The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst (20 page)
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Authors: Kenneth Whyte
BOOK: The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst
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Unable to come to a resolution, the
World
brain trust regrouped the next day on Pulitzer’s private rail car as it left New York for Jekyll Island. According to Don Seitz, Norris’s assistant at the time, the executives continued to urge a price cut and Pulitzer relented just short of Philadelphia. Carvalho and Norris hopped off the train and returned to New York to prepare the one-cent
World
for its February 10 debut.
21
Pulitzer announced the new price with bravado:
World
brain trust regrouped the next day on Pulitzer’s private rail car as it left New York for Jekyll Island. According to Don Seitz, Norris’s assistant at the time, the executives continued to urge a price cut and Pulitzer relented just short of Philadelphia. Carvalho and Norris hopped off the train and returned to New York to prepare the one-cent
World
for its February 10 debut.
21
Pulitzer announced the new price with bravado:
We prefer power to profits. The
World
’s habit of growth was never more vigorous than now. But the price of paper and other items in the cost of production have decreased considerably within the past few years, and though a sixteen-page paper like the
World
could not by itself be sold at one cent, the enormous sales of the evening and the Sunday editions and the advertising patronage so far surpassing all other journals, permit a sacrifice of revenue from one source to achieve the sooner the one million circulation.
22
The reviews were mixed.
The Fourth Estate
congratulated Pulitzer on meeting Hearst’s challenge head-on. It was “a stroke of aggressive strategy, both brilliant and bold,”
23
and it spelled an end to Hearst’s honeymoon. The mighty
World,
with all its advertisers and with its sights set on a million circulation, would now fight the newcomer on a more equal footing.
Newspaper Maker
and
Printer’s Ink
saw only distress behind Pulitzer’s move. Hearst, wrote the latter, had in four months of lavish investment and journalistic enterprise “brought the
World
down from its lofty position.” All the talk of aiming for a million sales a day “does not throw sufficient dust in the eyes of those who know the situation.”
24
The Fourth Estate
congratulated Pulitzer on meeting Hearst’s challenge head-on. It was “a stroke of aggressive strategy, both brilliant and bold,”
23
and it spelled an end to Hearst’s honeymoon. The mighty
World,
with all its advertisers and with its sights set on a million circulation, would now fight the newcomer on a more equal footing.
Newspaper Maker
and
Printer’s Ink
saw only distress behind Pulitzer’s move. Hearst, wrote the latter, had in four months of lavish investment and journalistic enterprise “brought the
World
down from its lofty position.” All the talk of aiming for a million sales a day “does not throw sufficient dust in the eyes of those who know the situation.”
24
The
World
’s circulation did not zoom to a million. On the first day it climbed 88,000 from a base of about 185,000 but sales quickly flattened out, leaving Pulitzer with the revenue shortfall he feared. He also had an advertising problem. He had raised his rates in anticipation of the massive increase in readership. Now the advertisers who had supported him when he was a two-cent paper were wondering why it should cost more to buy space in a one-cent paper with only a slightly higher circulation. With his fabulous profits imperiled, Pulitzer began slashing expenses, even to the point of running less editorial content.
25
World
’s circulation did not zoom to a million. On the first day it climbed 88,000 from a base of about 185,000 but sales quickly flattened out, leaving Pulitzer with the revenue shortfall he feared. He also had an advertising problem. He had raised his rates in anticipation of the massive increase in readership. Now the advertisers who had supported him when he was a two-cent paper were wondering why it should cost more to buy space in a one-cent paper with only a slightly higher circulation. With his fabulous profits imperiled, Pulitzer began slashing expenses, even to the point of running less editorial content.
25
Worse for Pulitzer, his price cut did nothing to slow the
Journal
’s advance. Emboldened by the
World
’s distress, Hearst turned up the gas, buying billboards all over town to promote his paper. As soon as Goddard hopped aboard, the
Journal
began a targeted circulation campaign, mailing a circular to 30,000 ladies out of the better directories in New York and Brooklyn calling attention to the paper’s Woman’s Page, to Julian Ralph’s popular London Letters, and to the drama critic Alan Dale.
