/i 
THE            \.l 
PUBLIC LEDGER BUFILIDING,
PHIILADELPHIIA:
WT!AN
ACCOUNT OF TIIE PROCEEDINGS
CONNECTED WIT]E ITS
OPENING JTJNE 20, 1 867.
PHIILADELPHIIA:
GEORGE AV. CHIILDS.
1 86 8. 
COLLINS, PRINTER,
705 JAYNE ST. 
CONTENTS
PAGE
15
16
23
28
31
31
33
34
35
36
38
39
39
THE NEW LEDGER BUILDING
OPENING OF THE NEW LEDGER BUILDING
Remarks of Hon. Charles Gilpin
Remarks of Mr. John McArthur,'Jr., Architect
Remarks of Hon. Daniel M. Fox
Remarks of Mr. Wm. V. McKean
BANQUET AT THE CONTINENTAL HOTE
Prayer of Bishop Simpson.
Address of Mayor McMichael.
Remarks of Hon. Joseph R. Chandler, LL. D.
Remarks of Mayor Hoffman, of New York
Remarks of General Meade
Remarks of Gen. Robeson, of New Jersey.
( v)
The Led,er Building
The Exterior View
Tile Ground Plan
The Publication Offloc
The Press Room.
The Composing Room
The Stereotype Foundry
Editorial Rooms.
The Job Printing Office
The Book Publication Office
Tile Stores
The Offices
Access to the Rooms
Tile Water Supply
General Details.
. 45
. 46
. 48
.     50
.     11I-Ii
. 57
. 59
. 60
. 63
. 69
. 75
. 79 
CONTENTS.
BA>QUET AT TrHE CONTINENTAL HOTEL-continued.
Remarks of Hon. James Brooks, of New York..
Remarks of Hon. J. J. Stewart, of Maryland..
Remarks of Paul B. Du Chaillu, the African Explcecr
Remarks of Hon. Wm. D. Kelley....
Remarks of Rev. Dr. Hall, of Dublin, Ireland 
Remarks of Gen. Hiram Walbridge, of New York 
Remarks of Mr. George H. Stuart, of Philadelphia 
Tribute to Anthony J. Drexel, Esq.....
Remarks of Mr. W. V. McKean.
Remarks of Mr. George H. Stuart....
FOURTH OF JULY ENTERTAINMENT
LEDGER EMPLOYES...
Address of Mr. McKean..
Remarks of Mr. Nicholson.
Remarks of Mr. Muckl6. 
Remarks of Mr. Drane..
The Newsboys' Banquet..
Employer and Employed..
Remarks of Joseph Sailer, Esq..
CORRESPONDENCE.
His Excellency Andrew Johnson, President of the United
States..............          123
Hon. William IH. Seward, Secretary of State of the United
States..........
Hion. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy..
Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
Hon. Millard Fillmore, Ex-President of the United States.
General Grant.........
Chief Justice Chase to Dr. Elder.....
Hon. S. P. Chase, LL. D., Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States......
Hon. W. Dennison, late Postmaster-General of the United
States.........
Major-General Geary, Governor of Pennsylvania.
Hon. Marcus L. Ward, Governor of New Jersey.
Major-General Schenck, Member of Congress from Ohio
Hlon. Thomas Swann, Governor of Maryland..
Hon. Simon Cameron, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
vi
PA(]E
.    80
. 83
.    88
..90
. 93
. 94
. 97
. 98
. 98
. 99
. 103
. 105
. 108
. ill
. 113
. 116
. 117
. 119
1 9- 1
124
124
125
125
126
126
127
127
128
130
130
131
.132 
CONTENTS.
General C. E. PheIps, Member of Congress from Baltimore
City................          133
George S. Hillard, LL. D., United States District Attorney
for Massachusetts...........                134
Hon. A. G. Cattell, United States Senator from New Jersey  134
Major-General Chamberlain, Governor of Maine..  135
Hon. Reverdy Johnson, LL. D., United States Senator from
Maryland................           135
Commodore Turner, United States Navy...                136
Hon. A. H. Rice, Member of Congress from Massachusetts
and Ex-Mayor of Boston..........          137
Rear-Admiral Charles Stewart, United States Navy.        138
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes.........           139
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Esq..........           140
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the Poet...           140
Hon. George Bancroft, LL. D., the Historian...  141
Francis Lieber, LL. D., Professor in Columbia College,
New York............                                 141
Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, LL. D., of Massachusetts. 142
Mlajor-General Patterson...........          142
Professor Joseph Henry, LL. D., Secretary of the Smith  sonian Institution, Washington, D. C.......    143
Stephen Colwell, LL. D., Author of various works on Po  litical Economy.......                       143
George William Curtis, Esq..........           144
Henry T. Tuckerman, Esq., the Essayist.... 145
Jas. Parton, Esq., Author of the Lives of Franklin, Aaron
Burr, Andrew Jackson, &c...........        145
Henry C. Carey, LL. D., the well-known writer on Politi  cal Economy.............           146
Rev. William R. Alger.......           146
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher......          146
Epes Sargent, Esq., the Author.........        147
S. Austin Allibone, LL. D., Author of the "Dictionary of
Authors and Literature"..........           148
Rev. E. H. Chapin, D. D............149
Rev. T. F. Curtis, D. D., late Professor in the University
of Lewisburg, Pa..............           150
Rev. M. Simpson, D. D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal
Church...............           151
Rev. C. P. Krauth, D. D., Norton Professor of Theology in
the Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Philadelphia...........           152
vii
CORRESPONDENCE-continued.
PAGE 
CONTENTS.
CORRESPONDENCE-continued.                                     PAGE
Rev. J. P. Thompson, D. D., Pastor of Tabernacle Church,
New York City.......   153
Hon. Emory Washburn, LL. D., Ex-Governor of MIassa    chusetts, and Resident Professor of Law at Harvard
University..............           154
Henry Coppee, LL. D., President of the Lehigh Univer    sity, Pa................155
Professor C. W. Shields, D. D........          156
MI. L. Steover, Professor in Pennsylvania College..  157
Hon. John H. B. Latrobe...........           157
Dr. Hammond, late Surgeon-General in the U.S. Army.  157
George H. Boker, Secretary of the Union League of Phlila    delphia...............           158
Hon. George W. Woodward, LL. D., Chief-Justice of the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania........         159
Hon. George Sharswood, LL. D., President Judge of the
District Court of Philadelphia..... 159
J. I. Clark Hare, Associate Justice of the District Court of
Philadelphia..............           160
Joseph Harrison, MI. E............           162
George S. Appleton, Esq. (D. Appleton & Co., Publishers),
New York..............           163
W. B. Dinsmore, President of the Adams Express Company  163
Col. R. M. Hoe, Inventor of Hoe's celebrated Printing    Presses...............           164
R. Dunglison, M. D., Professor in the Jefferson Medical
College, Philadelphia...........         165
General E. S. Sanford, late President of the American
Telegraph Company.....              166
Harper & Brothers, Publishers, New York...  167
John Walter, Esq., M. P., Proprietor of the "London
Times"................ 168
J. T. Fields, Esq. (Ticknor & Fields, Publishers), Boston. 168
Theodore Tilton, Esq., Editor of "The Independent". 169
Rev. Wm. M. Engles, D. D., Editor of "The Presbyterian"  169
George P. Putnam, Esq., Publisher, New York..  170
Dr. J. G. Holland (Timothy Titcomb), the well-known
Author............... 172
Rev. Dr. Crooks, Editor of "The Methlodist"...  173
Col. Greene, Editor of the "Boston Post".... 174
E. P. Whipple, Esq..............                          174
viii 
CONTENTS.
CORRESPONDENCE-continued.(                                  PAGE
Editors and Proprietors of the "Journal of Commerce,"
New York..............           175
F. B. Penniman, Esq., Editor of the "Pittsburgh Gazette"  175
R. Shelton Mackenzie, D. C. L..........        175
AI. Halstead, Esq., Editor and Proprietor of the "Cincin    nati Commercial"...........   176
Horace Greeley, Editor of the "New York Tribune". 177
Joshua Leavitt, Esq., "New York Evening Post".. 179
Col. A. J. H. Duganne, Editor of the " New York Dispatch"  179
Hon. Wm. Bross, Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois, and one
of the Proprietors and Editors of the "Chicago Tribune"  180
C. D. Brigham, Editor of the "Pittsburgh Commercial".  181
The Editors and Proprietors of the "Missouri Republican"  182
A. M. Holbrook, Esq., Proprietor and Editor of the New
Orleans "Picayune"...... 183
W. A. Collins, Esq., Editor of the "Pittsburgh Chronicle"  184
S. M. Pettengill, Esq............          185
Col. John S. Dusolle, Editor of the "New York Sunday
Times"............... 185
L. A. Godey, Esq., Editor and Proprietor of the "Lady's
Book"...............           186
ix  
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THE NEW LEDGER BUILDING.
THE removal of the PUBLIC LEDGER ESTABLISHMENT
from the building so long occupied by its offices and
workrooms gives occasion for a description of the new
building now devoted to its uses.  And first it will be
in order to say something concerning the removal itself.
Twenty-five years ago the vicinity of Third and Chestnut
Streets had become, and seemed likely to remain, the
business centre of Philadelphia for the next fifty years.
The situation of the Post-Office, the Custom House, the
Merchants' Exchange, the United States Bank, the
bankers' and brokers' offices, and some of the principal
Banks, Insurance Companies' offices, the mercantile and
commercial quarters, and most of the newspaper offices,
gave occasion to nearly every person engaged in active
business to pass that corner several times every day.
This being the situation of affairs, the founders of'the
PUBLIC LEDGER selected that business centre as the proper
locality for the Publication Office of the great popular
newspaper of Philadelphia. They selected the southwest
corner of the junction of those two streets, and having
secured two lots, with a frontage of about fifty feet on
Chestnut, with nearly the same depth on Third Street,
they erected upon it buildings covering the whole ground
plan, and six stories in height. These capacious quarters
they anticipated would be equal to any future demands
for space that were likely to occur to any newspaper in
Philadelphia, and there the PUBLIC LEDGER ESTABLISH                                           (3)
._.W 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
MIENT remained until June, 1867. Prior to that date, however, two of the principal Government offices had been
removed a few hundred yards westward, and some of the
heavy business of the city had taken the same direction;
and the commodious building that was thought to be
equal to any exigency that might ever arise in the
history of the paper was found to be altogether insufficient for the uses of the PUBLIC LEDGER. For several
years past the greatly expanded business of the establishment has demanded additional room, and the rapid execution of its daily work has been somewhat retarded on
that account. This was clear to the present proprietor
when he purchased the PUBLIC LEDGER from its founders,
and even at the time when negotiations were going on for
purchasing the newspaper, Mr. Childs saw that it would
be necessary to change its quarters at the earliest possible
opportunity. He accordingly fixed in his mind the southwest corner of Sixth and Chestinut Streets as a suitable
locality for the New Publication Office, and immediately
upon the purchase of the paper commenced the prelimiuaries for obtaining the large lot of ground upon that
corner. The purchase of the several lots of ground that
now form the site of the NEW LEDGER BUILDING, and the
erection of that spacious edifice itself, are therefore but
the carrying out of a resolve that was made at the same
time the paper was purchased.
Few persons who peruse their morning papers at the
breakfast  table, winter and  summer,  in sunshine and
storm, think of the amount of capital invested, the labor
involved, and the care and anxiety incident to the preparation and publication of the sheet which is so regularly served at all seasons of the year. Even in the
newspaper world, surrounded as we are by all the appliances of the business, we sometimes ignore that which
makes the daily journal a success, and we frequently overlook the steady progress made and still making in improving the machinery and general organization of a
4 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
first-class daily newspaper establishment. Accustomed
now to the appearance and use of " Hoe's Last Fasts" the
old and cumbersome hland-press of a hundred years ago
is forgotten, and it seems like a romance to read of Bradford's successful effort, in 1719, to publish the first newspaper in Pennsylvania, when muscle, not steam, was the
motive power that drove the lumbering wooden structure
denominated a press, and which required days for the
work accomplished now in minutes. The changes in
newspaper machinery have been so rapid, and so varied,
that it is almost impossible to follow the successive displays of American ingenuity.  We, therefore, are content
to accept the present as the only proper type of the newspaper business. But it is not our purpose to trace the
history of newspaper enterprise, however interesting and
instructive it might prove.  It is with the present we deal,
and in the accompanying sketch of the most extensive
and  complete newspaper  establishment  in Europe  or
America, we shall aim to convey a slight idea of one of
the most striking improvements in Philadelphia, and at
the same time indicate to what perfection newspaper
machinery and journalistic organization have been brought
in 1867.
As the originator, constant advocate, and steadfast
friend of every great improvement that has marked the
progress of Philadelphia for the past thirty years, it was
natural that the PUBLIC LEDGER should take one more step
in advance, and, while furnishing to the city a magnificent
structure, architecturally considered, secure at the same
time for itself a building which, in everything required
for the prompt, speedy, and convenient transaction of the
business incident to the publication of a first-class daily
paper, is without an equal in the world.  To those of us
who have watched the gradual rise of the new LEDGER
BUILDING, and are familiar with every detail of its construction, its immense size, as well as entire adaptability
to the purposes designed, is apparent.  But it is not so
5 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
easy in a printed description to convey the same idea to
the reader.  Much of the building is concealed from the
public view, and in admiring the imposing appearance of
the structure as viewed from the street, the spectator can
be expected  only to  appreciate that which is visible,
appealing only to his sense of the beautiful and ornamental, without taking heed of the endless details of the
interior.  In the accompanying sketch, therefore, we shall
seek to give merely the dimensions, figures, and such prominent features as may enable those interested to secure
at least a partial conception of the magnitude, architectural beauty, and general completeness of the establishment
at the southwest corner of Sixth and Chestnut Streets,
to be hereafter known as
THE LEDGER BUILDING.
The first step made by the present proprietor of the
LEDGER was to secure, by purchase, the structure on the
southwest corner of Sixth and Chestnut Streets, eightyfour feet on Chestnut and seventy-nine feet on Sixth,
erected in 1854, and known as the Howell Building.
Originally, without alterations and ilnprovements, it was
not considered an imposing structure. Large as it was,
it was deemed too contracted, and the determination was
at once formed to add not only to its proportions and
appearance, but to so alter the interior as to radically
change its appearance, and better fit it for the use of the
LEDGER, and for the transaction of business in the job
printing office. There were considerations of space, ventilation, light, and easv access to the various stories and
apartments involved. By the extensive purchases of
adjoining property on Sixth Street, Mr. JOHN MCARTHUR,
Jr., the architect, assisted by Mr. Childs, was enabled to
arrange a plan complete in all these requisites. Not only
were the additions to the property on Sixth Street purchased with reference to the needs of the PUBLIc LEDGER
6 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
and its appurtenances, but at the same time the acquisition of ground allowed the architect to give to the property on Chestnut Street a rear outlet, as well as ample
light and ventilation, features neglected necessarily in the
original construction of the Hilowell Buildilngs. The last
of these purchases was consummated late in the summer
of 1865. The contract for the entire improvement was
awarded to Mr. R. J. DOBBINS, the well-known builder, of
Philadelphia.  On the 1st of May, 1866, Mr. Dobbins commencedcl work under the contract. At the outset, the old
structures on Sixth Street, south of the main building,
were torn down, and extensive excavations twenty feet
below the pavement were made for the basement, especially designed as the Press Room of the LEDGER. This
portion of the work, as well as the entire construction of
the new building, and the alterations to the old, was carefully and constantly superintended by the architect, Mr.
MAcARTHunR, and his able assistant Mr. GEORGE SUMMERs,
both of whom exercised every possible precaution in order
that the details of the specifications in the contract should
be comnplied with in every respect. During the temporary
absence of Mr. McArthur in Mexico, the responsibility
rested entirely upon Mr. Summers, who has acquitted himself with entire satisfaction to all who are interested in
the building. It is hardly necessary to say that in this
building MAr. McArthur has but achieved another triumph,
and added another to the many important architectural
structures with which his skill and taste as an architect
have enabled him to beautify and adorn Philadelphia. The
work progressed steadily through the spring, summer, and
autumn of 1866, and by the approach of winter the new
portions were under roof and partially plastered.  The
introduction of boilers in the Press Room, and the distribution of pipe throughout the building, allowed the
work to be forwarded during the cold weather, and on
the 20th of June, 1867, the building was ready for its
occupants.
7 
TI-IE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
THE EXTERIOR VIEW.
As soon as the excavations were made, substantial
foundation walls, laid with the best stone, in approved hy draulic cement and mortar, were built, and upon the solid
basis thus prepared granite and iron were piled until the
level of the sidewalk was reached. The building erected
upon this foundation, viewed from the exterior, presents a
splendid brownstone structure, eighty-four feet on Chestnut
Street and one hundred and sixty-five on Sixth Street, five
stories in height, with a Mansard roof.  The architectural
plan of the Howell Building was followed ill the additions,
so far as outward appearances are concerned, thus giving
to each story, above the first, a series of brownstone piers
or pilasters to mark the divisions between the windows.
Between each story the ornamentation in stone is simple
and chaste, consisting mainly of arches over the heads of
the windows, with carved keystones and cornice, frieze and
architrave, as a relief to what might otherwise be the
monotony of one hundred and sixteen windows above the
first story on Sixth Street, and fifty-six windows on Chestlnut Street, or one hundred and seventy-two windows on
the two fronts. In the middle of the Sixth Street front
there is a slight projection, running the height of the elevation. This tends still further to vary the architectural
design. The first story is composed of heavy wrought
iron columns, painted and sanded in imitation of brownstone, supporting the stonework above. No less than one
hundred and sixty-seven tons of iron were used in the construction of these columns. They are forty-two in number,
and give forty-one openings for the doors and windows
for the first story on the two main fronts. The doors and
windows in the stores on Chestnut Street, occupied by A.
T. Stewart & Co., of New York, and Cadbury, Rhoads &
Thomas, of Philadelphia, as well as those of two stores on
Sixth Street, are provided with wrought iron rolling shut
8 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
ters of Johnson's pattern, twenty-five in number, furnished
by the Architectural Iron Works of New York. The whole
of these, including slats, grooves, weights, boxes, shafting,
crank stands, and chain, weigh twenty-eight thousand four
hundred pounds.
COAT-OF-ARMS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Over the main doorway of the Sixth Street front, about
the centre of the building, is placed the coat-of-arms of
Peinnsylvania, carved in light Brunswick stone, from an
elaborate design by BAILLY, the sculptor, at the establishment of Struthers & Son, the well-known marble workers.
The whole design occupies a space eight feet in length and
five in height, the horses being half the natural size.  On
the base a band contains the inscription " PUBLIC LEDGER,"
and also the monogram' G. W. C."  The design is exceedingly bold, and has been executed with skill and taste.
The corner of Sixth and Chestnut Streets contains a still
more striking figure.  Upon a stone column, two feet six
inches in diameter and eighteen feet in height, set against
the anglle of the building, stands the statue of Franklin,
cut firom Brunswick stone. The figure is ten feet six inches
in height, and is not only perfect in its details, but the face
is said by good j udges to be the best likeness of the philosopher ever carved in stone.  While Bailly, the artist, was
9 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
engaged in modclelling the figure, he was permitted by the
late Mr. William J. Duane (who married a granddaughter
of Franklin), to use a portrait of the printer and philosopher, painted in Paris by Duplessis, the celebrated miniature painter. This is the best likeness in existence, and
the artist has succeeded well in transferring it to stone.
The figure stands erect, the left hand resting upon a pedestal formed by a pile of books to the rear of the statue.
The right arm is elevated, and the hand grasps the lightning-rod, while resting against the books is the traditional
kite. The figure is clothed with the costume so familiar
to us in the engravings of Franklin.  The column upon
which the statue stands is handsomely fluted, and has an
ornate cap, around the neck of which is inscribed,
PUBLIC LEDGER.
STATUE OF FRA         NKLIN.
The front of the column contains the bulletin-board. As
it stands, the top of the statue reaches to the third-story
floor, and an arralngement is made by means of which, at
iight, the four prongs of the lightning-rod will emit flames
of gaslight. At the base of the column two ornate white
10
1836.
1866. 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
marble drinking fountains have been placed for the accommodation of the public.  These fountains are on the face
of the column about four feet from the pavement, and are
of new design.  Each is in the form of a lion's head, elaborately carved, alnd so fashioned that the head, with the
water issuing from the mouth, has below it a basin for the
waste; the whole beiung cut from one piece of marble.  Set
against the brownstone, the white marble forms an attractive feature of the establishment.   A substantial bronze
railing encircles the fountains.  In the summer months, it
will be one of the most welcome landmarks in Philadelphia, as the arrangement of the coiled pipe supplying the
water is designed to ftlrnish ice water at all times.  The
whole of this work, togethler with the entire dressed browlnstone of the buildings, is from the establishment of STRUTIERS & SON, who set up the stone front on Sixth Street in
the short space of three weeks and four days.
DRINKING FOU  NTAIN.
The addition of the Mansard roof greatly increases the
architectural effect of the whole structure. Without this
roof the building has an elevation of sixty feet from the
pavement to the elaborate stone cornice that marks the
11 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
line at the top, according to the original design.  This
roof is rendered still more attractive by being arranged
with domes at the corners fifteen feet in height (from cornice), while the central elevation on Sixth Street is a dome
twenty-one feet in height. The other portions of the roof
are twelve feet above the cornice. Covered with slate cut
ornamentally, the Mansard roof gives an appearance of
increased height to the building to correspond with the long
line of one hundred and sixty-five feet on Sixth Street.  In
front of the central dome, and as a continuation of the
Sixth Street elevation, is a splendid design in brownstone,
carved by Struthers & Son, from models prepared by Bailly.
CENTRAL DOME.
The entire weight of this ornament is twenty-five tons.  It
is in the form of a half circle, the interior face, excluclding
the elaborate cornice, being fourteen feet long at the base,
and seven feet in height at the centre.  It rises above a
pedestal thirty feet long and four feet high, while the cornice that follows the curve of the circle adds three feet to
12 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
the hleight, making a total of fourteen feet from the cornice
of the building to the top of the circle.  The circle is also
flanked with ornamental scroll-work at the point of union
with the pedestal. The face of the pedestal contains, in
large block letters and figures, the inscription:  " 1836.
PUBLIC LEDGER.   1866."   The face of the half circle has
sculptured upon it, in relief, a globe, four feet in diameter,
with Europe and America marked on its surface.  Above
this resting in a recumbent position on the clouds surrounlding the globe, is the nude figure of a boy, designed
by the artist to represent Young America. This figure is
five feet six inches in height, and its position is such as to
enable it to reach the recording book which rests upon the
top of the globe. To the left is the locomotive, and to the
right the forked lightninig emerging from the clouds.  The
effect of the whole, as viewed from below, is very striking.
Along, the edge of the entire front of the roof, on Sixth
Street as well as on Chestnut Street, a handsome and highly
ornamental iron railing, furnished b)y WHITE & DEVINNEY,
is placed. It varies from three to seven feet in height, and
is nearly four hundred feet in length, passing as it does
around the domes, in addition to the front.  The panels
are bronzed, with the spear heads covered with gold leaf.
A large flagstaff rises from each of the domes on Sixth
Street. The central staff is sixty feet above the roof, giving
from the pavement to the point of the lightning-rod a distance of one hundred and fifty feet.  The flagstaffs at the
corners are each fifty feet in height.  A  handsome and
large set of colors, consisting of the National, State, and
City Flags, have been kindly presented by IIORSTMANN &
BROTHER.
The vane at the roof is a pen of six feet six inches in
length, and the letters marking the points of the compass
are within a radius of six feet. The gilt ball on the flagstaff is sixteen inches inll diameter. The arrangement of
the vane includes Gatchell's improved lightning-rod-the
13 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
latter consisting of a rope of twisted copper wire, containing eighteen strands of wire, about 1.16 inch in diameter.
The central dome is especially designed as a " look-out,"
and to that end easy access to it has been provided. From
it a grand view of the city is obtained; a panorama of rare
beauty presents itself before the vision of the spectator.
East, west, north, and south, for miles, every object of interest in Philadelphia is clearly discernible.  Southward,
the line of the Delaware and Schuylkill is distinctly
marked until near the union of the two streams at League
Island.  Point Breeze Gas Works, the Almshouse, the
County Prison, as well as hundreds of factories and foundries are in view. On the north, Girard College, Fairmount
Park, the Cathedral, and scores of prominent buildings are
readily distinguished.  East, we have the Delaware with
its shipping; and west, Mantua, and the whole region
known as West Philadelphia.  This "look-out" promises
to be an attractive spot for those who wish to secure a
bird's-eye view of Philadelphia, and, for the accommodation of visitors, seats have been arranged around the flagstaff.  No signs are to be allowed to disfigure the architectural effect on either front of the building.
Three large and ornamental lamp-posts, of an entirely
original design, by ROBERT WOOD  & CO., are placed on
both fronts of the building-one at the corner of Sixth
and Chestnut Streets; one on the Chestnut Street front at
the west end of the building; and the third onl Sixth Street
at the south end of the building.  Each of these lampposts contains upon the base, in relief, the inscription:
1, 1836. PUBLIC LEDGER. 1866." The tops of these lampposts are furnished with candelabras of an entirely new
pattern in this country.   On the corner of Sixth and
Chestnut  the post contains a cluster of seven lights,
grouped in a circle of six, with the seventh as the centre
piece raised a few inches above its fellows.  Each light is
inclosed in a globe of semi-opaque glass, two feet by fourteen inches.  The other two posts contain six lights, the
14 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
whole forming a neat as well as beautiful addition to the
front of the building. The design of these lamps is taken
from similar posts ornamenting the Boulevards of Paris.
While ornamental in the highest degree they in no wise
interfere with the business or utilitarian design of the
entire establishment. This completes an imperfect sketch
of the building, as viewed from Sixth and Chestnut Streets.
THE GROUND PLAN.
A reference to the ground plan and explanations of the
uses to which the various parts of the building are put,
will give the best idea of its size and magnitude. The
building, as now constructed, is in the form of a letter E,
the long upright of the letter being represented by the
Sixth Street front of one hundred and sixty-five feet, with
one projection of eighty-four feet on Chestnut, and another
of one hundred and ten feet at right angles with Sixth
Street, at the south end.  The central projection of the
letter E, at the first story, forms part of the Chestnut
Street stores, but above this the arrangement of skylights
at the second story of the stores enables the letter E plan
to be pursued the remainder of the elevation, giving lilght
and ventilation to all parts of the building. The middle
projection, at right angles with Sixth Street, is ninetythree feet fi'om Chestnut Street, and extends westward,
eighteen feet in width, a distance of fifty-eight feet, measured above the first story.  The projection at right angles
with Sixth Street, at the south end, is thirty-six feet in
width, extending westward one hundred and sixteen feet.
This projection has two large open spaces, or " well-holes,"
as they are called, on the south side, each ten feet by ten
feet, intended to provide light and ventilation to the wing
in addition to that which is secured through the numerous
windows on the north wall of this portion of the building.
These well-holes extend to the basement, and thus give
addition of light and ventilation to the Press Room.  The
15 
THiE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
stores on Chestnut Street extend one hundred and eleven
feet in depth, one store being thirty-six feet front, and the
other twenty-five. As before stated, the first floors of the
Chestnut Street stores include the middle projection of
what we have called the letter E.  This brings the rear of
the stores to the opening between this and the southernmost projection, the opening being a street eighteen feet
in width, leading to George's Court, and thence to Sansom
Street.  This street, or rear outlet, is paved with heavy
slabs of granite, and furnishes an easy means of access for
goods to the Chestnut Street stores as well as the Press
Room of the LEDGER. Above the first story the Chestnut
Street stores are seventy-nline feet in depth.  The pavement surrounding the two main fronts consists of heavy
slabs of granite, resting upon iron girders extending from
the curb to the line of the building. The circular openings
in the granite, as well as the space near the entrance to the
offices on Sixth Street and the stores on Chestnut Street,
are fitted with Hyatt's Patent Protected Lead-band Vault
Lights, thus making the basement almost as light as the
upper portions of the building.  The figures given above
are maintained throughout the building, and in the details
of the interior we shall indicate the use to which the
space thus obtained is put.
THE PUBLICATION OFFICE.
