USA > Louisiana > Orleans Parish > New Orleans > Standard history of New Orleans, Louisiana, giving a description of the natural advantages, natural history settlement, Indians, Creoles, municipal and military history, mercantile and commercial interests, banking, transportation, etc. > Part 28
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Its greatest editor was J. C. DeRomes, who conducted its destinies for a period of thirty years, finally disposing of the property to Jerome Bayon, April 12, 1843. Editor DeRomes was not in any sense brilliant, but he managed its finances so suc- cessfully as to retire in his old age comfortably, and he bequeathed to his successor the good will of a fine clientelle.
The oldest paper in the city to-day is The New Orleans Bee, and history makes it evident that The Bee is as modest as a maiden on the shady side of thirty about its age. There are evidences that The Bee was published as far back as 1809. There is in existence to-day a copy of a paper called l'Ami des Lois et Journal du Soir, bearing date of September 2, 1816. This copy is marked Volume 7 and its number is 1281. It is reasonable to suppose that the first number of this tri-weekly could not have been published later than 1809. It was published in French and English. In 1822, on September 20, the name of the paper was changed to The Louisianian and Friend of the Laws. It was, during the period in question, under the manage- ment of Michel de Armas and J. B. Maurian, but on April 15, 1824, the paper made its final appearance under the caption it had hitherto borne. At that time, too, it was being published by Manuel Crozat. After four days of suspension, for it had become a daily, it reappeared under the name of The Argus. It is reasonable to suppose that as the paper was in type, make-up, cven in advertising and style the same, it was the identical publication which had suspended. The Argus became The Whig on August 7, 1834. It was issued from No. 70 Chartres street. On March 1, 1835, the name was changed to L'Abeille, or The Bee, and it has continued under that name ever since. It is thus seen that The Bee can justly claim to date back to about 1809, the oldest paper in Louisiana and one of the oldest in the United States. It continues to-day to be published on Chartres street, the visitor of every French household in the city and State, and, indeed, of many an English-
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speaking household, who speak the language as fluently as the English. The courtly and popular Armand Capdevielle is its editor in chief. Possibly the most distin- guished man who has ever been in the service of The Bee was the poet Canonge, whose reputation lives to-day in many a cherished scrap-book, as well as in the mem- ory of the old-timer. He was a poet of conspicuous force and beauty of fancy, a man of great culture and a magnificent musician. Some of the finest criticism of music ever penned in this city, and, indeed, in this country, were written by him. He bore the reputation of being utterly honest in his utterance concerning the work of the musician; a man whose friendships never clouded his judgment or his perception of the functions of criticisms. He combined with his lofty ideal of the province of criticism an enthusiasm and wholesome spirit of encouragement which invariably acted as a spur, instead of as a discouragement, to the artist. To be praised by Canonge was regarded by the musician as the highest honor within the reach of any artist. The Bee to-day is a modern paper, in French. It handles the news, local and foreign, just as the English papers of the city, though in a more condensed form. The Associated Press service is used, translated in condensed form so as to present all the news.
Next in age to The Bee is The New Orleans Daily Picayune, which was founded in January of 1837 by Francis Asbury Lumsden and John Wilkins Kendall. Both these gentlemen were printers of ripened experience. Mr. Lumsden had been the foreman of a paper called The Standard, one of the many ephemeral dailies of the times. Mr. Kendall had been connected with The True American. That paper ran a job office, and of this he had been the foreman. The paper was born at (old) No. 38 Gravier street. The building in which it had its birth has been demolished long ago, and in its stead a more pretentious and commodious building has been reared. There, in one little room, the paper was born and first received the impetus of its early career. In subsequent years, as periods in its history gave reason for a rehearsal thereof, The Picayune was so fortunate as to obtain from one of the original men, who worked on it, an authentic account of its first equipment. The historian in question was H. L. Kelsey. The office was located on the ground floor. The room was some twelve or fourteen feet square. There was no opening on the sides or rear, so that at this time it was manifestly necessary for the editor to back any utterance he had to make, the fighting editor being placed in a most disadvan- tageous position. There were two door-windows, the upper part of these entrances being of glass and the bottom of wood. The paper's material consisted of part of a font of minion type, about 400 or 500 pounds. There were about five composing
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sticks, three stands, five pair of cases, including italic, two or three fonts of display type with their cases, an imposing stone and a pair of chases, with their furniture. Eight or ten galleys, a pair of bellows, a wash-basin and a broom completed the outfit, with the exception of an editorial table whose size was in keeping with this modest beginning of the infant paper. There was no room for loafers or the editor's friendly advisor, as there were but two chairs in the place. The "special contributor," too, had no encouragement, for the only other table in the place was used for the books of the establishment. There was no press. The press work was done outside. These are matters of the personal recollection of one of the printers who set type on the very first number of the paper and who has been connected with it ever since.
