The herald. [microfilm reel], February 17, 1895, Image 15

About The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
SUPPLEMENT
1873 THE HERALD 1895
Ear ly Struggles of a Daily
Newspaper
A OUfIRTER OF il CENTURY'S ffIJOrVTH
The Trials and Vicissitudes of a
Journal's Career
ON A SURE BASIS AT LAST
Modern Men, Modern Methods, and
Modern Machinery
The Dawn of a New Era in the Field of Los
Angeles Journalism
Standing Now in the Front Ranks of
rietropolltan Journalism, Thoroughly
Equipped in All Departments
The history of a newspaper reflects the
history of the community in which it is
published.
Its life is often replete with vicissitudes,
Its trials and triumphs are many.
It is tossed upon the waves of public
opinion, sometimes proving itself suffi
ciently strong to command confidence and
respect, or, failing in this, it is wrecked
and founders.
Its intentions are often misconstrued,
its objects are misinterpreted, and it fre
quently requires many years of hard and
InoMSant labor.and the expenditure of a
la rge amount of money before the public
is thoroughly aroused to the real value of
the paper.
The Herald has been no exception in
thia regard. Called into existence when
l.os Angeles was a small city of less than
6000 inhabitants, it has experienced in its
career many obstacles and disappoint
ment.-.. Its founder was obliged to trans
fir the paper to other hands after six
months of hard work, yet with a knowl
edge that with the future of this city the
I aper would be ultimately a power in the
community and a financial success, if
brains and capital should simultaneously
control it.
That his views were correct, and his
faith in the city and paper were well
founded, The Herald of today strongly em
phas'zes.
In less thau a quarter of a century it
bas grown from an experimental enter
prise to a metropolitan newspaper.
For tweiiTy-two years it has manfully
aid heroically battled with adversities
until now it has reached a position in the
journalistic! field that entitles it to a place
in the front ranks of modern and progres
sive newspapers.
Its struggle for supremacy has not been
wituout exciting episodes. Its ownership
has frequently been transferred, on ac
count of financial embarrassments, and
there, have been times in the existence oj
The Herald when it was threatened with
utter destruction.
In that respect it has shared the ups
and downs that have befallen this city.
In the i_days of the boom, when Los
Angeles was crowded with investors
and fortunes were made by the score, this
paper shared its prosperity and assisted
in no small degree to advertise the im
mense resources and great advantages
Southern California offered to the capital
ist, investor, fruitgrower and merchant.
Its subscription list increased and its ad
vertising columns were well patronized.
But when the boom burst and stagna
tion followed a period of unparalleled
prosperity. The Herald, like all other en
' wrprisus, was made to feel the effects of
t in-sud.lcn and unexpected change of af
fairs.
The barometer of public progress and
success had fallen and Tiie Herald ex
perienced the natural consequences.
Subsequently the speculative ele
ment was eliminated and the cit
iz •■> a, imbued with tbo knowl
t X" •oii-erior advantages of j
THK TtIORNX TITESETTIXO MACHINES—A MARVEL OF MODERN MRCHANJRW, THE
LATEST IMPROVEMENT-EACH MACHINE WILL SET FIVE THOUSAND SQUARES,
OR EMS OF TYPE, IN AN HOUR.
this city, possessed of the energy and
enterprise to overcome any temporary
obstacles that might retard its growth anil
firm in their belief that Los Angeles was
destined to become a commercial and
financial center, never faltered. Dark
clouds may gather and obscure the sun of
prosperity, yet the bright rays of success
must penetrate and light and activity re
place the obscurity and dullness.
Los Angeles steadily recovered from the
LOS ANGELES: SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 17, 1895.—TWENTY-FOUR PAGES
effects of stagnation antl her fame reached
further and further, until her popula
tion increased, her wealth became quad
rupled, her business enterprises prospered
and her financial institutions retained the
confidence that had shaken older and
stronger batiks in other cities.
The Herald gradually rose to a higher
plane, its character became cosmopolitan,
its news service became strengthened un
til today it compares favorably wilh any
newspaper published in the United
States. It has shared the pleasures and
sorrows, the prosperity and adversity of
the community and it is now as firmly
established and as successfully conducted
us the city in which it takes pride to be
published.
