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Show uu DEATH OF NORTHCLIFFE. When Lord Northcliffe died, Great Britain lost its most 'powerful prhato ?A citizen and publisher Alfred Charles William Harmsworth was made great through a chain of newspapers, including the London Times and Dally Mail. He controlled some sixty papers and made and unmade un-made heads of government As ?. boy he wa.s determined to become be-come a newspaper man and although his father tried to persuade him to study law, the youngster persisted in his efforts to win a place in the newspaper news-paper world. This li'-son point3 to the advantages gained by allowing a boy to follow his bent of mind. Sir Hall Caine gives an intimate sketch of Lord Northclif te's career, Igra and opens with the statement that he first knew Northcliffe on the terms of friendly acquaintance but finally there j was estrangement. He was not exalted exalt-ed In character and yet it gave the effect of exaltation. He was a storm He swept through life like a tornado destructive, perhaps, but purifying, also. There were dayB of BunBhine, but none of calm. There were glowing glow-ing dawns and fiery sunsets, but never nev-er an hour of cool tranquillity Sir Hall Catno then pays this tribute trib-ute to a dynamic man: His unreBtlng spirit made the very air about him vibrate. It wore out strong men. He waB a strong man himself, but It wore him out, also. It Is hard to realize real-ize that the hitherto irresistible human torrent that was Northcliffe North-cliffe has been arrested In its headlong course. The Nortcliffe press, whatever Its merits or defects, -was to tho last the voice and the eye or the man at ita head. It was a reflection reflec-tion of the world as Northcliffe eaw It. He was a born fighter. He fought all the way through life, not for fight's sake, bnt for the victory won by It. Victories had to bo won, therefore he had to fight, and from his fighting he IB never flinched, whatever befell He was a bom optimist. He never allowed himself to bHievp that in the battle of life he could I be beaten. In his darkest hour hls hope never failed him Oppo- sltion only braced his muscles, difficulties dif-ficulties only fired afresh his unconquerable un-conquerable soul. His stubborn heart would not recognize failure. Failure did not exist for him. To flip and" tall was only a reason to leap up and 1 run faster He had ihe defects of his great qualities. He was Intolerant of opposition He was so sure of himself that he found it difficult to brook hampering criticism It never occurred to him lhat per- haps he might soniei lnies be wrong, His masterfulness waa often domineering. Hp telt no humility towards any other man. no matter ho he was or what he might bp I n ihe contrary, other men were his servants, and. one way or another, an-other, they had to obey him If he said come, they had to come, if he said go. they had to go With the mighty weapon of the press in his hands and the lirni conviction in his soul that no power on earth could withstand it. he believed he could compel obedience even from the strong est and most highly placed No master could be more appre-clmtlve appre-clmtlve of good service and none more swift and severe iu his punishment pun-ishment of bad. no man could be a firmer friend and none could be a more implacable enemy . Once he had determined to support a man or a cause there was no measure to his championship, but equally there was no limit to his antagonism oncp he had decided to denounce. Lord Northcliffe had some of the Characteristic! of Napoleon. His con lidenc' in himself, his restless nature, his desire to control and dominate and : his daring were Napoleonic. Whether the world Is better off for men of that j type having lived Is open to question I Quite often they destroy as much as ! they build up and help break down the liner qualities of human rcla- j tionship. |