USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume II > Part 27
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The first editor of the paper was William O. Eaton. He returned to Boston after two years of travel just in time to be invited to take charge of the forthcoming newspaper, and in spite of his youth, he accepted the responsibility without hesitation. He was only twenty-two, but he had written for several papers, including the "Post" and the "Bee." George W. Tyler took charge of the morning edition when it was undertaken. This adjustment lasted only a few weeks. Soon Tyler's name appeared at the top of the editorial column with the announcement that Eaton had retired. The fact was that Eaton was a Democrat and Tyler a Whig, and the duality of the political pronouncements of the two papers. pro- duced charges of insincerity and inconsistency outside and caused irrita- tion inside the office. The "Herald" printed an average of eight columns of reading matter at this time, of which two columns contained editorials, two were filled with clippings from exchanges, and the remaning four were allotted to local news items. The management boasted of their "arrangement" for the service of the "Magnetic Telegraph," but tele- graphic news was not plentiful in the columns of their paper.
The names of the owners appeared for the first time in the "Herald" as John A. French & Company. French had bought out all the others who had joined forces to start the paper, and he actually owned all but one share, which was represented alone by the "& Company." He was a tireless worker. He never hesitated to run the press or to run out on assignments as a reporter might have done. The two papers removed to larger quarters. Steam power was rented to run the press. The counting room was shifted across State Street. James D. Stowers, of South Boston, who had been in at the outset, invested several thousand dollars to buy an interest anew and the ownership card was altered to read "French and Stowers." Next day a second morning edition was begun, to be issued at eight o'clock, and the evening edition was made the fourth page of the morning paper and placed in charge of Thomas W. Tucker. The paper was not slow in telling the public about its achievements. One statement announced a total circulation for three editions of 67,620 a week, a thing declared to be "wholly unprecedented in the history of Boston newspapers." The first real news-gathering exploit performed by the "Herald" belongs to the credit of "Dave" Lea- vitt, in connection with the conflagration of January 21, 1847, which destroyed about one hundred buildings in the North End. He arrived early, noted the fury of the blaze and the direction of the wind, and cov- ered the fire not by watching the actual destruction, but by recording minutely on his note sheets the numbers, owners and occupants of the
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buildings which the flames had not reached. The following morning his paper printed a four-column statement of these facts for the entire burned area, to the surprise of the town and the envy of his competitors.
In May, 1847, occurred another change in ownership, caused by the withdrawal of Mr. Stowers, and on June 23 Samuel K. Head was announced as sole publisher. Mr. French, however, kept an interest and served on the paper, but his name did not appear. There were editorial changes also; Mr. Tyler left the paper, although later he returned for a time, and Mr. Tucker's name vanished a few weeks thereafter. The new editor was the redoubtable William Joseph Snelling, to whom some refer- ence has previously been made. The "Herald" historians fondly dwell on the names of the founders. Albert Baker set type for the paper until his death. Amos Clapp worked at his case for years and then became the janitor of the Journal Building. George H. Campbell became a reporter, migrated to California, there to appear as a judge, and died in Mexico of yellow fever. Justin Andrews went to the "Times," then returned to the "Herald" as an editor and eventually a proprietor. One compositor, not an owner, Byron Cole, died in Nicaragua, where he was serving that "gray-eyed man of destiny," William Walker. Meantime the "Eagle" had suspended publication. Its last editor was the Rev. Charles W. Denison. Its subscribers and advertising contracts were transferred to the "Herald." On May 19, 1847, it appeared for the last time.