Such has been the history of Los Ange
les.
Such has been the history of The
Herald. Within the following columns is
given a more detailed account of the
progress of the paper:
THE FOUNDER'S STATEMENT
C. A. Storke, Now of Santa Barbara, Tells How
He Started the Paper.
The lirst issue of The Los Angeles Her
ald was published on the 2d day of Octo
ber, 1H73. It was a four-page paper of the
size of the present pages of The Herald.
The writer of this was the editor and the
proprietor, and he was assisted by 1). W.
Neslield as local editor aud Charles Kiui
THE HERALD
ball as reporter. The Herald owed Ita
birth to a prophetic instinct of its proprie
tor that Los Angeles was destined to be a
oity of no mean importance, and that a
paper maintained in the interests of the
people would receive their earnest sup
port and assistance. He was younger in
those days than now, and has since
learned that the public has little if any
gratitude, and often snaps at the hand
that has borne favors untold. The editor
then had just come fresh from the univer
sity, and had had little experience in the
management of affairs. He was by trade
a printer, and after graduation his mind
naturally turned to journalism as a field
for his labors.
Los Angeles at this time was a small
city of less than SOjO inhabitants, und
these made up of recent importations
from the Eastern States engrafted upon
the Spanish-Mexican population that
founded the City of the Angels. The
main business portion of the city was
then centered around tho intersection of
Main and Commercial streets; but busi
ness had just begun to take a turn down
Spring street, so that there wcr* a few
business houses opposite the Temple
Block on Spring street, The Pico House,
kept by Knowlton, a man who had gone
through the Confederacy during the war,
and had an honorable career as a Confed
erate soldier. The Bella Union, kept hy
Staples <fc Ustick, were the two leading
hotels, with the United States, then a
low two-story building as a second-rate
hotel.
The only railroad running into the city
was the Los Angeles and San Pedro Rail
road, now the Wilmington branch of tbe
Southern PacUic; but work had just com
menced upon the extension north and
east of the Southern Pacific, but there
was still a gap on the north from Delano
to Los Angeles, and the grading had not
yet reached beyond the city limits to the
east. Colonel Hewitt was a courteous aud
generous superintendent of so mnch of
the railroad as existed.
The lirst home of The Herald was in a
building that has since been remodeled,
and was located on Spring street, nearly
opposite the old Court House and the
Temple Block. The building belonged to
F. P. F. Temple, and was a one-story
building of very modest pretensions,
Temple ut that time was a financial
power in the city, and divided money
supremacy with i. W. Hellman, who was
tho cashier of the Farmers nnd Merchants
Bank. Between these two there wns
great rivalry; but the unsophisticated and
generous Temple was no match in ;t
financial contest with the shrewd, care- |
Jul, business-like Hellman. The proprietor
of The Herald had bought for the paper a |
cylinder press, Taylor make, and a Baxter I
three-horsepower engine, ami The Her- j
aid waß the first paper printed by steam
in Southern California. To be sure, the |
press now would be considered a very
common affair, and Urn motor was a j
pigmy compared with what is now found
in the country j but then it was a nine- j
day wonder, and people from all parts of
the city came to see a paper printed in
the city of Los Angeles by steam. Crude
as the plant was, it wan far and away
ahead of anything that had before been
seen in the city.
The competitors of The Herald in
the journalistic field at that time were
the Star, then owned and edited by
the doughty Major Ben Truman, who
frankly stated to the writer that his
journalistic success was due entirely to
his ability to balance himself on top of the
political fence on all dangerous occasions,
and the Express, an evening paper owned
by Tiffany A Painter, two printers, and
edited by J. J. Ayers, who was then a
man of marked ability, but chafing un
der the bonds of his narrow field.
The paper in politics, like its editor,
was liberal and independent Democratic.
Looking buck upon its pages, one might
say that it was more liberal than Demo
cratic. It cared little for the traditions of
politics or of party, but dealt with pres
ent issues rather than past memories. It
was anti-monopoly and anti-ring always,
and invariably stood by the mnn who pro
duced by the sweat of his brow rather
than by him who enjoyed the produce of
the sweat of other men's brows.
