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Page 20
Early in 1856 a change took place in the proprietorship, Mr. Barnard
selling out to Mr. Bailey, and Mr. Lawrence retiring.
Mr. Bailey brought to his new task a great deal of native energy and
enterprise, and he was ably seconded by the other gentlemen connected
with the paper, in his efforts to make the Herald a thoroughly live
journal. He strengthened his staff by engaging as assistant editor,
Justin Andrews, who had for some years held a similar position on The
Daily Times, and who subsequently became one of the news-managers of the
Herald, holding the office until, as one of the proprietors, he disposed
of his interest in 1873.
During Mr. Bailey's first year as proprietor he enlarged the facilities
for obtaining news, and paid particular attention to reporting the
events of the political campaign when Fr�mont was run against Buchanan
for the presidency. The result of the election was announced with a
degree of detail never before displayed in the Herald's columns or in
those of its contemporaries. The editorial course of the paper that year
is perhaps best explained by the following paragraph, printed a few days
after the election: "One of our contemporaries says the Herald has
alternately pleased and displeased both parties during this campaign.
That is our opinion. How could it be different if we told them the
truth? And that was our only aim." The circulation during election week
averaged forty-one thousand six hundred and ninety-three copies daily;
throughout the year it was nearly thirty thousand--considerably larger
than during the preceding year--and the boast that it was more than
double that of any other paper in Boston undoubtedly was justified by
the facts. Mechanically, the paper was well got up; in July the two
presses which had been in use for a number of years were discarded,
and a new four-cylinder Hoe press, having a capacity of ten thousand
impressions an hour, was set up in their place. Ten compositors were
employed, and the weekly composition bill averaged one hundred and sixty
dollars. In 1857 the Herald was a much better paper than it had ever
been, the Messrs. Andrews, upon whom the burden of its management
devolved, sparing no effort to make it newsy and bright in every
department. Beginning the year with a daily circulation of about thirty
thousand, in April it reached forty-two thousand, and when on the
twenty-third of that month the subscription list, carriers' routes,
agencies, etc., of The Daily Times were acquired by purchase, there was
another considerable increase, the issue of May 30 reaching forty-five
thousand one hundred and twenty. In 1858 the Herald continued its
prosperous career in the same general direction. Its telegraphic
facilities were improved, and events in all parts of the country were
well reported, while local news was most carefully attended to. The
editors and reporters this year numbered eleven, and the force in the
mechanical departments was correspondingly increased. A new six-cylinder
Hoe press was put in use, alongside the four-cylinder machine, and both
were frequently taxed to their utmost capacity to print the large
editions demanded by the public. The bills for white paper during the
year were upwards of seventy thousand dollars, which, in those ante-war
times, was a large sum. The circulation averaged over forty thousand
per diem. In 1859 the system of keeping an accurate account of the
circulation was inaugurated, and the actual figures of each day's issue
were recorded and published. From this record it is learned that the
Herald, from a circulation of forty-one thousand one hundred and
ninety-three in January, rose to fifty-three thousand and twenty-six in
December. Twelve compositors were regularly employed this year, and the
weekly composition bill was two hundred dollars. The year 1860 brought
the exciting presidential campaign which resulted in the election of
Abraham Lincoln. Great pains were taken to keep the Herald's readers
fully informed of the movements of all the political parties, and its
long reports of the national conventions, meetings, speeches, etc., in
all parts of the country, especially in New England, brought it to the
notice of many new readers. The average daily circulation for the year
was a little over fifty-four thousand, and the issue on the morning
after the November election reached seventy-three thousand seven hundred
and fifty-two, the largest edition since the Webster trial. E.B.
Haskell, now one of the proprietors, entered the office as a reporter in
1860, and was soon promoted to an editorial position. A year later R.M.
Pulsifer, another of the present proprietors, entered the business
department.
The breaking out of the Civil War in the spring of 1861 created a great
demand for news, and an increase in the circulation of all the daily
papers was the immediate result. It is hardly necessary to say here that
the Herald warmly espoused the cause of the Union, and that the events
of that stirring period were faithfully chronicled in its columns. To
meet a call for news on Sunday, a morning edition for that day was
established on May 26; the new sheet was received with favor by the
reading public, and from an issue of ten thousand at the outset its
circulation has reached, at the present time, nearly one hundred
thousand. The Herald's enterprise was appreciated all through the war,
and as there were no essential changes in the methods of its management
or in the members of its staff, a recapitulation of statistics taken
from its books will suffice here as a record of its progress. In 1861
the average circulation was sixty thousand; the largest edition
(reporting the attack on the sixth Massachusetts regiment in Baltimore),
ninety-two thousand four hundred and forty-eight; the white paper bill,
one hundred and eight thousand dollars; the salary list, forty thousand
dollars; telegraph tolls, sixty-five hundred dollars. In 1862 the
average circulation was sixty-five thousand one hundred and sixteen; the
largest edition, eighty-four thousand; the white paper bill,
ninety-three thousand five hundred dollars; the salary list, forty-three
thousand dollars; telegraph tolls, eight thousand dollars. In 1863 the
average circulation was thirty-six thousand one hundred and
twenty-eight; the largest issue, seventy-four thousand; the paper bill,
ninety-five thousand dollars; salaries, forty-six thousand five hundred
dollars; telegraphing, eight thousand dollars. In July the four-cylinder
Hoe press was replaced by one with six cylinders, from the same maker.
In 1864 the average circulation was thirty-seven thousand and
eighty-eight; largest issue, fifty thousand eight hundred and eighty;
paper bill, one hundred and twenty-eight thousand dollars; salaries,
fifty-eight thousand dollars; telegraph, ten thousand five hundred
dollars. The cost of white paper rose to such a figure that the
proprietors of Boston dailies were compelled to increase the price of
their journals, and a mutual agreement was made on August 15 whereby the
Herald charged three cents a copy and the others five cents. On June 1,
1865, the price of the Herald was reduced to its former rate of two
cents. The average circulation that year was thirty-seven thousand six
hundred and seventeen; the largest day's issue, eighty-three thousand
five hundred and twenty; the paper bill was about the same as in 1864,
but the telegraphic expenses ran up to fifteen thousand dollars. The
circulation in 1866 averaged forty-five thousand eight hundred and
forty-eight, and on several occasions rose to seventy thousand and more.
Twenty-one compositors were regularly employed, and the average weekly
composition bill was five hundred dollars. Paper that year cost one
hundred and fifty-two thousand dollars, and the telegraph bill was
fifteen thousand five hundred dollars. In 1867 seventy persons were on
the Herald's payroll, a larger number than ever before. The circulation
showed a steady gain, and the average for the year was fifty-two
thousand one hundred and eighteen. The paper bill was one hundred
and fifty-six thousand dollars, and the expense of telegraphing,
twenty-three thousand dollars. In 1868 the circulation continued to
increase, and the daily average reached fifty-four thousand seven
hundred and forty; white paper cost one hundred and fifty-three thousand
dollars, and telegraphing, twenty-eight thousand dollars.
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