Life — August 4, 1898 — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

NOW T CAREFULLY LIGHT T— two-foot letters on forty-foot bill-boards with indiffer- ence and ennui. . . . HOULD the actor havo decency, industry, a genius for dramatic art, and a meek and lowly spirit, he may hope to be permitted to enter the forces of the Abrahamic Trust and become a satellite to the blaz- ing suns of Jags and Millingham, and, by honorable subserviency, be noticed at times by the literary bureau of the Mosaic Syndicate; but it is only when the uctor has pushed fearlessly through the common sewers of notoriety and bas displayed a flue Bohemian contempt for the Decalogue that he can hope to at- tain Mosaic patronage and be transformed from a poser to a player. Joseph Smith. Who Is the Editor of the “Sun? VERYBODY ts aware that Mr. James Gordon Bennett ts editor of the New York Meratd, If a Spanish Meet has been destroyed before breakfast, a new bond Issue success: fully ratsed, an extra session of Congress called, or the United States Goverument makes some hitherto unprece- dented move, we all know that these things have been done through the advice aud direction of Mr. Bennett. The Herat 4s Bennett and Bennett Is the Herald, So it ts with Mr. Pulitzer of the World. When the Worta attacks the courige of the Seventy-first Regiment and brands them as cowards; or when the correspondent, Scovel, slaps General Shafter In the face because yellow Journalisn 1s uot allowed the honor of raising the American fag over Santlago; or when some particularly dirty plece of work serves to silhouette more sharply the methods of the Wortd, Mr. Pulitzer ts h ponsible, If not as the direct author, as the main source and tnsptration. If Mr. Pulltzer’s patd ccomplices display enthusiasm enough 1n his employ to go beyond his tutentions and out-Herod Herod, we are just enough to fasten the crime on the right man. The World is Puuitzer and Pulitzer ts the Wo Mr. Whitelaw Retd directs the policy of the New York Tribune wherever be unty be, and, wheu the Tribune fops, ‘LIFE: the circumambtent air first reveals the Presence of Mr. Reld's heels. People who read the Tribune are bored not so much by the paper as by Mr. Reld. The Tribune ts Mr. Reid and Mr. Reid ts the Tridune. Also Godkin, So far ts this {dea carried tu the office of the Evening Post, that when that gentleman {s present his toil- ing minions pass their dass and uights In laborious efforts to copy his style; so, even when absent in his native land, God- kin sttil looms up as the head and front. His metaphors, his Priestitke utterances, his personality, permeate every nook and cranny of the E. P.,so that If he should be called away at any tme to take charge of a new Spanish Cabinet no difference would be observed. The Evening Post 1s Godkin aud Godkin ts the Evening Post. Likewise Hearst. No example better than this could be shown to nail the fallacy that tt takesa long time toestab- lish @ personality. This young man had not been on deck a week before everybody knew that he was the editor of the Jowrnat. In three weeks more he was established {1 bis setting, like & yellow rhinestone, coloring everything around him. Every attempt made to stir up the baser element, every bit of claptrap, vulgarity and rank sensationallsin, was tracked to headquarters, The Journat ts Hearst and Hearst ts the Journal. But who ts the editor of the Sun? While that paper has been so busy bullding up the personalities of Bennett, Pulltzer, Reld, God- kin and Hearst, its own fleld has been neglected. Some time ago It was announced In the Sun that at a meeting of the Board of Directors Mr. Paul Dana was unanimously elected editor-tn- chlef. But the mere action of a Board of Direc- tors does not make an editor. No one ever refers to Mr. Paul. The Sun's enemies make use of thelr advantage and speak only of the sun, knowing how much less weight this has than tt did have, All thistsa great pity, Whena virulent plece of writing appears in the Sun, as frequently happens, the public naturally likes to fasten {t upon the proper Individual, Someone should ts held responsible. The Point of Difference. HILADELPHIAN (at a Boston fire}: I wonder why it is our fire engines have only two horses, while yours have three? Bostonian: Ob, Philadelphia fires do not burn as fast as ours do. comicbooks.com