Mr. Snelling's editorship was brief, running only from mid-summer, 1847, to the time of his death, almost at the end of 1848. His life had been varied and adventurous. He was a master of satire. His scathing description of conditions in the House of Correction in South Boston, which he called "The Rat-Trap," made him both bitter foes and warm friends. His editorial career was marked by a string of battles. He ferociously assailed the city marshal. He strove to prevent the election of Josiah Quincy, Jr., as mayor, and failed. He printed from time to time a "Black List of Delinquent Subscribers." He wrote in a slashing style and seldom qualified his statements. The "Herald" fought vigorously under the banner of Zachary Taylor, and the day after the election the editor contemplated proudly the results of their efforts to obtain prompt returns ; they were able to report the vote in ninety-nine Massachusetts cities and towns, fifteen in Maine, eight in New Hampshire, and numer- ous others from States outside New England. On the second day the paper announced the certainty of the election of "Rough and Ready," and in a few weeks printed with satisfaction his letter of thanks for its "cour- tesy and kindness." The vehement editor was only forty-four years old when he died very suddenly the day before Christmas at his home in Chelsea, and a few hours after his widow was striken again by the death
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of her father. In February, 1849, Moses Kimball granted the use of the Boston Museum for a benefit in her behalf for which the programme included the names of J. B. Booth, Jr., J. R. Vincent, and Adelaide Phillips.
Recalled to the editorial chair, George W. Tyler resumed his former duties early in 1849, and soon arranged for four editions a day. The counting room the preceding year had been removed to 19 State Street, but the paper was produced "in the top story of an old building on the north side of State Street, midway between Washington Street and Wil- son's Lane, and opposite the Old State House," until April 1, 1849, when the editorial, composing and press rooms were removed to 11/2 and 3 Water Street, and the paper began to be printed "on a Hoe double- cylinder press, run by steam power, and capable of producing 6,000 impressions an hour." Early in that year a disagreement occurred between the owners, French and Head, which was arbitrated by their lawyers, and French became the sole proprietor. The circulation now leaped upward, and on April 2 the "Herald" began to print every day the line "Largest Circulation in New England." Then the owner claimed as against the "Times" the right to the post office advertising of unclaimed letters, which under the law belonged to the paper of largest circula- tion. The "Herald" ran defiance after defiance against the "Times," offered wagers of $1,000 to make good its boast, and declared that not "pecuniary profit" but "honorable distinction" furnished its motive in striving for this government business. The average daily city circulation for this period was said to be II,253.
Of all the early "Herald" feats of news-gathering the one most enthusiastically celebrated was the printing in the first edition for Christmas Day, 1849, of a column of synopsis of the message of Presi- dent Taylor, which was wired from New York, and in the second edition the document in full. The message was brought to Boston by J. F. Cal- houn, of New Haven, who started on the afternoon of the 24th, crossed in a tug from Jersey City to New York, mounted a special engine which was waiting at the New Haven depot, and departed at ten in the evening for Boston. He lost one hour at Meriden, when the tender left the rails, an hour and thirty-eight minutes at Warren, where he encountered a derailed freight, and thirteen minutes at Palmer, where the engine replenished its water supply. But he arrived in Boston at 6:20 in the morning.
Sensationalism-Often the charge is made nowadays that newspapers give too much space and attention to criminal news. Go back to the years 1849 and 1850 and you shall find that what is called "sensational- ism" is no new thing. The murder of Dr. George Parkham by Prof. John
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W. Webster was a most astounding crime. That awful event was a moral earthquake in Boston. What did the papers make of it? One historian, severely critical of the "Herald" of those days, says: "From the worst of the pennies, the 'Boston Herald,' to the most respectable of the dailies, the 'Advertiser,' the papers vied with each other in their efforts to give complete accounts .... and full, accurate and prompt reports of each day's proceedings during the trial." Big type was used and screaming headlines, according to the standards of seventy-five years ago, portraits of the victim and the criminal, sketches of the implements employed in the commission and concealment of the crime, plans of the rooms. The "Herald" issued extras at intervals of only fifteen or thirty minutes, and arranged for their simultaneous appearance in New York. Stenographers supplemented the long-hand bulletins with verbatim reports of all that was said in the court room. Seven columns were given to the Webster confession, and four to his execution. The limit of cir- culation was the capacity of the presses. It is stated that at no time dur- ing the trial did the circulation fall below 60,000 a day. These facts are here related as interesting historically, and without derivative morali- zations.
