 1895. It is probable that the Chronicle began business better equipped mechanically and financially than any other newspaper enterprise of which there is any record. It is published in a five-story building at 164 and 166 Washington street, of which it is the owner, and its plant is one of the largest in the United States. It has twenty-four typesetting machines, and its press work is done on six double Potter presses, each hav- ing an output of 20,000 eight-page newspapers per hour.
From its first issue the Chronicle was of regulation morning newspaper size, the issue being twelve pages ordinarily during the week, sixteen pages on Saturday and from forty to forty-eight pages on Sunday. Within seven months from the date of its first publication the edition of the Sunday Chronicle exceeded 100,000 copies, and it has been maintained at that and even a greater figure most of the time since.
While the Chronicle has been a powerful advocate of democracy it has never been an organ, and, owing to its sound money views, it was unable to support Mr. Bryan, the candidate of the regular democracy in 1896. Aside from the financial question, it has been in harmony with the democratic party, and it is the great newspaper of that political faith in the northwest.
Mr. Seymour, the publisher of the Chronicle, was formerly in the employ of Wilbur F. Storey, the owner of the Chicago Times, and later was connected in an editorial capacity for many years with the Chicago Herald, in which newspaper he was also a stockholder.
In one respect the six weeks during which the con- solidated Times and Herald abandoned their old time democratic faith and became republican, and the Chronicle came into existence, was the most novel and
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History of the Chicago American.
interesting in the history of the Chicago press. It is certain that never before was an American city of 2,000,000 of people left without a democratic news- paper, and it is probable that such a circumstance never will arise again. If the defection of the Times- Herald was sudden and unexpected, the appearance and growth of the Chronicle was prompt and wonderful. Unlike every other great newspaper in the world, it was born great. It never was small. Its financial resources were large. Its equipment was extensive. Its field was open and undisputed. Its success was immediate and unquestioned.
As a matter of information, valuable chiefly to newspaper men of the future who may have curiosity on the subject, it may be stated that the Chronicle began business with a paid circulation of 35,000 copies, daily and Sunday, a larger number than many news- papers of long standing in various large American cities ever have obtained, and this was secured for its first paid edition, wholly without canvassing. It prop- erly represents and measures the field that was entirely abandoned to the new comer-that is, the number of people in Chicago and vicinity who, without solicita- tion, improved the first opportunity to buy regularly a newspaper of their own political faith. Canvassing and other energetic methods soon doubled this circula- tion for the daily Chronicle and trebled it for the Sun- day Chronicle.
The Chicago Chronicle Co. is officered as follows: A. W. Green, vice-president, and Horatio W. Seymour, secretary and treasurer. The same gentlemen con- stitute the board of directors.
THE CHICAGO AMERICAN.
This is the name of a new daily newspaper which is an aspirant for public favor. It is independent democratic in principles, published by W. R. Hearst, edited by Andrew Lawrence. First issue, July 4, 1900.
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History of the Chicago Times-Herald.
THE CHICAGO TIMES-HERALD.
Foremost among the clean, progressive and dis- tinctly modern newspapers of the country is the Chicago Times-Herald. This paper was formed by the absorp- tion of the historic Chicago Times by the young giant of journalism, the Chicago Herald, but the union of the two, so far as the Times was concerned, was nominal only.
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