26
As
Newspaper Maker
reported,
Journal
’s advance. Emboldened by the
World
’s distress, Hearst turned up the gas, buying billboards all over town to promote his paper. As soon as Goddard hopped aboard, the
Journal
began a targeted circulation campaign, mailing a circular to 30,000 ladies out of the better directories in New York and Brooklyn calling attention to the paper’s Woman’s Page, to Julian Ralph’s popular London Letters, and to the drama critic Alan Dale.
26
As
Newspaper Maker
reported,
Upward goes the circulation of the
New York Journal
until one wonders when and where it will stop. Monday last it was over 186,000, which was a gain of 4,897 over the previous Saturday. . . . Probably never before has a newspaper made such rapid strides in circulation and popularity. Were it not for temporarily limited press capacity the increase would be even greater. . . . Verily it is a wonderful paper. Not the least astonishing thing about it is the fact that it is fast cutting into the circulation of the paper published under the gilded dome, notwithstanding that that paper was forced to reduce its price.
27
It is doubtful that Hearst was cutting into the
World
’s circulation as much as
Newspaper Maker
suggests. He was probably frustrating its growth but doing his greatest damage to New York’s lesser penny papers—the
Press,
the
Recorder,
the
Mercury,
the
Advertiser
—none of which could hope to compete with what Hearst and Pulitzer were offering at the same price point. Their distress signals began to flash in the trades. Meanwhile, morale under the Dome plunged from bad to worse. Pulitzer reorganized his executive ranks to fill the hole left by Goddard. Among his moves was the elevation of seventeen-year
World
veteran Richard A. Farrelly to the helm of the morning edition. In a bid to rally the troops, Pulitzer organized a dinner to celebrate the promotion. The day before the festivities, however, invitees received cancellation notices by telegraph. Farrelly, too, had jumped to the
Journal.
World
’s circulation as much as
Newspaper Maker
suggests. He was probably frustrating its growth but doing his greatest damage to New York’s lesser penny papers—the
Press,
the
Recorder,
the
Mercury,
the
Advertiser
—none of which could hope to compete with what Hearst and Pulitzer were offering at the same price point. Their distress signals began to flash in the trades. Meanwhile, morale under the Dome plunged from bad to worse. Pulitzer reorganized his executive ranks to fill the hole left by Goddard. Among his moves was the elevation of seventeen-year
World
veteran Richard A. Farrelly to the helm of the morning edition. In a bid to rally the troops, Pulitzer organized a dinner to celebrate the promotion. The day before the festivities, however, invitees received cancellation notices by telegraph. Farrelly, too, had jumped to the
Journal.
MUCH OF THE BURDEN of managing the
World
’s increasingly frantic proprietor and his turbulent newspaper fell on the shoulders of Solomon Solis Carvalho, a Portuguese Jew with an encyclopedic knowledge of publishing. Like many of Pulitzer’s best people, he had been recruited from the
Sun,
where he’d distinguished himself as a reporter, city editor, and managing editor. Pulitzer had assigned him responsibility for launching his evening edition and had given him only ten days to do it. Carvalho had not only got the paper out on time but established it as the city’s evening leader.
28
Quiet, cautious, and a glutton for work, Carvalho saw his responsibilities expand until he was serving as the
World
’s utility executive, running the business department and editorial operations, overseeing presses, amusing the boss—whatever the moment required. He also did his share of dirty work. When, in a bout of cost consciousness, Pulitzer decided twenty-five reporters had to go, it was Carvalho who picked up the ax.
29
He was a short, square figure with a heavy limp, a neat goatee, and a passion for Russian wolfhounds, but advertisers liked him. So did journalists, never mind the firings. Pulitzer knew his worth and paid him handsomely. By 1896, Carvalho’s position at the paper seemed to outsiders “as secure and certainly permanent as that of any of the able men engaged in New York.”