First, we have the Publication Office on the first floor, at
the corner, twenty-three feet on Chestnut, by sixty feet on
Sixth, and fifteen feet ten inches from floor to ceiling. No
business apartment anything like it has ever been constructed in America, and with the exception of a few old
baronial castles and one or two libraries across the water,
but little of the kind is to be seen even in Europe.  The
room is a marvel of delicate joinery work, and is one entire
mass of dark walnut and butternut-wood, or, as it is sometimes called, white walnut. Instead of plaster, the sides
16 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
andcl ceiling are wainscoted with these costly wocds, while
the counters, fixtures, furniture, andcl general appointments
are mnade to correspond in every respect with the elaborate
design of the architect.   Butternut-wood is similar in
BUSINESS DEPARFMENT.
appearance to oak, but is of a finer grain, admitting of a
better polish and finish. The ceililng and sides of the room
are a series of panels within panels, with the two woods
distributed in such a manner as to produce the greatest
effect by the contrast in colors.  The ceiling is divided illto
three principal panels, nineteen feet by ten feet, with heavy
2
17
'1 7   m 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
mouldings and cornice.  These, again, are surrounded by
a border of smaller panels, twenty-four in number, each
five feet four inches by two feet eighlt inches.
The principal panels have subdivisions  and circular
centre pieces pierced for the gas fixtures and chandeliers.
These chandeliers, three in number, together with the gas
fixtures throughout the building, were furnished by MISKEY,
MERRILL & TIIACKARA. Each chandelier has six lights, with
ground-glass globes.  They are of an original pattern, and,
in design and bronze and gold finish, are made to correspond with the elaborate furniture of the room.  The west
and south sides of the room contain eleven panels, commencing within four feet of the floor, and extending eleven
feet to the cornice at the ceiling.  The panels, although of
the same heig(rht, vary in width to suit the formation of the
room and the divisions and openings made for business
purposes.  They  are somewhat different in design from
those in the ceiling, preserving, however, the same characteristics of blending the two-color woods into a harmonious
whole.  As a further ornament, and in order to mark distinctly the line between the panels, a heavy moulding of
ebolny extends around the outer edge of each compartment.
IBelow these side panels, and running along the west and
south walls of the room, is a base three feet in height.
The panel form is still maintained with a bold moulding
or rail to mark the division between the base and wainscoting above   The iron columns on Chestnut and Sixth
Street fronts are also faced with panels of black walnut
and butternut, to correspond with the finish in other portions of the room.  At the north end of the office, against
the west wall, and immediately in front of the counter, one
form is still maintained, with a bold moulding or rail to
indicate the division between the base and the panels
above. The space, the size of a panel, has been filled with
a mirror, eleven feet by five feet.  This tends, by the reflection, to increase the apparent size of the room.
Inl the division of the office, care has been taken not
18 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
to mar the general effect of the work as a whole. Three
dlivisions are made, the largest being twenty-three feet by
forty, aid known as the Publication Office proper.  The
second, for the Cashier, is thirteen feet by twenty-three;
and the third, fitted up as the Private Office of Mr. Childs,
is twelve feet by twenty-three feet. The form of the counter
marks the separation between the Cashier and the Publication Office, there being an open-workl screen above the
counter two feet in height, filled in with plate-glass, the
whole being similar to the elevations above the desks in
banking establ)lishments. The division between the Cashier's
Room and the Private Office of the proprietor is made bmeans of an open firamework of walnut, seven feet in height.
Three arched openings, each five feet by four, pierce this
partition. Two of these are filled with clear, fine, French
plate-glass, in single sheets, the third containing a single
plate, with the coat-of-arms of Philadelphia elaborately
engiraved, from B. H. Shoemaker's glass establishment.
Resting on this partition is a large and elaborately carved
Swiss clock with French movements.
The Private Office is subdivided into two rooms, the
outer one being the reception or waiting-room, the partition between the two being little more than a frame for
pl)ate-glass, five feet by four feet, engraved with the coat-ofarms of Pennsylvania.  The two doors, one leadling from
the inner room to the Cashier's Department, and the other
to the Reception Room, are fitted with plate-glass, handsomely engraved around the edge, and containing in the
centre the monogram 4X (..."
The Private Office is furnished with the finest W\ilton
carpet, of a beautifil pattern in blue and gold; and all the
furniture, of the Roman and Italian style, has been carved
and made by Otton, to correspond with the design of the
office. Mr. JOTIN II. OTTON is one of the most accomplished
architectural carvers in this country, and to him was intrusted all the elaborate carving throughout the building.
In the execution of the work, he has achlieved a signal
19 
THiE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
triumph, and added still further to his reputation as an
artist and mechanic.  The doors leading to the Private
Office contain glass in single sheets, six feet by two feet.
A door leading to the hall on Sixth Street, as well as one
opening into a Retiring Room at the south end of the
apartment, is faced with mirrors six feet high and three
feet wide. As none of the partitions extend in height
more than seven feet, and these are all provided with the
opellings for glass, as we have described, the view of the
business office is not in the least destroyed.  The Retiring
Room, referred to above, is an apartment at the south end
of the room, extending under the stairway on the Sixth
Street entrance to the building. It is ten feet by seven in
dimensions, and has been fitted up to correspond with the
main office, the sides and ceiling being oiled walnut and
buttertnut-wood.  Throughout this apartment every attention has been paid to the details required to make it what
was desired in such a room. The carpet on this room is
the same as that of the Private Office.  Washstands of
walnut, washbasin of pure white Italian marble, and the
fixtures generally are of the most elaborate description.
In the use of marble, the white Italian has been beautifully
blended with the variegated Tennessee and the clouded
California marble. The water-cooler in this room, by
Struthers & Son, has been arranged in a manner different
from the usual construction.  The cooler is concealed,
the silver spouts only appearing through a panel of white
marble, around which runs a cornice of Tennessee marble.
The panel has an arched top, in the centre of which is a
keystone of California marble, with a monogram  on its
face.  Provision has been made for the thorough ventilation of the room, and in every respect it is one of the most
completely finished apartments in the building.  All the
modern conveniences, of the best material and most elaborate workmanship, have been introduced.
The labor and skill required in the construction of this
ilagnificent Publication Office may be imagined when we
20 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
state that there are nearly four thousand pieces of wood
of various shapes and sizes in the wainscoting, all fitted
and joined together with the nicety and exactness of the
most beautiful article of cabinet-ware.  Heavy  walnut
desks, of new design and construction, are provided for
the Cashier and clerks.
The counter is another elaborate piece of work, by
JOHN IKILE, pattern-maker.  It is of solid walnut and butternut-woocl, the latter wood being used in the panels on
the face. Heavy walnut brackets, carved in bold relief,
ornament the front.  The rear of the counter is provided
with drawers and closets of walnut, and on the north end
the "Post-Office" incident to a newspaper establishment is
placed.  In this connection we may state that a new feature in journalistic enterprise has been introduced into the
new office, namely, a "Ladies' Department."   A  lady
is in charge of the Post-Office, and attends to all the
advertisements brought to the establishment by woomen.
Against the west wall, and acljoinirg the  Post-Office, a
desk is provided for ladies preparing advertisements in
the office. The Cashier's Department, Ladies' Department,
and Post-Office are indicated by inscriptions  on silver
plates.  To correspond with the counter, walnut seats,
with carved legs and backs, have been constructed over
the bulkheads, in order to accommodate customers with a
resting-place in case of delay in the transaction of business.
The centre panels of the backs of the benches or seats
contain the monogram "i. {J. (.q" with "1836" on one
side, and " 1866" on the other.  Prominent in the room are
three handsome oiled walnut letter-boxes, of peculiar designi, picked in with gold, and with silver plates engraved.
All the cabinet-work, including sides and ceiling, has been
prepared with oil and other materials known to the painter,
until the whole has received what is called the "furniture
finish," which, without the use of varnish, gives a gloss or
polish similar to that put on modern cabinet-ware.  This
work was intrusted to BLUMINER & PALMER, the painters
21 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
who took charge of the painting and cabinet-ware throughout the building.
The two fronts of the office, one on Chestnut and one on
Sixth Street, give fifteen openings for doors and windows.
There are six doors and nine windows.  The windows are
filled in with the best French plate-glass, in sheets twelve
feet by five feet, while the doors are five feet in width and
ten feet in height, with transom containing a plate of glass
five feet by three feet.
The floor in front of the counter, as well as the floor of
the Reception Room, is laid with black and white marble
tile, in blocks twelve and six inches square. The contrast
with the dark wood of the office is very fine. The floor
in the rear of the counters is stained a dark color and
polished.  Heating apparatus, by the well-known firm of
iMoRRais, TASKER & CO., has been introduced, in the shape
of coils of pipe inclosed in bronzed open-work iron stands,
upon the top of which are white Italian marble slabs.
The result of this arrangement is that, instead of being
in any wise an obstruction, they are rather an ornament to
the room. On one of these stands, situated in the northeast corner of the office, is a walnut stand of new design,
containing portfolios intended for the daily file of the
LEDGER, for inspection or use of customers who wish to
refer to or cut the paper. Attached to it is a writing-desk.
A second stand, in the south end of the room, contains on
its top two handsome carved walnut writing-desks, with
every convenience for customers to prepare their advertisements in the office. Behind the counter, there is a double
desk, rising from a base of H form in plan, supported by
four chimera legs boldly carved, the space beneath being
arranlged to receive sixteen business folios, four on each
side of a Greek cross rotating so as to bring every book
within the reach of the various clerks occupying the desk.
In order to facilitate business, a " dumb-waiter" for " copy"
is set in the side wall, and leads to the third and fifth
stories, the former being the editorial and the latter the
22 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
Composing Room.  Speaking-tinbes also communicate with
the various apartments, five hundred and sixty-eight feet
of tube being used throughout the building for this purpose.  To the tubes are attached Shannon's Patent Improved Indicator Mouthpieces.
The above description of the Publication Office gives
lbut an imperfect idea at best of the magnificence, style, and
finish of this room. It must be seen to be appreciated.
This office is one of the most prominent features,'not only
in the building, but in Philadelphia.
THE PRESS ROOM.
Next to the Publication Office, the great feature of the
establishment is the Press Room, which, in everything
needed for the purpose of printing a newspaper, is without
an equal in this or any other country.  No expense has
been spared to secure what was desired, and the result is
alike creditable to the architect and those who were intrusted with the work.   The  basement appropriated to
this department extends under the south wing of the
building, and under the granite pavement of the street,
at the rear of the Chestnut Street stores, and also under
a portion of the Sixth Street sidewalk.   This gives a
room of an L shape, forty-six feet six inches wide, and
running east andcl west one hundred and twenty-six feet,
while the short arm of the L is eighty-nine feet by forty-two
feet.  Nine thousand one hundred and eighty-three square
feet of space are thus obtained in which to place the presses,
folding-machines, engines, boilers, steam-putmps, and all
the appurtenances incident to the department. The height
of the basement from floor to ceiling is twenty-three feet
four inches. The ceiling is supported by fifteen immense
columns, which are of wrought-iron of a peculiar constructionI, patented by SAMUEL J. REEVES, Esq., of the Phlenix
Iron Company, in 1862, and now being generally introduced
into first-class buildings of this character, and also into
23 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
warehouses, depots, and bridges. These columns are seventeen inches in the diameter of the shaft, and twenty-one and
a half inches counting from out to out of the filling pieces.
The height, including cap and base, is twenty feet three
inches; the weight per foot two hundred and eleven and onethird pounds; and the total weight of each column four thousand two hundred and eighty-nine pounds.  The sectional
area of shaft is fifty-five square inches; the required load
seventy tons, which is equal to a little more than one and
a quarter tonl per inch. They were tested to a pressure
of eighty tons, but at six tons per square inch their safe
load is three hundred and thirty tons each.  The fifteen
columns will carry safely a load of five thousand tonls, and
would not be crippled under double that weight.  These
are the largest wrought-iron columns ever made, and were
designed expressly for the LEDGER BUILDING. Thieir novelty
consists in combining into a hollow shaft eight pieces of
segment  iron, having flanges on each edge their full
length, and inserting between their flanges filling pieces
five inches wide by three-quarters of an inch thick-the
whole being riveted together and turned off true at each
end for the cap and base.  The effect produced by the
projecting flanges and filling pieces is somewhat similar
to that of large fluted columns, and is quite ornamental.
The Phcenix wrought-iron columns claim several important advantages over those of cast-iron. The pieces can
all be rolled perfectly sound and true to section, and each
piece can be examined in detail before it is used.  The
parts are all free from initial strains, and being rolled
thin, the ratio of the diameter to the length can always be
kept within the limit which will admit of a total applied
pressure equal to the greatest elasticity of the iron in this,
its best form. It is claimed to be not only safer andl more
reliable than the cast-iron column, but also much cheaper
for equal service.  lUpon one series of these columns rests
the northernmost brick wall of the projection under which
this cellar is constructed. By this means the space be
24 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
Heath the granite slabs which cover the courtway or street
is made part of the basement without the intervention of
walls. Brick arches are thrown between the iron girders
above, and these, as well as the side walls, are plastered
and made in imitation of granite. The columns are also
painted, with the small round projections which mark the
bolts, bronzed   The whole finish is such as is rarely, if
ever, found in an underground apartment.   The "wellholes" referred to, and the vauLlt-lights on the side street
and on Sixth Street, give an abundance of ventilation and
light to the immense room.  Artificial light for night is
25
T E1 E P R E S XR  ID M. 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
supplied through a large number of gas-burners distributed
throughout the basement.
That portion of the basement extending under'he Sixth
Street pavement has a floor constructed midway between
the ground and ceiling.  This forms what may be called
a long covered gallery for the accommodation of the carriers while waiting to receive their papers in the morning.
In front of this, upon iron brackets extending into the
cellar, andcl parallel with the Sixth Street front for twenty
feet, is a gallery thrown op)en to the public.  From this
a good view of the operations of the presses can be
obtained.  In order to insure dryness in a cellar of the
depth to which this has been carried, the ground has been
levelled and paved with brick laid in cement.  Over this
three inches of asphaltum is laid, givilng a floor almost as
hard as stone and impervious to water.  A well is in
the northwest corner of the room. It contains a spring
of water sufficient in quantity to supply a building double
the size of the LEDGER BUILDING, independently of alny
connection with the street main. A beautifully finished
" Woodward Steam Pump," capable of lifting seven thousand gallons of water per hour, is placed alongside of this
well, ready for service in case of fire.  It also forces the
water to the tanks on the roof of the building, a distance
of one hundred and twenty feet. From these tanks the
building is supplied with water.  The brick arches which
form the ceiling of this room, as well as the general
construction of the Press Room, were designed with especial reference to protection against fire.
The western end of the basement,. thirty-three feet by
thirty-five, is set apart as the Boiler Room, a brick partition, with openings for access between the two, separating
it from the Press Room. Two of Hlarrison's boilers, each
of fifty) horse-power, are erected in this room, the work
incident to the setting being of the most finished and substantial character.  The coal-bins and ash-pits are easy of
access to the engineer, and are arranged in such a manner
26 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
as to insure the neat appearance of the Boiler Room at
all times.  Two of Brinton & Henderson's steam liftingpumps are erected in this room, the office of one being to
supply the boilers with water, the other to lift the wastewater from  a well in the boiler room.  Water is forced
through ninety-five feet of pipe, and the pumps canll throw
three thousand gallons each per hour into the cisterns.  The
use to which the tanks are put will be referred to hereafter.
There is a perfect labyrinth of pipes of all sizes leading
from the boiler-room, all hleaving some part in the general
arrangement for heating the building or supplying it with
water.
The engile, whichll is to drive the presses and furnish
the motive power for the machinery in the job office and
other portions of the building, is located in the main room.
Two solid slabs of granite, sixteen feet long, three and a
half feet wide, and two feet thick, and weighing eight tons,
form the bed upon which the engine securely rests.  The
enginie has two cylinders, each of thirty-three horse-power,
or a total of sixty-six horse-power. It is arranged upon
the principle of a double engine, working at right angles.
The engine was built by the Corliss Steam Engine Manufacturing Company of Providence, Rhode  Island, and
is a beautiful piece of machinery. It is a duplicate of one
sent by the same Company to the Paris Exposition, and
which received the first prize of a gold medal.  All that
science, skill, and attention could do has been combined
in this engine.
Three of Hoe's Fast presses, with all the latest important
iml)provements, and elegantly finished, will hereafter print
the LEDGER. These machines will enable the paper to be
run off much more rapidly than formerly.  Each revolution of the type-carrying cylinder duplicates four pages
four times; and the addition of a cutting machine to the
press to divide the sheets as they pass from the cylinders,
results in giving eight copies of the paper with every
revolution of the type cylinder.  With the increased facili
27 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
ties furnished by these improived presses, the already large
and constantly increasing edition of the LEDGER can be
ready for distribution to subscribers at a much earlier
hour than formerly, and this will be the case should the
circulation double its present number.  As a further improvemenrt, and in order to insure the prompt and early
distribution of papers to carriers, and to relieve these
gentlemen of the delay incident to preparing the sheets
for subscribers, ten folding-machines have been provided.
Nine of these have been constructed by CnRUS CIrAIBERS,
and one by BUCKLEY. All of these machines are of comparatively recent date, and are adapted  to do expeditiously andcl properly the work heretofore intrusted to
men. In a circulation as large as that of the LEDGER, an
improvement of this character, shortening, as it does, the
time required to manipulate each sheet, is no inconlsiderable item.
Messrs. SELLERS & Co. furnished the shafting, pulleys,
and gearing required for driving the powerful presses and
malchinery; acnd  these, with  the belting, furnished by
MAessrs. SELLERS BROTHERS, were all specially manufactured for the purpose, and are of the most effective character.
In the minor details of the Press Room, as in every
other department of the building, care has been observed
to provide for the comfort of the employees, and those
having business to transact in the basement.  Wardrobes,
waslhstands, and all the conveniences necessary for the
accommodation of the workmen and carriers, have been
considerately and liberally attended to.
THE COMPOSING ROOM.
The Composing Room will next attract attention, differing, as it does, from similar rooms in America or Europe.
Instead of a dingy apartment of forbidding aspect, located
in the least desirable part of the building, the  Composing
28 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
Room of the LEDGER is one of the best-appointed and most
thoroughly-finished portions of the edifice.  The  same
attention to details that has marked the progress of the
work on the entire structure from beginning to end is to
be observed here.  Nothing  has been left undone  that
could in the least contribute to the comfort of the conmpositors and others, and enable them to perform expeditiously
and properly their part in the publication of the LEDGER.
Situated in the fifth story, the addition of the Mansard
roof gives a room of twenty-one feet from floor to ceiling,
except under the central dome, where the height is thirty
THE COMPOSING ROOM.
29 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
feet. All that portion of the story, twenty-thlree feet wide,
extending fromn Chestnut Street, along Sixth Street, a
distance of one hundred and twenty-seven feet, is appropriated to the compositors. There are thus secured two
thousand nine  hundredl and twenty-one square feet of
space.   The walls of the room  are plastered and then
painted in oil, the effect being to tone down the color, and
remove the glare of the white plaster caused by the large
number of windows on the several sides of the apartment.
The southern wing is separated from the Composing Room
by a partition, but it can, at any time, be added as part of
the same room, should the necessities of the paper require
it. Double the space now used would then be available.
For the present the wing will be used as a store-room.
The northern end of the Composing Room has been railed
off and neatly finished for the accommodation of the Proof
Readers and Night Editors.  In the remaining portions of
the room, thirty-six stands for the compositors are erected.
These stands have been located with reference to the use of
the light supplied through the windows on Chestnut Street
and the windows on Sixth Street, independently of the large
glazed openings on either side of the Mansard roof. The
arrangement of the stands is also made in such a manner as
to avoid crowding the printers together, as is usual in many
establishments, to the great inconvenience and annoyance
of the men.  Wash-room, clothes-rooms, and closets are
provided as part of the Composing Room.  The gas fixtures, instead of beiing suspended from the ceiling, come
from the floor, and there is ample provision for an abundance of artificial light at each stand and throughout the
room   In the fitting up of the room everything new has
been introduced-new iron stands, new cases, new type,
new  proof press, new  standing-galleys, new imposing
stones, and new fixtures generally.
From the Composilng Room access is had to the " lookout" on the roof of the building, a stairway leading to a
small railed gallery, and thence to the roof.
so 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
THE STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.
Adjoining the Composing Room, in the projection of
what we have called the middle of the E plan of the
building, is the Foundry for stereotyping the LEDGER.
It is an apartment  eighteen  feet  by  thirty-five feet,
lighted and ventilated by windows on the north and
south sides. Great care has been taken in the construction
of this room. In order to provide against fire, the floor is
composed of iron girders, filled in with brick arches. Above
these arches are placed several inches of gravel as the bed
for a fine pressed-brick pavement. The walls are plastered
and sprinkled in imitation of granite. At the west end of
the room are the furnace and kettle for preparing the typemetal with which a cast of the LEDGER is taken every night
for use on the presses. The furnace and kettle are of new
and improved construction.  All the fixtures, including
the moulds, steam-chest, cutting-machines, bed-plates, &c.,
are new and of the best material, with the latest improvements.  At the end of the passage-way, running at right
angles with the foundry, are the hoisting apparatus and the
well-lole communicating with the Press Room below, and
by means of which the stereotype plates are transferred
from the Foundry to the pressmen to be used in printing
the LEDGER.
EDITORIAL ROOMS.
The third story, twenty-three feet on Chestnut Street
and sixty-five feet on Sixth, is appropriated to the editorial
rooms.  Those who are familiar with the interior of nlewspaper establishments, and accustomed to visit rooms usually assigned to the literary staff, will be astonished to find
in the new LEDGER building, instead of contracted and
awkwardly  arranged quarters, a suite of magnificently
frescoed  apartments, fitted up  in  drawing-room  style.
31 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
There are four rooms designed to accommodat(e the Editors and Reporters.  One room, at the corner of Sixth and
Chestnut, is twenty-three by thirty feet, and is known as
the Library, and is occupied principally by the managing
Editor.  Thle walls and ceiling are beautifully frescoed in
panels, the prevailing color being a light green, with
mouldings, cornice, and centre-piece of imitation walnut,
with scroll-work running through, picked in with red and
decorated with the tints necessary to mark the lines in the
artist's design.  All the wood-work of the windows and
doors is walnut, and the chandeliers  and gas fixtures arc
bronzed. The furniture and appointments of this room
are of the most elaborate workmanship, and prepared
expressly for the purpose, by MOORE &  CAIPION, from
original designs.  A rich crimson and gold Wiltonl carpet
covers the floor, and the furniture consists of neatly framed
photographs, paintings, &c., also lounges, mirrors, carved
secretary, chairs, and octagon table, all of oiled walnut.
IHeating pipe, inclosed in an ornamental  framework of
iron, with marble top, has been introduced into this and
the adjoining rooms.  lHandsome shades at the windows
complete the furnishing of the Library.   The adjoining
rooms, three in number, communicate one with another
and with the Library, and all open on to a wide hall running north and south from the stairway leading to the third
story Each of these rooms is firescoed with panels of a
light cream color, with ornamental borders and centrepieces.  The work is grained to imitate oak, and the furniture is made to correspond.  Book-cases, newspaper files,
tables and secretaries, desks, wardrobes, lounges, and
chairs are provided for those who occupy these rooms.
The one adjoining the Library is the Editorial Room
proper; the next is assigned to the Reporters; and the
third is the Financial Editor's department.  The fresco
work and painting were executed by Blumner & Palmer.
32 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
THE JOB PRINTING OFFICE.
The Job Office is on the third floor, and  occupies a
space embraced within the new additions to the building.
It is in the form of a, letter F, the portion on Sixth Street
being seventy-eight feet by twenty-three, while the extenlsion westward in the southern wing is thirty-six feet
by a hundred and sixteen feet. The middle projection
gives eighteen feet by thirty-five additional.  The formation of the room furnishes five thousand seven hundred
and   seventy-two square feet of space.  As this room contains a large amount of machinery, including the presses
for job work, it was necessary to secure a firm foundation,
and at the same time provide against annoyances to
tenants in the offices below consequent upon the jar and
rumble of running machinery.  In order to accomplish
what was desired, heavy iron girders form the floor of this
portion of the third story.  Above these is the ordinary
arrangement of joists.  The wooden girders are securely
braced and bolted, and filled in with boards, upon which
four inches of tan is placed. Over the tan the flooring
boards are framned together. This gives strength and
stability to the floor, and the use of tan deadens the
sound and will prevent any disturbance of those occupying   the story below Ly reason of noise.  To provide a firm
backingf for the shafting in this room, the ceiling, instead
of being plastered, is covered with flooring boards, painted
white. A neat walnut counter, for' business purposes, and
an office, railed off for the superintendent of the Job
Office, are in the north end of the room.  In view of the
large and constantly increasing demands upon  the Job
Office, the presses, fixtures, and machinery provided for the
work are of the best material and neatest finish, and coml)ine all the latest improvements.  Hoe's, Adams',  and
Gordon's presses have been provided in numbers calcu      3
33 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
lated to execute with dispatch all orders intrusted to this
department.
The numerous windows on the front, and rear, and sides
give abundance of light and ventilation to the rooms, and
make it one of the best and most conveniently arranged
Job Offices in any printing establishment in Philadelphia
or elsewhere.
THE BOOK PUBLICATION OFFICE.
The office for the transaction of the business connected
with the book publications of Mr. Childs is on the second
story, and located in the middle projection of the building. It is neatly fitted up with all that is necessary for
the prompt and systematic attention to this department
of the establishment.
We have thus far described only that portion of this
immense building used for purposes connected with the
printing of the LEDGER, and the publication of the LITERARY
GAZETTE AND PUBLISHERS' CIRCULAR and the LAW WORKS
issued by Mr. Childs. Attached to all these apartments
are water-closets, arrangedl with all the modern coniveniences. From first to last, inside and out, nothing has been
omitted and nothing has been slighted. On the contrary,
all that artistic taste and mechanical skill could supply,
aided by a liberal outlay of money, has been taken advantage of to secure a building not only ornamental and imposing when viewed from the exterior, but which should
at the same time contain within its walls machines, machinery, apparatus, fixtures, and furniture of the best workmanship, finest finish, and most durable character.
Having thus disposed of the apartments used by the
LEDGER Establishment, it is our purpose next to refer to
the uses to which the remainder of the building has been
put.
34 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
THE STORES.
There are three stores, two on Chestnut Street, and one
on Sixth.  In the original construction of the building,
there were four stores on Chestnut Street.  In the new
plan, one of them has been taken for the Publication Office;
a second has been left the original width, but extended in
depth, while the remaining two have been thrown into one,
making a store of good proportions. This large store was
fitted up by Mr.. Childs expressly for A. T. STEWART & Co.,
the well-known and extensive New  York drygoods merchants. It is thirty-six feet front, extending back onl the
first floor a distance of one hundred and eleven feet, to the
street or courtway leading into George's Court, and thence
to Sansom Street.  Fluted iron columns fourteen inches in
diameter, with attic base and Corinthian cap, have been
substituted for the wall that formerly divided this store
into two. This arrangement is continued throughout the
building occupied by Mr. Stewart, and gives him a large
open space on each floor for the storage of goods and the
transaction of business.  At right angles with thle rear of
the store is a large passage eighteen feet wide, extending
into Sixth Street, giving an outlet in that direction, as well
as to the rear before mentioned.
The first story of the store is fifteen feet ten inches from
floor to ceiling, the second thirteen feet, the third, fourth, and
fifth each ten feet. The ceiling of the room on the first floor
is finished in panels of wood instead of plaster. This, as
well as all the woodwork inside the stores, is painted white,
and while there is nothing in the decorations that may be
called grand, there are few stores in Philadelphia provided
with better facilities for the transaction of business.  The
stairways inside this and the adjoining store have heavy
walnut railingo extending from the first to the fifth story.
Improved hoisting apparatus, by WILLIAM SELLERS & Co.,
is also introduced into both stores.   Bronzed two-light
35 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
chandeliers extend throughout the building. The front of
the store on Chestnut Street contains six openings, four of
which are windows with fine French plate glass in single
sheets, similar to those in the Publication Office.  Under
Mr. Stewart's store there are a well-lighted basement and a
sub-cellar, running the whole length of the building.
The westernmost store is occupied by CADBURY, RHOADS
& TIIONIAS, drygoods commission merchants. Its constrluctionl is similar to the store just described, except that
it is twenty-six feet front, instead of thirty-six feet, and has
no outlet on Sixth Street.  It is finished the same as that
occupied by Mr. Stewart.  The tenants occupy the five
stories.
On Sixth Street, the store which adjoins the Publication
Office on the south is occupied by B. C. WORTHINGTON,
tobacconist. Ihis store is eighteen feet front by twentythree feet in depth, and is fitted with the French glass on
the front, to correspond with that on other portions of the
building.
