USA > Pennsylvania > A biographical album of prominent Pennsylvanians, v. 1 > Part 42
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Unconsciously to himself, however, he had during this session made the record that was to bring him into additional prominence before the people of Philadel- phia. The Mayoralty contest of 1873 was made memorable by McClure's nom- ination against Mayor Stokley, in whose support the heelers and rounders of both parties were enrolled. Doubtless McClure felt that his defeat was inevitable ; but, if he did, he made no sign. The old powers of organization and leadership were never brought into more brilliant play. In twenty-two days he spoke sixty- one times, often making as many as three specches in a single night, every one of which was a model of political eloquence. His sarcasm was never more cut- ting; his invective against the political methods then in vogue never more severe. It is stating the case mildly to say that the opposition writhed beneath his scathing arraignments.
This was his last appearance as a candidate. In it he suffered a defeat, but it was through no error of his, and was only accomplished after a bitter struggle and by a small majority. The organized power of the municipal departments was freely invoked against him, and Pilgrim and Stalwart stood shoulder to shoulder for Stokley and against McClurc. There have been other exciting
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contests in this city, but none conducted by the minority candidate under greater disadvantages. He led a comparatively unorganized party against the strongest · leaders in city and State, and if he suffered a machine defeat he gave the machine leaders cause to remember him for many a year to come.
It is impossible to leave this period of Colonel McClure's eventful life without casting at least a passing glance at his peculiar work and the manner in which he did it. At the time of his advent into State prominence the stronger drift of intelligent thought was toward the Republican party. Under the influence of tongue and pen, Democrats were deserting their old party affiliations, because of the dangers that secession menaced. With them went Old-line Whigs, and the flower of youthful manhood, which recognized nothing inviting in the dis- cordant Democracy, at that time clashing its fiercest. From these elements the Republican party was formed. But twelve years of seemingly permanent power had let loose the demons of corruption, and excesses of every kind reigned with- out bridle or license. It was not only so at the national capital, but it was equally true at Harrisburg and in Philadelphia, only differing in proportion to the spoils to be divided. Leaders of both parties dipped their hands into the public flesh-pots, and drippings fell to the lot of the smaller thieves. It was to cry halt upon these evils that Senator MeClure bent his energies, becoming known long before either Wolfe or Stewart had thought of any rebellious work, as the anti- machine leader in the State. The mutations of politics led him into many queer combinations, but, though he sometimes treated for a brief advantage with his ancient foes, it was only to return to the work of their exposure with an added zest and vigor after the advantage had been gained. Whatever may have been the motive by which he was animated, there can be no doubt as to the work he did. He was powerless at that time to remedy all the evils which he could so well describe, but he drew public attention to the abuses that flourished, and by so doing paved the way for future reformation.
Only journalists know the excitement of the journalistic profession. Few men of practical ability enter the field ever to leave it permanently. They may wan- der from it temporarily to pursue other occupations that seem less trying or more congenial, but they never get beyond the recollection of its fascination, and at some time or other are almost certain to return to the ranks. No life illustrates this truth more forcibly than Colonel McClure's. He abandoned the newspaper profession for the law and for politics, in both cases gladly resuming his editorial labor-for such it is-after a brief period of absence. Like Sumner. he has a taste for the literature of the law, with a mind above its common-place details. Like Halifax, he is of far too independent a mould ever to permanently abide in any party. In his journalistic career his best faculties found constant employment ; hence it is not unreasonable to suppose that he sighed for a return to editorial power during the palmiest days of his political successes. Certain it is that when the opportunity came he returned to the profession with more than ordinary relish.
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Abandoning political life after his defeat for Mayor, save in so far as a jour- nalist is connected with it, Colonel McClure once more sought his native ele- ment. Various reasons had conspired to render Colonel Forney not unwilling to part with the Press, then, as now, a prominent paper. Negotiations were begun between the two; and had it not been for the fact that personal friends interposed their objections to Colonel Forney's parting with his paper, The Times, in all probability would never have been issued. Whether or not some of the enemies whom Colonel McClure had made were not in a measure respon- sible for a portion of this pressure can only be conjectured. But it would not have been strange had they sought to impede his progress.
