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Show Old Masters Chas. A. Dana D) C. C. G. THE thought of Horace Greeley always brings with it the thought of Dana. They were associated as-sociated on the New York Tribune. Dana became be-came city editor of the Tribune in '78 when ho was twenty-eight years of age and soon advanced to the position of associate editor, where he remained re-mained several years. During the great war he was assistant secretary secre-tary of war; after it was over, he went to Chicago Chica-go as editor of the Chicago Republican and made a failure; then returned to New York and organized the Sun company and took the management man-agement and editorship of it. Then his triumphs began. No paper on either side of the sea was ever more carefully managed, man-aged, more splendidly edited. He selected his own staff; what he himself wrote was perfect and unapproachable from a journalistic point of view. A compositor who had long worked on the Sun told the writer of this a story which made clear why he failed in Chicago; why ho made his triumphs In New York. His story was, in substance, this: "It was my business on the Sun to set Dana's copy. I would put it in type, correct it and send him a clean proof. After awhile it would be returned, with words and sometimes sentences eliminated, interlined, in-terlined, punctuation changed, etc. I would reset re-set the article correct It and send another clean proof. This was often repeated three or four times, and occasionally a new article would be sent down with orders to kill the 'first and set the new one. But when finally finished, it would be a wonder. He never wrote more than a column or a column col-umn and a quarter, the same day." That makes clear why his articles were faultless fault-less of their kind. They were not the crude ore, but the result of a fire assay from which all the ganguo and base metal had been eliminated. elimi-nated. This, too, supplies the reason why he failed in Chicago. There it was expected that an oditor would write two or three columns a day and that not many changes would be made in the proof. That was beyond Dana's capacity and in a brief time his editorials fell flat. Dana was in many ways a great journalist. Ho had the needed scholarship; his mind was abundantly stored with knowledge; his pen, when he was in full accord with a subject, was inspired. in-spired. But he never could get away from himself. him-self. He was naturally cynical; his prejudices were implacable, and his hate, when aroused, and his desire for vengeance, were deeper than ever filled the heart of a sa.ige with murderous thoughts. One illustration of this is enough. As assistant assist-ant secretary of war, he was much in the old west and knew all the Union commanders including in-cluding General Grant. When Grant became presided Dana wanted an Important and lucrative office. For some reason rea-son Grant would not appoint him, but after awhile named another man for the place. Then Dana opened the batteries of the Sun upon him and his administration. When Grant retired from office Dana still bombarded him; when the stalwarts in 1880 wanted to re-nominate him, the Sun every day attacked him with implacable im-placable fury; when Grant was finally seized by a disease which all the world knew was incurable, in-curable, and while he was making death wait at the door until he finished a manuscript to give to his family a little competency when ho was gone, Dana was implacable still, and pursued him even after he was laid to rest In the Mau- M Boleum on the highlands above the Hudson. It is unnecessary to say that a man with such H attributes should novor have full control of a H great journal. A man who, in his newspaper, , does not think enough of the public and of his '1 duty toward the public, to keep his personal an- H tipathies out of his journal, is false to his duty. H But the power, the subtile reasoning, the mar- H velous perfection of Dana's compositions have never been equaled by any editor in America, H and when he died his brother journalists all boro testimony -to the truth that their Nestor was M |