Los Angeles at this time was strongly
Democratic in politics, so much so that it
was useless for the Republican party to
make nominations for either city or
county nominations, which they rarely
did. The Spanish-speaking population
controlled elections, and when Ignacio
Sepulveda ran against Andrew Glassell
for County Judge, as lie did in October,
1873, Sepulveda received 1333 votes in the
city to his opponent's 289, although his
opponent was far and away the best law
yer.
The following director}- of local officers
of the city and county appear in the first
issue of The Herald:
District Judge, R. M. Widney; County
Judge, Ignacio Sepulveda; Court Com
missioner, J. G. Howard; State Senator,
B. D. Wilson; Assemblymen, Thomas D.
Mott, Asa Ellis; Sheriff, William R. Row
land; Under Sheriff, Al D. Johnson;
Deputy Sheriff, J. M. Baldwin; County
Clerk, A. W. Potts; Deputy Clerk, C. W.
Could ; Deputy Clerk, 8. H. Mott; Dis
trict Attorney, C. K. Thorn; Assistant, E.
M. Ross; County Treasurer, T. E. Rowan;
Superintendent of Public, Schools, William
McFadden; Public Administrator, George
Carson; County Surveyor, F. Lccouvreur;
County Assessor, I>. Hotiller; Coroner,
Joseph Kurtz; Supervisors, H. Foreman, 1
A. L. Bush, F. Palomares, S. B. Cussell; j
Mayor, .1. 11. Tobermanj Marshal, J. it.
Woife: Treasurer, George R. Butler; City
Attorney, A. W. Hutton; Clerk, M. Kre- |
mcr; Surveyor, William Moore; Health
Officer, Dr. Wise; Trustees, H. D. Bar
rows (president), George Smith, William
H. Workman, William Pridham, M. Krc- j
mcr.
Among the advertisers in the first issue |
of The Herald are found:
Aaron Smith, carpets and upholstering. I
L. Lichtenberger, wagons, buggies and
carriages; then doing business on Lower
Main street, in a locality that is now the
heart of the business portion of the city.
John Osborn, the leading expressman.
F. Signoret, billiards, wines and liquors.
Among the lawyers were General J. R.
McConnell, a man of great ability, long
gone to practice before a higher court, A.
J. King, genial Jack, whose welcome face
is still seen on the streets of Los Angeles,
A. Branson, Henry T. Hazard, who was
just about to take to himself a wife, A.
Glassell, A. R. Chapman, G. H. Smith,
H. M. Smith, James G. Howard, whose
bright intellect has gone out in sorrow,
Charley Lindley, of the Code Commission,
J. 8. Thompson, W. L. Marshall, Will D.
Gould, Volney E. Howard and Sons, A.
A. Wilson and others.
The advertising cards of the medical
fraternity show: Doctors H. S. Ornie,
Joseph Kurtz, A. S. Shorb, N. P. Rich
ardson and J. W. Oliver.
The lumber firms were Perry, Wood
worth & Company, Griffith, Lynch &
Company and J, G. Jackson.
Broderick & Company were running a
THE HOE PERFECTING PRESS.—IT CAN DO MORE WORK IN ONE MINUTE THAU TH*
MACHINES IN OL'R GRANDFATHERS' TIME DID IN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS.
stationery and music store in the Temple
Block.
E. H. Workman and W. H. Workman
wen; in the harness business at No. 76
Main Street: Harper <fc Doulton were the
leading hardware merchants; Dolter &
Lord were in furniture at 81) Main Street,
the genial Bid. Laccy, as manager, be
neath the sign of the big rocker; S. Nord
linger was the jeweler par excellence of
the city at No. 8 Commercial street.
In those days Madam Anna Bishop was
amusing the citizens of the city, and
ns The Herald recites, was greeted hy the
largest and most fashionable audience
that ever gathered together in Los An
geles. Petroleum was just beginning to
create excitement near Lyons station, now
Newhall, and un announcement oi an as
PAGES 13 TO 24
sessment on the stock of the Petroleum
Refining Company is accompanied by the
notice of the appointment of a commit
tee to initiate operations as speedily as
possible.
It is also considered worthy of remark
in these times and The Herald publishes
that four cars of freight, consisting of
bullion, wool and ore were dispatched to
Wilmington yesterday.