30
World
’s increasingly frantic proprietor and his turbulent newspaper fell on the shoulders of Solomon Solis Carvalho, a Portuguese Jew with an encyclopedic knowledge of publishing. Like many of Pulitzer’s best people, he had been recruited from the
Sun,
where he’d distinguished himself as a reporter, city editor, and managing editor. Pulitzer had assigned him responsibility for launching his evening edition and had given him only ten days to do it. Carvalho had not only got the paper out on time but established it as the city’s evening leader.
28
Quiet, cautious, and a glutton for work, Carvalho saw his responsibilities expand until he was serving as the
World
’s utility executive, running the business department and editorial operations, overseeing presses, amusing the boss—whatever the moment required. He also did his share of dirty work. When, in a bout of cost consciousness, Pulitzer decided twenty-five reporters had to go, it was Carvalho who picked up the ax.
29
He was a short, square figure with a heavy limp, a neat goatee, and a passion for Russian wolfhounds, but advertisers liked him. So did journalists, never mind the firings. Pulitzer knew his worth and paid him handsomely. By 1896, Carvalho’s position at the paper seemed to outsiders “as secure and certainly permanent as that of any of the able men engaged in New York.”
30
But Goddard’s departure had left Carvalho with a superhuman workload. Aside from dealing with Pulitzer’s panic and second guessing, he had to return order to a shaken newsroom, squeeze every nickel to offset revenue losses, and placate his angry advertisers. He also had to keep a step ahead of his internal rival, John Norris, and clean up another mess entirely at the Pulitzer-owned
St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The St. Louis problems were of Pulitzer’s making. He had maneuvered the disastrous Colonel Jones out of the Dome by offering him complete control of and an equity share in the
Post-Dispatch
. Jones moved west and began running the paper as though he were sole proprietor, and Pulitzer almost immediately began to regret the deal. In mid-March, he sent Carvalho to St. Louis to renegotiate the colonel’s agreement. Norris took advantage of his rival’s absence, launching a bid to unseat him.
Post-Dispatch
. Jones moved west and began running the paper as though he were sole proprietor, and Pulitzer almost immediately began to regret the deal. In mid-March, he sent Carvalho to St. Louis to renegotiate the colonel’s agreement. Norris took advantage of his rival’s absence, launching a bid to unseat him.
Carvalho had been in talks with a group of dry goods advertisers who had formed a combine to fight the
World
’s ad rate increases. A deal was nearly complete when Norris wired Pulitzer at Jekyll Island with misgivings about the terms on which Carvalho was prepared to settle, and asked that talks be suspended until the details could be reviewed. Pulitzer obliged, instructing Carvalho to stand down until further notice. Carvalho returned from St. Louis brimming with resentment toward both Norris and Pulitzer, and, on the last day of March, informed Pulitzer by telegraph that if his authority was not restored by 5 p.m., he would consider his service at the
World
complete.
World
’s ad rate increases. A deal was nearly complete when Norris wired Pulitzer at Jekyll Island with misgivings about the terms on which Carvalho was prepared to settle, and asked that talks be suspended until the details could be reviewed. Pulitzer obliged, instructing Carvalho to stand down until further notice. Carvalho returned from St. Louis brimming with resentment toward both Norris and Pulitzer, and, on the last day of March, informed Pulitzer by telegraph that if his authority was not restored by 5 p.m., he would consider his service at the
World
complete.
This would have been a fine moment for Pulitzer to pause and reflect on the events of the past couple of months and the havoc inflicted on his newspaper by the advent of Hearst and the defection of Goddard. In this new competitive environment, he could no longer spy on his employees, pit them against one another, berate them, and humiliate them yet still command unstinting loyalty. A compromise or some gesture of conciliation toward Carvalho might have been warranted. Instead, 5 p.m. came and went, Carvalho said his farewells at 5:30, and left the Dome for good.