In 1850 the "Herald," apparently prosperous, continued to advertise its claim to a larger circulation than any other Boston paper. But in 1851, owing to "causes" pronounced "inexplicable," the owner unex- pectedly found himself in financial difficulties. On April I he discon- tinued the weekly edition. That day also the imprint was changed from "John A. French, Editor and Proprietor," to "John a French, Publisher." In time it became known that French had sold the "Herald" to John M. Barnard, "a wealthy distiller and wholesale liquor dealer," then doing business in South Market Street, and also proprietor of the "Glades" hotel at Cohasset. The new name did not appear in print during that year, but on July 16 the imprint was changed to read "George W. Triggs & Company, Publishers and Proprietors." French retired to his farm in Maine, his assistant, Samuel R. Glen, went to the "Times," and A. A. Wallace succeeded as managing editor. But a quarrel with the old Associated Press, the poor results obtained from an imperfect two- cylinder printing press, and other difficulties, caused a serious interrup- tion in the progress of the paper. The following year began, however, with a new Hoe press, and in August a Napier press was added to the outfit. For about six months the imprint read "John M. Barnard, Pro- prietor ; George W. Triggs & Company, Publisher," but on July 2 the Barnard half of the announcement was allowed to stand alone. Mean- time, in September, 1850, the editorial, composing and press rooms had been removed to Williams Court, half way between Washington Street
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and Court Square, and in October, 1851, the counting room was trans- ferred to 103, now 241, Washington Street.
Now again the paper began to gain in patronage. In 1854 two inches were added to the length of its columns. On February 12, 1855, it was announced that while Barnard continued as owner, Edwin C. Bailey and A. Milton Lawrence had become the publishers. Then early in 1856 Barnard sold to Bailey, who became sole proprietor and publisher. He was a half-brother of Senator Fessenden, of Maine, and a relative of the Greenes of the "Post." Barnard's subsequent attempt to compete with the "Herald" by the publication of a "Daily Evening Ledger," with Wal- lace as editor, did not long endure. Justin Andrews came to the "Her- ald" as assistant editor and remained as news manager until 1873. His brother, Charles H. Andrews, had been with the paper some time as a reporter, and he remained, as employee and part owner, until 1897. At this time there began a revival of managerial enterprise. Improvements followed each other in rapid succession. In 1857 the "Herald" bought the "Times." The new owner had been postmaster of Boston, but he resigned that office on October I and thenceforth devoted all his energies to the newspaper. A six-cylinder Hoe press was acquired in 1858. A "new high" for circulation was attained on December 3, 1859, the day after the execution of John Brown, when the press run was 59,760. Five weeks later, on January 10, 1860, the Pemberton Mill disaster at Law- rence produced an edition of 72,360. The elections of that year ran the edition up to 73,752, "the highest since the Webster trial." The paper demonstrated the magnitude of its business by telling the public of its twelve compositors with an average bill for composition of $200 a week, of a white paper bill for the year of $87,000, of a salary total of $36,000, and of $6,000 expended for telegraphic service-big figures for those days. Through the early months of the Civil War the circulation con- tinued to gain. For Fort Sumter the paper printed 85,752 copies, and for the march of the Sixth Massachusetts through Baltimore 92,448. During the next three years the totals were not so large, but the edition for the surrender of Lee exceeded 60,000, and for the assassination of Lincoln it was 83,520. In 1867 the payroll contained seventy names. It has more than 1,000 now.
On April 1, 1869, there took place one of the most important in the many changes in "Herald" ownership. Mr. Bailey on that day announced his sale of the paper to Royal M. Pulsifer, Edwin B. Haskell, Charles H. Andrews, Justin Andrews, and George G. Bailey. The new owners gave their notes for a large part of the price paid and all these obligations were met at maturity out of their profits. All five for some time had been connected with the paper. Haskell, who took charge of the Sunday edi- tion, had begun as a reporter in 1860. Pulsifer assumed control of the
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business department, which he had entered in 1861. The Andrews brothers had invested large amounts of energy in the news departments. George G. Bailey was foreman of the composing room. The last named sold his interest to the other four on October 1, 1871, and Justin Andrews sold the remaining three on January 1, 1873. In 1870 the sheet was widened by a column, and during the next few years mechanical improve- ments were frequently made. "The first Bullock press ever used north of New York" was installed in 1872. On September 3, 1870, the battle of Sedan produced for the first time a circulation of more than 100,000, but on January 8, 1872, the assassination of "Jim" Fisk sold 113,760 copies.