Besides the proprietors, the men responsible for the appearance of the paper daily were, H. L. Kelsey, William H. Flood and William N. Birckhead. There was, of course, no pressman. The editors were not above the duty of putting their thoughts in type. By turns Mr. Lumsden and Mr. Kendall took a place at the cases. This gave the paper four printers. It will be observed that the paper had but three stands and it therefore becomes necessary to state that the fourth stand was an ingenious contrivance of necessity, constructed with a dry goods box.
It is thus seen that the entire paper was domiciled in one little room, which was counting-room, composing and editorial department in one. The press work of the first two numbers was done in a building at the corner of Camp and Com- mon, where the Story building was subsequently erected. George Short conducted a job printing office at that place, and he was the printer of the first two numbers of The Picayune. The True American for several numbers after this printed The Picayune in its office on Natchez alley. Richard P. Giles and Theodore Dietz, who were pressmen for The True American, had the distinction of being the men directly concerned with the printing of The Picayune for a long while in its early history.
It is not a matter of record how long after its birth it was that The Picayune became the possessor of its own press. It met with such a success that it is assumed it was but a short time, and it is the impression of Mr. Kelsey that this first invest- ment was a Washington hand-press. The paper also found opportunity in its prosperity to release its editors from service at the cases and the next printer who became attached to the mechanical department was M. C. Hull. The first pressman was Frank Mckeon, of New York City. He printed the first papers turned out in The Picayune's own office, and Henry Roberts was the first roller boy.
Among its early contributors of wit was Henry J. Finn, an actor of the St.
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Charles theater, who appears to have made considerable reputation for himself and for The Picayune by his jokes.
It is not to be supposed that the paper in those days was in any sense a news- paper such as that word to-day signifies. It was years after this that the world began to realize that its chief function was the dissemination of news reliably and fully, and before newspaper proprietors began to realize that such an output is a standard commodity among men. The first pronounced step the paper took in the direction of this policy was at the time of the Mexican war, when it led the world in news of the events transpiring under General Taylor. The electric tele- graph had not been developed to the enormous proportions of to-day, and the only line extended from Washington to Baltimore. The condition of the country in those times may be better appreciated when it is stated that the railroad had been con- structed to a considerable extent in the North, but south of Washington the mails were carried for the most part in stage coaches. The time of transmission of a letter from Washington to New Orleans was from fourteen to twenty days. When the Mexican war began to assume considerable importance, the northern papers, appre- ciating that it was necessary to get speedier returns from the seat of war than had heretofore been in vogue, established a system of "pony express." The Picayune originated the first venture, The Baltimore Sun taking an interest. The expenses of the service were also, in part, defrayed by the merchants, who did so for the reason that it afforded them speedier market reports and financial news. Through the "pony express" The Picayune executed what was considered marvelous pieces of enterprise in those days in getting returns from Taylor's operations in Mexico. Mr. Kendall went to Mexico for the paper, and when hostilities actually began he for- warded the first news of it to reach the United States. The Picayune, in short, scooped the world on the news. This news was immediately forwarded on north to the other papers of the "pony express" service, and frequently, during this war, the official reports were far behind the newspaper ones in reaching the world, as continues to be the case even unto to-day. It appears, too, that this characteristic of the press aroused as much official resentment in those days as now. When the treaty of peace was concluded with Mexico, the report and text of the treaty was placed on board the steamship New Orleans by the representative of The Picayune. The government report was placed on board of the Iris, the government boat. To prevent the newspapers anticipating the official news, the United States officer in Vera Cruz detained the New Orleans two days after the sailing of the government boat. The New Orleans put on all possible steam and overhauled the Iris, reaching
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New Orleans before the Iris arrived at Mobile. The report was printed in The Picayune and forwarded by the pony express to the papers of the North, appearing in the papers of Baltimore before the official report reached Washington. Another unique enterprise of The Picayune was connected with the presentation of the presi- dent's messages. The paper sent corps of printers to Mobile by boat to meet the messages when they arrived there, and on the way home they put the document in type, so that it was ready to be printed on their arrival.
