Author of Central News letters identified - 1891

[Stewart P Evans]

Moore Letter

Yes, a very good find Chris, well done.

We have a whole letter written by Moore, from the City Police letters files saved by Donald Rumbelow. I also located a photograph of Moore a few years back.

[David Knott]

LOL - there I am ferreting about on Ancestry looking for his signature, and all the time I've got Letters From Hell sat on my bookshelf with the above letter in its full splendour on page 15!

Still not sure about the handwriting though!

[Stewart P Evans]

John Moore

H. Simonis said of Moore (1917) - "Ex-Chairman [of Central News Agency] John Moore, who was also manager for a good many years, took to farming and pig breeding (he came of West of England yeoman stock) in his retirement."

Moore was General Manager of the Central News Agency from 1884 to 1907. He died in 1916. He was already Editor when he took over as manager and secretary in 1884. In 1891 he was elected to the Chairmanship of the Company. He retired in 1907.

Moore and Bulling visited the 'Black Museum' at New Scotland Yard together on 26 July 1892 and there would, no doubt, have seen the copy of the 'Dear Boss' letter that was on display in the museum. Their signatures are in the visitors' book.

[Chris Scott]

Hi Stewart
many thanks for the message and posting the letter from Moore
Your help is - as ever - very much appreciated
Best regards
Chris

[Johnr]

John Moore's writing style

Did anyone else notice a singular idiosynchrasy in Moore's writing?

He adopts a reverse loop for his "y's".

I seem to recall at least one JTR letter wherein that method is incorporated.

Anybody?

JOHN RUFFELS.

[Hamrammr]

The From Hell letter incorporates 'y's of at least two different types, one of which is the reverse loop used by Moore. He could have been trying to obscure his handwriting... and to a large degree - failing

[TradeName]

I am curious about William Henry Hurlbert's tenure with the Central News Agency. The attached image comes from a newspaper page I downloaded from fultonhistory.com (the site is slow and seems to work better with IE) . The file name identifies the paper as the Tioga County Record of Owego, NY. There's no date at the top of the page but a train schedule on the page says the schedule became effective in June, 1888.

The Harvard Graduates' Magazine of December, 1895, ran a brief biography of Hurlbert, which mentions his interest in the Central News Agency. There's also a Wikipedia entry.

I came across Hurlbert as a director of a company formed to exploit an invention, the column printing telegraph, in which John Moore held an interest along with an American, John E. Wright.

In the Days of Bicycles and Bustles by R D Blumenfeld has a mention of this invention in a footnote.

The Electrical Engineer of April 26, 1889, carried an announcement of the invention.

The Electrical Review of August 9, 1889, had an item on the registration of the Column Printing Telegraph Syndicate, Limited.

The Electrical Engineer of June 20, 1890, listed the directors.

Telegraph Age of April 1, 1906, ran a profile of John E. Wright.

[Stewart P Evans]

Tom Wescott

I would refer this thread to Tom Wescott as even more evidence for the Bulling/Moore concoction of the 'Dear Boss' letter.

[Stewart P Evans]

John Moore Photograph

I recently posted a photograph of John Moore on the JTRForums, here it is -

[TradeName]

At fultonhistory.com I found another paper with the same dispatch that I posted above about William Henry Hurlbert becoming chairman of the Central News. This is the front page of The Evening News of Little Falls, NY, dated July 16, 1888.

The Atlanta Constitution of December 31, 1888, had a brief item with the headline "American Journalism Abroad" said to be "from the London Court Journal." The first sentence is as follows: "Mr. Hurlbert, the rich American gentleman, who has lately purchased the principal share in the Central News, is reported to be contemplating the establishment of a daily illustrated newspaper."

Who would have been considered "The Boss" of the Central News at the time the "Dear Boss" letter was written?

In an 1889 letter to James McNeill Whistler, Walter Sickert referred to Hurlbert as "an unprincipled adventurer."

