Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, June 16, 1901, Page 16

THOMAS J FITZMORRIS Bl il Who ollgillales a4l enter PliBC ald Gilecs 4L Lrom anlancy L0 FOLUSL atnoeu rghtly 18 ac Ccolded tne crealt and the honors that walt upon succes i the pub He eye he as Lhe conitran bgure ano e undertahing, the wastel wina directing its WHAS, respolisibie Lo s cobduct and ob- Hgations. a1 his s particularly true of the wan who is both editor anu puvhisner ot a newspaper. He formulates one plans and directs the policy ol the paper and his personalily is iuseparably iuentbed with Ity growth and prosperity. bsuccess, how over, 1s not wrought whoily by toe respon sible mwanager 1L 18 rather the work ot muny mwinds and willing hands airected 1o W common groove. The commaunder ol an aruly or the captain of a batteship does not work out all the plans of battie or do ail the ftighting. Me cannot rely wholly on his own strength and energies, e direcs the forces al his command and his success depoends, not only on the plans of battle, but also upon the loyalty, the courage, in telligence and bghting strength ol the wen behind the guns.'' It is fitting on this occasion glance backward and recall the activities of the men bebind the pencils who worked for and fought for The Bee during its infancy and its boyhood years, when quartered in its early home on lower KFarnam street In that period of time, about seventeen yoars, The Bee fought the hardest battles of its carcer and likewise achieved many notable triumphs. For the first seven yoars the modest stafl consisted of two wen —the cditor-in-chief and the city editor. In 1879 an associate editor was in- stalled Two years later Independent morning and cvening editions were inaugu- rated and the reportorial stafl was increased to two, the luxury of a telegraph editor was indulged in and in the fall of that year an exchange editor was installed. Year by year the paper continued to prosper and expand and at the time of removal to its present palatial home the staft had grown to metropolitan proportions, with a wan aging editor, two assoclate editors, two clty editors, uight editor, exchange editor and Lo about half a dozen reporters. Bright, ac- tive, pugnacious young men, full of life, vigor and awmbition, loving a fight as heartily as their chief and as eager for a scoop as a hunter for big game. There were no drones in the hive, because there was no room for them. At all times Ed- ward Rosewater was the mentor and motive power of the establishment. He was al ways on the go His energy and capaclty tor work scemed without lmit and his example was a stimulus for every one in the shop moving Hustle never had a truer exponent. Necessity was a hard taskmaster then, but even now, long after nece taken flight, the same irre pressible spirit, slightly toned down, re maing and permeates every department of the paper to keep s8ity has Hoster of Bee Veterans, Taking them in the order of thelr connec tlon with the paper, the men who helped to make The Bee and impressed their In dividuality on its columns are Alfred Sor cuson, Willls Sweet, W Annin, Will H Kent, A. J. Kendrick, Edwin €. Hardy and James B. Haynes. Not more than two of them worked on The Bee at the same time for the staff was very limited in the early days. Three of the are still dents of Omaha and one continues a mem ber of the staff. Two have become publish ers; one s in the postal service; one Is lost in the vast ocean of humanity, Alfred Sorenson held a on The Hee in the fall of 1871 and graduated from that post to the reportorial staff, The staf!” in those days, 1 to '79, never exceeded a pair--the editor and proprietor and the eity editor., Mr. Sforenson filled the latter position for eight years and made a gplendid reputation as a rustler for news I'he task of covering the news fleld made large drafts on leg power, and as Mr. Sor enson was well equipped in that respect he experienced little dificulty in distancing his rivals In the race for the joyous ‘‘scoop Ho was equally rapid in turning in the two necessary reportorial work in those days, he suc- ceeded in making the local pages of The Bee the best in the city, He had no last- ing rivals in the evening fleld. On the two number resi “ease’’ from copy Possessing talents for A J. KENDRICK morning papers, however, he had at differ ent times such rivals as Will L. Visscher, Billy Edwards, W. J. Cuddy, Homer Stull, Sam Donnelly, Will Kent, Fred R. Giles and others, and the writer can affirm from per- sonal knowledge that he was frequently complimented by having his news trans ferred in part or bodily to the columns of morning contemporaries. Early in 1879 the canker of political ambition took root In Sorenson’s mind and developed into a race for office in the fall of that year. The re- publican county conveution tendered him the nomination for clerk of the district court, a position particularly inviting from a financial point of view. His opponent was W. H. Ijams. Ijams won the office and Sor- enson the experience, the detalls of which, written by himself, covered nearly two col- umns of The Bee of November 6, 1879. Soon after his defeat Mr. Sorenson left The Bee for a desk on the Republican. He did not find there the constituency he had grown up with. Literally he wrote for “‘empty benches,’’ and as soon as opportunity offered returned to The Bee and held the