The great fire of November 9, 1872, taxed the men and the machines of all the papers spared by the conflagration beyond all previous ideas of possibility. Everybody worked without rest for forty-eight hours, and many for seventy-two hours. One day the "Herald" presses ran off 220,- 000 papers and yet fell short of the demand. During 1874 the average daily circulation is said to have been 107,351 ; in 1876 it stood at 116,568. But the day after the election of that Centennial Year the press run reached the remarkable total of 223,256, "the largest number of copies ever printed in one day."
On February 9, 1878, the "Daily" and "Sunday Herald" occupied a building constructed for them at 255 Washington Street, with a supple- mentary structure, also new, erected as an "L" on the Williams Court site, which had been purchased in 1871. This Washington Street build- ing, long ago completely antiquated, for years was advertised and described as one of the model newspaper plants of the world. The "Herald" now was entering on an era of such prosperity and influence as fairly earned for it a reputation hardly excelled by that of any other newspaper in the country. Frank Sanborn, in 1902, simply stated the recognized fact when in a formal article he referred to the complete suc- cess with which the paper had "lived down" the "ill repute" of its early days to which reference has heretofore been made. The position of the "Herald" is suggested by the following quotations from letters written by Samuel Bowles, of the "Springfield Republican." The first passage is from a letter of 1874, the second from a letter of 1877. He said :
Haskell, the editor, and Pulsifer, the publisher, of the "Herald," are two of the best gentlemen connected with the New England press. . . . They are thoroughly honest and independent in their profession, and mean to do good work and stand by honest men everywhere.
When you [George W. Smalley] were here last year you found out that the "Bos- ton Herald" was not only the most successful piece of journalism in New England, but (always after the "Springfield Republican" -! ) the most independent and the most effi- cient for the right things and the right men. . .
The other members of the triumvirate that made the "Herald" great was John Henry Holmes, whose connection with the paper began in 1873.
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For years he was a mighty power in the newspaper world and he extended the influence of the "Herald" to London as well as throughout the United States. He had been connected with the "Charlestown Weekly Chronicle" and the "Boston Sunday Times" when he began with the "Herald" as a reporter. As managing editor he expanded the edi- torial comment from one to several columns, created new departments, and took on many writers of reputation. He is credited with the prac- tical creation of the "magazine section" now so important a part of the Sunday paper. The harmonious tripartite ownership gave him much liberty of expression in editorials, and of action in obtaining news, when he became editor-in-chief with complete control of both these depart- ments. He was independent, impatient of cheap partisanship and jingo- ism, noted for his courage in preaching reform, a wide reader with a library of 8,000 volumes, something of a wit, and perhaps above all a keen "newspaper man" with a "nose for news." The story apparently is true that on a time he edited by invitation for several days the London "Times," what was regarded as the greatest honor yet bestowed on an American editor by that famous publication.
In 1888 Mr. Haskell and Charles H. Andrews quit the active service of the paper, and a corporation, The Boston Herald Company, took over the ownership, the shareholders being Pulsifer, Haskell, Andrews, Holmes, E. H. Woods, the circulation manager, and Fred E. Whiting, who was secretary to Pulsifer. On Pulsifer's death shortly thereafter, Holmes became the largest owner. In 1904 Haskell turned over his holdings to his son, Colonel William E. Haskell, who had been connected with newspapers in Minneapolis, and by the acquisition of other stock he reached an equality of ownership with Holmes. Then, in October, 1906, Holmes in turn disposed of his holdings to Colonel Haskell, who for two years had acted as publisher. Meantime, in May, 1906, the paper was transferred to its present plant, consisting of two buildings, one devoted to the counting room interests facing the Common at 171 Tremont Street, the other just in the rear, across Mason Street at the corner of Avery Street, housing the departments which write, illustrate, and print the paper. Rented quarters in adjacent buildings supplement this plant, which now is too small, and a business office is maintained in the old Newspaper Row in Washington Street.
During the first decade of the twentieth century the "Herald" endured many vicissitudes. Its prosperity ebbed away. Changes of policy, an attempt to transform a conservative paper into a more lively journal-to "sensationalize the 'Herald'" was the common expression-reduced its business and its influence, and there was no great surprise when a receiv- ership was announced. By common consent, as stated generously in a "Post" editorial a few years ago, the "Herald" now has "come back."