In 1837 The Picayune office was established at (old) No. 72 Camp strcet, where it remained until November 23, 1847, when it removed to its present office. On Oc- tober 28, 1845, the paper had been enlarged to a seven-column paper. The building in which it is now domiciled and which it built, was erected in October, 1850. This enterprise was the result of a million dollar fire, which consumed almost the entire block on Camp street and the opposite side of the street. The publication of the paper was not interrupted, its editions being printed in other offices. The Picayune was the first New Orleans publication to erect its own building.
Fire and the exigencies of war had failed to interrupt the steady publication of the paper. It remained for the fake of a New York newspaper man to bring about the only interruption, the first and only in its long career. In 1864, at the time that General Banks was in military occupancy of the city, the paper was seized for an act very innocent on the part of The Picayune. Joe Howard, Sr., published in The New York World and Journal of Commerce a proclamation purporting to be a Thanksgiving proclamation, recommending fasting and prayer, and calling into service 400,000 men. The proclamation was copied in The (Cairo, Ill.) News, and from this journal the editors of The Picayune copied it in The Picayune. As a re- sult, General Banks ordered them arrested and the paper was seized and narrowly escaped confiscation. The Picayune's publication of the bogus proclamation was on May 23, 1864, and its publication was suspended until January, 1865, when it was permitted to resume. The editors of The World and The Journal of Commerce were also severely punished. The manner in which this fake was originated and what nature of joke the perpetrator purposed are not manifest.
In January, 1872, the paper was sold to a company of merchants, which in- cluded some of the most prominent bankers and business men of New Orleans. One hundred thousand dollars was paid for the property. The combination was evidently not competent to conduct a newspaper, for they bankrupted it in twenty-six months, the property again passing into the hands of Mr. Holbrook. After Mr. Holbrook died, his widow married Mr. Nicholson, who had had charge of the business of the
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paper for some time under the former chief. The two conducted it until their death, some three years ago. Mrs. Nicholson died a few days after her hus- band. Mr. Thomas G. Rapier, who had been the chief man of the paper for several years previous to the demise of the owners of the paper, continues to manage the property for the minor heirs of the Nicholsons.
The Times-Democrat acquired its hyphenated name on December 4, 1881. It resulted from a consolidation of the old Daily Times and of The Daily Democrat. The Times was born in 1863. The Democrat was not so old, its first issue seeking public favor in 1875.
Thomas P. May & Co. were the first publishers of The Times, and they put out the first number of the paper on September 20, 1863. At that time it was a small four-page paper. Its first number announces its purpose as being "the furnishing of the news." It was the official paper. W. H. C. King acquired the property in 1865. Mr. King made a notable record, and under his management The Times became the most influential paper in the city. He used the wires as a method of get- ting the news more extensively than they had ever been used previous to that time. It was during his management that a gradual change in the character of the New Orleans paper came about. Previously "newspaper" here had been more or less of a misnomer. It devoted a great deal more of its attention to editorials and literature than to news. He revolutionized this, giving the news primary importance. As a consequence of his policy the paper so waxed in popularity that it was greatly enlarged, being increased to eight and sixteen pages, with a twenty-four page Sunday edition. The price of the paper was then ten cents, and it enjoyed a heavy adver- tising patronage. The Times was a leading force in the political differences of the times, in the restoration of order and the revival of progress. The Times remaincd under the management of Mr. King until 1872. In that year it was the staunch champion of John McEnery for governor, opposing William Pitt Kellogg. It bit- terly denounced the Republican Returning Board, and more especially Judge Du- rell's "midnight order," by virtue of which the statehouse and the State government was seized. As a consequence the enmity of the judge was drawn upon the paper and soon afterwards, in a civil suit, the paper was seized by the United States mar- shal. The paper passed out of the hands of Mr. King and afterwards through those of various persons, until its consolidation with The Democrat in 1881.