THE OFFICES.
Next come the offices on the first and second floors of
the extension on Sixth Street, and in the southern projection at right angles with Sixth Street, and also on the
second  floor immediately over  the  Publication Office.
The latter room is of the same size as the Publication
Office, and is occupied by BRADSTREET'S Improved Cominercial Agency. It is an office well suited to the purpose, and the tenants have fitted it up in handsome style,
with walnut fixtures, desks, and furniture. Independently
of this room there are thirty-one offices-thirteen on the
first floor, and eighteen on the second.  On the first floor
three of the offices front on Sixth Street, and are supplied
with French plate glass. In the second story, six offices
front on Sixth Street. The remainder of the rooms are
distributed along the southern projection. A passage
36. 
TIIE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
way, six feet wide. runs east and west through the middle
of the wing, and the offices are situated on either side of
it-those to the north receiving light throughl windows in
the rear cartway, and those on the south being supplied
by means of the "well-holes" before referred to.  The
well-holes also furnish light to the hall. A second hall
runs along the rear of the offices fronting on Sixth Street.
The entire range of offices on both floors, except the three
on the first floor front, and those located with reference to
the well-holes, communicate with one another, and can,
therefore, be rented singly or in suites. The rooms are
nearly of the same size, averaging fifteen feet by sixteen
feet in dimensions, and thirteen feet from floor to ceiling.
All are well ventilated and lighted, and steam-pipes, suppliedcl from the LEDGER boilers, will furnish the heat in the
winter.  Neat gas fixtures have been introduced into all
the offices.  Two of the offices on the second floor, fronting on Sixth Street, are occupl)ied by Mr. DOBBINS, the
builder, who has fitted them up in good taste, having had
the ceilings and walls frescoed in colors similar to the
Editorial Rooms.
In the fourth story, E. TRACY & Co., extensive watchcase-makers, occupy the southern projection, a room
thirty-six feet by a hundred and sixteen feet. The front
part on Sixth Street has been arranged as a countingroom, neatly furnished, while the rear is filled( with the
benches and fine machinery incident to the business. The
ceiling of this room has been constructed of planed boards
instead of plaster, ill view of the shafting used. Steampower is obtained from the LEDGER engines.
On the same floor, at right angles with Tracy's establishment, is a room nineteen feet by fifty-one feet, fronting
on Sixth Street, occupied by VAN INGEN & SNYDER, wood
engravers; and another room, on the corner of Sixth and
Chestnut Streets, of the same size as the one occupied
for the Commercial Agency. There is still another room
in the projection, the same size as the Foundry above.
37 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
This completes the description of the building, and in
this connection nothing remains but to indicate the means
of
ACCESS TO THE ROOMS.
The main stairway leading to the upper portion of the
building is on Sixth Street, through a hall nine feet wide,
adjoiniing the southern end of the Publication Office. This
stairway is imposing and of easy ascent, a platform being
arranged midway in each story. The stairway leads to
the fourth story, a closed stairway extending from thence
to the Composing Room. A handsome walnut rail runs
the entire flight, with a heavy walnut cap, while the
corresponding elevation against the wall of the stairway is
faced with walnut and butternut-wood in alternate slips,
all neatly finished and oiled.
From the fourth to the fifth story, in addition to the
closed stairway forming the continuation of the main
stairs, there is one of similar construction at the north
side of Tracy's establishment. At the southern end of the
Sixth Street front there is another open stairway, leading
to the se(cond story, and intended for the use of those occupying the offices or having business with the tenants of
these rooms It is furnished with a handsome walnut rail,
similar to the one attached to the main stairway.  In the
rear, at the western end of the southern projection, there
is also a closed stairway leading from the first floor to the
upper portion of the building. Hatchways, with hoisting
apparatus, are also located in this portion of the building.
Access is had to the Press Room from two stairways on
Sixth Street, and a private one leading from the hall
adjoining the Publication Office.
38 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
THE WATER SUPPLY
In a building of the magnitude and construction of the
LEDGER establishment, great care and skill were required in
the arranging of the water supply to the various stories
and departments. The work, together with the arrangement of the fixtures for the water-closets, was intrusted to
JOSEPH W. FORSYTH, plumber. He has executed the work
in a satisfactory manner. Four thousand five hundred feet
of pipe have been used to convey water from the tanks at
the top of the building to the thirty-four water-closets and
other portions of the edifice where it is needed. Pipe has
also been distributed with reference to protection against
fire, and at every available spot a plug, with attachments
for hlose, has been located. Hlose is placed at each story,
within easy reach in case of fire; a total of three hundred
and fifty feet is used for this purpose. The two tanks used
to collect the water are of a capacity of three thousand
gallons each. All the pipe, except that supplying the
first story, leads from these tanks, thus securing at all
times a uniform supply and pressure in every part of the
building.
GENERAL DETAILS.
Combining stability and graceful architectural lines, the
building, as a whole, may be aptly termed a huge crystal
palace, uniting with the solidity of a pile of brown stone
all the light and delicate tracery of an edifice of glass.
It contains sixty-four thousand eight hundred and twelve
square feet of space, and is lighted by three hundred and
fifty-four windows, with a total of two thousand eight hundred and twenty-four panes of glass, independently of the
sheet glass in the first-story fironts on Sixth and Chestnut
Streets.  About five hundred thousand pounds of iron,
wrought and cast, supplied by the PH(ENIX IRON COMPANY,
JOHN LANDELL, and SHEPPARD, MORTON & LEECH, have
39 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
been used in the construction of the building.  Some
twenty thousand feet of tin (exclusive of slating) have been
used to cover the flat portion of the roofs alone. Much of
this work, where joining with stone and iron projections,
though of a most iniitricate character, has been executed by
CHARLES DONAGHY in an excellent manner.  The smithwork was done by MAIATSINGER BROS., whose contract embraced all the stays, braces, eyes, anchors, camber-rods,
skylight sash and grating, together with the fire-proofs
and awning-frames, which have all been completed in that
substantial and tasteful manner which marks the work
of this noted firm.  Six thousand five hundred feet of
pipe have been used to distribute gas to the various
rooms in the building.  The work was done by GODFREY
KROUSE, the fixtures being supplied by MISKEY, MERRILL
& THACKARA.  Fifteen thousand three hundred and thirtynine feet of tube were used in the heating-pipes and coils required to distribute warmth throughout the building. This
portion of the contract was awarded to MORRIS, TASKER
& Co., who took a great deal of pains to make their work
thorough and satisfactory. COMBER & CO. had charge of
the granite-work, which is finished in the most substantial
manner throughout.  Mr. R. J. DOBBINS, the builder, who
was ably seconded by'his brother, MURREL DOBBINS, bricklayer, and  GEORGE  GLAYSTINE, carpenter, brougoht the
entire work to a successful termination, and the splendid
pile will long remain a monument of his skill, an ornament
to the city, and an evidence of the public spirit and liberality of the projector and owner.
Some idea of the size of the structure may be gathered
when it is understood that to pass around the several
apartments above the pavement will involve a journey of
one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight yards, or a
trifle over a mile, and that upwards of forty thousand days'
work was performed on the building.
40 
PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
Southwest corner of 6th and Chestnut Streets.
Commenced May, 1866.
Proprietor.
GEORGE W. CHILDS.
Superintendent of Press Room
W. L. DRANE.
Architect.
J. McARTHUR, JR.
General Contractor and  l
RICHARD J. DOBB
Contractors for Brown Stone 
STRUTHERS & SO
Sculptor.
J. A. BAILLY.
d Superintendents.
IIcNICHOLS d& BRO.
COMBER & CO.
JOHN LANDELL.
SHEPPARD, MORTON & LEECH.
PHOENIX IRON CO.
I[ATSINGER BROS.
GEORGE GLAYSTINE.
MIURREL DOBBINS.
GEORGE JAMES.
BILUMNER & PALMER.
CHARLES DONAGHY.
JASON LEWIS & CO.
J. W. FORSYTH.
GIISKEY, MIERRILL & THACKARA.
G ODFREY KROUSE.
FIELD & HARDIE.
J. B. SHANNON.
ROBERT WOOD & CO.
WHITE & DEVIN-NEY.
JOHN H. OTTON.
M__OORE &- CAMIPION.
JOHN KILE.
GRUBB & HINES.
B. H. SHOEMAKER.
MIORRIS, TASKER & CO.
JOSEPH HARRISON, JR.
W-MI. SELLERS & CO.
WALKER &- SONS.
J. D. RICE.
Excavations......
Granite Work......
Cast Iron.......
CsIrn.......
Rolled Iron.......
Smith Work......
Superintendent Carpenters.
"   Masons and Brickwork
"   Plastering...
Painting........
Tinwork.......
Slating
Slating..............~O   E~       o
Plumbing.......
Gas Fixtures and Bronzes..
Gas Fitting.......
Hardware........
........
Iron Stairs, &c......
Iron Railing...... 
Carved Furniture....
Counter Work.....
Stairs and Walnut Railing.
Ornamental and French Glass
Steam Heating.....
Boilers........
Steam Hoists, Shafting, &c..
Wire Screens......
Lightning Rods and Vanes.
Time Clerk for Mechanics and Laborers.
WM. M3cARTHUR.
Completed -Tune, 1867.
General Manager.
WM. V. 3lcKEAN.
Assistant Architect.
GEORGE SUi'VIMERS.
( 41 )  
rA
04
t
to
-e  
OPENING OF THE NEW LEDGER BUILDING.
ON Thursday, the 20th of June, 1867, the NEw LEDGER
BuUILDING was formally opened, the event being marked by
a gathering of newspaper men from all parts of the country,
who were invited to be present to assist at the inaugural
ceremonies.  During Wednesday tile numerous workmen
were busily engaged in giving the finishing touches to the
edifice, and preparing it for the inspection of visitors.
Success attended their efforts, and, with the exception of
a few trifling details, the building presented a finished
appearance.  At 12 o'clock precisely the magnificent flags
presented by the Messrs. Hllorstmann were thrown to the
breeze, the National, State, and City colors being displayed
from the flagstaffs. At 3 o'clock the guests began to arrive
at the building, and in a short time there was a brilliant
gathering of representative men.  The literary, mechanical,
and mercantile world, together with clergymen of the different denominations, poets and authors, judges and lawyers,
physicians, architects, artists, writers and publishers, were
represented. Military and naval men, as well as civilians,
were present, and never before in the history of Philadelphia was there ever seen a more distinguished gathering
of gentlemen who had made their mark in the world.
A pleasant hour was spent in examining the building,
after which the company assembled in the large Composing
RIoom in the fifth story.
About 4 o'clock the assemblage was called to order by
Juldge F. C. BREWSTER, who said:
(45 ) 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
GENTLEMEN: YOU will please come to order.  The agreeable duty has been assigned me of requesting the Hlon.
CHARLES GILPIN, formerly Mayor of this city, now District
Attorney of the United States, and well known. to all of
us, to be kind enough to take the chair upon this occasion.
REMARKS OF MR. GILPIN.
Mr. Gilpin came forward, and, when the applause with
which he was received had partially subsided, spoke as
follows:  GENTLEMEN: I acknowledge the honor of the call to the
chair upon this occasion, and while I do so I may be permitted to say that it is perhaps attributable in part to the
relations which I have held, as chief magistrate of this
city, with the Philadelphians who are here present, and to
the knowledge which our stranger friends who are with us
have of me arising out of that relation.
But, perhaps, there is another reason why the call may
not be considered entirely inappropriate. I have long
known and intimately known the founders of the LEDGER,
and I have always had most pleasant relations with its
present proprietor, Mr. Childs. I have known the LEDGER
throughout its whole life, " egg and bird;" and I recollect
when Mr. Swain, my old firiend, and I used to be about in
the "wee sma' hours" of the morning to get the news
from it before the public were awake. It was " a pennywise" but never "a pound-foolish" paper [applause]; and
the "two-penny" policy which has been adopted by the
successor of Mr. Swain, though a question of some doubt
at the time, together with other changes that he made in
it, has convinced the public and some of those who did not
altogether agree with him in opinion, that he was as wise,
and in some things a little wiser, than his predecessor.
That the prosperity which has arisen from that source will
continue with him is, I know, the ardent hope of all
present. [Great applause.]
46 
OPENING.
The LEDGER-you are all as well acquainted with it as I
am-what need I say of it?  It has been a peculiar paper.
It is the only paper, perhaps, in the United States that
without great profession has started upon and adhered to
a sound moral basis and a moderate, conservative course;
I mean, of the papers that have been self-sustaining.
There are other papers that have started with great proclamations of what they proposed to accomplish in the
maintenance of morals and religion, yet none of them have
stood up more determinedly than the LEDGER for the vindication of correct principles; comparatively speaking, they
have proved failures. The LEDGER has been temperate,
wise, discreet; never flattering ally one on account of his
position, and never assailing any one because he happened
to be a poor devil of a fellow whom it was easy to kick.
It has been temperate in those things, and that has been
the foundation of its success.
I knew the original proprietors well. I had great respect
for them, and great confidence in their common sense and
in their ability. I know the present proprietor very well,
and I think he is a most able and worthy successor, and
from what we see here to-day, and from what has occurred
in the management of the paper, we may safely predict
that he will meet a proper reward for the enterprise which
he has exhibited.  It is not a mere question of the LEDGER:
it is a question of Philadelphia and the LEDGER [applause],
because these things go hand in hand, with equal pace.  If
Philadelphia was not ready and willing to receive the
LEDGER as it is published, and to acknowledge the enterprise which attends it as it is manifested by its proprietor,
Philadelphia would not be what it has always been; but
while this building is an indication of the prosperity of the
establishment, it is an indication, too, of the prosperity
and progress of the city of Philadelphia.  [Applause.]
From being once a local paper, the LEDGER has now become a standard paper, a national paper. It is known and
received and read all over the country; it is an institution
47 
THiE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
of the city of Philadelphia; it is a type of our progress, a
type of our prosperity; and I believe that our city is
moving on rapidly, and that with it the LEDGER and all
interested in it will continue to prosper. [Long-continued
applause.]
In conclusion, permit me to say, I believe we have with
us a gentleman who has contributed much to the elevation
of this great structure.  I refer to Mr. McArthur.   The
gentlemen present will be glad to see him, and to hear from
him too.
REMARKS OF MR. JOHN McARTHUR, Jr., ARCHITECT.
Mr. JOHIIN MICARTIIUR, JR., the Architect of the building,
in response to the numerous calls made upon him, then
stepped forward and said:  MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN: As Architect for Mr.
Childs, I would respond to Mr. Gilpin by remarking, that
perhaps no professor of the arts has felt, in the past, more
intensely than the Architect, the want of cultivated and
liberal minds to appreciate and execute his immaterial
creations; nor are such wants, even in these  days of
public progress and enterprise, yet wholly unknown.  A1though, as a Philadelphian, I am proud of the increasing
taste and liberality of her citizens, as evidenced in the substantial and elegant buildings, both public and private,
which now adorn her streets, I cannot but feel increased
pleasure at the financial courage and princely liberality of
Mr. George W. Childs, to whom we this day owe the NEw
LEDGER BUILDING.  But little more than twelve months
ago, most of the space on which we stand was occupied
by time-worn and dilapidated structures, which, outliving
their time, have been swept down by relentless progress,
and from whose very graves has sprung this colossal pile.
Early in the spring of 1866, through the good offices of a
large-hearted friend (the late Dr. Jayne), I was commissionlled by Mr. Childs to design a suitable building in which
48 
OPENING.
to accommodate the PUBLIC LEDGER, whose extraordinary
increasing business demanded facilities commensurate with
its immense circulation and influence. The present site
being purchased, I was directed to proceed with the drawings, untrammelled by that too common stumblillng-block
of the architect, limited expenditure. Plans and specifications were soon prepared and submitted to competent
builders for proposals.   WVith many  doubts  and fears
lest the unsettled condition and greatly increased cost of
labor and materials should prevent the execution of the
design, I waited most  anxiously the opening  of  the
bids; and although the lowest of them greatly exceeded
my extreme estimates, Mr. Childs at once decided to proceed with the work, awarding to Mr. R. J. Dobbins the
general contract, and to Mr. Struthers all the stone fronts.
Such promptness in the face of so large a proposed expenditure is rare, more particularly when it was evident to
both the owner and myself that the business of the LEDGER
could as readily be accommodated in a plain, substantial
building, at a saving in cost of not less than one hundred
thousand dollars.  To the contractors, Mr. Dobbins and
Mr. Struthers. together with the able mechanics and others
furnishing labor or materials, much praise is due, they all
hlaving done their best to sustain the well-merited character for excellence so universally accorded to Philadelphia
workmen.
For such information as was necessary to a proper
arrangement of apartments and apparatus for the efficient
working of this great publishing house, I and my assistant,
Mr. George Summers, are almost wholly indebted to the
far-seeingo and comprehensive views of Mr. Childs, the
proprietor, and to Mr. McKean, the general manager, and
Mr. Drane, the mechanical superintendent of the PUBLIC
LEDGER; our duty being to give strength and stability to
their numerous suggestions and requirements, and adapt
the whole to architectural forms. The success or failure of
our efforts is before you, subject to your inspection and
4
4.9 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
criticism. And here let me say, in closing, that experience
and observation in the practice of my profession have
taught me to believe that none of the arts so impresses the
mind through the eye as Architecture; and just ill proportion as its purity is fostered and esteemed by any people
will they be found refined and cultivated.  Howv appropriate, then, and consistent, that the PUBLIC LEDGER, daily
addressing more than three hundred thousand readers and
hearers, should also commend itself to an appreciating
public by a spacious and tasteful edifice, a lasting evidence
of its stability and power.
Mr. R. J. DOBBINS, the Builder, was then called upon.
By request of Mlr. Dobbins, the Hon. DANIEL M. Fox responded to the call.
REMARKS OF HON. DANIEL M. FOX.
]ie said that, although one of our most energetic and
successful builders, his firiend was an exceedingly modest
man.  To make a speech under circumstances such as the
present was for him, as he said, one of the most embarrassing dutiesthat could be assigned him. That gentleman's
task in the fulfilment of his portion of the contract had
been to him an exceedingly anxious and protracted one,
and he had dclevoted many days and even nights to thought
and labor in his anxiety and determination to make the
b)uilding not only a credit to himself, but a complete realization of the idea of its public-spirited owner-in a word, to
make it an important addition to the ornamental architecture of the city.  Having received the assurance of Mr.
Childs that his work had given full satisfaction, Mr. Dobbins wished to make it known that, in a very material
degree, his success was due to the kind forbearance and
liberal spirit which had ever distinguished that gentleman
in their intercourse from the beginning to the elnd of the
50 
OPENING.
great work, and he desired to express his thanks to Mr.
Childs thus publicly.  [Applause.]
REMARKS OF MR. WM. V, McKEAN.
WATA. V. MCKEAN, Esq., of the LEDGER, being called
upon, came forward and said:  GENTLEMEN: We have just heard from one modest man,
and I am here to speak for another-and that other is
Mlr. Childs.  [Applause.]  I know that he has experienced
a great deal of anxiety about this building dulring the last
eighteen months; but I feel very free to say, that rather
than get up and make a speech here for himself, he would
undergo all that anxiety for the next eighteen months.
Now, I am certainly not warranted in speaking at any
length to an audience scattered about as this one is, and
from a platform no higher than the one onl which I stand,
and I will detain you perhaps but five or ten minutes; for
you are due at fivne o'clock at the Continental.  You will
please to bear in mind, gentlemen, in construing all that I
may say, that I am sufficiently identified with this establishment to know what I am talking about, and that, at
the same time, I am  sufficiently disconnected from  Mr.
Childs to be able to speak in praise of him without any
risk of self-laudation.  Therefore, if I praise him, you will
please bear in milnd my explanation.  The object sotught
to be accomplished in the erection of this magnificent
structure in which we are assembled to-day, was-first, to
build a printing-office that would be as thorotughlly adapted
to the purpose, and as convenient as any printing-office
could be made; second, to make that printing-office a comfortable, cheerful, and wholesome place for workmen to do
their work in-a very important desideratum.  The third
consideration (growing firom and not interfering with the
other two) was to make this convenient, comfortable, and
wholesome prinlting-office an ornament to the city of
Philadelphia. [Applause.]
51 
THIE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
Now, gentlemen, you have been over this building, andcl
you are able to judge (even those of you who  are not
printers) whether, in the first place, it is likely to make a
convenient printing-office.  You who have seen that light
and airy, dry and well-ventilatedcl press-room, although it
is twenty feet below the pavement (and which, in printingoffices ordinarily, is a dark, damp, unwholesome well to
work in), and you who stand now beneath this lofty ceiling, where a hundred gas-lights will be b)urnilng every night,
and where there are space and ventilation provided for
carrying off the devitalized air, the air whose oxyg-en has
been consumed, and that would otherwise poison and ultimately destroy the lungs of the workmen-you, too, who
have seen the luxurious apartments which those of us who
are otherwise occupied are to inhabit-you may be able to
say whether the office is a convenient place, and whether
its arrangements are such as will be likely to conduce to
the sanitary good of the men who are to work within the
buildilng.  And those of you who have looked at it from
without, may be able to answer, as well as Mr. Childs or
I, or anybody could do, whether this magnificent structure
which has arisen here at Sixth and Chestnut Streets, is an
ornament to the city of Philadelphia.  [Applause.]  And
when you have considered these points, gentlemenel, you
will be able to answer whlethler the three great objects
aimed at by Mr. Childs in the plan and arralngemenit of
the building have  been  successfully achieved or  not.
[Prolonged applause.]
This brings me naturally and logically to the point
where I may properly speak of the gentlemen who have had
this matter in charge: of Mr. McArthur, the architect,
whose genius and experience have been all the time operating; of Mr. Dobbins, the builder, whose skill as an artisan
has all the time been operating; of his brother whom I see
here before me; of the various sub-contractors whlo are
named in the papers of this day —that to them altogether,
to their heads and hands, and to all the active energies
52 
OPENING.
they have displayed. we owe the execution of the admirable
plans and designs of Mr. Childs for this magnificent building,.  I wish they had spoken more for themselves, but I
will say their work is done well throughout, from the first
drawings of the architect to the last stone that was put
upon the building.
Now, gentlemen, there are some of you who perhaps
have heard something about the cost of this building. I
am not going to say what the aggregate cost is, but I will
mention a few things connected with it. In the putting
up of this building several hundred thousand dollars have
gone out into circulation among the stone-masons, the
bricklayers, the brickmakers, the carpenters, the plasterers,
the painters, the blacksmiths, the locksmiths, the gasfitters, the steam-fitters, the carvers, the cabinet-makers,
and the machinists and other workmen of this community.
In furnishing the building with machinery to do its work,
somewhere in the neighborhood of one hundred thousand
dollars more have gone into the foundries, the machine
shops, and other workshops of this city; so that you will
perceive something has been accomplished in keeping the
circulating medium in action in that way, instead of locking it up in a grand investment of an inactive kind. It is
in just that sort of thing that Mr. Childs, who has been
referred to here as a modest man, takes delight; and I say
it is a characteristic for which any man  ought to be
honored: that he should prefer to invest in a way in which
all these agencies of industry, all these workshops, are
put in vigorous action.
I have said enough as to the mere cost of the thing, and
I think, from the look of the clock, I ought to be coming
to a close. There is a great deal else that might be saidl,
but I will only detain you now to say this: that you,
gentlemen, who are here and have seen this beautiful building, and heard something of what it has cost, must not go
away with the impression that the million or more dollars
that are invested in the business have been the profits of
53 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
the LEDGER within a year or so. [Laughter.]  I feel bound
to warn you all not to go to setting up newspapers with
any idea of acquiring suddenly such an income as that out
of the business.  [Renewed laughter.]  A  great amount
of money has been spent here which did not come out of
the profits of the LEDGER at all.
IMr. Chairman: I believe I have done all now I ought to
do except to thank Mr. AIcArthlur, Mr. R. J. Dobbins, and
all the subcontractors engaged in this work, and to say in
b)ehalf of Mr. Childs, that this l)uilding, as far as their
work is completed, is accepted from their hands with very
great satisfaction.
Judge BREWSTER said: Mr. Chairman, I move that we
adjourn to the Continental Hotel.
Adjourned.
54 
5ftanut  att t  Iontintntal  -otl
( 55 )  
BANQUET AT THE CONTINENTAL HIIOTEL.
AT the close of the ceremonies at the building, the
company adjourned to the Continental Hiotel, where a
magnificent banquet had been prepared for the entertainment of the distinguished guests. In preparing for this
banquet, J. E. KINGSLEY & Co., the proprietors of the Continental, had a carte blanche, and in execution of the order
intrusted to them, they succeeded in preparing an entertainment the like of which had never been seen in Philadelphia.  The splendid large banqueting room of the Continental was filled with tables spread for the guests. A
table ran along the entire length of the room, with ten
others at right angles with it, and these were handsomely
decorated with all that confectionery art and artistic taste
could furnish, while all the table furniture, of silver and
French china, was of the brightest and newest patterns.
The rarest and choicest flowers and tasteful pyramids were
interspersed with the elaborate constructions of conlfectionery.  On the main table a representation of the old
hand-press contrasted with Hoe's Last-Fast; and perhaps
the most striking figure was a representation of the LNEw
LEDGER BUILDING, constructed of a material known only
to the chief caterer; and it was a capital representation
of the buildinig.
The decorations of the room were of a character to
correspond with  the tables  and their contents.  The
American flag was draped around the room, with a centrepiece over the presiding officer's chair. This centre-piece
was an arrangemenlt of the national colors around the
(57) 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
coat-of-arms of the State, the whole forming a tableau of
great beauty.
The Germania Orchestra was in attendance, and throughout the evening discoursed most excellent music.  The
Mrennerchor Society was also present, and, during the
pauses in the speeches, gave some of their best songs and
choruses in German  and English.  The Star-Spangled
Banner was especially noticed.
It is scarcely possible fully to describe the splendor of
the spectacle presented in the vast saloon, when the
thronging guests had seated themselves around the tables.
We are dealing not in hyperbole, but with facts, when we
say, that the brilliancy of the scene had never before been
surpassed or equalled in our country.  All the resources
of art, taste, skill, and unbounded liberality were invoked
to lend grace to the occasion; and those who witnessed it
will ever recall it as a great event in their lives. Brave
men, and wise men-rulers of armies, cities, and Stateslegislators and lawyers, teachers of religion and judges
of courts, authors and journalists, merchants and bankers,
gathered from various States of the Unlion, were there
found side by side, joining( in willing homage to the power
of the Press, and celebrating anl illustrious triumph of its
enterprise. Thus the sight presented was rendered no less
suggestive to the thought than impressive to the sense of
the beholder.
About five hundred guests were seated at the tables
among whom were representatives of the press of the
whole country  forming one grand family, in which all
questions of politics were sunk in the universal recognition
of the dignity of the profession to which they belonged.
MIAYOR McMICHAEL presided, and, celebrated as he is for
tact and genial humor in giving happy direction to all
the proceedings at social and festive meetings, it was a
subject of universal remark that his felicitous and admirable management on this occasion could not have been
surpassed.
58 
BANQUET AT THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL.
The pleasures of the evening were enjoyed by a number
of ladies, as well as the distinguished body of representative men already referred to.  The ladies were assembled
in an adcjoining parlor, where a sumptuous dinner had
been set by Mr. Kingsley, and after it was over, they adjourned to the large dining-hall, and spent the remainder
of the evening ill listening to the admirable speaking tliat
markled the occasion.  This was a pleasant and unique
feature of the PUBLIC LEDGER celebration.
The ceremonies of the eveningi were opened by BISHOP
SIMPSON, who invoked the Divine blessing in the following
PRAYER.
ALMIGHTY FATHER!  we adore thee as the Creator of
all worlds, the bountiful Giver of every good and perfect
gift.  All light emanates from thee; thou art the source
of wisdom and of knowledge!  We praise thee for the
multitude of thy mercies; for thy thoughts of love and
compassion  to the human family;  for the inspirations
which purify and elevate our race!  We confess our sins,
and implore forgiveness through our blessed Redeemer.
We pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, that in all our
ways we may hereafter please thee.
Assembled as we are at this hour, we bless thee for the
art of printing, for the diffusion of literature, and for all
the holy influences which flow thence upon society.  We
implore thy richest benedictions  upon  thy servant  at
whose invitation we have convened, and by whose hands
these tables lhave been furnished. Long may he live to
enjoy the smiles of thy countenance, and to do good
among men.  Bless all who have assembled here firom different parts of our land.  May all those who are connected
with the press in its various offices be teachers of wisdom,
and may they all be taught of God.  May their influence
ever be powerful in removing evil, and in elevating society
towards its high perfection.  Maiy we all so eat and drink,
59 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
so live and labor, that we shall fulfil our mission on earth,
and finally meet in heaven, for Christ's sake.  Amen!