Here's a colorful description of Hurlbert from the 1893 Memoirs of Charles Godfrey Leland, who refers to him by his original name of Hurlbut:

Apropos of Hurlbut, I heard many years after, in England, that a certain well-known litterateur, who was not one of his admirers, having seen him seated in close tete-a-tete with a very notorious and unpopular character, remarked regretfully, "Just to think that with one pistol-bullet both might have been settled!" Hurlbut was, even as a boy, very handsome, with a pale face and black eyes, and extremely clever, being facile princeps, the head of every class, and extensively read. But there was "a screw loose" somewhere in him. He was subject, but not very frequently, to such fits of passion or rage, that he literally became blind while they lasted. I saw him one day in one of these throw his arms about and stamp on the ground, as if unable to behold any one. I once heard a young lady in New York profess unbounded admiration for him, because "he looked so charmingly like the devil." For many years the New York Herald always described him as the Reverend Mephistopheles Hurlbut. There was another very beautiful lady who afterwards died a strange and violent death, as also a friend of mine, an editor in New York, both of whom narrated to me at very great length "a grotesque Iliad of the wild career" of this remarkable man.

<end quote>

[TradeName]

In my first post in this thread, I provided a link to the published diary of R. D. Blumenfeld which said that on June 26, 1887, he attended an outing organized by John Moore for the staff of the Central News Agency. Also invited was Arthur Brisbane.

Sunday, June 26, 1887.

A remarkable and enjoyable experience to-day such as could only be found in this delightful summer country. John Moore, the head of the Central News, gave a river party, and had asked most of the members of his staff, their wives, and some friends. Included in the latter were Arthur Brisbane [now the highest salaried journalist in the world, something like 75,000 a year], "Jack" Wright, the inventor of the "ticker" which prints news in column form instead of elongated tape, myself and Mr. Carey, a cousin of Brisbane's.

In 1888, Brisbane was the London correspondent of the New York Sun and wrote about the Whitechapel murders.

The first image attached is from the front page of the Sun for October 2, 1888.

The second image is from the front page of the Sun for October 7, 1888.

The third image, which is about rather than by Brisbane, is from page 14 of the Omaha Daily Bee for March 24, 1889.

The following is a description of Brisbane from Current Literature, Volume 4, No. 5, May 1890:

There is a tall, slender young man with a struggling mustache who can occasionally be seen climbing the stairs of The Sun building. Mr. Arthur Brisbane is twenty-six, the managing editor of the Evening Sun, and a perfect specimen of manhood, mentally and physically. The son of millionaire Alfred Brisbane, he was educated abroad. He took the first prize in French literature in the Paris Academy, where he was a student, and he gave Charles Mitchell, the English pugilist, the liveliest kind of a fight when the boxer assaulted him in London. With the pen or gloves he has few equals. He is popularly considered the best newspaper writer in the country. Mr. Brisbane went to work on the morning Sun as a reporter six years ago. He turned in stories in a queer angular hand that made the copy readers groan. For months he was considered hopeless. One day he picked up an advertisement about a faith-curer. He wrote a story about it that literally paralyzed the whole office. That made his reputation. The stories of New York life which followed are masterpieces. When he was twenty-two he was the London correspondent of The Sun, and his letters attracted wide attention. Last May he came to New York on personal business, and he was offered the managing editorship of the Evening Sun. Mr. Brisbane is called a newspaper genius. He is a writer of extraordinary brilliancy and force. His diction is of the purest and clearest. He has a brilliant imagination, a native, honest humor and a wonderful command of language.

[Stewart P Evans]

Thank You

Thank you for these most interesting posts.

[TradeName]

Thank you, Mr. Evans.

I've found a longer version of the July, 1888, dispatch about William Saunders passing control of the Central News to William Henry Hurlbert on the front page of Manufacturers and Farmers Journal of Providence, Rhode Island, for
July 16, 1888. This is the first attachment.

I have also included some mentions of Saunders from the New York Sun which may have been written by Arthur Brisbane. The second attachment is from the front page of the November 7, 1886 edition. The third is from the front page of the November 13, 1887 edition.

The fourth attachment is Saunder's entry from the PMG's Popular Guide to the House of Commons (1892), page 97.

In my post of October 29, 2010, I mistakenly referred to The Evening Times of Little Falls, New York, as The Evening News.

[TradeName]

Here are some snippets from Arthur Brisbane's 1888 coverage of the Whitechapel murders in the New York Sun, all from the front pages.

1. September 9th: Brisbane on Leather Apron.

2. September 16th: Police bashing.

3. October 1st: Brisbane imagines the killer as gloating.

4. October 2nd: Religious maniac theory.

5. October 21st: More thoughts about the killer.

6. December 9th: Brisbane shows some appreciation for "unsensitive" humor about the killings and indulges in yet more police bashing.

[lynn cates]

manufacturing news?

Hello All. It looks like the CNA has developed a bit of a reputation for manufacturing news.

Snippet from the "London and China Telegraph" May 27, 1895.

Cheers.
LC