The New Orleans Democrat was born of the anti-republican sentiment of the times, on December 18, 1875. It represented the crystalization of the opposition to "republican rule at the point of the bayonet," and the tidal wave which subsequently
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swept away all opposition and established again frec government by the people. Robert Tyler, son of the ex-president, was its first editor. Its ownership and man- agement underwent a succession of changes, until it finally passed into the hands of H. J. Hearsey & Co., the head of the firm being now the editorial chief of The States. It was established originally as a morning paper, but subsequently became an evening sheet, in May of 1876. The democratic party came into power in the State in 1877, and The Democrat was recognized as its leader and champion. It became the official journal of the State. In 1878 The Democrat was owned by a joint stock company, largely controlled by its employes, and on April 27, 1879, it eame into the hands of Major E. A. Burke, who bceame its manager. Two years after, on December 4, 1881, The Times was purchased and consolidated with The Democrat. It thus became a partner in the Associated Press serviee, which it had not used before. The new paper was an actual consolidation. It retained the best workers of both staffs and the best features of each paper were continued. The con- solidated paper has been continually abreast of the times. It has devoted itself consistently to many praiseworthy aims. It was a pioneer in the endeavor to work up reciprocal trade between this city and Central America, a work which has grad- ually progressed, keeping abreast with the progress of the eivilization in our neighbor republics. It devoted itself with the greatest amount of enterprise to the cause of the levees, and has been conspicuous in relief work during overflows, accumu- lating a fund of $15,000 for the relief of the flood sufferers in 1882 and sending food and physicians to the unfortunate. It took a very prominent part in bringing about the great Cotton Centennial Exposition in this eity in 1884, subscribing $5,000 to the original fund.
Major Burke was sueeeeded by the present manager, Mr. Page M. Baker, one of the ablest journalists in the history of the New Orleans press. The policy of the paper was not changed in any of its important features by Mr. Baker, who has dis- played the same high regard for the news that has characterized the paper for many years. The Mergenthaler type-setting machine was first purehased in this eity by The Times-Democrat in 1891, and that has made the usual great improvement in the paper characteristic of vastly improved facilities.
New Orleanser Deutsche Zeitung, or in English, The New Orleans German Gazette, was founded by the late notary, Joseph Cohn, on August 1, 1848. Dr. Wiener, who reeently celebrated his ninetieth birthday in Baltimore, Md., was its first editor. At the time of its founding, Mr. Cohn was conducting a German job printing offiee on Poydras and Tchoupitoulas street.
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At the time of The Gazette's birth, and, indeed, to 1854, New Orleans was the haven of a vast number of German citizens, who came here as immigrants on ac- count of the German revolution of 1848. New Orleans received a great number of these valuable citizens, who added to its thrift and its cosmopolitanism, and a large number more, seeking the West, came through this port in winter time to avoid the rigors of the overland trip to the West.
Mr. Colin, on March 1, 1853, sold his paper to a co-operative company, com- posed of several of his printers. Mr. Jacob Hassinger, who has been the sole proprietor of The German Gazette for many years, was among these printers. Mr. Hassinger became the sole proprietor in 1866. On May 1, 1899, a stock company purchased the paper, and Mr. Hassinger was made president of it.
In 1853, when the stock company had charge of the paper, Eduard von Gabain, a former German officer, became the editor-in-chief of the paper. The company was known as Peter Pfeiffer & Co. He remained editor of the paper until 1858, in which year he died. He was regarded as one of the ablest men in the history of the paper.