31
31
Biographies of both Hearst and Pulitzer hold that Carvalho resigned to join the
Journal,
but in fact he simply quit, saying nothing of his plans. Initially, the trades expected his immediate return to the
World—
surely Pulitzer had challenges enough without losing his best executive. After several weeks had passed and no reconciliation had transpired, word circulated that Carvalho was retiring; he was known to have “accumulated a considerable fortune” in the
World
’s employ.
32
Finally, in June, it was reported that he had joined the
Journal
in an advisory capacity.
33
Journal,
but in fact he simply quit, saying nothing of his plans. Initially, the trades expected his immediate return to the
World—
surely Pulitzer had challenges enough without losing his best executive. After several weeks had passed and no reconciliation had transpired, word circulated that Carvalho was retiring; he was known to have “accumulated a considerable fortune” in the
World
’s employ.
32
Finally, in June, it was reported that he had joined the
Journal
in an advisory capacity.
33
Carvalho’s first chore at the
Journal
was to superintend an expansion of the mechanical plant. Much of the money Hearst had initially earmarked for his “nucleus” was instead invested in printing capacity. His pressworks were now spilling over to the Rhinelander Building across the street from the Tribune Building; an adjoining warehouse had been rented for paper storage.
34
Hearst had made an early decision to push his circulation to unprecedented levels: “The rapidly increasing circulation of the
New York Journal
has necessitated securing greater press facilities at once. A Goss press has been secured at Chicago and brought to New York, and by combining two old presses discarded by New York papers, the present capacity has been increased a few thousand copies. The
Journal
entered an order some time ago with R. Hoe & Company for six new presses, and this order has been increased by an order for two more sextuple presses. When the presses ordered have been delivered the
Journal
will have a capacity of nearly a million copies daily.”
35
Journal
was to superintend an expansion of the mechanical plant. Much of the money Hearst had initially earmarked for his “nucleus” was instead invested in printing capacity. His pressworks were now spilling over to the Rhinelander Building across the street from the Tribune Building; an adjoining warehouse had been rented for paper storage.
34
Hearst had made an early decision to push his circulation to unprecedented levels: “The rapidly increasing circulation of the
New York Journal
has necessitated securing greater press facilities at once. A Goss press has been secured at Chicago and brought to New York, and by combining two old presses discarded by New York papers, the present capacity has been increased a few thousand copies. The
Journal
entered an order some time ago with R. Hoe & Company for six new presses, and this order has been increased by an order for two more sextuple presses. When the presses ordered have been delivered the
Journal
will have a capacity of nearly a million copies daily.”
35
Several weeks after joining the
Journal,
Carvalho was spotted in the newsroom filling in for a vacationing city editor. The sight of this journalistic legend in his shirtsleeves organizing the day’s news campaign was an inspiration to Hearst’s still freshly assembled staff. Hearst subsequently shifted Carvalho’s attention to planning an evening edition that would compete with the
Evening World,
the
Evening Sun,
and the
Evening Telegram
(sister paper to Bennett Jr.’s morning
Herald
). Within a matter of months, Carvalho became one of the
Journal
’s two or three most important executives. Like Goddard, he would grow old in Hearst’s employ.
Journal,
Carvalho was spotted in the newsroom filling in for a vacationing city editor. The sight of this journalistic legend in his shirtsleeves organizing the day’s news campaign was an inspiration to Hearst’s still freshly assembled staff. Hearst subsequently shifted Carvalho’s attention to planning an evening edition that would compete with the
Evening World,
the
Evening Sun,
and the
Evening Telegram
(sister paper to Bennett Jr.’s morning
Herald
). Within a matter of months, Carvalho became one of the
Journal
’s two or three most important executives. Like Goddard, he would grow old in Hearst’s employ.