responsi- ble position of managing editor until the spring of 1888, when he accepted a llke posi- tion on the Omaha Herald. A year later he was foot-loose and for ten years worked on Salt Lake, Portland and San Francisco pa- pers. Now he is a publisher himself—the editor and proprictor of the Omaha Weekly Examiner, Willls Sweet was a member of The Bee staff in the middle '708, both as edl torfal writer and correspondent. During the senatorial campaign of 1876-7 he distinguished himself as i corre spondent and his letters from Lin coln, covering the progress of the sena- torial contest which resulted in the election of the late Alvin Saunders to the United States senate, were a notable feature of The Bee's news service. Later on Mr. Sweet followed the tide of Immigration westward and settled in Idaho. When the territory became a state Mr. Sweet was honored with a seat In congress. First Asso William E. Annin came to The Bee in 1879. He had graduated from Princeton a few months before, the Intervening time be- ing spent with a college expedition in the inte Editor. fossil flelds of Wyoming., The latter ex- perlence proved particularly useful in reaching the eminence he attained in Omaha journalism. There was then as now quite a bunch of anlmated fossils in town who tolled not, nor would they lend a help- ing hand to public enterprises, but dili- Old Timers Who Helped to EDWIN C© HARDY gently nailed down the dollars that rolled into their coffers from the energy of others These proved an unfailing subject for ex pert dissection when the usual activitics took a day off. Mr. Annin was first in itiated into the mysteries of editorial and scissors work. It quite a task to ‘catch on’' to the “old man's style,” as the boys say, and many a weary day's toll in the glass cage, which then scrved as the was editorial den, reposed peacefully In the waste basket when the shades of evening fell. Time and patience, however, made amends. Mr. Annin was quick of mind and eye, possessed a copious vocabulary, a ripe imagination and soon mastered not only the policy and style of The Bee, but the caustic phrascology of the editor-in-chief. In local news rustling, an assignment he frequently covered, he was even more suc- cessful, for in that field his imagination and diction had freer rein, and many a weird sensation enlivened the routine items of a day's run. Mr. Apnin remained with The Bee until called to Washington as private secretary to Senator Paddock. Now he is comfortably quartered, filling the position of chief of the western division of the rural mail service, with headquarters at Denver. Will H. Kent became city editor of The Bee in 1880 and beld the position almost continuously for five years. Kent was a remarkeble newsgatherer, as well as a rapid, entertaining writer. His capacity for work was enormous and his prolific pen was always equal to the space available, He had the rare tact of making a favorable im- pression on first acquaintance, and this fac- ulty, coupled with a studied policy of dis- pensing sugar in print, made him a host of friends who assisted nim substantiaily in catching the elusive item. When the morn ing edition of The Bee was started twenty years ago it afforded Kent an opportunity to put in practice an absurd theory of life. The Pace that Kills. Kent argued that if a man remained awake say twenty out of the twenty-four hours at work or play, or both, he would in fifty years have lived as long as the man of 65 who slept the regular number of hours. For many months he did the entire local work on both morning and evening editions, snatching sleep at off moments or stretch- ing on his desk after the night's work was done. On one notable occasion his plan of sleeping enabled him to score one of the greatest “scoops” in the annals of Omaha Journalism. Kent was curled up on his desk in the frame annex to the old Bee building. The forms for the morning edi- Make The HENRY A, HASKELL tion had just gone to press, when word was brought to the oftice of the finding of the budy of & wmurdered wman iu the postotlice building. Keut was awakened and hurried to the scene. Before dawn of that Novem- ber morning the second edition of The Bee appeared with the first account of the tragic death of Watson B. Smith. But the physical man rebelled against the pace, as Kent soon discovered. He burued the candle at both ends, lost the necessary strength for steady work and became a journalistic wanderer in the west, One of the old reliables of The Bee local statl was Andrew J. Kendrick, who served city editor from 1854 to 1887. These years embraced the boom era and there was uews to burn, The local staff had grown in numbers, but there was an abundance of work for all. Like his predecessors Kend- rick had the energy and ambition of young manhood as well as the “nose for news,” supplemented with greater self-restraint and steadiness of purpose. While his asso- clates on rival papers blew off steam omn the slightest provocation Kendrick screwed down the safety valve and Kept the pressure nearly even. He maintained a steady-going pace on his daily rounds, exercised good judgment and accurately gauged the value of current news. A vein of quiet humor oc- casionally enlivened his recitals and was particularly noticeable in his headlines, One instance is recalled in which a famous dry goods merchant figured exclusively in a two-column