Many men, who are great enough under favorable circumstances, lose heart and hope when discouragements come. It was not so with Colonel McClure. Foiled at one point he turned with indomitable will in another direction, deter- mined to effect his purpose, though he had to start an entirely new paper. Ile recognized the vast field that there was in Philadelphia for a real newspaper, and, confident of his ability to make it a success, proposed to own that paper. But here again another obstacle was presented. Men who were anxious, or, at least, willing to assist him to buy the Press, looked with suspicion on the proposition to start a new paper. After the most discouraging efforts the necessary funds were found, and The Times made its first appearance amid an avalanche of dis- couraging predictions.
It is only history to say that its success was phenomenal. Within a year it was upon a paying basis-probably the only prominent journal in this country of which a similar truth can be asserted. Men liked its brilliant and saucy style, and even those who had been Mr. McClure's worst enemies bought the paper regularly, to see what the chief of the Independents had to say of them and of the world's eventful doings. It succeeded because it deserved success. No public plunderer was too high for it to expose; no lobby too powerful to escape its scathing scrutiny. Libel suits followed each other in bewildering succession ; but the most advanced intelligence sustained the now famous editor, and men only smiled as cach new victim resorted to the courts. To-day the plant that cost originally less than $100,000 is probably worth $1,500,000, and a princely return upon their money is the reward of those whose faith in McClure led to their joining the enterprise. The building on Chestnut street is in itself a proud monument to the ability of its editor, and the industry and enterprise of the publisher, Mr. Mclaughlin.
Prior to the establishment of The Times, Philadelphia journals ran in ruts. There were plenty of superserviceable organs; there was not a newspaper in the city. The Times took that field. Instead of dwarfing its writers by narrowing their work to the limits prescribed by political bosses, it developed them by giving them the widest reasonable scope. It published, to the consternation of its contemporaries, every line of ill-report or abuse with which thieves and plunderers honored its management. It exalted the editorial profession above
ALEXANDER K. M'CLURE. 360
the plane of party politics, and did more to advance the standard of the profes- sion than any other paper in the country. It taught the simple truth that economy of space is economy of the reader's time, and hence economy of money to him; and it impressed upon the public that the best truths are best told when told in the briefest and simplest way. That it has sometimes erred is not improbable ; but that it has stood nearest to the people on the vital questions that have arisen since its first appearance, its own success and the repute of its management testify beyond refutation.
From his luxuriantly furnished offices, in the third floor of The Times building, Colonel McClure now watches passing events with an eye undimmed by his sixty years. He does not work now as he did ten years ago; his decisive battle has been fought and won. But no man knows more of the out- side world. Ilis intimate association with political leaders, and his own legisla- tive experience, enable him to detect a good from a bad bill at sight. He knows the ins and outs of the politicians' path. IIe is familiar with its evils and pit-falls. To the ability to cope with able men he adds that intuitive faculty which enables him to select the right side of any question with scarcely any previous thought. Unlike Dana, he is not a partisan; the broad view of any question it is his to take by virtue of natural desire. He has no academic education, nor does he need it. Since he left the Perry county school, it is probable that he has forgotten the little book-learning that he there acquired, in spite of himself. But he has learned the practical lessons of life in the broader school and from the sterner experiences of the world; and while it may be said that he sometimes laments his deficiency in that respect, it is yet more true that there is hardly a college graduate in the land who would not change places with him without a moment's hesitation.
J. H. L.
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WILLIAM M. SINGERLY.
WILLIAM MISKEY SINGERLY.