IT IS ANOTHER MEASURE of the magnificence of the New York
World
and of Pulitzer’s strength in the New York market that the publisher was able to respond to the losses of Goddard and Carvalho and Farrelly by plucking still other brilliant young executives from his ranks. One whose moment now arrived was Arthur Brisbane, the son of a wealthy American philosopher, raised in Europe and trained as a journalist by Dana. He leapt to the challenge of reconstituting the Sunday
World
after Goddard’s departure. He put up a brilliant fight, much to the delight of Pulitzer, who treated him like a son, their first serious confrontation being still a year in the future.
World
and of Pulitzer’s strength in the New York market that the publisher was able to respond to the losses of Goddard and Carvalho and Farrelly by plucking still other brilliant young executives from his ranks. One whose moment now arrived was Arthur Brisbane, the son of a wealthy American philosopher, raised in Europe and trained as a journalist by Dana. He leapt to the challenge of reconstituting the Sunday
World
after Goddard’s departure. He put up a brilliant fight, much to the delight of Pulitzer, who treated him like a son, their first serious confrontation being still a year in the future.
However frenzied life was under the Dome, Pulitzer had not cornered the market on newsroom chaos. Hearst too had his share. He once confessed, in a letter home, to a woeful lack of “system” in the
Examiner
’s operations, and his New York newspaper was no improvement. The seasoned Carvalho did his tour of the city room in part to help bring order to its operations: its growing corps of reporters was not always effectively deployed; copy editing was erratic; headlining was weak on inside pages. Evidence of Hearst’s loose and idiosyncratic management style was evident in every corner of the newsroom. When Willis Abbot reported for his first day of duty as editorials editor, no one at the
Journal
had been told to expect him. A series of clerks took him for a crank and tried to shoo him off the premises. It was only when Abbot ran across his old friend Charles Palmer and explained that Hearst had hired him away from his job in Chicago that his right to a desk was recognized. Not long after this, Abbot met in the art department a brawny fellow who could not draw a line but who was rumored to have crewed on a sailboat that had rescued Hearst from a dangerous position off the Barbary Coast. Abbot wrote a friend that he had “secured very remunerative employment in a lunatic asylum.”
36
Examiner
’s operations, and his New York newspaper was no improvement. The seasoned Carvalho did his tour of the city room in part to help bring order to its operations: its growing corps of reporters was not always effectively deployed; copy editing was erratic; headlining was weak on inside pages. Evidence of Hearst’s loose and idiosyncratic management style was evident in every corner of the newsroom. When Willis Abbot reported for his first day of duty as editorials editor, no one at the
Journal
had been told to expect him. A series of clerks took him for a crank and tried to shoo him off the premises. It was only when Abbot ran across his old friend Charles Palmer and explained that Hearst had hired him away from his job in Chicago that his right to a desk was recognized. Not long after this, Abbot met in the art department a brawny fellow who could not draw a line but who was rumored to have crewed on a sailboat that had rescued Hearst from a dangerous position off the Barbary Coast. Abbot wrote a friend that he had “secured very remunerative employment in a lunatic asylum.”
36
But while Abbot’s “asylum” line is a constant in the Hearst literature, his broader assessment of the
Journal
’s operations has been overlooked. There was never any doubt, he wrote, as to who was in charge, and, however unorthodox his methods, Hearst possessed “extraordinary enterprise and [an] absolutely clear vision of what he purposed to do.” He had assembled an “extraordinarily brilliant group of men” and right from the start inspired in them a “certain audacity of effort, and brilliancy of achievement.”
37
In spite of the frantic life at the
Journal,
the atmosphere was by all accounts upbeat and constructive.
Journal
’s operations has been overlooked. There was never any doubt, he wrote, as to who was in charge, and, however unorthodox his methods, Hearst possessed “extraordinary enterprise and [an] absolutely clear vision of what he purposed to do.” He had assembled an “extraordinarily brilliant group of men” and right from the start inspired in them a “certain audacity of effort, and brilliancy of achievement.”
37
In spite of the frantic life at the
Journal,
the atmosphere was by all accounts upbeat and constructive.
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