The numerous and delicious courses of the banquet
occupied several hours, which rapidly passed away during
an incessant flow of sallies of wit and agreeable and genial
conversation.  After the disposition of the feast, the further proceedings of the evening were inaugurated by the
eloquent and impressive delivery of the following
ADDRESS OF MAYOR McMICHAEL.
GENTLEMIEN: Mr. Childs has asked me to occupy, this
evening, the place which, as our host, under ordinary circumstances, he would be expected to fill.  I have acceded
to this request very cheerfully, not only because it always
gives me pleasure to oblige Mr. Childs, but, also, because
it seems to me proper that somebody other than himself
should preside. The motives which have brought us together are peculiar.  We are the guests of Mr. Childs
[applause] -bidden by him to this most generous and
sumptuous feast; but at the same time we have assembled
not merely, nor even so much, that he may do honor to us,
as that we may do honor to him [great applause], or rather
to the event it is his object to commemorate.  It is well,
therefore, that he should be relieved from the embarrassments which this dual, and in some respects incongruous,
position might involve; and there are obvious reasons,
both official and professional, why I should take his seat.
In doing so, of course I commit myself to the double duty
of speaking for him and for you. [Applause.]
First, then, gentlemen, in behalf of Mr. Childs, let me
say that he rejoices at your presence.  For months past
hlie has looked to the completion of the NEw LEDGER BUILDING as a crowniing act in his career.  No wonder, therefore,
that he desired to consummate its dedication to his future
uses by suitable ceremonies.  As little wonder that among
60 
BANQUET AT THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL.
the most effectual methods of making the occasion im posing and memorable he invited you-you who are re presentatives of the great interests and industries and
instrumentalities and activities of our country —you who
typify its social, political, civil, and military power-to join
with him, and to all of you he returns his thanks for the
cordial manner in which you have accepted his invitation.
[Great applause.]  He is grateful-and he has cause to be
grateful-that so many gentlemen, some of whom have
come firom a long distance, with no little personal incon venience to themselves, have so kindly responded to his
call.  He is proud-and he has cause to be proud-that
those who now sit at these tables include so many foremost
men of the land-foremost in arts and armns, foremost in
the pursuits that illustrate and adorn and fructify the
placid days of peace, as well as the deeds that intensify
and symbolize the furious hours of war.  lie knows-no
one knows better-that such a convocation, comprising so
much worth and so much distinction, is a favor seldom
enjoyed and never to be forgotten, and through me, again
and again and again, hle offiers you thanks and welcome.
[Long-continued applause.]
And now, gentlemen, having said this for Mr. Childs, I
am sure I speak your sentiments as well as my own when I
say that we think it is good for us to be here. If Mr. Childs,
as none of us doubt, is glad to meet us, we are glad of the
opportunity he has given us to meet him.  [Laughter and
applause.]  We are glad to see him eye to eye; glad to
express to him, face to face, the good(-will we entertain
towards him, the respect in which we hold his rare faculties
and qualities, the admiration we feel for that concentrated
and untiring energy which has so often insured him success.  [Applause.]  For he has had remarkable success.
Not to refer to other efforts, we know that as a bookpublisher he has achieved results that few besides himself
could have attained; as a newspaper publisher we have
this afternoon had proof that he has achieved what none
61 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
besides himself would have ventured to attempt.  [Applause.]  I have seen it stated in biographies of  ir. Chlilds
that for many years his most cherished wish was to obtain
possession of the PUBLIc LEDGER. It was a wish not unworthy of an honorable ambition, and he has realized it to
his heart's content.  The LEDGER is a Philadelphia institution.  Its commencement marked an epoch in our local
history; in its progress it has been identified with all our
local movements.  At the outset it was a startliing novelty;
now it is a recognized necessity. Elow well I remember
when the first number that was issued made its appearance.
Though diminutive in size, it was, as this fac-simile shows,
a creditable journal from the beginning, alike in its mechanical execution and its literary contents. And well it
might be. Its publishers were three printers unusually
skilled in all that belonged to their calling; its editor was
a scholar of wide culture, a keen and bright observer, and
a writer of uncommon fluency and force. Until AIr. Chilclds
became its purchaser, two of its original proprietors continued to bLe its owners; until the death of its original
editor, he continued to contribute to its columns.  This
permanence was and is characteristic of the LEDGER.  The
men who devised it, like the man who now conducts it,
were wise and farsighlted, and they laid its foundations on
an enduring basis. [Applause.]  They intended it should
last, and not allowing any temporary inducements  to
swerve them froin their purpose, they persevered until it
was accomplishedl.  And it is a striking example of what
patient application intelligently directed can do, that an
apparently hopeless undertaking, begun with limited means,
under serious disadvantages, has, within the memory of
many who hear me, largely enriched its projectors, and
that the little obscure office in the old Arcade has been
replaced by the palatial establishment-so vast in its design, so substantial in its structure, so ornate in its embellishments, and so perfect in its appointments-we have
so recently visited and examined. For this last we are
62 
BANQUET AT THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL.
indebted to the munificence of MIr. Childs [applause], and
while we of Philadelphia are under especial obligations for
the beautiful edifice thus adclded to our city, his brethren of
the press everywhere owe him gratitude and praise for the
costly monument he has reared to the dignity, importance,
and value of our profession.  [Long-continued applause.]
An analysis of the life of a newspaper like the LEDGER,
viewed in relation to the facts of its birth, the conditions
of its growth, the forces which  have controlled it, the
power it has acquired, the influence it has exerted, and its
general reaction on the community from which it derives
its support, would be an interesting and instructive study.
But such an analysis cannot now be entered on-at least
not by me; for having discharged my vicarious functions,
my  business is to bring  forward others, and not any
longer to remain in the foreground tnmyself. [Cries of " go
on."]  And just here I confess my difficulty occurs. With
so many eminent persons around me, I scarcely know how
or where to choose.  But as I must begin somewhere, and
as this is, in a large measure, a gathering of journalists,
met to celebrate a triumph of journalism, I believe I cannot do better thanl ask my venerable friend, Mr. Chandler,
who so long and so ablly upheld the fame of our craft, and
who is the oldest member of the editorial fraternity now
present-perhaps now living —to favor us with whatever
he may deem best adapted to the occasion. [Applause.]
To this end, gentlemen, with the expression of an earnest
hope that the closing years of his well-spent life may be as
smooth and happy as his earlier and later manhood was
active and useful, I propose
" The health of JOSEPfH Pf. CHANDLER."
REMARKS OF THE HON. JOSEPH R. CHANDLER, LL.D.
Mr. CHANDLER, who was most cordially greeted, said:  Dr. Young, in talkiing of himself, as a good many old
people are apt to do, without speaking as well as he did,
63 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
said, " I've been so long remembered, I'm forgot."  It becomes me rather to say, I have been so long forgotten
that this new recollection of me seems startling.  Indeed,
I have been for these last few years so dead to society, so
buried in private pursuits, that I had become quite a Sacldducee in regard to my own resurrection to any public
intercourse; and if I did not feel that I have a sort of
personal interest in all that concerns the public press, and
at least a traditionary claim to your recollection, I should
be amazed at being summoned to this gathering, especially
as I find myself among so many young " Pharaohs that
know not Joseph." [Applause.]
Deficient as must be my remarks in aught that can
amuse or instruct the assembly, I shall task its patience
less if, of the few moments which I am to use, I give a
portion to the expression of my profound gratitude for
the kind manner in which you, my  old friend and successor in business, have been pleased to refer to me and
my labors; and while I felicitate you and your friends
upon your success and triumphs in all that you undertake,
I congratulate myself on the enjoyment  of their kind
esteem and on your good opinion, so flatteringly and so
beautifully expressed. [Applause.]
But I am called up as one of the past-one of the rusty
links that connect the old with the new; to speak of bygone times, and especially of the connection of this day's
proceedings with the elder press of our city.  Pardon me,
or rather applaud me, if I only gossip a little, and leave
speech-making in better hands.
When I commenced connection with the newspapers
nearly fifty years ago, the simple hand-press, that gave
two hundred and fifty impressions an hour, sufficed for all
demands upon the office; but an increase of general interest and of business rendered necessary some additional
means, and one new press after another was invented and
used, till finally-and I suppose it is finally —came the
" Hoe Press" to take its place in a newspaper office-nay,
64 
BA-N-UE  ATTH C-,NI'\,- T
BAQE  AT  lEOIN\   ",\TE,'ABit_~QUET AT THE CONTINEN-TAL HtOTEL<~~,~':',' _:
to take the place of aill others, and do with a single machijie, in an hour, as much as a brigade of the others could
accomplish in a day.
Every pursuit in life, while, if lawful and generous, it
creates agreeable association among its members, begets
also a little jealousy, emulation, and rivalry; and no man
in any calling ever saw a rival come into the field of his
labors without an interested inquiry as to the effect which
the new-comer is to have upon his share of the harvest.
Business men of the same pursuits unite, indeed, with
much harmony in defending and protecting the limits of
their trade, but the unionl is only against others out of the
trade.  Withinl the circle each individual of the confriaternity is watching for his own interests, and jealous of the
encroachment of each brother of the same craft.
Before the LEDGER appeared there was a calm in the
newspaper world that seemed to denote some coming agitation.  Up to that time I had seen nothing that excited
anxiety in me relative to my own interests.  I could at
least keep pace with others, and saw my subscription list
slowly but steadily improviing.  But when the LEDGER
sprung into existence, there was in its management and
in its general appearance an earnestness that seldom fails
of success, when  backed  by perseverance;  and other
schemes of a similar kind, in this city, seemed to feel and
confess and submit to the supremacy of the undcertaking
of Mr. Swain and his associates.  I felt a little anxiety, I
confess, because I saw what the " Sun" was doing ia New
York for itself, and, always distrustful of myself, I was
solicitous about the influence of this new-comer upon the
"U United States Gazette." Like others, I could philosophize
upon the advantages of rivalry and competition. But how
was this competition to affect me?
I had many friends ready and willing to aid me in their
way; but there was only one business man in this city to
whom I mentioned my solicitude.  I asked him what he
thought the effect of the LEDGER'S success would be uponi
5
5
.... 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
the large papers - of course I meant the " United States
Gazette." That friend was Henry C. Carey, a man whose
clear head and business habits made his opinions eminently
valuable, while his warm heart would not allow him to
withhold  advice when he  believed it would  do  good.
" The prosperity of the LEDGER," said Mr. Carey, " and I
consider that prosperity certain-the prosperity of the
LEDGER will, as I think, restrain for a time your advancement.  It will not draw away your subscribers, but for a
time it will interfere with additions to the list. But the
result will be, and that before long, that the LEDGER will
educate a class of readers that now seldom see a daily
paper, and they will become your subscribers."
IMy own experience showed the justness of Mr. Carey's
opinions, and it is probable that the large papers of
the city, all that succeeded, owed much of their prosperity to the influence of the LEDGER, assisted by their
own enterprise and talents.  For they have succeededsucceeded beyond all that preceded them-and will, I hope
and believe, continue to succeed.  [Applause.]
" But," it will be asked, "is the LEDGER still only the
pedagogus that brings readers to the other papers, or has
it been content merely to direct the abcedarians of the
lowest form?"
The LEDGER has done the work which MI. Carey mentioned.  Under its old and able management it scattered
knowle(ldge, and created an appetite for newspaper readinug-an appetite which was gratified by a larger press.
But in doing that it disclosed abilities for a higher office,
and among  the earliest results of the new reform the
first great work of Mlr. Childs was to take advantage of
the general character which the LEDGER had obtained as
a teacher, so that nlow, not only does it conduct the
scholar to the academy, but Mr. Childs has improved
and elevated his establishment into the dignity of a university.  Therein he shows his mastership.  [Applause.]
It was much to discover the vast capabilities of the LEDGER
66
:1:......:: 
BANQUET AT THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL.
as it was a few years ago. It was more to give those capabilities their highest direction, and secure to the public
and to the proprietor, objectively and subjectively, their
incalculable advantages.  It was much in Mr. Swain to
detect the exact wants of the people, and so to supply
that deficiency as to make himself and the establishment
a necessity to the community. It is more in Mr. Childs
to seize upon the great work of his predecessor, and to
make it respondcl to the new wants of the people, and to
gratify an elevated taste by the very means by which that
taste had been cultivated. [Continued applause.]
In noticing the contents of the first number of the PUBLIC LEDGER, a copy of which is now before us, the date
seems to have escaped remark.  It was issued on a Friday.
Think of that. I do not allow myself to be superstitious
about days and seasons, but there are many persons, and
I may be of the number, who at the commencement of the
LEDGER enterprise would not on a Friday have commenced
a journey of any length, not even to New York, without
first making their wills. Friday, sir, was, and even now is,
reckoned an unlucky day.  It is said, indeed, that Columbus set sail on the voyage in which he discovered America
on a Friday.  Well, his discovery did the world more good
than it did him, and hence did not redeem Friday from its
gloomy presages. But the LEDGER enterprise has improved
the community, brought new honors to the press, and made
opulent its proprietors.  Its success has virtually added a
new day to the week, and Friday will henceforth be a redletter day in the newspaper calendar. [Applause.]
MIIany of us recollect when the LEDGER, in its diminutive
size, was issued every morning from some obscure corner
in the old Arcade, where that small beginning excited the
smiles of some of the newspaper owners. Well, look at it
now-inot in its dimensions, but in its power to serve the
public and enrich its owner.'" The stone which the builers
rejected has become the head of the corner." Nay, more
than that-we improve on Scriptural expressions in these
6",
1 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
days-it has become the head of two corners, at least.
For though the palatial structure at the corner of Sixth
andl Chlestnut Streets is now the LEDGER IHome, still there
is another.  You may transfer the forms to Sixth Street,
lbut the spirit still lingers around Chestnut and Third.
Even IMr. Childs may remove, but the old LEDGER man will
be remembered for years in Third Street.  There, sir, fancy
will people the sidewalk with the legion of shoeless, bareheaded boys, and their echo will still rend the air with the
cry of " LEDGEE," " LA-GEE,"  LEGER."   And  though
princely liberality may pour out half a million upon Sixth
and Chestnut Streets, yet, for a time at least, Third Street
will be the venerated Delphi of the newsboy, though the
oracle be removed. [Applause.]
And to what cause or combination of causes is due all
the success of the LEDGER? What has made it an institution valuable to our city with the "potentiality of wealth"
to its proprietor? For this effect comes by cause. The
answer is easily made. It is due in the first place to a
proper estimate of public wants-to the adoption of a plan
and a steady perseverance in the execution of that plan.
The avowal of principles and the avoidance  of party
entanglemcnts.  The determination to make the paper and
not its editor prominent; to have no personal obligations
to repay; no private injuries to revenge through its
columns.  [Applause.]  Boldness to argue against aristocratic claims and effete ideas, and the greater courage to
breast the temporary storm of popular displeasure;  to
have independence enough to ask Alexander not to intercept the sunshine; and prudence enough to appeal from
Philip drunk to Philip sober; liberality in views and expedienlcies will perfect and perpetuate what those causes
have produced.  [Applause.]
These made the LEDGER what it was in the hands of
Swain, Abell & Simmons. These, with talents, means,
and enlarged patriotism, will keep up the LEDGER to the
advanced state of public opinion, and give it all the benefit
68 
BA-NQUET AT THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL.
of that improved general taste which it has itself wrought;
while its prosperity, deserved and shared by its contemporaries, will be the occasion of unenvious felicitation in all
times, as it is to-day the cause of unalloyed gratification
ill the most princely festivity. [Long-continued applause.]
REMARKS OF MAYOR HOFFMAN, OF NEW YORK.
AT the conclusion of Mr. Chandler's remarks, Mayor
McMichael said he had now a most agreeable duty to perform. Honored as the occasion was by the presence of
many eminent persons from various parts of the Union, it
was especially honoredl in the fact that the great city of
Newv York was represented by quite a number of her most
distinguished citizens-men of letters and men of action.
Conspicuous among these, both in virtue of his place and
his deservings, was her eloquent, wise, and upright Chief
Magistrate, who had adorned the Bench over which he
formerly presided by his learning and integrity, and who
now, by his example and conduct, confers firesh dignity on
his dignified position.  He proposed the health of " HON.
JOHN T. HIIOFFMAN, Mayor of New York."
This was received with prolonged and enthusiastic
cheerilng, an(d, in response, Mr. Hoffman said:  MnR. MAYOR AND GENTLEMEN: I am exceedingly grateful
for the very kind manner in which you have been pleased
to greet me.  Modesty compels me to declare, that I amn
not worthy of the good things which have been set before
me, or of the pleasant words which have been spoken of
me; while candor obliges me to admit, that I have enjoyed
both, with a good appetite and a keen relish, even though
I may not be able to digest the one or the other. [Laughter.]
I have come here to-night with entire singleness of purpose, yet in a double character-a sort of double entry for
the PUBLIC LEDGER [laughter]-a kind of book-keeping
which General Jackson declared he could not understand,
69 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
and which he believed was intended to defraud and deceive. [Renewed laughter.]
I come as an individual citizen, to testify my great respect and regard for our worthy host, whom I am proud
to call my personal friend, and whose energy and enterprise, and intellect and integrity, have placed him in the
front rank of the "men of influence"'' of the day. [Applause.]  And I am here, as Mayor of the city of New
York, to manifest the interest which our people take in
everything which illustrates and tends to the development
of the greatness, and welfare, and increasing prosperity of
this ancient and beautiful city of Philadelphia.  [Great
applause.]
I am here also with a secret purpose, which I reveal to
you in the strictest confidence, and which the reporters
will please not to note. I am here by the way of better
qualifying myself for an important part of my official
duties at home-to take a lesson in the art of after-dinner
speaking from  your  distinguished  and worthy Mayor
MAeMichael [great laughter], who, in that department, as
in all others, the universal testimony of the country declares is, like Captain Cuttle's watch, " equalled by few,
and excelled by none." [Applause.]  Do not imagine that
I hope ever to equal him; I could only expect to do it by
being, like that same old watch, "set forrard a quarter
in the morning, and a half in the afternoon." [Great
laughter.]
I hold in my hand, Mr. Mayor, a copy of the PUBLIC
LEDGER, published for the first time on Friday, March 25,
1836. The distinguished gentleman (Mr. Chandler) who
has preceded me has alluded to its immense growth since
its first issue. It occurs to me, as I look at it, that it has
not expanded any more than the national currency has
[great laughter], yet I venture a prophecy that it will not
contract again with the return of specie payments [laughter]; but, under the careful guardianship of our friend
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Childs, it will continue to expand in the future. [Applause.]
In looking over it this moment, I see under the heading
of " Mayor's Office," familiar words to Mayor McMichael
and myself [laughter], two notices which show that Philadelphia and her Mayor, thirty years ago, were pretty much
as they are now.  I will read these notices as a warning
to the present company, some of whom will go home late
[laughter]; they are as follows:  1st. "Two  sons of the Emerald  Isle were arraigned
before his Honor the Mayor, and after receiving some
salutary advice were discharged from custody."  A word
to the wise is sufficient. [Laughter.]
2d. " Robert Hlare, found drunk by a watchman between
the hours of eleven and twelve.  He seemed well known
to the M3ayor, who senltenlced( him  to thirty days' hard
labor," &c.
For the information of all present, and by way of caution, I beg to inform gentlemen that the present Mayor is
determined to lfollow an example of his illustrious predecessor of 1836; and those who are well known to him had
better be careful. [Great laughter.]
Now, my friends, before I proceed any fairther, I beg to
express my acknowledgments to your distinguished townsman, MrI. Chandler, for the compliment he has paid to
-New York-unintentionally, perhaps.  Alluding to the
fact that the first number of the LEDGER was published on
Friday, he said it was a day on which he would not even
be willing to go to New York, without making his will.  I
consider that an admission that he would be willing to go
there any other day, and take the risk of cldyinglr intestate.
[Great laughter.]  This is, I am aware, an idea of my city
different from that entertained by many who live out of
it; but I beg to assure my distinguished friend that he
can go there even on Friday, without making a will, provided hle is not killed on a New Jersey railroad.  [Renewed laughter.]
7i 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
Now, my friends, you perceive I have proceeded thus far
under considerable embarrassment. [Laughter.]  I beg you
will pardon me for my very undignifiedcl remarks.  I know
I am among strangers.  I am not only among  strangers,
but I stand in the presence of distinguished men, states men and lawyers, who  do the talking for  the nation
[laughter]; soldiers [turning to General Meade] who have
done, and will do again its fighting [great applause]; and
editors and journalists, who do, or suppose they do, the
most of its thinking. [Laughter and applause.] These last
are the men to wield the pen which is mightier than the
sword, and sharper than the tongue; who speak to thou sands every day; men of power, who give form to public
opinion, and direct the course of public events. [Applause.]
Among the foremost of them stands George W. Childs,
the editor and proprietor of the LEDGER; the man with a
warm heart and a cool head [applause]; who never makes
speeches or drinks wine-happy fellow he [laughter]; who
exercises influence always in the direction of public good;
who commands respect because he deserves it; and who
gathers around him friends from every walk in life, because
his hand is always raised in the interests of humanity, and
not against them. [Great applause.] As a true journalists
he appreciates and understands the difference between the
liberty of the press and the license of the press.  [Applause.]  Ile deals boldly with public matters, and with
public men in connection with  them; but he is always
careful to recollect that private character is private property, owned by that most sacred of all circles, the family
circle [great applause], and that the man who needlessly
assails it, is as much a criminal as if he robbed the household of its dearest treasures, or plucked fromn it, for his
own base uses, its fairest flower. [Renewed applause.]  He
understands, what I wish all editors in America understood, not only the power of the press, but its proper uses,
and its great mission; and by his daily conduct and life
declares his opinion, that the man who owns a printing
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press, and can use a pen, has no more right to indite libels,
and stamp private reputation, than the owner of a uniform
and a sword has to cut and kill to please his fancies, or to
gratify his malice. [Renewed applause.]
I know it is no easy thing in this active, busy country of
ours, where everything marches to the double-quick, and
where great movements are inaugurated and discussed,
and canvassed and consummated with wonderful rapidity;
where the editorial pen is used with a readiness and
despatch equalled only by the electric telegraph; where
party passion runs high, and popular feelings and prejudices surge and roll and break as waves do on the shore
of the ocean; where currents and counter-currents are incessantly setting and resetting, and changing and changing
again: I know, I say, in such a country it is extremely
difficult so to conduct a great daily paper as to keep it
always steady in the interest of truth, firm and decided in
the advocacy of the right, always within the proper limits
of a well-regulated liberty, and never abandoned to anll unrestrainedl license. Yet difficult as it is, it is possible; and
to accomplish it should be the aim and ambition of every
conscientious and patriotic journalist who strives for the
crown which belongs to an honest man.  [Great applause.]
There are men who fail to do it; but I tell you, he who
forgets the difference between the liberty of the press and
the license of the press; who assails private character,
scoffs at religion, gives currency to falsehood, panders to
the worst passions of mankind, goes with the public current, whichever way it turns; encourages licentiousness,
advertises all manner of evil, and circulates libels, may
not have visited upon him the terrors and the penalties of
the human law; but society will set its mark upon him,
and even while it tolerates and takes his paper, will shun
him in his daily life, and leave him to pass through the
world without a friend, and into eternity without a regret.
[Great applause.]
I have great respect for the Press.  I acknowledge its
73 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDINTG.
power and recognize its rights.  I would rather it would
sometimes be given up to an almost unrestrained license,
than to have the first fetter ever put upon its liberty.
[Applause.] It should be free even though it be sometimes criminal, but it should never be criminal because it
is free. [Applause.]  Its power in this country is no doubt
greater than anywhere in the world. Its liberty is less
restrained even by the force of public opinion, and because
it is so powerful and so free, it is the more incumbent on
those who regulate and control it to see that its power and
its liberty are used to elevate and not to degrade, to build
up and not to destroy, to purify and not to corrupt, to
subdue passions and not to excite them, to vindicate truth
and not to advocate error. [Applause.]
It is because I believe that these views are the views of
the proprietor of the Philadelphia PUBLIC LEDGER, carried
into daily practice in that great and influential paper, that
I have left pressing and important duties elsewhere, to pay
my feeble tribute of respect to him personally at this grand
gathering of his friends. [Applause.] I congratulate him
on the success which has attended him on the completion
of this beautifill new building, and on his bright prospects
for the future. [Applause.]
I have noticed that the architect of the LEDGER BUILDIN-G has placed upon its top for a vane an immense pen
some six feet six inches long. If it be placed there to i(ndicate that the editorial pen of the LEDGER changes to the
North, South, East, and West, with every changing current,
and just as the popular breath may blow it, it is a false
emblem.  But if it be there to indicate that its sharp and
telling point is always turned in the direction of truth and
against error, it is an emblem well chosen! and if it is
there with this last significance, as I believe it to be, then
let it remain forever, a silent and faithful monitor to him
who guards the columns of the LEDGER; giving to the
people an assurance that everywhere, North, South, East,
and West, he will defend the truth and maintain the right.
[Applause.]
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BANQUET AT THIE CONTINENTAL IHOTEL.
And in regard to my friend who sits near me  (Mr.
Childs),             in closing let m e  say,   that it is my sincerest wish
t h a t              he may  so live, that when the Day-Book of his life
s h all             be closed, and  its man y entries shall be posted ill the
Great LedLger of Eternity, there may be nothing written
there,   by the pen of the Great Recording Angel, which he
w o u l d    be ashamed t   o       have recorded, or wish to have expunged. [Long-continued cheers, durilng which the speaker
resumed his seat.]
Three cheers were then heartily given for the Mayor of
New York and the city of New York.
There were now loud and continued calls for General
MEADE.  In reply to these, the Chairman stated that the
company had forestalled his purpose by the enthusiasm
manifested in regard to General Meade.  Re was not surprised at this.  On the contrary, it would be remarkable
if, in any company of loyal American citizens where that
gallant soldier happened to be, his presence were not
warmly recognized.  Such a recognition was alike due
to the service to which he belonged, and to his own
famous achievements in connection with that service. Mr.
McMichael then paid a glowing tribute to the army at
large, and especially to General Meade, and concluded by
asking the company to join in drinking to the Army of the
UnLited States, of which Major-General Meade is one of the
brightest ornaments. [Applause.]
REMARKS OF GENERAL MEADE.
MTR. MAYOR AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:  Notwithstanding
the many occasions upon which I have been received with
generous kindness by my fellow-citizens, I still feel deeply
the marked manner with which you have been pleased to
greet my name [applause], particularly when I see around
me so many distinguished men from all parts of the country
and so numerous an assemblage of the representative men
of our own good city. I trust, therefore, I shall be par
75 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
doned if, ill responding to the toast youL nave just drank,
I first return you my most sincere thanks for your kind
and warm reception. [Great applause.]
Gentlemen, I am called upon to reply for the Army of
the United States.  To appreciate the magnitude of this
dutv, let me ask, What constitutes the army, and who
composed the army of the Union? At the close of the
great war which, under God's blessing, is now terminated
[applause], the returns of tile Provost Marshal General's
office show that there were over a million of men under
arms; and the returns of the same office show that during
the progress of the war more than three millions of men
were enrolled for the defence of the Union. [Applause.]
When, therefore, you consider the adult population of the
loyal States, and see how large a proportion were at different times in the army, you will see that in speaking for the
army, I must speak for the people of the United Statesfor, in reality, the people were the army. [Applause.] And
in this great fact we find the solution of some of those
problems which have so much puzzled European nations.
The rapidity with which our armies were raised and organized; the success with which they were disciplined-and led
to action; but, above all, the order and celerity with which
these great masses laid down their arms and quietly returned to the pursuits of civil life-all these extraordinary
phenomena are explained by the fact that the people constituted the army.  And from this fact, also, we know that
there is no danger of any Pretorian band usurping the
liberties of our country, or of the army overthrowing the
government; because the government of the nation is their
government, created and sustained by the will of the people,
and the army is the exponent of the will of the people.
[Applause.]  And I am proud on this occasion to say that
I believe the army will in the future, as it has in the past,
faithfully do its duty; and perhaps I may be permitted to
refer to its present position, intrusted by the legislature
of the country with the most delicate and important duty
p- 6
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BANQUET AT THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL.
ever committed to any army, and to point with pride and
satisfaction to the judgment and moderation with which
this duty was being discharged. [Applause.]