STARTING in life with no higher educational equipment than was attainable at 2 the High School of Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in February, 1850, possessing no decided social advantages over other men who could boast an honorable and industrious parentage, debarred of an opportunity to make his individuality felt and acknowledged until within twelve years ago, William M. Singerly has in that brief period become not only eminently successful but probably the most progressive man in Philadelphia, and certainly one of the best known personages in this country. That he has succeeded in doing this without any striking artificial advantages shows him to be a man of exceptional natural abilities, whose remarkable successes have been due to the exercise of that faculty which we call "common sense," and which, when united with acute perceptions and promptitude of action, makes up what all Americans at once recognize under the designation, business instinct and business tact and energy.
The career of such a man must necessarily be devoid of any of those marvel- lous incidents or episodes which render the biographer's task an easy and attractive one. The man endowed with great foresight, quick comprehension, sleepless vigilance, intuitive knowledge of mankind, and indefatigable energy can make few serious mistakes ; and a man whose life is free from grave errors can know but few vicissitudes. The life of such a man must naturally and inevitably be successful, and it is no fanciful panegyric to say that if any man may justly claim the title Mr. Singerly is " the man of success."
WILLIAM MISKEY SINGERLY was born in Philadelphia, Deceniber 27th, 1832, and is the son of Joseph Singerly and Katharine S. Miskey. Upon leaving school he entered mercantile life, and after ten years passed amidst commercial surroundings he was called to the management of the Germantown Passenger Railway, in which his father was a large stockholder. His ministration was sagacious and successful. Toward the close of his father's life he had absolute control of the road, a position involving great responsibility, and upon his death, in 1878, came into possession of its stock, valued at $750,000, which he after- wards disposed of for twice that amount. On the Ist of May, 1877, Mr. Singerly secured control of the Philadelphia Record, and in 1881 and 1882 erected the beautiful and substantial building on Chestnut street above Ninth street, from which that journal is now sent broadcast through town and country, and which is a monument to its remarkable success. Neither journalism nor stock-farm- ing have, however, claimed all of his time or talent. One of the largest of his recent undertakings has been the building of several hundred dwelling-houses upon a tract of land in Philadelphia between Seventeenth street and Islington lane and Berks and York streets. This, probably the largest building operation
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ever attempted by any one person in the city, for the erection of more than a thousand houses is contemplated, has in it a large element of practical philan- thropy, and is one of several actions which entitle Mr. Singerly to be called a public benefactor. Another way in which his business sagacity and money have been determinedly and effectively devoted to the benefit of the public has been in the breaking down of the exorbitant price of coal. He has succeeded in placing it in the market at one dollar and seventy-five cents per ton less than the rate which railroad discrimination has dictated, a measure which actually saves to Philadelphia over one million dollars annually, and thus greatly enhances . its manufacturing interests and at the same time aids the poor.
But a life which has proved so eminently successful deserves more than a brief summary, and justice cannot be done to the subject without giving in particular detail every step of Mr. Singerly's career from early manhood to the period at which this biography is written. Immediately after leaving school in 1850 he entered mercantile life with Messrs. J. Palmer & Co., a commission and produce house, on Market street wharf, with whom he remained ten years. He always refers to this portion of his life with great satisfaction, perhaps with a certain amount of pride, for it is to the education, training and habits then acquired that he attributes the success which has attended all his subsequent life. Whatever it did not give him, he says, it made him a business man ; and a thorough man of business, he maintains, is the best citizen and the best man in any community. It was doubtless in this practical business school that he obtained that remark- able ability as an accountant which has surprised nearly every one with whom his vast and varied enterprises have brought him in contact, it being an easy feat for him to run up five or six columns of figures, and give the total, while others are laboriously going up one column at a time.