William R. Rowland, then Sheriff of
the county, advertises that he has in his
possession at Stephens' corral certain
horses, describing'them, taken from the
Ttburcio Nasquoz band of robbers, and
requesting owners to come and prove
property, pay charges and take the Btock
away.
Bids are also asked by advertisement
for carrying the mails, by stage, from De
lano to Los Angeles, from Salinas to Loa
Angeles, from Los Angelos to San Diego,
with many a route of lesser importance.
K. M. Wldney at this time was District
Judge, but spent his odd moments then
as now in booming the city of Los Ange
les. On October 2*l he writes an article
for The Herald entitled. The night Place
to Settle. The article is interesting read
ing now, and has almost the odor of
prophecy about it. By I hi' way, one of
the things of which the writer is most
proud while publishing The Herald ia
tho production of a map, by the aid
and assistance of Judge Widney, which
was for muny weeks published in The
Herald, and gave the railroad map of the
future Southern California. When the
line from Los Angeles to Salt Lake is
complete as it will be in the near future,
tho map would be perfect for the purpose
for which it was made. If among the
old relics of The Herald office, this map
could be dug up, it. would be interesting
to see it re-published, with the light of
twenty-two years thrown upon it. The
result has more than realized the
prophecy which occasioned its publica
tion.
The writer published The Herald for six
months, and then compelled by financial
necessity, arising largely, it is probable,
from his lack of experience in business
affairs, sold out to a corporation in which
J. S. Thompson. F. P. F. Temple, Little
Potts, Orchardist Gary and others were
the leading spirits. Then J. M. Bassett
became its editor, and it entered upon a
new life. May it long prosper, is the
wish of its founder, C. A. Storke.
JUDQE WIDNEY'S PAdE.
The Editor Was (loins: te Quit and Carry Oft
All the Copy With Him.
To the Editor of The Hearald:
You requested me to state the history
of The Herald during the time I was con
nected with it.
At the close of Mr. Starke's administra
tion The Herald oame into the control of
the company referred to below.
We incorporated under the laws of tho
state of California as the Los Angeles City
and County Publishing Company with
a capital stock $16,000, divided into 1000
shares of $100 each. The articles of incor
poration were duly tiled with the County
Clerk on tho 16th day of February, 1874.
Tho directors were F. P. F. Temple, J.
Bixby, P. Beandry, T. A. Garey, .1. W.
Lord, J. S. Thompson, J. W. Potts, R. M.
Wldney.
We decided to run a local paper and to
write up and publish to the world the re
sources and future possibilities of Los
Augeles county and Southern California,
and so instructed our editor. This he re
fused to do and insisted on filling the pa
per with clippings about the outside world.
As Los Angeles people road these articles
in the original papers they were not inter
ested in the clippings, neither was the
outside world, to whom such items were
already old.
We insisted that the editer should pub
lish to the world the facts showing why
they should come here and invost and de
velop the resources and industries of this
region.
The editor said if we interfered with hia
management he would quit some evening
stuff his copy in his pockets and tie us
up. I called a meeting of the board and
laid the matter before them, and said it
would never pay us to put money in a
newspaper to have it write up all the out
side world and say nothing about our own
inducements.
The question being discussed as to what
we should do, the fear was expressed that
the editor would quit and tie us up.
I said that if he did so I would edit the
paper until we secured such a person as
ate wished. The board at once ordered
that the paper be edited us we had re
quested. The editor was notified of tho
policy that must be carried out. That
evening about 5 o'clock the foreman came
into my office and said tho editor had
just gathered up all of his copy and re
fused to give us any for the paper unless
the board of directors would give up and
let him run the paper as he wanted to.
and that the men were all waiting for
copy.
As this was not unexpected, [ went
over to the office, which was then nhout
where the City of Paris store now is, and
entered the vacant editorial sanctum.
I had not yet been to dinner, and there
stood the typos waiting for copy. So I
went to work.
Being well posted on Los Angeles
county and its resources, I immediately
went to work on that line, and by 11! ni.
of that day the columns were well tilled
with preliminary work about this city and
county. 1 ordered a large number of ex