The fact of the intimate association of the people and
the army was also illustrated by the connection of the
army with the press.  The mass of the soldiers, being in telligent thinkers, were great readers. When I commanded
the Army of the Potomac, it was determined, to avoid the
conflict among agents of different papers, and to protect
the men from being imposed upon, to give to the highest
bidder the privilege of selling papers at a stipulated price
to the men, the agent to furnish any paper called for. So
great was the sale of papers in that army alone, that the
successful bidder was enabled to give a bonus of fifty
dollars a dclay. This sum was appropriated to purchasing
delicacies for the sick and wounded; but so well were these
supplied by the Government, Sanitary and Christian Commissions, and other associations, that, at the close of the
war, as Commanding General of the Army of the Potomac,
I turned over a balance on hand of ten thousand dollars
to the fluind for the establishment of homes for disabled
soldiers.  When it is considered that this large sum was
only a small part of the profits arising from the sale of
papers, it will be seen how large this sale must have been,
and some idea can be formed of the intelligence of the
army.  Indeed, the soldiers were not only great readers,
but their judgment  and discrimination were  most admirable.  Being actors, and having a personal knowledge
of the events of the war, they were enabled to discriminate
between those journals who gave accurate accounts, and
those who, led away by the impulses of the moment, would
give circulation to extravagant statements for the mere
purposes of sensation.  Aind this leads me to say that,
being a constant reader of the PUBLIC LEDGER, it was extremely gratifying to me to see how faithful its war reports
were, and how little that journal was carried away by the
temptations of the hour. [Great applause.]
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THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
My friend, his Honor the Mayor of New York, was
pleased to tell us that hlie appeared to-night in a dual
capacity. Like him, I also desire to present myself in a
double character.  Having responded to the toast of the
army as a Maijor-General, I desire, before taking my seat,
to say a few words as a plain citizen of Philadelphia.
And in doing so, I wish to bear my testimony to the high
character of the journal in honor of whose progress we
are assembled tonight. [Applause.]  I think Philadelphia
may well be proud of the PUBLIC LEDGER, and the manner
in which it is conducted.  It is truly gratifying to see how
fast it is gaining in favor under the energy, enterprise, and
successful management of Mr. Childs, whom  I am most
delighted to call a warm personal friend. [Applause.] The
independent and manly tone of the LEDGER, its absence
from all personality and malicious defamation. its upholding the cause of humanity and religion, and its advocacy of
the interests of the masses, are facts that should commend
it to every good citizen, and I trust this evening will give
its honored proprietor encouragement to persevere in the
good course he has hitherto so well adhered to. [General
MIEADE sat dclown amid intense applause.]
After a song, given in excellent style by HIIERR GRAFFr, of
the Mannerchor, Mayor MecMichael introduced Governor
WARD, of New Jersey.  In doing so, he said that New
Jersey had present a delegation worthy of the State-a
State of which, as well for what she had been in her past
history as for what she now is, he was sure all who heard
him felt proud.  Her Governor, one of her United States
Senators, her Secretary of State, her Attorney-General,
other leading and influential citizens, and many of her
ablest and most respected conductors of the press, were
seated at these tables; and in behalf of Philadelphia, no
less than of Mr. Childs, he gave to each and all of them,
and particularly to his patriotic and honored friend, Gov
Ward, an earnest and cordial welcome.
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BANQUET AT THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL.
REMARKS OF GEN. ROBESON, OF NEW JERSEY.
GEN. ROBESON thanked the iMayor  for his kind and
honorable mention of his State. Those who, by constant
and familiar intercourse, are able to speak of our merits,
cannot but refer to the many glorious associations that
surrounded New Jersey.  WVe are nearly yourselves.  From
ten thousand of our families have gone the men who have
stamped the impress of their enterprise upon the great
metropolis of Pennsylvania.  [Applause.]  While trade increases the resources of a country, the real stamina is to
be found in the cultivators of the soil, and in New Jersey
we claim to be an agricultural people. [Applause.] Upon
this occasion I desire to enlarge upon an idea broached by
the Mayor of New York; that is, that the most sacred of
all circles is the family circle. I will add that it is also
the most influential circle, and the journalists of the day
should remember that the public press can reach the home
circle everywhere, and therefore it is responsible for the
education of the people.  When you send your newspapers
into the family circles yout have reached an intelligent
audience.  [Applause.]  Our people have been thoroughly
educated during the past five years, and they can now
fiully appreciate and understand all the great questions
which agitate the nation.  The free sovereigns of a free
republic are your readers.  In addressing this audience,
sincerity of policy is the foundation of success. [Applause.]
No man can be a leader of the people unless he has a deep
and abidin(g faith in the truth of the principles he advocates. The LEDGER has a larger circulation in New Jersey than any paper published in that State, with but one
exception. The speaker closed with a glowing tribute to
the city of Philadelphia and the LEDGER.
The Chairman then said that lie could not doubt that
the admirable and witty speech of the  Mayor of New
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THIE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
York, to which they had all listened with so much delight,
bad stimulated a desire for something more from the city
which produced such good things.  lie therefore called
upon the Hon. JAMIES BROOKS, who was known to the
whole country by long and diligent service in the public
councils, and perhaps even better known by his still longer
service in connection with the public press.
REMARKS OF HON. JAMES BROOKS, OF NEW YORK.
lion. JAMES BROOKS, Editor of the " New  York Express," in reply, said:  MAIR. MAIAYOR AND GENTLEMEN: I have come here with no
little inconvenience, not only as a journalist, but as one
of the oldest of the journalists of the city of New York, to
bear testimony to the lively interest we all feel in the profession, and ill the brilliant success of one of its members,
here, in our neighboring city of Philadelphia. [Applause.]
The erection of so costly an architectural structure, the
inaugruration of such a princely palace as that we have
just been visiting, for the mere purpose of journalism, is a
marked event in our era, well worthy of this commemorationl.  [Applause.]  As travellers we go over the world to
visit the Pantheon of Rome, the Parthenon of Athens, the
Pyramids of the Nile, or the hundred-gated Thebes  on
that Nile; and though the structure for the Philadelphia
LEDGER is not the Pantheon nor the Parthenon, nor those
wonderful works on the Nile, yet I venture to say, if ancient Roman, or Greek, or Egyptian could now revisit the
earth, and see the laborious hand-work on their papyrus or
parchment, instanter, by press-work transplanted by Hloe's
steam cylinder machines in the LEDIGER Office twenty thousandcl copies per hour, they would think more of this, say
more over it, as an emblem of progress, civilization, and of
human intellect, than even we admiring( Americans feel as
we enter that Pantheon, or Parthenon, or the chambers of
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the Pyramids, or the hliundred-gated Thebes. [Loud and
prolonged applause.]
Though I have said, Mr. Mayor, I am among the oldest
of the journalists, and though I am in part a contempo rary of my venerable friend near by me [Mr. Chandler],
with whom I served four years in Congress (I trust not
differiing in patriotic sentiment now more than then), yet
with that vanity which still clings to youth [a laugh], I
hope I may say, not yet exhibiting the signs of age, even
in this not yet long life, I have seen the art of printing
make more progress than any other art of the day. I
beg,an journalism with the hand-press-no cylinder, no
Napier, no Adams even, no Hoe-when the little sheet was
worked off by hand, two or three, or, it may be five hundred per hour, as muscular force was applied; while nlow,
we see the ten cylinder of Hoe, driven by steam, easily
working off its twenty thousand per hour, and more, as
the stereotyper may double and treble the forms.  Steam
in every way has been the handmaid and companion of
our art. When the horseback mail was superseded by
the slow wagon, when the stage-coach superseded that —
(and here I may interpolate, and I think I can say, what
no manl living can say, viz., that I have ridden all the
way by stage-coach fi'om Portland, Me., to New Orleans,
thirty days going with the mail)-after all this, when
Fulton adapted steam to the river, and locomotives ran
like lighltning coursers along the rail, our art rapidly
availed itself of them, not only to gather the news, and
to hurry the revolutions of the cylinder on which  revolved our types, but to distribute our printed sheets, fresh
and fervid, over large extents of territories, which a horseback, or a wagon mail, or a stage-coach could not have
reached till the vitality and life of that news had been extinguished by the prolixity of its travels, and all would
have fallen stale upon the public eye or ear. Our Hoe
machines scattered our newspaper leaves as the skies often
scatter flakes of snow; and the steamboat and locomotive,
6
81 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
as the winds scatter these flakes, spread them all over the
land. [Applause.]  One thing more, however, was needed
for us to perfect our art, and that was the realization of
the Lover's Dream-the annihilation of time and spacewhen our Morse, the printer, seized the lightning which
Franklin, our head centre printer, had affixed to the
thunderbolt, and educated that lightning to run on his
wircs, into our very editorial closets, with all the news of
all the earth. [Continued and prolonged applause.]  Wonderful to say, we of the " far West" now gather, and print,
and publish here, in America, what is done in Cairo, or
Alexandria, or in the Vatican of Rome, or the Tuileries
of Paris, or St. James, London, or the Schonbrunn, Vienna, as soon as the Egyptian, or Roman, or Frenchman,
or Englishman, or Austrian can know it. [Applause.]  All
other arts seem to have been pandering to ours-Photography, Phonography, as well as Electricity; and there is
scarcely a human invention which our great art Preservative does not seize upon and profit by, as we multiply
the works of human genius, and diffuse them throughout
the earth. The orator's or the statesman's words fall
lifeless before him, but for us; and we lift even the great
preacher from his pulpit, and give him hearers to hear, far
beyond his altar, his chancel, the walls of his cathedral, or
church.
Thus conscious of our great mission, Mr. Mayor, I trust, as
has been suggested, we journalists will try not to be forgetful
of our duties and responsibilities. To whom much has been
given, from him much may be expected. Till within ten or
twenty years, the lawyers of our land, from the superiority
of their practical training and education, framed public
opinion, and led the public mind; but now no profession,
save that of the clergy, exerts an influence so all-pervading
and powerful as the press. The people have well rewarded
our energy, our industry, and our efforts for a sounder
education. We no longer struggle along in poverty, or in
neglect-as, for years and years, once we did-for now
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here, in Philadelphia, there is more than this one Crcesus
before us, while, elsewhere, as here [referring to Mayor
McMichael], the people give printers some of their highest
political honors. Men of so much power-with instruments
of so much influence ill their hands, for good, or illmust feel not only their duties to, and their responsibilities
before, their fellow-men, but know, also, that when they
appear for judgment, before the great Tribunal, they will
be held accountable for every talent God has given them.
But, Mr. Mayor, a dinner is not the place even to point
a moral, and hence I forbear. I thought I might, as a
journalist, forget for a day or two the duties I owe the
State, as a member of the Constitutional Convention of
New York; and I therefore left Albany to-day to bear
testimony here to the great interest we New Yorkers feel
in this brilliant success of Philadelphia journalism, and in
the personal success of my friend Mr. Childs.  [Mr. BROOKs
sat down amid great applause.]
Hon. JOSEPHII J. STEWART, of Baltimore, was then intro(tduced as a resident of the city which had given Mr. Childs
birth, and as an early and lifelong friend of that gentleman.   The Chairman paid a suitable compliment to the
energy and eloquence of Mr. Stewart, and expressed the
satisfaction of the company at the presence of one so near
and so dear to the host of the evening.
REMARKS OF J. J. STEWART, OF MARYLAND.
Ma. CHIAIRMAN: After you, sir, representing the person
of our host, have, with such earnest and cordial expression,
welcomed us to his presence, and then with the characteristic cleverness of a Philadelphia politician veered round
and thanked him on our behalf [laughter]; after your
predecessor in the " Gazette," the Nestor of the American
press, has so eloquently detailed the history of the LEDGER,
and the changes effected in society by the cheap news
83 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
paper; after his Honor, the Mayor of New York, has described what a newspaper ought to be, impelled thereto, no
doubt, by the remembrance of the highly moral and considerate press of his own city [laughter]; after one of the
Republic's bravest commanders has spoken so eloquently
on behalf of the army, identifying it with the people, and
has characterized with soldierly frankness the judgment
and moderation with which his brethren in arms are now
performing the delicate duties assigned them in the work
of reconstruction [applause]; there is indeed but little left
for me to say, without reiterating what has already been
better said by others.
I can, however, wish, sir, that all cities had as good
mayors as the city of Philadelphia [applause]; and that
not only New York, but every other city in the Union,
should realize in their newspapers the high moral standard
set up for them by Judge Hoffman, and which he thinks the
LEDGER has attained. [Applause.] I agree with him that
it is desirable that the press of the country should regard
private character as a sacred possession, and I would not
only never have the pen wielded to destroy individual
reputation, but I would go still further, and never permit
it to assail the life of the nation [great applause]-that
nation which surrounds the press and the people alike with
power and protection, and without which none of us could
enjoy our rights and privileges. [Applause.]
I come from Baltimore; and I know our peaceful city is
not regarded by you heavy gentlemen of New York and
Philadelphia as worthy of especial consideration.  Yet I
think she has a right to a voice here; for both the LEDGER
itself and its present proprietor were born in Baltimore.
[Applause.]  The paper has helped to make Philadelphia
what it is, and we sent Mr. Childs over as a specimen to
teach Philadelphia what a publisher ought to be. [Laughter
and applause.] I have seen the original terms of copartnership entered into by the three gentlemen who founded
the LEDGER.  It is a very simple document, written on half
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a sheet of letter paper, and was signed in all iron store on
Light Street, in my city. It was a small acorn, indeed, for
so large an oak.
In rambling with you, gentlemen, to-day through the
NEw LEDGER BUILDING, I was forcibly reminded of the
old adage that " Facts speak louder than words."  In the
presence or the remembrance of the facts you have just
witnessed, it would perhaps best become me to keep silent;
for I am sure that nothing I can say would add to the profound impression made upon you by the visit to that building. [Applause.]  What did we see?  A palace, charmed
into life as by the lamp of Aladdin, has arisen before us.
Whether regarded as to its size, the material of which it is
composed, or the elegance of the structure, it may truly
be called palatial. The skill of the architect has combined
vastness of dimension with fidelity to detail-has harmonized the useful with the beautiful; and even the genius of
Art has been invoked to add grace to that which came so
perfect from the hands of the artisan. [Applause.]
This temple is devoted to the art which has been truly
said to be " preservative of all arts."  It was therefore a
great pleasure to me to see that the sculptor had been
called upon to emblematize its purposes in the form of the
most illustrious of his craft. [Applause.]  I remember,
when, upon the banks of the distant Rhine, I beheld the
monument erected to the inventor of printing, I bowed my
head in profound reverence before it. I could not avoid
the contrast which my mind pictured of the darkness of
superstition before that event, and the brightness of knowledge since. In the press, I beheld the engine of civilization.
It is the teacher of mankind, the regenerator of nations.
[Applause.] To-day, upon the column at the corner of the
LEDGER BUILDING, I beheld the sculptured form of Philadelphia's most illustrious son; the patriot, the statesman,
the sage, the philosopher, the printer-Beinjamin Franklin
[great enthusiasm] -the man whose reputation was
claimed by two nations, but who died as he lived, a true
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THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
American.  [Applause.]  The figure was intended as an
ornament and an emblem.  It is both; and is, moreover,
highly suggestive.  The kite at his feet, and the pronged
rod in his hand, remind us how he drew down the lightning
from heaven. When asked the use of it, he answered,
"What is the use of a baby?-the child may become a
man." The child has become a man, and electricity is
to-day a handmaid of the press, as necessary  as type or
paper, a twin co-worker with the press, in the remarkable
intellectual progress which characterizes our era. So this
statue of Franklin, embodying both, is exceedingly well
chosen to emblematize the purposes to which the building
is devoted. It is, moreover, a good thing for Philadelphia
to have, that her youth may look up to it, and emulate the
virtues of that great man. [Applause.]  The calm benignity of his face reveals the humanitv of his heart; the
massive brow, his rare intellectual faculties; while, over
the whole figure, is spread the grand repose of a character
at once sympathetic and self-reliant. Franklin attributed
his success, not to his talents, or his very moderate oratorical powers, but to his well-known integrity of character.
Hle was a true man.  He endeavored to be what hlie seemed.
" Hence it was," he says, " that I had so much weight with
my fellow-citizens. I was but a bad speaker, never eloquent, subject to much hesitation in my choice of words,
hardly correct in language; yet I generally carried my
point."  Character creates confidence in all the relations
of life, and this, I know, is the main reliance of our worthy
host. [Great applause.] Franklin is not more emblematic
of his craft than the exemplar of his life. The code of
Poor Richard is the code of Mr. Childs. Nor did Poor
Richard come to this city in humbler guise than our poor
Baltimore boy who is your host to-day.  I have been introduced to you as the friend of his boyhood —I may add, of
his early chlildclhood. As such, it is my privilege to say to
you that he has been precisely what you find him to-day.
[Applause.]  His heart was always larger than his means,
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and always will be, let the latter accumulate as they may.
[Applause.]  There is but one thing he always despised,
and that is meanness. There is but one character he hates,
and that is, a liar. For all other infirmities he has charity;
for all differences of opinion, eccentricities, and angularities, a cosmopolitan toleration.  When he left Baltimore a
little boy, the affectionate regrets of all his companions
followed him to Philadelphia; and the attachment they
felt for himn was more like romance than reality in this
everyday world. We are so much in the habit of making
game of all that is best and tenderest in our nature, that it
is left to the dissecting knife alone to lay open the heart
of man; yet who is there here that does not know how
good it is to have a friend?  Here is the boy who has never
forgotten the friends of his childhood, and who is not forgotten by them. iHere is the man whom I have heard some
of the Republic's bravest, greatest, and best citizens proudly claim as a friend this night. I think I can say with
truth, that George W. Childs has  never lost a friend.
[Great applause.]
What is the meaning of it? Is there any secret about
it? I will tell you what I know. lie is true; and, as you
are all witnesses here, he is liberal and kind. I remember
that he wrote to me years ago, when we were both boys,
that he meant to prove that a man "could be liberal and
successful at the same time."  You can say whether it is
proven. [Applause.] Another thing: he treats everybody
in his employment kindly and considerately, no matter
what the grade of his occupation.  Nothing pleased me
more in the NEw  LEDGER BUILDING than the accominodations prepared for every department of the labor engaged
on the paper-the high ceilings, the ample room, the light
and ventilation.  This is real progress.
Just now we are having illustrations of individual munificence, properly eliciting the admiration of the world,
Mr. Peabody is the benefactor of two nations, and the pens
of England and America alike have cause to thank him.
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THE' PUBLTC LEDGER BUILDING.
Mr. Stewart, of New  York, with- (I was about to say
princely, but princes do not do such things) with the
grand munificence of a republican citizen, is about to
eclipse all similar benevolences in the way of comfortably
housing the poor of that city, for which all good people
will bless him. Our friend here is not yet rich enough
to venture upon schemes like these; but we have all seen
enough to know that hlie is a beneficent almoner of all
that comes into his hands, and I am quite sure, if he ever
should become as wealthy as Peabody or Stewart, he will
not die full-handed.  If Philadelphians want to do good
with their money, they may use him as a sieve, and, by
running it through his hands, find it disbursed to the
individual advantage of thousands and the general good
of the community. [Applause.]
I now finish my desultory remarks with thanks to you,
gentlemen, and a request that you will do honor to my
toast.
Here the assembly rose, and Mr. Stewart proposed " The
health of GEORGE W. CHILDS," which was drank with tremendous cheers and applause.
Three cheers were then proposed and heartily given for
Mr. STEWART.
Mr. McMichael here presented M. Du CuAILLU, the African traveller, with some well-timed pleasantry about the
gorillas. He also spoke of the valuable aid he had rendered to the cause of science by his patient, arduous, and
intelligent explorations in fields where others had scarcely
ventured.
REMARKS OF PAUL B. DU CHAILLU, the African Explorer.
GENTLEMEN: I do not know how to thank you for the
very kind manner you have responded to the toast to
my health proposed by the gentleman presiding over this
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bountiful feast and splendid banquet. I cannot express to
you how extremely pleasing it is to me to be among those
who have met here this evening to do honor to Mr. Childs,
and to show him the high regard and great esteem we all
entertain towards him.  Looking around me, I see gentlemen who have rendered themselves famous in almost every
profession-distinguished warriors, eminent statesmen;
literature, the arts and sciences, are here represented by
some of their brightest ornaments; commerce by some of
its princely merchants and most honorable men. Representatives from the press, of every political opinion, have
come from almost every part of the country to testify with
ourselves to Mr. Childs how much we appreciate his high
character, how much we admire the energy and honesty
of purpose which have characterized his private life and
public career. [Great applause.] I am glad, also, to see
so many representatives of the press, to express to them,
however humble my opinion may be, the high regard I
entertaif towards their distinguished body.
WVhat should we do without the press? No great wrong
can be done without the press thundering about it, no
charity started without the press becoming its foremost
champion.  I take this opportunity, which I will never
have again, to thank the press for the courtesy which they
have invariably shown towards me.  When reviewing my
books of travels, they never have inquired what were my
political opinions, in order to base their judgment; they
have criticized my explorations and the opinions I have
derived from them with fairness and kindness, though
sometimes  differing with me on some points.  WVithout
the press, my works would be unknown and my travels
useless.  In plain words, the press has brought them into
notice.  I am very happy to say that the LEDGER has
always been my friend. [Applause.]
Now, MAr. Chairman, allow me to thank you for the very
flattering manner you have spoken of me and of my travels.
I feel that I do not deserve all you have said concerning
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THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
me. I am proud to be the representative of our travellers
here to-night, and I thank you all, in their name, for the
honor dlone to us in drinking to our health.
I should do violence to -my own feelings, before sitting
down, if I did not thank Mr. Childs for his very kind invitation, and also to assure him that this day will always be
remembered by me. [Applause.]
The Chairman next called attention to the fact that
Judge KELLEY was sitting near him. This announcement
was all that was needed to awaken a lively anticipation of
an eloquent speech; but to take from the Judge every excuse for not replying he proposed in connection with his
name three hearty cheers, which were enthusiastically given.
REMARKS OF THE HON. WM. D. KELLEY.
Judge KELLEY said:  MP. C IIAIRMAN AND  GENTLEMEN:  I cannot  but feel
grateful for this cordial reception, though I am not at
liberty to accept it as an approval either of my individual
action or the action of Congress.  The Americanl Press
is fully and ably represented at these sumptuous tablesaroundcl them the exponents of the widest diversity and
nicest shades of diverging opinion have operated harmoniously, and I cannot accept the greetings of such anl
audience as a hearty " well done."  [Applause.]
I might have been thus deceived were I less experienced.
But I know something of the winning ways by which you
gentlemen of the press so often discount the " sensation"
which men in hiogh place hope to produce, by announcing
their purpose a day or two in advance of its execution;
and I fear that you are attempting by your cheers to
seduce me into a betrayal of confidence. But I am purposed to resist your blandishments, and will bluntly disappoint all such expectations, by saying at once that I
will not tell you what measures my veneratedcl friend Mr.
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Stevens proposes to bring forward at the approaching
session of Congress, or what that body will do on the
delicate question of confiscation, or in furtherance of the
needed worlk of reconstruction. [Applause.]
It is thirty-one years since the first number of "our
paper" appeared.  It was a "wee sma'" thing, judged by
the papers of to-day; but it was a grand experiment, and
Messrs. Swain, Abell & Simmons deserved the large fortunes which rewarded their daring and beneficent enterprise.  The fact that they saw that a new and larger class
of newspaper readers might be created, proved'their fitness
to conduct a journal which was to be characterized by its
quick discernment of the tendency of events, and its labors
to guide public opinion to' safe conclusions.  The first
number tells us that four lines of stages then sufficed' to
carry passengers between Philadelphia and Pittsburg, but
that so rapidly was travel then growing that passengers
were often required to engage seats four days' in advance.
What a story of national expansion does that little news
item tell!  How would the statistics of those four lines
of stages compare with those of the Pennsylvaiia Central
Railroad!
While listening to those who have prececldedl me, I have
acquired a new sense of the importance of the representative position with which I. ainm.honored.  Congress now
legislates for a broad territory that was governed' by Spain
in the early days of this century.  Louisiana, with the west
bank of the Mississippi from'the Gulf to'the Lake of the
Wroods, was confided to our, care by Bonaparte when at
the zenith of his power.  Spain t-ien, and subsequently
Mexico, governed the golden plains of California, and the
richer mountains -in which their watercourses rise.  Andcl
lastly Russia, as if to open the- broadest possible field for
the experiment of self-government by the people and for
the people, has ceded to us the North Pole, and her wide
territory lying somewhat south thereof.  To harmonize the
interests of, and proyide equal laws for an energetic people
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THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
occupying so large a portion of the habitable globe, is a
duty such as has never been confided to a government.
He who is charged with any share of this sublime responsibility may be pardoned for rejoicing at the fact that so
able and independent a journal as the PUBLIC LEDGER has
been enlarged, imbued with new life, acnd secured the
watchful care of so intelligent, enterprising, and patriotic
a gentleman as Mir. Childs. [Great applause.]
But, MAr. Chairman, our territorial expansion is equalled
by the intellectual expansion of our people. The sun is
our artist, thle subtle power of magnetism our speedy messenger, andl steamn, animating the iron from our hills, relieves the millions of exhausting muscular toil, reaps our
fields, forges our bars of iron and steel, drags from their
native beds massive blocks of granite or marble, and carries passengers and freight with equal ease over land and
sea. Wealth is thus created as if by magic, and the desires
of our people are ever expanding.  These thirty-one years
have not broulght ultimate results; they have but prophesied the future.  We are but passing the portals of the
wealth and grandeur of our country.  Hitherto our country has been a "house divided."  The people of the conflicting sections have known but little of each other, and
have believed their interests to be antagonistic.  As the
work of reconstruction, which involves most largely the
regeneration of both the land and the people of the South,
goes on, they will discover that diversity of pursuits begets
harmony of interests in a widespread community; and we
will become homogeneous.  We go forth to-day anl infant
giant, whose future proportions or power  no manl may
safely prophesy. [Applause.]
The projectors of the LEDGER perceived the growing
interest all classes of people were taking in the daily incidenlts of our own and foreign life.  They sought to chronicle, interpret, acnd apply each new fact.  They thus idclentifiedcl their readers with them, and fortune rewarded their
labors. In our host they have found a fit successor. Mr.
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Childs' life has been one of enterprise. HIe has ever identified himself with the giant interests of our city, State,
and country.  UInder his influence the LEDGER has expanded in size, and still more largely in power; and our
whole people rejoice in its prosperity, and that its continued
success justifies MIr. Childs in dispensing hospitalities worthy the Croesus or Mecenas of the Pennsylvania press.
May the day be far distant when the LEDGER BUILDING
will be pointed out as the fitting monument of the enterprising and generous George W. Childs! [Great applause.]
REMARKS OF REV. DR. HALL, OF DUBLIN, IRELAND.
After a chorus by the Maennerchor Society, the health
of Rev. Dr. HALL, of Dublin, was proposed.
Dr. HALL (since pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian
Church, New York) arose amnid'great applause, and said:  We  used to read, sir, in our school classics, that the
next best thing to the performance of great deeds, is the
adequate recording of them. It is not given to every man
to be a Grant, a Sherm an, or a Meade [applause]; but it is
something to be able to present their labors in the daylight
of clear and impartial history. A daily newspaper is the
history of life day by day, and it goes to form the opinions
that we, and still more our children, shall form of common
and current events. It is common to say that " facts are
stubborn things." Sir, nothing can be more manageable
and plastic. You take a fact and lay it on an editor's table,
and never was dough more easily shaped in the hands of
a baker, than it will commonly be.  Lay the same fact on
the table of an opposed editor, and it does not look the
same thing; the very man who  accomplished it would
hardly recognize it. Sir, I am glad to be at this entertain
ment, because I am assured on all hands that the LEDGEnR
has endeavored to be truthful, canldid, and pure as a news.
paper [applause]; and I cannot but think it a most encour.
aging circumstance that such a career meets with this
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THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
general and influential appreciation.  [Applause.]   The
past will, I am sure, be the guarantee and presage of a
useful and distinguished future.  I have had much pleasure, sir, in being here, in listening to thes3 admirable
speeches, and in witnessing your power of enjoying yourselves, of which it is easy to see my countrymen have no
monopoly.   Not least dlid I enjoy the singing of The Star
Spangled Banner. [Great applause.]  In the empire from
which I come there were differences of opinion as to your
great national strulggle, as there will be among freemen
everywhere; and  as civilization extends  men become
candid and tolerant of differences. But it was my good
fortune-there was no merit ill it-to believe, all through,
that thoug(h the banner might be torn, there was power
enough, and there was patience enough, to repair the rent
[applause]; and I hope these United States may long
continue magnanimous and prosperous in peace, as they
have been patient and successful in war. [Applause.]