After severing his connection with Palmer & Co. Mr. Singerly went to Chicago and engaged in the commission business, which he was carrying on with gratifying success when he was recalled to Philadelphia by his father, who wished him to assume the management of the Germantown Passenger Rail- way. The new manager found the affairs of the road in a most unsatisfactory condition, but, applying himself to the duties of his position with his accustomed energy, in one year's time he succeeded in extricating the road from all litigation, and by lopping off all needless expenses, improving the service and inaugurating a sound system of administration, converted it from a losing to a profitable enter- prise. One of his first measures was the purchase, at a small price, of the Girard avenue road. This was regarded as injudicious by many of his friends, some of whom confidently predicted it could have no other result than to add to the embarrassments under which the main line already labored. Time, however, has fully vindicated the wisdom of the purchase, as it shortly became and has since remained one of the most valuable feeders of the main road. The sagacity, energy and ability which characterized Mr. Singerly's administration of the affairs of this road were so marked that toward the close of his father's life he con-
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trolled it absolutely. As a result of his superior management and administra- tion he sold this stock to the Work syndicate for $1,500,000, and although Mr. Singerly has been connected with street railroads for twenty-five years, he now has no interest in them whatever beyond holding some shares as collateral security for loans.
The establishment by Mr. Singerly of a country home in Whitpain, at Frank- linville, Gwynedd Station, on the North Penn Railroad, was an important event for the people of the township and Montgomery county, for it ultimately led to the development of what is probably the most extensive and elaborate high- grade stock-farm in the country, which, as a kind of informal agricultural academy, has exerted a marked influence upon the advancement of farming and stock interests in the region round about it. It has, as an educational institution, taught many practical object-lessons.
The way in which it came to pass that a young business man, city-born and city-bred, became the owner and manager of a great farm, and herds of cattle and sheep, and gained an intimate knowledge of agricultural methods and scien- tific systems of feeding and caring for animals, was this: in 1872, his health and strength having become slightly impaired by close and constant application to weighty business matters, and by the varied and unceasing demands always made upon the time and consideration of a man of affairs, he was urged by his father to seek the recuperation which a summer home in the country would afford. Thus counselled, he bought a little farm of sixty-eight acres, to which, in the summer of 1873, he removed. From this little beginning, made with no other thought or object than we have indicated, grew, by occasional additions, the " Record Farms" of 700 acres, which in their improved condition, with the immense buildings upon them and the stock which they support, represent an investment of about a quarter of a million dollars. The land, which had been somewhat impoverished, was, by careful fertilizing processes, brought into a high degree of richness; a careful plan of drainage was carried out and the utmost pains taken to produce the most desirable crops in greatest possible quantity and best quality. Mr. Singerly's latent natural taste for the healthful freedom of out- door life, and his love for the nobler domestic animals, were both quickened, and with the energy which has characterized him in other extensive enterprises, and the organizing ability which has made them successful, he entered ambitiously upon the difficult but absorbing task of perfecting the best stock-farm in the State. No effort or expense was spared which tended toward the realization of his ideal in this direction.
Some idea of the extent of Mr. Singerly's stock-farming enterprise may be conveyed by the statement that in February, 1885, he had about 260 thorough- bred Holstein yearlings, constituting undoubtedly the finest private herd in the country, and he does not propose selling until he has 300, which number will far exceed in size any high-grade herd on this side of the Atlantic, and perhaps in the world. He has 260 cows, heifers and calves, all thorough or high-breds;
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about 130 fattening steers and 850 sheep. Of the latter he is a very large pen- feeder, and one year wintered over 1,200. His sheep are mostly high-grade Cotswolds, but he has some South-downs for the purpose of insuring plump- ness as well as large size in the spring lambs. In the spring of 1882 he sold in New York, for export, 443, which averaged 166 pounds each, and were probably the finest lot of sheep ever sold in the United States.
Mr. Singerly is a strong advocate of the system of soiling or stall-feeding cattle, and the practice is followed at the " Record Farms " on a large scale, with the result of proving its great superiority over pasturing in economy of food and production of milk. In one stable in what has come to be known throughout the southern part of the county as " Singerly's big barn " are to be seen 100 handsome Holstein cows, all comfortably stalled and with pure running water before them.
