Puff and Counterpuff

In the stillness of the desert, should one voice speak, will not a chorus of whispers respond? And in the bruit of a large city, if one voice cries out above the turmoil, will not a babel of shouts rise from competitors ?

So it was recently. Charles W. Eliot spoke, and a great metropolitan newspaper shouted his words in print, shouted them not only in its own columns, but in the columns of its competitors (paying for the privilege) and they, unable to keep silent, burst forth likewise:

"Many years of experience with The New York Times and of observation of many other newspapers, both American and foreign, have satisfied me that The New York Times is the best newspaper in the world for thinking Americans to take who want to get promptly all the news of the world free from guesses, comics, scandals, puzzles, gossip and mere speculation"--so Charles W. Eliot, President Emeritus of Harvard.

His words were taken up by The New York Times, spread across full page advertisements in almost all the Manhattan newspapers with its own comment: "Without Comics . . . Without Puzzles . . . Strictly a Newspaper--For Intelligent and Thoughtful People . . . Unequaled in Completeness and Quality of News."

Straightway The New York American (Hearst) in whose columns the advertisement was inserted, replied editorially:

"All of which is an excellent description of a tombstone epitaph. . . . Readers who desire to restrict themselves to a diet of newspaper skimmed milk, who wish to put their lives in cold storage, can do no better than to subscribe at once for that newspaper which Dr. Eliot certifies to be thoroughly sterilized, and merchants who wish to conceal the fact that they are on earth can accomplish that noble aim by purchasing space in that newspaper which announces that it concentrates all its energies on becoming utterly anemic!

"As for us, we shall go along appealing to those whose lives are before them."

The New York Herald Tribune, in more sedate fashion, tried tbulated counter-argument:

"News Plus

"The Herald Tribune gives its readers the complete NEWS. It gives them a large 'plus' besides. FOR INSTANCE:

"1) Editorial judgment that cuts the uninteresting and irrelevant.

"2) More space for the big news of the day.

"3) Not all interesting news is solemn. News PLUS Humor.

"4) A daily page of news pictures.

"5) Famous cartoons. News plus IDEAS plus HUMOR.

"6) Famous columns. Don Marquis, Grantland Rice and McGeehan. NEWS plus HUMOR plus PHILOSOPHY plus the EXPERT'S JUDGMENT.

"7) Distinguished critics of art, music, books, the stage, the film.

"8) Cross-word puzzles. The Herald Tribune was the first New York morning newspaper to print them daily.

"Why buy a newspaper that is just news when you can buy The Herald Tribune that is news plus?"

It so befell that about this time fell the birthdays of two of Manhattan's young gum-chewers' sheetlets. The Daily News cried to the good burghers :

"The Daily News is six years old today ! . . . over 900,000 ... the largest daily circulation in America within six years. Today two of every five people who buy morning newspapers in New York City buy The Daily News . . . "

And the Daily Mirror (Hearst, illustrated sheetlet) which recently induced Philip A. Payne* Managing Editor of the News, to come over to its camp, announced:

"Starting with nothing, The Mirror, ONE year old today, has a circulation exceeding 240,000 . . . The Mirror is ONE year old and has more than 240,000 circulation. The New York Evening Post is 124 YEARS OLD and has a little over 30,000 [35,000] circulation ..."

But regardless of merit the figures of circulation tell the story. For the six months ending March 31 last, the six Manhattan morning papers had the following circulation:

Daily Sunday

Times 362,882 598,244

Herald Tribune 275,312 330,504

American 261,920 1,088,303

News 795,160 987,199

Mirror 218,431 none

World 348,148 581,660