The following year another editor of distinguished abilities succeeded him, George Foerster. A writer of force, his pro-Union sentiments, expressed with all the vigor of his unusual abilities, soon brought the Gazette against a fierce gale of counter-sentiment. He left the city in 1860 and went North, finally entering the Union army and rising to a captaincy. He worked on pro-Union papers in St. Louis and Chicago. In 1866 he returned to New Orleans and reassumed the chief editor- ship of The Gazette, which position he filled until his death in 1896. Mr. Foerster is regarded as another of the biggest influences in the history of The Gazette. He was a man of vast information, of most positive views and great popularity among his friends and following. For over twenty years he was assisted by Mr. M. Sibilski, as local editor, and Mr. Weichhardt, known as "Quicksilver" in print. The former died in 1888, and the latter in 1895.
Mr. Ferdinand Seinecke, formerly of The St. Louis Anzeiger des Westens, suc- ceeded Mr. Sibilski, when the latter became too ill to work, and when Mr. Foerster died, the St. Louis man became his successor as editor-in-chief, which position he holds to date. In September, 1896, Mr. Hugo Moeller, who was at that time editor of The Texas Post, became a member of The Gazette staff, and Messrs. Bartels, of St. Louis, Kessel, of Milwaukee, and Wichers, of Chicago, are recent additions to the staff.
When the Moresque building fire happened on April 15, 1897, The Gazette
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and The Evening Telegram were both consumed in the flames, which reached across Camp street in spite of all the fire department eould do. Among the irreparable losses of The Gazette was its files from 1865 to the date of the fire. The Gazette immediately resumed publication in another building on Camp street, near the corner of Poydras, occupying it jointly with The Telegram. The paper was burned out again by the St. Charles theater fire in its rear in the early morning of February 20, 1899. Mr. Jacob Hassinger, feeling the eneroachments of age, desired to retire from the active conduet of the paper, and a company was formed on May 1, 1899, with the following officers : Jacob Hassinger, president ; Professor J. Hanno Deiler, of Tulane University, vice-president; Mr. Georg Hassinger, secretary and treas- urer. The board of directors is additionally composed by Hon. Charles F. Buek, Abe Heim and Val Merz.
The Gazette is the only German paper south of the Ohio. It is conducted on a high plane and is a paper of influence and power. It finds its way into the homes of a vast army of the best German citizenship of the South daily, and is a paper of recognized standing in the South.
The evening paper field is occupied by The Daily States, The Daily Item and The Daily Telegram. Of these, the oldest is The Daily Item.
The States was established in 1880 by its present editor, Major H. J. Hearsey, a seholarly, erudite and trenehant writer of the old States' rights sehool, and widely known in reconstruction days as the editor of The Shreveport Times, the champion of the White League movement in Louisiana, and subsequently of The New Orleans Democrat, since merged into The Times-Democrat. It owes its existence to Major Hearsey's determined effort to destroy a political ring which had achieved a eor- rupting influenee in the party and which grew in intolerance as it grew in power. It started with little pretension to a newspaper, and when it made its bow to the public of New Orleans on January 3, 1880, its ehief claim upon the attention of the publie was the virility of its editorial page and the courage and resolution with which it approached its chosen task of reform. The first number was a small, six- column, four-page sheet, printed on an old-fashioned flat-bed press, the motive power of which was furnished by an old and blind, but willing and muscular darkey. Editorial, reportorial, composing, press and business forces were erowded in small and dingy rooms. Salaries were small, and the labors which the seanty staffs were ealled upon to perform were prodigious ; but the public soon began to realize that not only were the editorials of the paper vigorous, aggressive and fearless in tone, but that the principles it enunciated were the principles which had inspired the great
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fathers of democracy ; that its policy was for rigid economy, joined to capable and efficient administration in government, and that it was developing news pages that were bright and abreast of the times ; and it was not long before the influence of the paper penetrated every circle of business and social life in the community. Its cir- culation grew rapidly, it became a leader in political and commercial movements, improvements in its mechanical appliances kept pace with its growth of power in the community, and it became finally not only the recognized newspaper head of the democracy in Louisiana, but one of the most substantial newspaper properties in the South.
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