Always fond of a horse, Mr. Singerly's regard for the noblest of our dumb friends has increased considerably, as he has become from year to year more interested in his farm and in out-door life. The horses in use at the farm are fine specimens of their kind, but in Kentucky he is interested in steeds of a finer strain of blood and higher spirits. He has ten selected mares, every one of which has shown him portions of a mile at a two-thirty gait. It may be men- tioned as indicative of his success in breeding trotting-stock that a colt, Ben Van (foaled by his road-mare, Rena C, and sired by Red Wilkes), sold recently for one of the largest prices on record, and was pronounced the choicest yearling of Kentucky.
The breeding of stock on such an extensive scale as that followed at the " Record Farms" of course renders necessary commodious buildings, provided with all of the conveniences known to the most advanced students of farming. The main barn is 214 feet in length by 44 feet in width and two stories in height. The first story is built of brick, resting upon a substantial stone founda- tion, and the second story is frame. Other structures, extending from either side of the barn proper, increase the line of buildings nearly 400 feet, while from the centre of the main building a wing 30 fect in width extends 150 feet for- ward, dividing the yard into equal portions. The great barn presents a pleasant appearance in detail and as a whole. A writer describing it in a local paper says: " It is certainly about as near perfection as the present state of advance- ment of agricultural, mechanical and architectural science, coupled with abundance of means, will admit of. It is .... the model barn of the country, and, in point of capacity, stands, it is said, second to none in the United States."
Other buildings are clustered about the large structure which has been briefly described, or located elsewhere about the grounds, as Mr. Singerly and his superintendent, Mr. Jason Sexton, have thought best. The system of soiling cattle and feeding ensilage, inaugurated in this portion of the country by the proprietor of this farm, made requisite a very large silo, one sufficient to hold 300 tons of ensilage, an amount which will keep the entire herd of cattle for six
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months. There is an extensive creamery, in which golden butter is made from the rich milk of the Holstein cows; an engine-house, in which lies the motive power that is made to serve various purposes; a blacksmith-shop, where the horses of the farm are shod and tools repaired; and dwellings for various employés, all well adapted to the uses for which designed.
The colossal farming enterprise which identifies Mr. Singerly with Montgomery county will not only prove, as years go by, a great benefit to the people of that section in the way of giving innumerable suggestions, but will produce good results throughout the country wherever stock-raising is carried on and improved methods of farming are appreciated.
On the Ist of June, 1877, Mr. Singerly secured control of the Philadelphia Record. At that time the paper, which, with one exception, now has the largest circulation of any morning paper in the United States, printed only 5,200 copies. Now it distributes over 100,000 copies every day. "Visiting journalists say it has the completest newspaper establishment in the country. The handsome quarters, the electric lights, the elevator and other features have been designed with regard solely to the comfort and convenience of the employés. Pneu- matic tubes whirl the news from the telegrapher's desk at Tenth and Chestnut streets to the news editor's desk in twenty-eight seconds, thereby saving much valuable time, particularly in the early morning. The stereotyping machinery turns out a pair of plates ready for the press in ten minutes after the forms have been closed. The three perfecting presses have a capacity for throwing out 75,000 copies an hour-and this, by the way, is to be further increased shortly by the erection of a fourth Hoe press. The paper-mill makes ten tons of paper every day. If stretched out in one continuous line the copies of the Record printed and sold in one week would cover a length of 772 miles." This phenomenal success is to be attributed to the same sagacity, energy and liber- ality of expenditure in securing the best service and the most perfect facilities which characterize all of its proprietor's undertakings. Appealing to business men for patronage he carried business habits and methods into his paper. The news is condensed to the last degree; the editorials, like good business letters, are models of terse and pointed brevity ; its opinions are fearlessly and frankly expressed; and its attitude on all important publie questions is always on the side of the people, and against all shams and deceptions. Each department is under the charge of a carefully selected chief, who is required to exhaust all possible effort to make his work just a little better than that of any of his competitors. Mr. Singerly rarely if ever interferes with the details of his paper, but he spends many nights in the office, when he rapidly supervises the general result, dictating the policy to be pursued in one case, directing the investigation of an evil in another, ordering a special report in still another, and not infrequently dashing off a pungent, spiey editorial himself.
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