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The situation was well put by the late Joseph Pulitzer at a time when the "Herald" was in the midst of its deepest troubles: "Its roots are so deeply imbedded in the life of New England that it can withstand any ill wind that blows, and will continue to flourish and grow in strength and influence."
Two Interesting Episodes-Ere bringing the story down to the pres- ent time it will be well to call attention to two most interesting episodes in the history of the "Herald," the one heroic, the other picturesque. The great November storm of 1898 the Life Saving Service pronounced "the most appalling calamity that has occurred anywhere near the coast of the United States for almost half a century." Other authorities claim it to have been a more furious tempest than that of 1851, which toppled the lighthouse at Minot's off its ledge. The hurricane came up from the tropics. Snow began to fall just after sundown on Saturday night, November 26. By midnight the storm was blowing eighty miles an hour. All day Sunday the air was filled with the clamor of the storm. By Mon- day people began to realize how widespread was the damage wrought. All wires were down. All trains were stalled. The shores of Massachu- setts had been chiseled into new shapes. Scores of ships had been wrecked. Hundreds of lives had been lost.
What had become of the steamship Portland? While sailing vessels all the way from Gay Head to Cape Ann were scurrying to shelter, the "Portland" had left India Wharf on Saturday evening at about the regu- lar hour for her scheduled trip to Maine. The riddle of her subsequent fate never has been fully deciphered. Not a soul of all on board survived to tell the tale, and she carried a crew of 100 and passengers numbering about 200. Exact numbers can never be had for the only passenger list was on board the vessel in the office of the purser. All Monday all Bos- ton and all New England were on edge with anxiety. Then Monday night and through half of Tuesday the question on everybody's lips was : "What has happened to the 'Portland'?" There was one desperate hope ; she might have run out to sea and stayed afloat. News of wrecked ves- sels and shattered buildings arrived every hour at the newspaper offices. Then in the early afternoon of Tuesday the "Herald" gave the world the first authentic tidings of the fate of the ship. She was "down." Bodies were coming ashore on Cape Cod. The "Portland" was "lost."
It was one of the great "scoops"-perhaps the greatest-in the news- paper history of New England. It was all the better because it was done without prearrangement. The "Herald's" district correspondent on the south side of Cape Cod was Charles F. Ward. On Sunday morning he found all his means of communication with the outside world cut off. He knew there must be disasters along that coast, and he drove from his
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home at Chatham up the road twenty miles to Hyannis. There he found the one telephone line along the Cape which still held, that of the Life Saving Service. He called up a score of friends up and down the line. He stuck by the wire and on Monday he had word from Truro that wreckage from a large steamer and human bodies were afloat in the surf. One fragment bore a tonnage mark-"2283 tons"-which identified the vessel as the "Portland."
Ward knew he had a secret that the world must be waiting to hear. Somehow he must get that news to Boston. A work train making repairs on the track was starting up the line from Hyannis. It carried him to East Sandwich, where a washout stopped him. He managed to stagger on foot through snowdrifts and water, once crawling on all fours over a bridge, to Sandwich, which he reached an hour before midnight. Thence he rode horseback to Buzzard's Bay, where he arrived at two in the morning. At dawn he got the first train of the resumed service for Boston. Still there were no wires available. Just before noon that Tues- day, completely exhausted, he trudged into the office with his news. Then he obtained the full assurance that his was the first information his own or any other paper had received about the wreck which no New Eng- lander ever has forgotten. The Boston newspapers had been doing their utmost to learn what had happened along the coasts of Massachusetts Bay. Even on Sunday afternoon both the "Globe" and the "Herald" had had tug boats cruising about Boston Harbor with reporters and artists aboard. The "Herald" immediately hurried a corps of men by boat to the Cape, and the "Globe" also, on seeing the "Herald's" bulletins, at once despatched a boat to Provincetown. On Wednesday morning the "Herald" formally claimed its "scoop" and all that day the information received from the intrepid Cape Cod "district man" was all that the pub- lic and all that the steamship company possessed. Only too completely was the story verified by subsequent developments.
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