REMARKS OF GEN. HIRAM WALBRIDGE, OF NEW YORK.
General WALBRIDGE, of New York, on being introclduced,
said:  MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN: Incidents may be overlookled andl forgotten, but epochs never. Compelled by
circumstances which I could not control to decline the
hearty invitation to be present, when our worthy and
generous host, from amidst the grace and loveliness of this
opulent city, led to the altar one of its most accomplished
and beautiful daughters, I determined to come, at some
personal inconvenience, to this crowning epoch in his successful and eventful life, where this brilliant assemblage,
comprising so many who have rendered illustrious the
military and civil history of the Republic, do testify by
their presence their cordial respect andl their just appreciation of the untiring energy, the stern integrity, alnd the
unbroken persistence, with consummate ability, which has
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marked the career of our friend, George W. Childs, until
we greet him, to-night, as the representative and proprietor
of one of the' foremost journals in the United States.
[Great applause.]
At any period, to aid in forming the public judgment
and in moulding the public sentiment of a great and free
people, is a high duty,' fraught with great responsibilities
But how immeasurably that responsibility is augmented,
at this juncture in our national progress, when, fresh from
the terrible scenes of one of the most gigantic struggles of
ancient or modern times, we come to lay again the foundations of the Republic on the enduring basis of public and
individual prosperity-of strict and impartial justice-with
universal political equality among all classes-recognizing
rights that belong to all, and ignoring privileges as belonging to none, justly appreciating to their full extent the
limited powers belonging to our State Governments for
the administration of local affairs, but at the same time
recognizing, in its broadest extent, that still higher authority which in'our political system has recently removed
all distinctions of caste and color, and made homogeneous,
under one great federative system, all who rally beneath
the flag, and recognize the supreme authority, in the Federal
Constitution, of the sovereign people who constitute the
power and government of the Republic of the  United
States. [Applause.]
To be a sentinel at such a period, on the watch-tower
of public opinion, is enough to gratify the highest human
ambition; and I am sure I but express the sentiment of all
present when we confidently congratulate ourselves that
the eminent public journal under the control of our able
friend will always be wielded on the side of justice, of
morality, of law and order, and in conformity with the
interests and consistent with the honor and dignity of the
American people. [Great applause.]
" You may have a corrupt Hlouse of Lords and a venal
House of Commons, but with a free and untrammelled
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press I will preserve intact the liberties of the English
people," was the sublime and philosophic declaration of
the accomplished orator and statesman, Richard Brinsley
Sheridan.
This recognition, in the  British  Parliament, of  the
strength and power of an unbought and unmuzzled press,
acquires augmented force when located among a free
people, where all men stand on a common political platform, where the road of preferment is open to all, and
where the highest dignities and the most exalted position
may be secured by the humblest in the land. [Applause.]
One of the distinguished gentlemen [Hon. JAs. BROOKS]
who have preceded me, and to whom we have listened with
much pleasure and delight, has been pleased to advert to
the history of the early republics before the introduction
of the printing press, and also to note the extraordinary
progress in science, in literature, in government, and ill the
arts that has attended the progress and freedom of the
press, in the lifetime of a single man.   Whether or not
the Grecian and Roman republics contained within themselves the elements of their own dissolution, or whether
they fell from their inability to resist the pressure of surroulnding and barbarous States, certain it is that in the
absence of an agency like the press to arouse and stimulate
the common mind of the nation, for the preservation of the
public liberties, these republics were gradually subverted,
until they crumbled into pieces, and their prospects were
forever blasted by a stern, military despotism.
Thec right of free discussion, of large and frequent
assemblages of the people, and the ability to hold constant
intercourse with all classes of the community, through the
medium of the press, constitute a perpetual bulwark for
our republican institutions, and while that press is outspoken and independent the public liberties are guaranteed
against foreign invasion or domestic insurrection. [Applause.]
But the power of the press has recently been strengthened
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by the introduction of the telegraph, and our leading jour
nals, every morning, now furnish us with the prominent
incidents that are transpiring in any quarter of the globe.
While the daily press announces to us that the kings
and emperors of Europe are continually assembling in their
ancient capitals to strengthen and consolidate their absolute power, and to still further crvstallize their peculiar
forms of government, the American press is also, every
mornIing, advising us of the steady progress of reconstruction, now happily going on. in our recently revolted States.
That that reconstruction may be such as shall, at an early
dlay, restore their citizens to all the immunities and privileg,es that pertain to a full communion with the national
government of the United States, is, I am  confident, the
earnest wish of our generous host and all who have given
their presence to the festivity of this happy occasion.
[Gen. Walbridge was enthusiastically applauded.]
REMARKS OF MR. GEORGE H. STUART, of Philadelphia.
MR. CHAIRMAN:  The call for my  name is most unexpected, and quite out of place amidst so much eloquence.
I have no speech to make, but I have great pleasure in
Ibearing my  testimony to the high moral tone of the
LEDGER, and its corresponldirng influence for good among
our people. [Applause.]  Mr. Childs' course, in excluding
from the columns of his paper everything immoral in its
nature and tendency, is fully appreciated by the friends of
a high-toned secular literature, and no greater evidence of
this fact could be furnished than the presence here to-night
of so many distinguished men.  [Applause.]   For  Mr.
Childs personally I entertain a high regard.  I have ever
found him  ready and anxious to give his own aind the
LEDGER's influence in favor of every good object.  Long
mnay the LEDGER continue  under its present excellent administration to greet our citizens with its fresh and ever
reliable daily news!  [Great applause.]
7
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THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
REMARKS OF MR. WM. V. McKEAN.
The Chairman then proposed the health of Mr. WILLIAM
V. McKEAN, who in his response briefly sketched his knowledge of the PUBLIC LEDGER from its beginning, paying
a just tribute to the sound principles established by its
foulndclers in their management of the paper, and to their
)business ability.  Then, referring to the progress of the
country and the age in all things material to the comfort
and happiness of the people, to the extension of the facilities for travel end communication, to the growth and
prosperity of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the United
States, the advance of science and the mechanic arts, he
said that all these things were mirrored in the sixty-two
volumes of the PUBLIc LEDGER.  They form the records
of the doings of a generation, and that generation the
most progressive one in the history of the most progressive
people on earth.
Continuing his remarks, lie said it was his grateful duty
to mention a name that had hitherto remained unspoken
during the festivities of the evening.  It was unmentioned
because the gentleman referred to had placed all his friends
under strict injunction not to do so. But, notwithstanding
this, it was held to be a duty not to permit the company to
separate without some tribute that would show the esteem
in which his character is held.  Hie would therefore, at the
special and earnest request of AMr Childs, take the friendly
liberty of disregarding the reluctance of the gentleman in
question, and ask the company to join in wishing health,
happiness, continued usefulness, and long life to ANTHONY
J. DREXEL, the friend and associate of Mr. Childs.  [At
this the whole assemblage rose and greeted the sentiment
with prolonged and enthusiastic applause.]
The speaker then resumed by saying that in every relation of life Mr. Drexel is a noble specimen of a man.  As
a business man and banker, he is gifted with the highest
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ability, and that ability is guided by- a large and generous
liberality, a public spirit, and a freedom from small suspicions worthy of the warmest praise.  In every aspect of
the event commemorated by the pro(,eedings of this day,
his hand, though silent and unseen, has had its noble part.
[Applause.]   But, speaking under the restraint of Mlr.
DI)rexel's reluctance to be mentioned at all, he could only
say that nowhere in Philadelphia, on this continent, or on
the face of the earth, is there any one more fully and amply
a noblle-hearted man, in every sense of the term, than
Anthony J. Drexel. [Long-continued applause.]
REMARKS OF MR. GEORGE H. STUART.
MR. CITAIRMAN:  Notwithstanding my  knowledge that
this reference to my friend Mr. Anthony J. Drexel is cointrary to his own positive wishes, yet I feel that the proceedclings of this festive occasion  would be incomplete
without some such identification of Mr. Drexel with our
honored host and his noble enterprise. [Applause.]  I am
exceedingly gratified with the remarks that have fallen from
the lips of the gentleman who has just taken his seat, and
but for the expectation that some such reference would be
made, I think I should not have been here at this late hour.
Now that it has been made, I must be permitted to endorse
all, and more than what has been said.  I have known him
long and intimately, and have had extensive business
transactions with him, and I know, Mr. Chairman, I am
but echoing the sentiments of the whole  banking and
commercial interests of our city, as well as my own, when
I thus publicly testify to the business integrity, the financial ability, and the large-hearted liberality of one whom
Philadelphia is proud to recognize as one of her merchant
princes. [Great applause.] Prompt and satisfactory in all
his business intercourse, eager and willing to assist by his
means and influence in every good enterprise, and yet
withal retiring and unobtrusive, he combines in his dispo
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sition rare and valued qualities which make Anthony J.
Drexel every inch a maln-a man whom to know is to love
and admire. [Applause.] The lateness of the hour forbids
me saying all that my heart prompts me to say.  It is my
earnest hope that our friend's life may be long spared, his
prosperity prolonged, and his career of usefulness lengthened out for many a long and happy day, and that finally
he may be admitted into the rest of those who love and
serve God. [Great applause.]
The Hon. CIHAS. GILPIN followed in some feeling remarks, calling attention to the absence of Mr. SWAIN, the
former owner of the LEDGER, who was detained by illness.
Ile proposed the health of that gentleman. It was drank
with all the honors.
The festivities were continued until near midnight, and
at the close, the company separated with an expression of
kiindness and respect for the hlost.
100
I i
*a:I...: 
ourt  -of ulv  uttrta'lumtut
TO THE
t~b~tr   mpops
( 101 ) 
I 
FOURTH OF JULY ENTERTAINMENT TO THE
LEDGER EMPLOYES.
Two of the notable events of the celebration of the
national holiday, in Philadelphia, were the dinner given
by Mr. Childs to the employes of the establishment, and
the entertainment to the newsboys.  For the employes the
tables were spread in the spacious Press Room, and seats
were provided for upwards of three hundred of them, and
additional seats for about one hundred and twenty invited
guests.  The " Newsboys' Hall" was in the " Folders' and
Carriers' Gallery," adjoining the Press Room, and a table
with seats for one hundred andi ten of these active and
enterprising young paper merchants was established there.
The Press Room, which for the day was the banqueting
hall, was profusely and handsomely decorated with the
national colors festooned from column to column, and
tastefully gathered into clustering folds everywhere along
the cornice and walls.  There were five long tables on the
lower floor and one in the gallery. These were spread
with great taste and abundance.  The following is the bill
of fare, a copy of which, printed in crimson and gold, was
laid upon the plate of each guest:
(103) 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
BANQUET.
In commemoration of the opening of the NEW LEDGER BUILDING,
southwest corner of Sixth and Ciestilut'treets, Philadelphia, giveCli
by Mr. GEORGE W. CHIL)S to his friends and employes, on Thursday, July 4, 1867.
Soup.-Green Turtle.
FIsH. —Kennebec Salmon.
Roman Punch.
ROASTS, &c. -Spring Chickens, Beef I la mode, Roast Lamb,
Roast Beef, Cold Ham, Tongue.
VEGETABLES. -Peas, Beets, String Beans, Salad, Potatoes,
Pickles.
DESSERT.-Ice-Cream in moulds, Raspberries, Soft-shelled Almonds, Grenoble Walnuts, Oranges, Candies, Pies,  Pecan Nuts,
Cakes, Filberts, Raisins.
Claret Punchi, Beer, Lemonade, Cigars.
MusIc. -By Hassler's Military Band.
The hour fixed for the dinner was half-past one, and the
signal for proceedling to the dining-room was the playing
of a grand march by Hassler's Band.  As the signal was
given, the long lines of the employes and their guests
commenced filing along the pavements of Sixth Street and
Chestnut Street, and down the stairways into the diningroom.  There were one hundred and thirty-five carriers
and assistants; sixty compositors and "subs," with their
foremen, proof-readers, and copy-holders; twenty pressmen and feeders, with their superintendent of machinery;
twenty-two folders and counters, with the night clerk; ten
office clerks, with the cashier; sixteen general employes, incltuding engineers, machinist, carpenter, watchmen, paperwetters and turners, office boys, &c.; four stereotypers;
thirty job office hands, with their superintendent and foreman; and twelve editors and reporters.  These number
three hundred and nine who were present, and with about
onle hundclred and twenty invited guests, including Hassler's
Bandcl and the Athletic, Jr., Glee Clutb, make four hundred
and iwe-nty-nine who participated in the dinner and cele
104 
FOURTH OF JULY ENTERTAINMENT.
bration in the press-room.   This is independent of the
newsboys, who filed down the southern stairway into the
gallery set apart for them, two and two, marshalled by
Duffy and lHanlly, two veterans, nearly sixteen years old,
one of whom led by the hand young " Patsey Courtney,"
who seems to be the pet of all the tribe. Then came
the dinner, with fountains of cool and refreshing, but not
intoxicating, drinkls, and instrumental and vocal music,
and speech-making, and jovial conversation, and general
hilarity.  WVhen the tables were cleared, the company was
called to order by Mr. WMi. V. MCKEAN, who presided in
the unavoidable absence of Mr. Childs, and addressed them
in substance as follows:
ADDRESS OF MR. McKEAN.
GENTLEMIEN OF THE LEDGER ESTABLISHMENT AND INVITED GUESTS: MIr. Childs promised himself the pleasure
of cldiining with you all to-dlay, but, as it sometimes will
happen with all men, he has 1been doomed to disappointment, aind I am requested to express to you his deep regret
that it has so halppened.  It would have been one of his
highest pleasures to be here to-day, and to see you all
enjoyillng yourselves to your hearts' content.  It is a
part of his nature to delight in making people comfortable and happy-a  great merit in any man, but with
him this feeling seems to well out spontaneously, and I
don't believe hlie could help it if he wanted to. [Applause.]
This is our first Fourth of Julyv in the new building, and
you will understand by what you see before yout that on
this occasion hle has not forgotten the workers. As the
acting head of the establishment. I am commissioned by
him to express his great satisfaction with the manner in
which the more  than  three hundred employes of the
LEDGER co-operate with him, and with all connected with
the direction of the establishment in furthering the great
objects of the LEDGER. [Loud applause.]  I say this to
105 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
the compositors and pressmen, editors, clerks, and proofreaders- carriers, stereotypers,  carpenters,  machinists,
feeders, folders, engineers, watchmen, janitors, office boys,
and all. To all I am commissioned to express his thanks
and satisfaction.  Now, let me say a word or two for those
who are here and not directly connected with the establishment, as well as those who are, that it is a further
source of satisfaction that this assemblage of workingmen
represents a large amount of individual capital-certainly
not less than half a million; that a very large number of
the LEDGER employes are not only industrious, but thrifty
men, who look to their own welfare, and the future welfare
of their families, by husbanding their means.  It is to promnote this feeling among them, to encourage it in every
possible way, that a great deal of the cost appertaining to
this building has been expended.  It is an object auxiliary
to all the other objects that those connected with the
LEDGER establishment shall have reason to take pride in
it [applause]; and the best way in which they call exhibit
that pride, and manifest their appreciation, is to continue
their excellent deportment and conduct as citizens, heads
of families, and members of the printing craft, and by
taking care that what has been done here for their comfort
and health, and for the sake of themselves and their families, shall not have been vainly expended upon unthrifty
men. Printers are among the best paid of mechanics, and
from the large annual amounts paid to them and the other
employes of the establishment, there can be no reason why
the private capital of the men here to-day-and which, from
knowledge, I estimate at half a million-should not be,
upon July 4, 1868, if we shall be spared to meet again upon
that day, nearly six hundred thousand dollars.  The carriers, although they do not make the highest wages, have
been among the thriftiest of the employes, andl the aggregate value of their LEDGER routes would sell at the MAerchants' Exchange, as readily as Government securities, for
106 
FOURTH  OF JULY E-'TERTAIN!MENT.
a sum not less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars,
and probably three hundred thousand dollars.  This shows
what industrious and thrifty men can do out of even moderate wages; and it would be a high gratification to AMr.
Childs, and you know it would be to me, if he could see
you all following this laudable example. [Applause.]
Now, gentlemen, that is the end of a sermon that I have
long wished to preach to you, but perhaps I ought to apologize to you for preaching it upon a festive occasion. You
know how I have tried to impress it upon you individually,
because, having been one of you, I naturally hold your
interests close to my heart.   On the day of the formal
opening of this building, it fell to my lot to explain some
of the principal objects that were kept in view in the erection of this building. It was to be as convenient a printing
house as could be constructed.  It was to be a wholesome
place for you to work in.  Then it was to be an ornainent to Philadelphia. The first two of these objects were
for you exclusively.  You see that you have spacious, airy,
lofty-ceiled, and well-ventilated rooms.  This is to preserve
your health, and to enable you to continue your usefulness
to your families, to be effective supports to them, and to
be thriving members of society.
These objects I know you will appreciate, and when the
new machinery shall be erected in the room in which we
are now enjoying ourselves, that will increase the present
large printing capacity of the LEDGER more than fifty per
cent. beyond what it now is, so as to get the LEDGER into
the hands of the workingmnen, mechanics, business men,
and others, who have to leave their homes before seven
o'clock in the morning.  I hope you will actively, heartily,
and cheerfully co-operate to that end.  It will be a great
point to achieve this more fully than it has ever yet been
done.  It should be the desire of every one connected with
the establishment that the People's Newspaper, containing
a condensation of the intelligence and the thought of the
107 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
world, shall be in the hands of the masses of the people
bIetimes in the morning.  When we shall have done this
within the next flew months, we shall have accomplished a
task worthy ol us all, but which will be a workl well befitting the inauguration of this building as the " Palace of
the PEOPLE'S Newspaper." [Applause.]
And now, gentlenmen, I,have done, and will introduce to
you, as one worthy of speaking for the masses-a man
widely known as an esteemed mechanic-a man eminent in
one of the noblest of our benevolent organizations, and
whose hand is ill almnost every good work for his fellowmen, Mr. JAMEs B. NICHOLSON.   He will speak for that
great outside public who have so much to do with the
prosperity of the LEDGER, and whom we place first on this
occasion, although it is specially the festival of the employes of the establishment.  [Loud and continued applause
and cheers as the speaker concluded.]
REMARKS OF MR. NICHOLSON.
MAr. NICIIOLSON came forward, and, taking the stand, spoke
as follows:  This is a peculiar and proud moment for all who have
felt an interest in the prosperity of the PUBLIC LEDGER;
and who is there in this city that has not? The career of
the PUBLIC LEDGER is more or less intimately connected
with the interests of Philadelphia, and especially with the
welfare of the workingmen.  If we speak of the workingman in the narrow, lower sense which popular definition
assigns in that sphere, we find that the LEDGER has been
an instrument of good in the community.  I remember
well when the LEDGER'S career commenced, and the suspicion with which at that time it was regarded.  Its low
price and easy modes of payment and its ostensible objects
led many to fear that it would be instrumental of evil in
catering to the passions and playing upon the prejudices
108 
FOURTH OF JULY ENTERTAINMENT.
of the least educated portion of the people.  Nobly, right
nobly have those fears been dispelled; the LEDGER in its
instincts has been true to a highler, nobler humanity, and
proved itself to be the true friend of the workingman.
Wlhen large bodies of the people were swayed by passion,
and  " mob-law"  was  scattering  destruction  and death
throulghout the city, when good men were appalled, and
brave men grew timid, the LEDGER faltered not in its fealty
to the majesty of the people, but it daily asserted the
supremacy of the law.   Its appeals have ever been to
reason, in antagonism to the passions of a mob, regardless
of the pretence or the purpose under which the leaders of
lawless faction arrayed their ignorant andi misguided followers.  The LEDGER has in this respect alone won, and it
now commands, thle respect of the citizens of Philadelphlia.
Passing from the lower to the higher, truer idea of a
workinglman-l-that all are workers who toil either with the
brain or with the hland-those who build cities and establish nations, the LEDGER has in that aspect still higher
claims to public regardcl and consideration.  Its columns
have displayed firom time to time the topmost thoughts of
the agoe.  Its leading articles, ridiculed as they were at first,
lnay1 be referred to as brief, but comprehensive essays upon
philosophlical, moral, literary, or othler beneficial subjects,
and they have been characterized by a liberal, elevating,
and eninobling spirit: they breathe the breath of a common.
world-wide hlumanity.  The LEDGER has won the love of
the hopeful, aspiring sons of toil, and the indications now
are, that the future will add to its claims to admiration
and respect. [Great applause.]
The press, the mightiest power of modern times, is a
fitting emblem of the worker.  Through all its details and
ramifications, from the throbbing brain of the editor to the
daily rounds of the carrier, it gives evidence of unceasing,
persistent, well-directed labor.  In the PUBLIC LEDGER we
behold an illustration of capital and labor going hand in
109 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
hand and working beneficently together.  Surely, then, the
workers in this our work-day world have reason to congratulate themselves when journals like the LEDGER take
another forward step. [Ap)plaulse.]
This magnificent temple, dedicated to the good of the
people and their advancement, has been justly spoken of;
the provisions which have been made for the comfort and
health of all connected with the establishment have been
properly adverted to, and should receive fitting acknowledgmenit from the workingmen of Philadelphia. [Applause.]
And while I, for my part, would echo and re-echo every word
of praise that has been uttered or that may be uttered in
relation to the projector of this building, I feel that he is
worthy of higiher eulogy than even that.  I have watched
the career of the LEDGER from its commencement; I have
particularly noted its management since the proprietorship
was assumed by my friend George W. Childs [long-colntinued chleering], and as a citizen of Philadelphia, as a
workinugman, as a believer in the perpetuity of American
institutions, I find in the conduct of the journal itself, in
.the columns of the LEDGER, something that impels me to
speak more highly of George W. Childs and those associatedcl with him than I could dclo solely on account of this
magnificent edifice which has been added to the ornaments
of Philadelphia. [Applause,] That something I find in the
purity of the editorials of that journal; I find it in the total
exclusion of all advertisements of an immoral character
from the columns of the PUBLIC LEDGER. [Applause and
cheers.] For this, if' for nothing else, as one of the people,
I give to the PUBLIC LEDGER my unfeigned admiration and
respect; because public welfare. indiv7idiual happiness, and
the perpetuation of American institutions depend upon
public intelligence and private virtue. [Applause.]
Without further occupying your time, gentlemnen, allow
me? as one called upon, and permitted to speak for the
people of Philadelphia, to say in their behalf in behalf of
110 
FOURTH OF JULY ENTERTAIINMENT.
humanity, in behalf of the citizens of our glorious republic,
as I point to MAr. George W. Childs and his associatesbeholdcl, the men whom we delight to honor. [Enthusiastic
applause.]
The Chairman then said: I deem it a duty, as well as a
pleasure, at this time, to propose the good health, long
life, and continued usefulness of a gentleman very  dear
and very valuable to every one of you.  He is a gentleman
that you all think of at least once a week; he is a gentleman who thinks of you to great purpose at least once a
week-this is the "Cashier of the LEDGER"  [cheers and
laughlter]-Col. M. RICHARDS MUCKLE.
MR. MUCKLE, FOR THE CASH OFFICE.
Col. M[UCKLE, in response, said: —
GENTLEMEN:  My heart beats within nme like a slecldgehammer dri.ven by a forty-horse power engine. [Laughter.]
I want you to understand, in the compliment just proposed, tlhat you see before you what may be termed one of
the " oldcl fixtures" of thle PUBLIc LEDGER, and you will
therefore observe that in occupyineg the new building at
least soine of the fixtures of the old were taken along.
[Laughlter.]  I regret my inability to fill with my voice
this immense apartment, but I would be derelict to my
duty if I did not respond in some mainner to the compliient of Mlr. McKean, who stands here to-day as the relpresentative of George W. Childs, Esq.
For myself, I can truly say I stand here to-day a happy
mnan. [Applause.]  Not only age, but associations have
made me so.  When, as a boy of fifteen years of age, I
made my first appearance in the LEDGER establishment, we
had a little clubb —lole of about twelve by fifteen feet; and
we tlhough(lt it a monster concern, and so it was when we
looked at the still smaller place in the Arcade.  We made
lit 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
a move to Second and ]Dock Streets, and in 1840 came to
Third and Chlestnut, to a building that was considered a
palace in those dclays.  Even at the building at Third and
Chestnut Streets, we found the necessitv for more room.
At first we had for the front office a room of about twelve
by seventeen feet, and thought it ample.  So it was for
sonime time.
The twenlty-five years I have been in the "front office"
have been the happiest of my life, and I have never had
occasion to regret the day I went there.  And I can state
that I owe it all to a good German mother.   (Colonel
Muckle then gave a sketch of his career as a boy ill New
York in search of'employment, and his recall by his mother,
and then his subsequent visit to the LEDGER establishment
for employment.)  On Saturday morning I went to the
office, and presented myself'to that g(ood fellow, Mr. SImMIONS.  He took me by the hand and called me his boy;
and he continued to call me his boy until hle vanished from
this earth to occupy a place in the temple above.  I have
continued in the office ever since, and, as its cashier, I
believe I may truly call myself the workingman's friend.
[Laughter aind applause.]  I have never been absent more
than ten days at a time, for my duties required me to put
back in haste, in order, like a good general, to bring up the
stragglers firom the rear-(allusion to back work.)  In regard to Mr. Childs-that noble man, that prince among
prinilces-who has been proprietor of this paper a little more
thanl two years, I wishl to say a few words.  My acquaintance with him dates twenty years back.  I knew him in
the book trade.  For some time he occupied as his place
of business the very spot I afterwar(ls used as my office.
I loved him from the first, and so much so that my eldest
born is named " Childs." [Applause.]
Mr. Muickile referred to what he considcered the great feature of the day-the assemblage of one hundred and ten
newsboys, where all was joy and happiness.  Here again
112 
FOURTH OF JULY ENTERTAINMENT.
was anothler evidence of NMr. Chlilds' kindness; and as
another strikiing proof of his kind disposition, he would
state that during the two years of the present proprietorship he had dispensed for him more money in charity than
was given (dturing all his twenty-three years' connection
with the establishment. [Applause.]
The Chairman then askedcl the company to join in a sentiment to a ]man whose connection with the LEDGER was
even older tlhan the LEDGER itself, for he was the owner of
the "Daily Transcript," the name of which is found still
living in the sub-head to the second page of the LEDGERa man whom hle could endorse as the best mechanic, the
clearest thinker, the best adviser ill all matters of machlinery lie had the good fortune to kniow, WM. IL. DRANE,
the slupl)erintendent of the LEDGER press room.  [E1nthusiastic chlleering and applause.]
MR. DRANE, FOR THE PRESS ROOM.
AMr. DRA.NE, in response to repeated calls, said that he
did not anticipate being called upon for a speech, but some
of the old newspaper people having learned that he was
one of thle oldest newspaper publishers in the city, appeared determined to bring him out.  Mlore than thirty
years ag,o he conceived the idea of publishing a paper in
this city which would give the local and current news of
thle day for one cent.  Iec did not mention dates, because
lie was a bachelor. [Laughter.]
Hle had conceived the idea of publishing a penny paper
from reading the glowing accounts of the success of the
" Penny Magazinle," and, in September, 1835, some months
before the publication of the LEDGER, he published several
numbers of the " Daily Transcript," for the purpose of feeling the pulse of the public on the subject of a daily penny
paper.  After that date the "Daily Times" was published
8
I I I,>, 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
for one cent a copy, but failed.  Several numbers of the
" Tranlscript" appeared just before the October election of
1835; but the failure of the " Times" did not deter Mr.
Drane, for, in  February, 1836, he commenced, and afterwards published regularly, the "Daily Transcript," until
September, 1836, when he gave Swain, Abell & Simmons,
of the LEDGER, his good-will and that of the " Transcript."
[Applause.] The LEDGER was commenced on the 25th of
MAarchl, 1836.  Mr. Drane said that newspaper publishers
at that time performed the largest amount of labor, as
local reporter, news editor, proof-reader, and sometimes
clerk.
He could narrate many events connected with the introduction of penny papers in Philadelphia, but time did not
permit.  The speaker became connected with the LEDGER
in May, 1837, when Mr. Abell and Mr. Simmons went to
Baltimnore to start the " Sun," while Mr. Swain remained
in Philadelphia.  He closed with the sentiment: " The
PUBLIC LEDGER-may its future career be as useful and
instructive as its past!" The toast was drank amid great
applause.
