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Page 19
The Herald, feeble as it was in many respects at first, managed to
struggle through the financial diseases incident to newspaper infancy so
stoutly that at the opening of 1847, when it had attained the age of
four months, its sponsors were able to give it a New-Year dress of new
type, to increase the size of its pages to seven columns, measuring
twenty-one by seventeen inches, and to add a morning and a weekly
edition. The paper in its new form, with a neat head in Roman letters
replacing the former unsightly title, and printed on a new Adams press,
presented a marked improvement.
Mr. Eaton continued in charge of the evening edition, while the new
morning issue was placed in the hands of Mr. George W. Tyler. The Herald
under this joint management presented its readers with from eight to ten
columns of reading-matter daily. Two columns of editorials, four of
local news, and two of clippings from "exchanges," were about the
average. News by telegraph was not plenty, and, as has already been
intimated, very little of it was printed during the first year. Yet, the
Herald was a live and lively paper, and published nothing but "live
matter." Much prominence was given to reports of affairs about home, and
in consequence the circulation soon exhibited a marked improvement.
At this time the proprietors entered on a novel journalistic experiment.
They allowed one editor to give "Whig" views and another to talk
"Democracy." The public did not take kindly to this mixed diet, and Mr.
Eaton, the purveyor of Democratic wisdom, was permitted to withdraw,
leaving Mr. Tyler, the Whiggite, in possession of the field.
Meantime, Mr. French had bought out the original proprietors one by one,
with the exception of Mr. Stowers, and in March their names appeared as
publishers at the head of the paper. The publication-office was removed
to more spacious quarters, and the press was thereafter run by
steam-power rented from a neighboring manufactory. At the end of the
month a statement of the circulation showed a total of eleven thousand
two hundred and seventy.
In May, 1847, The American Eagle died peacefully. About this period
Messrs. Tucker and Tyler left the Herald, and Mr. Stowers disposed of
his interest to Samuel K. Head. The new editor of the paper was William
Joseph Snelling, who acquired considerable local fame as a bold and
fearless writer. He died in the December of the following year. Under a
new manager, Mr. Samuel R. Glen, the Herald developed into a successful
news gatherer.
Special telegrams were regularly received from New York, a Washington
correspondent was secured, and the paper covered a much broader field
than it ever had before. Eight to ten columns of reading-matter were
printed daily, and it was invariably bright and entertaining. The
circulation showed a steady increase, and on August 17, 1848, was
declared to be eighteen thousand seven hundred and fifteen daily, a
figure from which it did not recede during the autumn and winter. After
the death of Mr. Snelling, Mr. Tyler was recalled to the chief editorial
chair, and heartily co-operated with Mr. Glen and the proprietors in
keeping the paper abreast of the times. On April 2, 1849, the custom of
printing four editions daily was inaugurated. The first was dated 5
o'clock, A.M., the second, 8, the third, 12 M., and the fourth, 2.30
P.M. That day the force of compositors was increased by four men, and
the paper was for the first time printed on a Hoe double-cylinder press,
run by steam-power, and capable of producing six thousand impressions an
hour. Mr. Head withdrew from the firm about this time, and Mr. French
was announced as sole proprietor throughout the remainder of the year.
In October the announcement was made that the Herald had a larger
circulation than any other paper published in Boston or elsewhere, and
the publisher made a successful demand for the post-office advertising,
which by law was to be given to the paper having the greatest
circulation.
During this year (1849) the Herald distanced its competitors and
accomplished a feat that was the talk of the town for a long time
afterwards, by reporting in full the trial of Professor Webster
for the murder of Dr. Parkman. Extras giving longhand reports of this
extraordinary case were issued hourly during the day, and the morning
edition contained a shorthand report of the testimony and proceedings
of the day previous. The extras were issued in New York as well as in
Boston, the report having been telegraphed sheet by sheet as fast as
written, and printed there simultaneously with the Herald's. The type
of the verbatim report was kept standing, and within an hour after the
verdict was rendered pamphlets containing a complete record of the
trial were for sale on the street. The year 1850 found the Herald as
prosperous as it had been during the previous twelvemonth. In September,
the editorial, composing, and press rooms were transferred to No. 6
Williams Court, where they remained until abandoned for the new Herald
Building, February 9, 1878, and the business-office was removed to No.
203 (now No. 241) Washington Street. Early in 1851, through some
inexplicable cause, Mr. French suddenly found himself financially
embarrassed. In July he disposed of the paper to John M. Barnard, and
soon after retired to a farm in Maine. Mr. Tyler was retained in charge
of the editorial department; but Mr. Glen resigned and was succeeded as
managing editor by Mr. A.A. Wallace. During the remainder of the year
the Herald did not display much enterprise in gathering news. Its
special telegraphic reports were meagre and averaged no more than a
"stickful" daily, and it was cut off from the privileges of the
Associated Press dispatches. In 1852 there was a marked improvement in
the paper, but it did not reach the standard it established in 1850.
Two new presses, one of Hoe's and the other a Taylor's Napier, were this
year put in use, which bettered the typography of the sheet. In 1853 the
Herald was little more than a record of local events, its telegraphic
reports being almost as brief and unsatisfactory as during the first
year of its existence. But the circulation kept up wonderfully well,
growing, according to the sworn statements of the proprietor, from
sixteen thousand five hundred and five in January to twenty-three
thousand two hundred and ten in December. The Herald of 1854 was a much
better paper than that of the year previous, exerting far more energy in
obtaining and printing news. On April 1 it was enlarged for the second
time and came out with columns lengthened two inches, the pages
measuring twenty-three by seventeen inches. The circulation continued to
increase, and, by the sworn statements published, grew from twenty-five
thousand two hundred and sixteen in January to thirty thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight in June. Success continued through the year
1855. In February, Mr. Barnard, while remaining proprietor, withdrew
from active management, and Edwin C. Bailey and A. Milton Lawrence
became the publishers. There were also some changes in the editorial and
reportorial staff. Henry R. Tracy became assistant editor, and Charles
H. Andrews (now one of the editors and proprietors) was engaged as a
reporter. There were then engaged in the composing-room a foreman and
eight compositors, one of whom, George G. Bailey, subsequently became
foreman, and later one of the proprietors. Printers will be interested
to know that the weekly composition bill averaged one hundred and
seventy-five dollars. This year but one edition was published in the
morning, while the first evening edition was dated 12 M., the second,
1.30 P.M., and a "postscript" was issued at 2.30 P.M., to contain the
latest news for city circulation. Twelve to fourteen columns of
reading-matter were printed daily, two of which were editorial, two news
by telegraph, two gleanings from "exchanges," and the remainder local
reports, correspondence, etc. The average daily circulation during 1855
was claimed to have been thirty thousand, but was probably something
less.
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