notice. The merchant prince was an extensive advertiser, using printer's ink lavishly, besides orchestras and brass bands. Kendrick's headline introduction to the merchant prince's departure between days simply announced “Smith's Speclal Sall," and thedelicate hint it conveyed spread a smile over town. After leaving Omaha in ISST Mr. Kendrick secured a responsible po- sition on the Chicago News, which he held for several years. About eight years ago he settled in Fort Smith, Ark., and staried the News-Record, a daily publication, There as elsewhere he has earned suce i having built up a good newspaper property and acquired a moderate competency. T M as v trom Cleveland The growth of The Bee had reached such proportions by 1886 that editor was employed. given the desk. “The Major,” as he is fa- miliarly called, is a Cleveland product, having advanced from the printer’s case to the top round through all departments of newspaper work. Few men in the harness in Omaha have had such wide experience iy a second associate win C. Hardy was PRESSES THAT PRINT THE BEE Bee PERRY 8. HEATH the profession. While setting type in Cleve land during the war he conceived the Idea of a commercial review for the marke page of the Cleveland Leader Financlal and commercial problems were at that time seriously perplexing the business world, Mr Hardy's idea was welcomed by the pub- lisher and he was given the assignment From a wmeager beginning it became one of the most important features of the paper In developing it Mr. Hardy studied not only the practical side of finance and commerce, but read and reread all standard publica- tiong, and to this systematic training he owes his thorough knowledge of both sub- jects, which has been abundantly shown in the editorial columns of The Bee during recent presidential campaigns., His experi- ence runs the gamut of dramatic criticisms and descriptive writing, from speeches for congressmen to toast responses and he has been known to ‘‘write up' a prize fight as entertainingly as he thunders about the grand old party. Mr. Hardy is the oldest member of The Bee editorial staff and holds the record for continuous service. Many other names of men who were on The Bee staff for bricfer periods serve to recall the frequent changes that took place on the press of Omaha in the early days. Fred R. Giles, a brilliant, erratic genius, drifted from one paper to another as reg- ularly as the seasons. He struck the pace that kills and long since joined the ma- jority. Frank Allen was another hot boy who rustled news for The Bee, subsequently became press agent for Loyal L. Smith, the merchant prince, and was lost to sight in the confusion following Smith's abrupt de- parture, “Gabe” Runkles, one of the veteran printers of Omaha, frequently shook the case for the telegraph desk, but as a steady job preferred the independence of the stick and rule. He is a modern edition ot Old Plod, and can dig up more errors in a proofshect than any man in the harness He has been with The Bee so long that mention of dates would shatter his dreams of perennial youth Edward A. O'Brien flitted about The Bee for several years, settled on the staff as city editor in 188 and held on for four y ent on the Oakland (( The roster of Bee '8, He Is at al.) Tribune, veterans is not an ex tensive one The times did not call for numbers, but for many qualities in one The upbuilding of The Bee, to which they pres- contributed, was a continuous battle agalnst open and unseen foes, powerful competitors and limited resources. Meager as the squad wag, the members were loyal to the core and welcomed a serap as heartily as a square meal It did not make much difference whether the paper provoked a fight or one dropped In for exe: cise, the staff was always in an accommo diting mood and never turned down the invitation of an anxious rival or political clique, Old and New Conditions, It is frequently asserted that paper men of the days under review did a much greater of work in a givel time than is required of men in like posi today. The conditions are so differ ent that a fair comparfson cannot be made In the early days local men enjoyed the greatest freedom of expression. Each 1 porter covered the town for his paper. but the was limited and the task wits of muscle. Each w identified in the public mind with th product of his pen, personally receivi credit for his work, and innumerable favor from friendly admirers, Next to the pub lisher, the editor to use an ex pressive nhrase, *'a toad in a puddle Public acclaim was a constal stimulant and the absence of the restrait of the blue peneil aq the tmount of the new amount tions news area largely one city was large mal counts for greate space filled in the columns of twenty or more years ago the city work is divided up and met 18 signed to the several divisions O casionally a reporter who Is a special In his department becomes identified witt his work in the public mind, but a general rule that identity is restricted and wholly lacks the capital “I'"" which d tinguished the early days Greater accen racy is required, imagination is held it check and editorial observations are rigldly excluded from news matter. In hours of labor and quality of work the city me today fairly rival their predecessors, bu the honors and emoluments of long ag perished with the years they flourished ir THOMAS J. FITZMORRIS ’