At this point the Chairman proposed "Prosperity to the
Compositors, to  their veteran  and respected foreman,
GEORGE  BAITZEL, and his worthy assistant, WILLIAM
S HIELDS."
MIr. BAITZEL was brought forward, and received with
cheers. In response, he stated that he had been indisposed
for several years and unable to attend to his duties, and
on this occasion he did not feel able to make a speech.
The Chairman then asked leave to introduce a sentiment
in honor of one of the most estimable classes of the LEDGER
employes-the Carriers, who are a highly prosperous body
of men, because of their thrifty habits, andl the aggregate
value of whose routes is worthl nearly, or quite three
hundred thousand dollars.
This was responded to by Dr. BODINE, the oldest carrier,
who referred to the fact that he had been connected with
114 
FOURTH OF JULY ENTERTAINMENT.
the LEDGER fi'om the time it was located at Second and
Dock dCown to the present time. Hle paid a tribute to the
worth of' Mr. Swain, the proprietor with whom he was
most frequently brought into contact.  The speaker narrated incidents of Mr. Swain's enterprise in securing news
before the use of the telegraph.  In the transfer to the
new proprietor no greater compliment could have been
paid to the LEDGER itself than in the selection of Mr.
Childs as the successor of those who started the paper.
The speaker thought Mr. McKean had underrated the
value of the carriers' routes, as they were worth at least
one-third more, and were certainly largely increased in
value since Mr. Childs became proprietor.
Mr. HOOvER, another carrier, being called upon by his
fellow-carriers, referred to the hardships incident to the
business of serving the LEDGER.  In all weather, summer
and winter, the paper must be delivered.  Every carrier
will understand the difficulty of wading through the snows
of the winter before the shovels have been at work, and
when it is of more importance to preserve the paper than
the skin of the carrier. In this connection, lie wished that
all persons who subscribed to the LEDGER would provide
a box in which the paper could be deposited, instead of
being  slipped under  the  doorway.   [Applause.]   The
speaker also referred to the fact that the carrier is also a
watchman or guardian of the people's property, for frequently in his morning journey he finds his subscribers'
doors open, inviting the visit of robbers.  To give the
alarm is his first thlought, and thus he preserves the property of the citizen.  [Applause.]   The speaker closed
with a eulogy on the press, and a toast so highly eulogistic of Mr. Childs, that the reporter feels sure that if he
were present in the city he would scarcely consent to its
publication, and it is therefore reluctantly omitted by the
reporter.
Speeches were also made by JOEL COOK, JR.; JOHN L.
HENDERSON; R. C. SMITII, Editor of the " Sunday Times;"
115 
THiE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
COL. FITZGERALD, Editor of the "City Item;" JOIN D.
WATSON, Editor of the " North American, and United
States Gazette;" J. E. JACKSON, and others.
The  company  separated  shortly after seven  o'clock,
after a season of six hours of uninterrupted enjoymenlt.
THiE NEWSBOYS' BANQUET.
THIS was the jolliest set of juveniles assembled on thle
Fourth.  There were a hundred and ten of them of all
ages, fiom seven to sixteen, acnd in all styles of costume
from the neat and clean to that which was more picturesque
than either; acnd they were of all descriptions of physical
condition, from the lank and lean to the well rounded(
plulmpness of the sturdy little chlap with auburn hair alnd
face all covered with freckles, known as "Roast-b)eef."
They had set out to have a jolly day over the LEDGEIa
festival, and they had it.  They ate and were merry, and
had uproarious fun.  They went thlrotugh their bill of fare
from turtle soup and salmnon to the last items of spongecake and ice-cream, and had adjourned before half the
grown lup folks in the press room  had got throulgh with
thleir soup.  It was a part of the programme for these
youlngsters that an effort should be made to aunitise them,
and also to " talk to them like a father,"' but tlhey were far
too busy for that.  When the malnager of the establishment went into their gallery to open up this part of the
ceremony, and thoulght the best beginning would  be to
assulre them that they need not eat so fast, for Mr. Childs
had provided plenty, not only to eat there, but enough
cakes and confectionery also for them to take home to
their brothers and sisters, they cut in, before he got
thlrough his first sentence, with " three chleers'" for hini
and "'three more" for MAr. Childs, and kept on cheering
116 
FOURTH OF JULY ENTERTAINMEN-T.
until he had to beat a retreat, and postpone to a more
favorable timine both the amusemenlt  kindly offered by
Signor Blitz and his own design to persuade them to be
more careful with their earnings.
EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYED.
THERE is always one source of pleasure in the doing of
an act intended to be a kindness to others, and to produce
good results to them, and that is the satisfaction of having
done a thing grateful to one's own feelings and conscience.
Btit it sometimes happens that such an act brings with it
a number of other pleasures, not the least of which is to
find that what has been done is tlhoroughlly understood
andc heartily appreciated b)y those for whose welfare it was
intended.  An instance of this latter kind occurred to
the proprietor of the PUBLIC LEDGER.   For several days
after the Fourth of July the employes of the establishmelt were quietly and secretly engaged in getting up an
expression of their feelings towards Mr. Childs for what
they were pleased to call his many acts of kindness, generosity, and good-will, designed to promote their comfort, enjoyment, and welfare, and, when they had it all
completed, requested him, without any intimation of what
was coming, to meet them in the library of the establishment to receive it.  Their spokesman then presented him
with  an address, most  beautifully and artistically engrosse(l, and mounted in a rich aind tasteful frame.  The
address was signed by eleven gentlemen, representing the
eleven departments into whichl the three hundred employes
of the establishment are divided, many of whom have been
connected with the LEDGER for more than a quarter of a
century, and quite a large number for periods ranging from
ten to twenty years.   The following is the text of this
gratifying testimonial, which is published without fuirther
117 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
introduction than to say that the reception of the testimonial by MIr. Childs was a pleasure as great as it was
unexpected, and one that he will always look back to with
feelings of the highest satisfaction:
To Our Honored and Esteemed Employer,
George W. Childs, Esq.
SIR:-The three hundred and nine employes of the
PUBLIC LEDGER ESTABLISHMENT
Desire to convey to you some slight expression of
THEIR IIEARTFELT THANKS
For your great kindness and consideration for all of them,
continued without intermission since you have been
PROPRIETOR OF THE PUBLIC LEDGER;
For your innumerable acts of generosity and courtesy,
of which all of them have been the frequent and gratified
recipients:
For your goodness of heart, your benevolence, your
enterprise, and your cardinal virtues, which not only honor
you, but reflect honor upon those who labor for you:
For the uniform justice with which you have ruled the
PUBLIC LEDGER OFFrrICE-a justice always tempered with
mercy-a mercy always anxious to pardon:
And, above all, honored sir, your employes desire to
thank you  For having built a palace for them to work in, a printinghouse which is unparalleled in the world, a printing-office
which in all its departments is the most healthy, comfortable, and spacious on the American Continent:
For all this, and more than this, that you have done for
118 
FOURTH OF JULY ENTERTAINMENT.
them, your employes desire, though it be in insufficient
words, to convey to you
THEIR MOST SINCERE THANKS;
And on their behalf, we subscribe ourselves your
GRATEFUL FRIENDS AND EMPLOYES,
)I. RICHARDS MIIUCLE, on behalf of the Financial Departmeut.
JOEL Coox, JR., on behalf of the Editorial Staff.
THos. 3I. COLEMIAN, on behalf of the Reportorial Staff.
WM.N. L. DRANE, on behalf of the Pressmen, Engineers, and Feeders.
GEORGE BAITZEL, on behalf of the Compositors of the PUBLIC
LEDGER.
JoHn  L. IHENDEnSON, on behalf of the Compositors of the Home
Weekly.
FRANCIs GRAAMA-, on behalf of the Employes of tlre Publication
Department.
HENRY V. DAVIS, on behalf of the Folding Department.
H. S. HUGHES, on behalf of the Stereotyping Department.
DR. J. E. BODINE, on behalf of the Carriers and Agents.
J. E. JACKSOx, on behalf of the Job Printing Department.
REMARKS OF JOSEPH SAILER, Esq.
From the "Money Market" of the PUBLIc LEDGER, Monday, July 1, 1567.
Twenty-seven years ago this day, the first "money
market" appeared in the columns of the LEDGER.  It was
penned by the same hand that writes this paragraph, and
the dep)artment from that day to this has been continuously
in charge of the same person; and as an evidence of general good health and close application, it may be mentioned
that no two successive numbers of the LEDGER, in the time
mentioned, has been published without matter furnished to
that department by hlim. Averaging the department at
one column per day, gives three hundred and twelve
columns per year, and as each of these columns of close
reading is fully equal to five octavo book pages in ordinary book type, we have, as the annual product, fifteen
119 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
hundred and sixty pages, and fortyr-two thousand one hun dredl and twenty pages in twenty-seven  years, equal to
eighty-four volumes of five hundred pages each-elnough
to fill a very respectable book-case. Of the quality of this
matter we say nothing. Our purpose is simply to show
how vast a volume of reading may be gathered together in
a series of years by regular daily contributions of even so
comparatively small an amount as a single column per day.
And, what of the number of readers of these eighty-four
volumes?  The productions of the most popular author in
the world have probably not been so favored in this respect
as has the "money-market" of the LEDGER.  WThen this
department was commenced in the LEDGER, on the 1st of
July, 1840, the edition was about fifteen thousandl daily;
and allowing five readers to each paper, it was from the
begoinning addressed to seventy-five thousand persons daily;
and at that rate for the three hundred and twelve publishinog days of the year, the number was increased to nearly
tieety-thr?ee and a half millions!  This was for one year,
when the circulation of the paper was at the smallest. It
has steadily increased from that time to the present, and
by the same rule of five readers to each copy of the paper
(many of the copies are read by twice that number), there
is now a daily audience to the teachings of its columns of
three hundred and fifty thousand persons; which number,
multiplied by three hundred and twelve publishing clays of
the year, gives over ole hundred and nine millions as the
readers of its contents in one year.  Counting the average
circulation of the LEDGER for the last twenty-seven years
at fifty thousand daily, with an average of five readers to
the contents of each copy, and we have the immense aggregate of two thousand one hundred and six millions!
These figures equal the population of the world, and nearlequal the sum of our national debt in dollars; but, unlike
the volume of that debt, which is steadily rolling backward,
the circulation and the readers of the contents of the
LEDGER are steadily on the increase.
120 
orrtspinbtnrt.
( 121 )  
CORRESPONDENCE.
[From the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.]
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 18, 1867.
DEAR SIR: I thank you for your invitation to attend
the formal opening of the NEW LEDGER BUILDING on the
20th inst., and regret that engageminents, already formed,
will not permit me to be present on an occasion of so much
interest.  I can only, therefore, tender you my congratulations upon the great success which has been achieved by
your ability, energy, and integrity; and in wishing for the
LEDGER continued prosperity, express the hope that in the
dissemination of sound principles and useful knowledge,
its influence for good may remain unabated.
I am, sir,
Very respectfully
and truly yours,
ANDREW JOHNSON.
GEORGE W. CHILDS,
Proprietor of the Public Ledger,
Philadelphia, Pa.
(123) 
TIIE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From the IIon. WMI. II. SF;wARD, Secretary of State of the Unrited States.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
WASIIINGTON, June 12, 1867.
MIY DEAR MR. CHILDS: You Imust excuse me for reluctautly declining your polite invitation, which I should be
glad to accept, simply by way of showing how highly I
respect and esteem you personally, and how much I sympathize with your enlightened spirit of activity and enterprise.           I am, sir, very sincerely,
Your friend and obedient servant,
WM. HI. SEWARD.
[From the IIon. GIDEON WELLS, Secretary of the Navy.]
NAVY DEPARTMENT,
WASIIINGTON, June 10, 1867.
DEAR SIR: I regret my inability to accept your polite
invitation to be present at the opening of the NEw LEDGER
BUILDING, on Thursday, the 20th ilnst.; but other duties
detain me here.
Althotugh unable to participate in the ceremonies of
inaugurating your new buildingo, I sincerely colngratulate
you on the success which the occasion indicates to yourself personally, and to the journal itself.
The course of the LEDGER, its moral and political bearing, and the ability, independence, and fairness which its
columns have generally displayed, I have adlmired.
It is a subject of special commendation, that while the
LEDGER has ably vindicated the great principles of the
Constitution, maintained the integrity of the Union, and
asserted the rights of the Federal Government, the rights
of the States, and the rights of manl it has been exempt
from that illiberal and ungenerous partisanship which so
frequently disfigures our public journals.
W-ith my best wishes for your continued success,
I am, very respectfully,
SIR. GEO. WAV. CUILDS.             GIDEON WELLES.
124 
125
[From the lion. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of VWar.]
WAR DEPARTMENT,
WASIIINGTON, June 10, 1867.
MR. GEO. WA'. CIIILDS.
DEAR SIR: The acknowledgment of your kind invitation
has been delayed ill the hope that I might be able to accept
it; but I reg(ret to find that I shall not be able to enjoy
that pleasure.  With many thanks for your attention, and
good wvishes for the continued prosperity of the LEDGER,
I am, yours truly,
EDWIN M. STANTON.
[From the Hon. MILLARD FILL31ORE, Ex-President of the United States.]
BUFFALO, June 12, 1867.
GEO. W. CHILDS, ESQ.
DEAR SIR: I am honored by your cordial invitation to
be present at the opening of the NEW LEDGER BUILDING,
on the 20th of June inst., and I can assure you that it
would give me great pleasure to accept it, but I regret to
say that my engagemnents will prevent.
It is now more than nine years since I was last in Philadelphia, but report says that the building which is about
to be opened, and for which Philadelphia is indebted to
your enterprise and liberality, is not only an ornament to
the city, architecturally, but one of the largest and most
complete printing establishments that has ever been erected
in this country.
Manay years since, the PUBLIC LEDGER used occasionally
to fall under my observation, and it seemed to me to be a
remarkably well-conducted paper; and I am happy to infer
that it has been profitable to its proprietor; for in this,
honesty and enterprise have their rewvard.
I am, with great respect,
Truly yours,
MIILLARD FILLMORE.
CORRESPO-NDE-CE. 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From GENERAL GRANT.]
IIEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES,
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 18, 1867.
G. W. CHILDS, ESQ.
DEAR SIR: I regret that an engagement to be at Gettysburg, Pa., the very day for which I am indebted to you for
a most cordial invitation to dine with you in Philadelphia,
will prevent my acceptance.
With great respect,
Your obedient servant,
U. S. GRANT, General.
[From Chief-Justice CHASE to Dr. ELDER.]
RALEIGH, NORTI CAROLINA, June 12, 1867.
MY DEAR SIR: Some days have passed since I received
your note requesting me to be present at the dinner with
which our friend Mr. Childs intends to distinguish the
opening of' the N'EW LEDGER BUILDING."
I should be very glad to be one of his guests, and to
congratulate him personally on the event he celebrates.
But my duties will detain me in wvarner latitudes.
His brilliant business career is marked  all along  by
achievements impossible to any one not endowed with uncommon powers and energies.  The new building will only
mark the latest stage of his career.   Other stages and
other achievements are before him.  I sincerely wish that
his future may be crowned, like his past, with successes
equal to his desires.
And may he long live to enjoy the present respect and
good-will which his generous spirit and upright life, far
more than his successes, draw to him, as the magnetic
mountains draw ships-not, however, like them, to wreck.
Yours sincerely,
S. P. CHASE.
WM. ELDER, M.D.
126 
CORRESPONDENCE.
[From the lion. S. P. CHASE, LL D., Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of
the United States.]
WASHINGTON, June 8, 1867.
MNY DEAR MR. CHILDS: My duties here will not permit
me to accept your kind invitation to be present at the
opening of the NEw LEDGER. BUILDING; but I pray you to
accept my sincere congratulations on the event. Long
may you enjoy the prosperity you have so honorably won,
and may it ever be identified, as heretofore, with the welfare
of the great city in which you live.
If I could be with you, and were at liberty to make a
speech, my theme should be: The Pen, the Telegraphl, and
the Press-the triple alliance that rules the world.
Yours, very truly,
S. P. CHASE.
GEO. WA. CHILDS, ESQ.
[From the Ilon. W. DENNISON, late Postmaster-General of the United States.]
COLUMBUS, OHIO, June 21, 1867.
My DE.AR SIR: I need not assure you of my disappointmienit in not being of the party of your firiends to inaugurate, withl you, the opening of your magnificent buildling,
yesterday afternoon, which is not more an ornament to
your city than a monument of your eminent and welldeserved success in life.
Let me make to you my sincere congratulations on the
completion of your buildinl, and my warmest wishes for
your future prosperity.
Accept my thanks for your kind remembrance of me,
and believe me,
Truly outrs,
W. DENNISON.
127 
TI-HE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From Major-General GEARY, Governor of Pennsylvania.]
STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA,
EXECUTIVE CIAM.BER, HARRISBURG, PA., June 19, 1867.
GEORGE W. CHILDS, ESQ.
MAIY D)EAR SIR: Few things would afford me more gratification than to be free to accept your flattering invitation
to meet yourself and distinguished guests at the inaugurationI ceremonies of the NEW LEDGER BUILDING on the 20th
inst. The pride and admiration that every citizen of this
Commonwealth especially must entertain for an enterprise
commencing in obscurity and being apparently insignificant in all its bearings, which in a few years, by prudent
mnanagement, integrity in its business arrangements, persevering industry, untiring energy, devotion to the true
interests of the community it proposed to serve, combined
with skill, talent, genius, and all the requisites for success,
could be made to assume its present magnificenlt proportions, would of themselves be more than sufficient to create
the desire to be present on the occasion referred to, not
only to take part in the interesting ceremonies, but to aid
in doing honor to the gentleman who has contribnted so
largely to this grand result.
But, were you present in the executive chamber a few
days to observe the vast amount of business requiring
immediate attention, you would readily perceive how difficult it is for me to anticipate in advance a day of leisure,
or fix upon a period when it would be prudent to be absent
from the scene of official labor. And as it has been the
invariable and inviolate rule of my life never to defer until
the morrow that which should be done to-day, or to seek
personal gratification at the expense of public duty, it so
happens that my presence is required at Gettysburg to meet
General U. S. Grant, and the representatives of the eighteen States whose loyal dead are interred in the National
Cemetery at that place, at the very time it would afford me
so much pleasure to mingle with your honored guests and
128 
CORRESPONDENCE.
join with them in their well-merited and hearty congratulations of the enterprising proprietor of the PUBLIC LEDGER.
Although but a boy at the time, I distinctly recollect the
first issues of your paper. The obscurity from which it
issued and its diminutive size gave no earnest of its present
mammoth dimensions and immense public utility.   But
even then a careful observer could perceive that the little
bantling possessed the proper spirit, and contained within
itself the true elements of success.  Conducted upon the
most economical principles, its business managed with
strict regard to honesty and justice, supplying a want that
had long been felt by the masses of the community, avoidigiu all partisan entanglements and personal bickerings or
aspersions, its news carefully selected and always reliable,
its freedom from everything unchaste or unfit for the family
circle, and its editorials the evident productions of a vigorous intellect and powerful pen, it soon commended itself to
the general public, and gradually grew in favor, strength,
and power, until it reached its present magnitude, and has
become an absolute necessity.
In contemplating the unprecedented prosperity of your
noble and splendid establishment, the mind is unavoidably
carried back to the time of its incipiency, and to reflect
upon the wonderful progress that  genius, talent, and
science have made in that brief period.
Excuse the length of this communication.  I purposed
simply to excuse my absence from your proposed festival,
and to testify my approbation of your industry, skill, and
zeal, as well as your princely munificence in constructing
a building for your business purposes that is an ornament
to the city of Philadelphia and a credit to the State, and
in completing a printing establishment equalled in all its
appointments, adornments,  comforts, and grandeur by
none other in the world.
With high respect,
Your friend and obedient servant,
JNO. W. GEARY.
9
129 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From the Hon. MARCUS L. WARD, Governor of New Jersey.]
STATE OF NEW JERSEY, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
TRENTON, June 10, 1867.
GEORGE W. CHILDS, ESQ.,
Proprietor of the Public Ledger.
DEAR SIR: It will give me great pleasure to accept your
kind invitation to be present at the ceremonies attending
the inauguration of your NEW LEDGER BUILDING; and I
shall be especially pleased if, by my presence upon that
occasion, I can testify my respect for the high character and
honorable principle which have so pre-eminently marked
your editorial life. To have been the proprietor and responsil)le editor of a paper which, like the LEDGER, has
established, and for so many years sustained, a character
for dignity, courtesy, and morality, and for strict adherence
to the principles of truth, is an honor of which the most
fortunate might be proud.  The greatly increased circi'ilationl of your paper-its almost unprecedented successis but a proof that such qualities are appreciated by the
public.  Your beautiful and costly building, ivhich I have
already seen in course of construction, is but the fitting
result of so successful an enterprise.  I doubt not that the
LEDGER will continue to flourish in the future as it has in
the past, and prove a great source of benefit to yourself,
as well as to the public.       Very truly yours,
MARCUS L. WARD.
[From Major.-General SCHENCK, Member of Congress from Ohio.]
WASHINGTON, June 13, 1867.
MAR. GEO. W. CHILDS.
MY DEAR SIR: I must be content with the expression of
my regret, that I cannot share in a festivity which is to
mark another of those magnificent and successful enterprises which illustrate the growth and prosperity of your
beautiful city.
Very respectfully and truly yours,
ROBERT C. SCIIENCK.
130 
CORRESPONDENCE.
[From the Hon. THOMAS SWANN, Governor of Maryland.]
STATE OF MARYLAND', ExEcUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
ANNAPOLIS, June 27, 1867.
'MY DEAR SIR: I have read the account of the proceedings which took place at the opening of the NEW IEDGER
BUILDING, to which you did me the honor to invite me,
and cannot forego the pleasure of expressing to you my
gratification at the appreciation universally expressed on
that occasion of your high character as a journalist, and
the well-merited success which has attended your past
career. In the bitterness of feeling which has sometimes
attended the progress of the press in this country and elsewhlere, it is refreshing to look back upon the manly and
generous spirit which has always marked your connection
with it, holding out an example which cannot fail to be
useful to all who are laboring in the same field.
As the Executive of the State of Maryland, I should
have felt highly complimented in being present, to have participated in the cordial expressions of your distinguished
friends, besides the particular gratification it would have
afiorded me as a personal friend in contributing my part
in doing you honor as a Marylander who has elevated the
dignity of his vocation by enlarged enterprise, impartial
justice, and practical intelligence.
Permit me to offer you my sincere congratulations on
the great success of your entertainment, and to assure you
of the high regard and esteem with which I am
Yours, most truly,
THOS. SWANN.
GEo. W. CHILDS, Esq.
131 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From   the Hon. SIMo. CAMERON, U. S. Senator from Pennsylvania.]
UNITED STATES SENATE CHIAMBER,
WASIIINGTON, July 3, 1867.
MY DEAR FRIEND CHILDS: Your invitation to join in
the inauguration ceremonies of the NEW LEDGER BUILDING
reached me in the midst of active preparations for a trip
to Kansas over the Union Pacific Railroad.  Although I
was eager and anxious to go upon this excursion half-way
across the Continent, I could not suppress a feeling of
keen disappointment that, in gratifying that wish, I was
forced to forego the pleasure of mneeting you, and joining
you and your friends in the festivities which were to mark
your inauguration of the magnificent Printing House of
the LEDGER.
My warm impulses for everything which benefits the
working-man, and my pride in everything which reveals
the growth and the prosperity of Pennsylvania, made me
specially anxious to be present at your banquet, but, in
addition to these inducements, I had the stronger one of
active, practical sympathy with the object and occasion of
your meeting.  I have learned the trade of printer; I have
labored at it for my daily bread.  I have edlitedcl and owned
newspapers, and I have carefully thought over the incalculable influence of the public press. I was in full sympathy with the workmen, the editors, the proprietor, and the
guests, for in my life I have filled all the parts at different
periods.
Our country abounds with evidences of great successes.
In the department of current literature, but especially in
the daily newspaper, we have seen amazing results.  Men
now living can trace your career by a comparison with
what the best of our daily newspapers were forty years
ago.  In New York a wonderful development of skill and
energy has been shown; but in no city of the Union has
there been such a transcendent success in the newspaper
world as the Philadelphia LEDGER.
132 
CORRESPONDENCE.
The success of your newspaper has something in it peculiar and interesting.  It is the direct continuation of the
first effort made in this or any other country to print and
sell a newspaper for a penny, an amount insufficient to pay
for the white paper on which it is printed.  It has thus
popularized the daily paper, and, more than any other
engine, educated the masses in the duties of citizenship.
Who  can measure the effect for good which has flowed
directly from this fact? - Every man of sense knows that
our only safety as a government consists in educating the
mass of the people up to a standard of such excellence
that they will not only know how to make laws, but be
masters of that higher knowledge which enables them to
obey the law.
Foremost, then, in this good work, I place the LEDGER,
your predecessor Mr. Swain, and you, Mr. Childs, its present proprietor.  To you belongs the honor of having done
much, and the responsibility for much yet to be done.  As
I fully and cordially approve of your past course, so do I
look hopefuilly to the manner in which you will fulfil the
remaining duties of your high calling. And as I have been
your friend heretofore, so will I continue to be your friend,
your supporter, and your admirer.
Please accept my regrets that I could not meet you, and
believe me, as ever,         Yours, most truly,
SIMON CAMERON
[From General C. E. PHELPS, Member of Congress from Baltimore City.]
BALTIMORE, June 7, 1867.
GEORGE W. CuILDS.
MY DEAR SIR: It is needless for me to assure you how
highly I appreciate the honor of being designated as one
of your friends on an occasion so honorable to you, and so
significant to your dashing enterprise and deserved success.
You may certainly rely upon my presence.
Very truly yours,
CH. E. PHELPS.
133 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From the Hon. A. G. CATTELL, United States Senator from New Jersey.]
MERCIIANTVILLE, N. J., June 13, 1867.
MY DEAR MR. CHILDS: I have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt of your invitation to attend the opening ceremonlies at the NEW PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING on the 20thl
inst. I shall be most happy to avail myself of the opportunlity to signify my high appreciation of the character of
the LEDGER, and also 1my great personal regard for you
individually.
The LEDGER, from its very commencement, has been a
great power in Philadelphia, and successful beyond the
most sanguine expectation of its friends. That its success
will be increased, and its power augmented by the wisdom
and energy of y'our management, I do not doubt; and I
predict for you and it a career of prosperity and usefulness.
In regard to your request that I should reply to the
toast in honor of New Jersey, I beg to say that, as our
excellent Governor will probably be present, it would
manifestly be proper that lie should respond to the sentiment in honor of the State over which he so worthily
presides.                    Yours, truly,
ALEX. G. CATTELL.
[From Hon. GEORGE S. HILLARD, LL. D., United States District Attorney
for Massachusetts.]
BOsTON, June 10, 1867.
My DEAR MR. CHILDS: Be assured that it gives me
always the greatest pleasure to hear of your happiness
and prosperity, which indeed are the natural result of your
qualities of mind, heart, and character. I can only wish
that your future may be like your past.
Yours faithfully,
G. S. HILLARD.
134 
CCRRESPOND1ENCE.
[From Major-General CHAMBERLAIN, Governor of Maine.]
STATE OF MAINE, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
AUGUSTA, June 12, 1867.
GEO. W. CHILDS.
MY DEAR SIR: I beg to express my grateful sense of
the honor you dclo me by your invitation to be present on
the occasion of the opening of the NEw LEDGER BUILDING,
and I exceedingly regret that I cannot make such arrangement of my official duties as to allow me the great pleasure
of thus renewing my association with gentlemen whom I
so much honor and esteem.
Be pleased to accept the assurance of the interest I feel
in every indication of your prosperity, and of the pleasure
it would give me to be able to participate in the festivities
of the occasion to whiclh you have so kindly invited me.
With sincere regard,
Your friend and servant,
G. L. CHAMBERLAIN.
[From the Hon. REVERDY JonxsoN, LL. D., United States Senator from
Maryland.]
BALTIMORE, June 13, 1867.
Mr. REVERDY JOHIINSON much regrets that engagements
beyond his control deprive him of the pleasure of Mr. Geo.
W. Childs' invitation for the 20th instant.  Mr. Johnson
would have been much gratified in being present onl an
occasion so indicative of the prosperity of the LEDGER,
and in uniting with the friends of the editor in testifying
his admiration of the manner in which his paper has been
conducted, ever abstaining from personal and reckless
attacks, and always aiming to elevate the private and political character of its readers.
135 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From Commodore TURNER,T United States Navy.]
UNIITED STATES NAVY YARD,
PHILADELPHIIIA, June 26, 1867.
MR. GEO. W. CIIILDS.
MY I)EAR SIR: I was particularly sorry that circumstances obliged me to leave my place at your magnificent
banquet before I had an opportunity of replying to the
Navy toast, as I was ready, and wanted to say something
in my humble way of the close and cordial relations which
bind the Navy of the Unitedcl States to the press-how we
have been cheered through this whole war by the generous
acknowledgmenits of the press of the country, of our services, and especially the LEDGER.  But it is now too late
to make more than a brief allusion to it.  When  did the
press ever fail to recognize, to commend, and to applaud
an act of gallantry of one of our profession?  When did it
ever fail to receive with open arms a gallant officer returning from a field of brilliant achievements? and, on the
other hand, when did it ever fail to hold up to a nation's
scorn the craven dastard who shrunk from his duty in the
hour of danger?  I say much less here upon this subject
than I should have done, if it had been my good fortune
to have been able to speak for the Navy at the dinner, and
pass at once to the dinner itself. I congratulate myself
on having been there, for, having travelled all over the
world, occasionally entertained by the first dignitaries of
foreign lands-having had a very enlarged opportunity
of contrasting memorable and magnificent entertainments
with each other, I unhesitatingly say, that I was startled
by the brilliancy, the taste, the splendor, and entire success of your fete, and that it far exceeded anything of the
kind I ever saw or participated in; and the first thought
that seized my mind was-who is the author of all this?
Was it some lordly aristocrat or titled scion of an ancient
house, with its revenues and retinues?  Nay, it was no
such thing! but a plain, modest, humble man of energy,
activity, intelligence, and practicability; self-made, not yet
136 
CORRESPONDENCE.
having reached the meridian of life; who had vaulted, by
his solid merit, into a commanding position of wealth,
influence, and consequence, by his own exertions alone-a
type of a class of men who seem, more than to any other,
to belong to this country, where the mind and tile energies, and the ingenuity and industry of man are given full
scope to develop themselves as man will decide for himself.
I congratulate you, my  dear sir, upon this great occasion, and I feel proud, as an American, of your birthright
as a citizen of our great and common country, and I feel
proud to be the firiend of the man who has, by his own
merit, advanced himself to a position which, without hereditary privileges of any sort, any manl might be proud of.
I am, my dear Mr. Childs, with the best wishes for your
prosperity and happiness in life,
Your friend,
T. TURNER.
[From the Hlion. A. H. RICE, Member of Congress from Massachusetts and
Ex-Mayor of Boston.]
BOSTON, June 15, 1867.
MY DEAR MR. CHILDS:  I thank you very much for
honoring me with an invitation, and should need no inducements to accept it, if circumstances permitted.
You are sure of a splendid occasion, and you have my
best wishes for the continuance of the extraordinary success which has hitherto rewarded your sagacity and enterprise.                 I am, dear sir,
Very truly yours,
ALEX. IH. RICE.
137 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From Rear Admiral CHARLES STEWART, UJnited States Navy.]
BORDENTOWN, N. J., July 16, 1867.
MY DEAR MAIR. CHILDS: Since receiving the " papers" you
did me the honor to transmit me, I am filled with more
regrets at my inability to have been present at the opening
ceremonies, aind cannot let the occasion pass without offering you my congratulations on the great success you have
achieved thirough your enterprise and energy inll establishing a building so systematic and perfectly arranged for the
future issuing of the PUBLIC LEDGER.
You, my dear sir, have erected a lasting monument to
your genius and generosity, and in the internal arrangements you have established an example for the benefit of
all publishers to follow, in studying the comfort and convenience of the employes of their establishments.
In accomplishing your object you have contributed very
largely to the embellishment of my native city, and particularly so to the great " Square" and " Ilall of Independenice;" but when and where, my  dear sir, are we to
look for a similar achievement in the improvement of the
" Square" itself? This we must leave to hope and to time;
but I trust the time will come when, in imitation of your
good example, there will be found similar buildings on the
" Square," which will constitute  the "watch-towers of
liberty" around that noble " Hall," from the belfry of
which, on July 4th, 1776, issued the tocsin of Independence
as declared by our " Revolutionary Fathers," the descend
ants of whom are now receiving the meed of praise from
surrolundcling nations.
Accept the best wishes for your future success of this
noble undertakilng, of
Your friend,
CHS. STEWART.
138 
CORRESPONDENCE.
[From Dr. OLIVER WENDELL IIoL.IES.]
BOSTON, June 16, 1867.
DEAR MR. CHILDS:  Although denied the pleasure of
being with you at the house-warming which threw open
your noble edifice, I must be allowed the privilege of sending you my most cordial felicitations.  I know something
of the structure you have raised, and I look upon it not
merely as a triumph of your own enterprise and talent,
but as one of those historic monuments which will tell
posterity to what the tide of popular intelligence had risen
in our time.
This building, with all it represents, is not a mere local
product, nor an index only of the taste, and culture, and
liberality of the citizens of Philadelphia.  No great success
in this country can be purely local. There are no walls to
our cities, and everything which transcends a certain measure of superiority makes itself national in so  doing.
Broadway and Chestnut Streets are national highways
rather than common city thoroughfares.   Your  fellowcitizen (if such you still call him), the great General, has
the freedom of all our municipalities, and is at home everywhere from the St. Johnl's to the Rio Grande. The great
LEDGER constituency, scattered all over the Union, claims
a stone in your edifice for each group of its units, as fairly
as each of the States which sent a block of granite or
marble to help build the Barmecide monument at Washington, claims its share in that potential structure. We who
drink from the fountains of Croton or Cochituate claim
to be part owners and co-tenants with you who fill your
cup from the chalice of the nymphs of Fairmount. Each
coral insect helps to build the reef, and every one whose
name is on the books of the LEDGER has a hand in raising
this pile of branching and flowering stone planted in the
ocean stream of life flowing through the channels of a
vast city.
Some build upon sand, and some build upon rock. Your
139 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
edifice rests on solid stone, and below that upon honest
gravel.  But there is somethinig deeper than either of
these, which is its true foundation-a broad stratum of
public intelligence, on which its corner-stone is laid, and
which bears up the massive wall of the whole fabric.  May
it stand as long as its foundation shall endure! Health
and prosperity to him who, in building up his own fortunles, has enriched and adorned his native land; and a
long and happy life to the generous host, whose headquarters are henceforth in this magnificent Palace of
Letters!         I am, dear Mr. Childs,
Faithfully yours,
O. W. HOLMES.
[From HEENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, the Poet.]
CAMBRIDGE, June 6, 1867.
MR. GEO. W. CRILDS.
MY ])EAR SIR: With many thanks for this token of your
regard, and best wishes for your success,
I remain, yours truly,
HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.
[From RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Esq.]
CONCORD, June 15, 1867.
GEORGE W. CHILDS, ESQ.
DEAR SIR: It would give me great pleasure, I doubt not,
to see the inauguration of the NEW LEDGER BUILDING on
the 20th inst., and to meet you and your friends at dinner,
in obedience to your invitation. But these liberties and
pleasures are not for me, at this time, to be so much as
hoped for.  A series of engagements quite imperative holdcl
me at home all this month andl longer.  Meantime, I wish
all good influences and effluences to the NEW  LEDGER
BUILDING, and lasting prosperity to its enterprising and
friendly proprietor.       With great regard, yours,
R. W. EMERSON.
140 
CORRESP'ONDEINCE.
[LFrom the Hon. GEORGE BANCROFT, LL.I)., fhe Historian.]
NEW YORK, June 15, 1867.
MY DEAR MR. CHILDS:  It would give me unimingled
pleasure to witness your proud enjoyment on taking possession of your nlew building; but my destiny leads me in
another direction, and I am compelled to decline the ilivitation with which you have lhonored me.
I am ever, my dear sir,
Very truly yours,
GEO. BANCROFT.
[From FRANCIS LIEBER, LL. D., Professor in Columbia College, New York.]
NEW YORKe, June 19, 1867.
AIR. GEO. W. CHILDS.
DEAR SIR: Unltil late last evening I had hoped to be
able to join you and your guests to-morrow at the opening
of the NEW LEDGER BUILDING, but I am sorry to say I am
now uinavoidably prevented from enjoying that pleasure.
The loss is mine.  Do you wish me to give you a sentiment?  I give in good earnest:  Let every one who directs a journal hourly remember
the power which a paper has naturally come to wield for
good or evil, and opposite to the Individual-the tremelndous Power of Repetition.
A  sentimient ought to be of a certain brevity, else I
would go on with this subject; but let me add this, that
as we have Medical Ethics, and Legal and Commercial
Ethics, I have long taught that we should have Literary
Ethics-a very wide field-and a branch of these ought to
be Newspaper Ethics.  At some meeting of editors a committee ought to be appointed to report a code of Journalistic MIorals.
Mlay you enjoy yourself, and your wine be cool! Weather
and Waterloo Reminiscences make it very warm.
Very truly yours,
FRANCIS LIEBER.
141 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From lion. ROBERT C. WINTHROP, LL. D., of Massachusetts.]
NEW YORK, June 11, 1867.
GEO. WV. CHILDS.
MY DEAR SIR: Accept my best thanks for your obliging
invitation for the 20th instant. I sail for Europe to-morrow,
and shall thus lose the opportunity of participating in the
festivities which you propose for the opening of your New
Building.  But I offer you my hearty congratulations  on
the success of the literary enterprises in which you have
engaged, and my sincere wishes for their still greater success iu the future.
Believe me, dear sir, with great regard,
Your fiiend,
ROBERT C. WINTHROP.
[From Major-General PATTERSON.]
1300 LocuST ST., PHILADELPHIA, June 14, 1867.
MY DEAR SIR: It is with great pleasure that I accept
the invitation to be present at the formal opening of the
NEw LEDGER BUILDING on the 20th instant, and to dine
with you at the Continental on the same day.
The public spirit which has caused the erection of so
magnificent a building is certainly a just cause of pride,
not only to yourself, but to the city of Philadelphia.
The building itself is a monument to the grateful appreciation of a discerning public of the efforts of a man, in
the purity of his intentions, to furnish daily information,
within the reach of all, through the medium of a paper
on the pages of which even the most fastidious or delicate
would vainly seek for cause of reproach.
With many wishes for your success,
I remain, my dear sir,
Very respectfully and truly, your friend,
R. PATTERSON.
GEO. W. CHILDS, Esq., Philadelphia.
142 
CORRESPONDENCE.
[From Professor JOSEPH IIENRY, LL. D., Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D. C.]
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
WASIINGTON, June 12, 1867.
GEO. W. CHILDS, ESQ.
MY DEAR SIR: I beg to assure you that I highly appreciate your kind remembrance, and shall earnestly hope
that you may long continue to enjoy the prosperity which
you so richly deserve, from your talents, enterprise, industry, and integrity; and that your New Building may be
renowned as a temple devoted to the advancement of our
country in morality, intelligence, and refinement.
I remain, very truly,
Your friend and servant,
JOSEPH HENRY.
[From STEPHEN COLWELL, LL. D., Author of various works on Political
Economy, &c.]
PHILADELPHIA, June 17, 1867.
GEO. W. CRILDS.
MY DEAR SIR: I accept with pleasure your invitation to
dine with the friends of the PUBLIC LEDGER, and wish I
could in some more effectual way evince my sense of the
firmness, discrimination, and energy you have displayed ill
the management of a journal so important as yours. The
LEDGER has an immense audience; it goes to the massesthe bone and sinew of society. How thankful we should
be tliat it undergoes a supervision so faithful, so discreet
and patriotic as that which you give it! The more we
have to fear from the acknowledged venality of the press,
the more reason for gratitude to those who, like yourself,
resist practices so destructive of public virtue and social
confidence.  Trusting that the LEDGER may long continue
to grow in usefulness and popularity,
I am, very truly, your friend,
STEPHEN COLWELL.
143 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From GEORGE WXILLIAM CURTIS, Esq.]
ALBANY, N. Y., July 3,1867.
MY DEAR MR. CHILDS: I was very sorry that my duties
at  the  Constitutional  Convention here prevented  my
accepting your kind invitation to the great newspaper
jubilee. Yet I might perhaps have wisely run away to you,
for it is the newspapers, rather than conventions, which
make governments and constitutions. They, more than
any other influence, mould public opinion, which is, in
this country, and at last ill all countries, really the government; and it is to them that the legislators look for the
encouragement or censure of their work.
In this counltry we are all politicians, and the newspaper
is the great political school.  How gladly, therefore, should
I have met so illustrious a body of teachers as that you
assembled at your feast! How profound, also, is my sense
of their power and responsibility!  Louis  Napoleonl's
summer guests, emperors, sultans, and kiings though they
are, are not truly so significant a company as yours.  And
as this feeling of the essential dignity and influence of the
editorial profession increases, may we not hope that the
sense of its responsibility will deepen?  If the newspaper
is the school of the people, and if upon popular education
andl intelligence the success and prosperity of popular
government  depend, there is no function in American
society which requires more conscience as well as ability.
I am very sure that the speeches which celebrated the
festival were not sermons like my letter.  If they had been,
the table would have groaned in a very different manner
from that of which I read the story.
Yours, very truly,
GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS.
144 
CORRESPONDENCE.
[From JA3[Es PAnToS, Esq., Author of the Lives of Franklin, Aaron Burr,
Andrew Jackson, &c.]
NEW YonR, June 7, 1867.
GEO. W. CIIILDS.
MY DEAR SIR: I have received your note of yesterday,
and I regret to say that it will not be in my power to
accept your kind invitation, as I shall not be within striking distance of Philadelphia onil the 20tlh.
Allow me to congratulate you on your brilliant and
various successes, and Philadelphia for possessing such a
citizen as yourself. The LEDGER, twenty years ago, when
I lived in your city, was not a very good paper: the tone
was rather low and hlunkerish, and some of its articles
excited in me great disgust. Perhaps, however, the fault
was in me. The only fault I can find with the paper now is
that your rates of advertising are too low; in other words,
there is not enough reading in it. I doubt if any newspaper in the world ever came so near reaching the whole
population of a city as yours does.  Never have I known
a house in Philadelphia that did not take the LEDGER. It
is an awful power you wield, and I am glad to know that
you are aware of the responsibility.
Very truly yours,
JAS. PARTON.
[From IIHENRY T. TUCKEaMAN, Esq., the Essayist.]
NEw YORK, June 8, 1867.
MIr. Ilenry T. Tuckerman presents his compliments to
MIr. George W. Childs, and begs leave to thank him for his
kind invitation to unite in the festivities incident to the
opening of the NEw LEDGER BUILDING, and to express his
regret that circumstances will prevent him from availing
himself of Mr. Childs' courtesy; and, at the same time, lihe
desires to offer his congratulations to Mr. Childs on the
success which has attended his liberal and honorable enter)rise, and to express his best wishes for its continuance.
9
145 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From IIEtnY C. CAREY, LL. D., the well-known writer on Political
Economy.]
D])EAR SIR: I shall be with you on Thursday, to aid in
celebrating the triumph that, under your excellent management, the LEDGER has achieved.  Mieantime, believe me,
with great regard,            Yours, faithfully,
G. W. CrIILDS.                    HENRY C. CAREY.
PHILADELPIIIA, Monday, June 17.
[Fromn Rev. WE. R. ALGER.]
BOSTON, Junc 5, 1867.
MR. GEO. W. CHILDS.
MY DEAR FRIEND: A thousand thanks for your inllvitation to the great dinner at the " Continental," on the occasion of opening your NEW LEDGER BUILDING.  A thousand
hearty congratulations, also, on your prosperity. To see
a good man prosper, is a sight of joy to all good men. I
hope that in all things you may, for many a long year to
come, flourish like a green bay tree.
Though not present at your noble feast in person, I shall
be present in heart, and greet you with the high tribute of
the hour.               Ever, most cordially,
Your grateful friend,
WM. R. ALGER.
[From Rev. IIENRY WARnD BEECHER.]
BROOKLYN, June 7, 1867.
GEO. W. CHILDS.
DEAR SIR: It would give me very great pleasure to be
in Philadelphia on the 20th, and to take part in the interesting festivities of that occasion. But I am tied hand
and foot, and do not see that it will be possible for me to
follow my promptings; and I shall be obliged to beg you
to accept my good will, and to receive also my congratulations for your prosperity, and that of the journal which
you so ably manage.          I am, very truly, yours,
H. W. BEECHER.
146 
CORRESPONDENCE.
[From EPES SARGENT, Esq., the Author.]
BOSTON, June 17, 1867.
MY DEAR MR. CHILDS: I regret that the prompt "I will
come," with which I accepted your invitation, has to be
followed by a "' Pray, excuse me."
Obstacles I cannot well overcome will compel my absence. The loss will be minle, for I believe that almost all
that there is of distinguished, in art and arms, literature
and science, in the country, will be present (either in person or in spirit) at your munificent and unparalleled entertainmient.
To me nothing conveys a more vivid idea of the immense
growth of the country than the expansion of its newspaper
establishments; and no success has been more striking, or
more fairly earned, than that of the Plhiladelphia LEDGER.
Never ])y a resort to questionable or illegitimate means of
creating a sensation-never by lending itself to unworthy
uses-never by lowering its moral tone, has it sought support.  This is its great, its distinguishing merit, worthy of
all commendation and all praise; and the superb building
you have erected for your establishment is the fitting culmination of its renown; for it asserts, grandly and palpably, that even worldly success is compatible with a perfect
uprightness unfounded on policy; thus contradicting that
morbid Pyrrhonism of the day, which insinuates that in
order to "succeed," one must not be over-nice in onle's
notions of honor, charity, and purity.  Every great example of business success, attained without resort to charlatanism or chicane, or to any processes regarded as
dubious by the moral sense, is better than a thousand sermons to our young men in favor of an upright career, pursued, not because it is politic, but because it is upright.
Such an example I believe to be yours, and so, my dear
Mr. Childs, I wish you " God speed," and am
Yours, with sincere, constant regard,
GEO. W. CRHILDS,EPSSRET
GEoPhi. W. CIladeSphi,
Philadelphia.
147 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From S. AUSTIN ALLIBONE, LL.D., author of the "Dictionary of Authors
and Literature."]
1816 SPRUCE STREET.
PHILADELPHIA, June 26, 1867.
AIY DEAR MR. CHILDS: I was greatly interested ill the
ceremonies connected with the opening of the NEw LEDGER
BUILDING, not the least feature of which was the grand
banquet at the Continental Hotel, June 20th. It may be
safely alleged, by any one conversant with the matter, that
never were there gathered in one room in Philadelphia so
many of her citizens (to say nothing of the eminent men
from other portions of the country) distinguished in the
various walks of science, literature, commerce, manufactures. mechanics, finance, and art; and on this assembly
of notables, the military and naval chieftains conferred
additional lustre.  Looking back over the many years of
our acquaintance, I naturally review the various excellent
works which owe to you, in some cases, their birth-in all,
a fostering care. How vividly I recall the adventurous
and chivalric Kane, who, in the flush of his early manhood,
with fond hearts at home, and brilliant prospects in the
future, " counted not his life dear" unto himself, so that
hlie might afford relief to, or bring back some tidings of, the
lost navigators, or solve the great problem of the Arctic
Sea! Well do I remember (sir, at that time, you and I
were generally together a portion of each six days in the
week) the zeal with which you personally superintended
the preparation of his touching tale, and the liberality with
which you, assuming all risks, awarded him a double copyright interest in his book, which paid to his representatives
over sixty thousand dollars in about one year, and continued a source of profit for some time afterwards.
To the literature of Astronomy, History, and Law, you
have been instrumental in adding the volumes of Bouvier,
Sharswood, Brownlow, and Lossing —not to mention other
volumes on which your tact and industry have also been
conspicuous; and if I say nothing of the departments of
148 
CORRESPONDENCE.
literary biography, bibliography, and criticism, it is l)ecause I am unwilling, even upon an occasion like this, to
be, in any respect, my own theme.  The dedication page
of my " Dictionary of Authors and Books," however, has
not waited until this late day to make fitting acknowledgments to one of its best friends.
To return to your last and most important enterprise,
the PUBLIC LEDGER, there was one point not adverted to
at all by the speakers at the Continental banquet, probably
for the satisfactory reason of its being unknown to them.
From what was said respecting that excellent paper, the
impression would be derived that you assumed the responsibility of its purchase at a time when one had nothing to
do but to pocket the enormous revenue which it was, by its
own action (as regular and unfailing as that of its admirable machlinery), depositing daily on your counters.  I, however, happened to know that you bought it (against the
advice of almost every friend who conferred with you on
the subject) at perhaps the darkest period of its history;
when its losses were averaging about twelve thousand dollars per month. But you determined that it should " live
and not die;" and you have now instilled into it a spirit
of such vigorous activity, that it is likely long to live, the
PEOPLE'S CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.
With cordial wishes for your happiness and prosperity,
I am, dear MAr. Childs,
Faithfully yours,
S. AUSTIN ALLIBONE.
[From Rev. E. II. CHAPIs, D. I).]
NEW YORK, June t11, 1867.
GEO. W. CHIILDS.
DEAR  SIR: Accept my hearty congratulations at the
well-earlnedl success of the LEDGER, and my sincere wishes
that its prosperity may continue and increase.
Yours, truly,
E. H. CHAPIN.
149
GEO. W. CHILDS. 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From Rev. T. F. CURTIS, D. D., late Professor in the University of
Lewisburg, Pa.]
CAMBRIDGEPORT, MASS., June 12, 1867.
MAY DEAR SIR: Your kind invitation to the opening of
the NEw LEDGER BUILDING demands my best acknowledgments.  Nothing intervening, I will certainly do myself
the pleasure of accepting the invitation.
I regard the great success of the LEDGER enterprise as
one of the most important triumphs of journalism in this
or any other country, for it has been a success obtained
through adherene to the most correct, liberal, and honorable principles.   This is now the thirteenth year that I
have been contributing to it, and it has been with a constantly increasing pleasure, for I feel that you have made
it of the utmost value to the country.
Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, many years since, inspired me
with the desire to write on public affairs, when I read of
the solemn feeling with which that admirable man would
peruse the daily journals as the chapter of providence
appointed for him to study on that day.  And my long
knowledge of the traditionary principles by which the
editorial rooms of the LEDGER office have been regulated,
has made me increasingly in its power as a good agent
for the community. There has always been that careful
sifting out of fact from fiction and the prejudices with
which party spirit has colored much that calls itself news.
Alhen you assumed the proprietorship, I was delighted
at the boldness with which you, at an enormous immediate
cost, excluded every questionable advertisement; and by
a new system of stereotyping, rendered the paper a welcomne and indispensable guest in every family. The careful
avoidance of all evil speaking and injurious personalities
and scandals, I have ever known to be the settled policy,
or rather principle of the LEDGER, one that has left it
without enemies. Earnestly loyal throughout the war, it
is no less conciliatory and reuniting, to the whole country.
M{ost impartial in its journalism, renowned for its enter
1 o 0 
CORRESPONDENCE.
prise in the earliest dissemination of facts, it inculcates wellascertained truths withlout a superfluous word. Rising above
party, it embraces heartily all that is true and permanent.
Its higTh and unexceptionable moral tone throughout has
made it a good kind friend entering into nearly every house
in the great City of Brotherly Love, and it has, without sect
or party, sought to carry the principles of universal goodness and religion into each family.
To insure for a journal conducted on such principles the
brilliant, established, and permanent success that you have
accomplished, is a triumph of journalism of the highest
moral significance and national importance.
HIoping that you may always be prospered in your
further efforts for the public benefit,
Believe me, my dear sir,
Ever yours, most sincerely,
T. F. CURTIS.
[From Rev. M. SIMPSON, D. D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church.]
PHILADELPHIA, June 19, 1867
GEO. W. CHILDS, EsQ.
MY DEAR SIR: With great pleasure I accept your kind
invitation to be present at the opening of the LEDGER
BUILDING.  I do so, because I highly appreciate the enterprise, taste, and skill you have manifested as well in the
erection of a building of which the city will justly be
proud, as in the editorial management of the LEDGER since
it has been under your supervision. But still more fully
do I approve of the high moral tone which characterizes
its pages. While as a newspaper its contents are rich and
varied, no advertisements are admitted which foster immorality and rice.  For the noble stand you have taken,
you deserve the thanks of every family circle, and of all
good citizens. From the depths of nmyv heart, I wish you
great success,         And with high regard
I am, yours truly,
M. SIMPSON.
151 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From Rev. C. P. KrnAUTriTH, D. D., Norton Professor of Theology in the Theo logical Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Philadelphia.]
PHILADELPHIA, June 16, 1867.
MY DEAR MR. CHILDS: My absence from the city will prevent my acceptance of your kind invitation to be present
at the opening of tile LEDGER BUILDING and at the dinner
which is to follow it. I do not claim the character of a
prophet, and know that I run no risk of proving myself
a false one, in predicting that the arrangements will be
princely, and worthy of your reputation for munificence
and good taste.
In the ever-widening circle of your friends, among whom
it is my privilege to have been one of the earliest, I am
sure you have none who with a deeper interest and admiration than mine have watched your growing prosperity. I
have rejoiced to see it so brilliant, yet so solid. Yout have
conjoined the rapidity which shows your genius as a man of
business, with the stability which is the result of sobriety,
of judgmnent, and indefatigable industry. You have united
the active imagination which originates great plans, with
the mathematical exactness which accurately marks their
necessary details, and the practical skill which consummates them.
You have made the literary and scientific world your
debtor by publishing some of the best books of this century in a style worthy of the names of Allibone, Kanle,
Bouvier, Kidder, Peterson, Sheppard, and Shlarswood. You
took the LEDGER, and have given it a hold upon the relatively fastidious few, without weakening its influence or
popularity with the masses. It has become more instructive,
without becoming less reliable. You have rendered it more
than ever a mirror of the living world, but you have shown
your determination that the breath of impurity shall never
sully it. You have made the LEDGER a great power, and
aill good men thank you that its influence is exercised in
the interests of truth and of pure morals. It is as careful
152 
CORRESPONDENCE.
to sift intelligence as it is enterprising to collect it; and
l)ecause it knows that nothing is really new that is not
really true, it is at once soonest and safest in its chronicle
of the d(lay.  Its advertisilng columns are in themselves a
marvellous record of what the thousands have or want,
and furnish a silent excliange whose value and absolute
necessity the whole community comes gradually, by personal experience, to understand. You have prospered as
have those few men who excite the envy of their kind, but
your success has been so fairly won, so richly merited, so
generously shared with others, so freely used to aid in all
good works, and you have been so courteous and just in all
your relations, that envy itself has been disarmed.
That you may long live to enjoy the blessings with
which a gracious Providence has crowned your enterprise
and labor, and that in the memory of one world, and in
the rewards of another, you may take a place with the
benefactors of mankind, is the very hearty wish of
Your friend,
C. P. KRAUTII.
L'From Rev. J. P. TIIOMIrSON, D. D., Pastor of Tabernacle Church, N.Y. City.]
NEw YORK, June 5, 1867.
MR. GEO. W. CIIILDS.
MY DEAR SIR: Most heartily do I thank you for the
invitation to the inauguration of the LEDGER inll its new
building.  I should delight in meetingl such a circle of literary and professional gentlemen as your hospitality will
bring together, and in rendering my own humble tribute to
your eminent services to the press and the literature of
our country. But your festive-dlay will be the annual galaday of my Sunday school, and I must foreglo my ownv
pleasure that I may contribute to that of children.
WTith high regard,
Truly yours,
JOS. P. THOMPSON.
153 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From Hlion. EMOnY WASnBURN, LL.D., Ex-Governor of Massachusetts, and
Resident Prof. of Law at Harvard University.]
CA.MBRIDGE, MASS., June 28, 1867.
GEO. W. CHILDS, ESQ.
DEAR SIR: Your card of invitation for the opening of
the NEW LEDGER BUILDING on the 20th inst., for which I
oulght earlier to have thanked you, came duly to hand, and
awakened a strong desire on my part to avail myself of
the pleasure which the occasion was sure to afford; but a
domestic event, occurring on the same day, precluded the
possibility of my being present, and a variety of pressing
engagements have prevented my earlier expressing the
regret I felt at losing the interesting ceremonies and eloquent remarks of the occasion. As it is, I can only say I
thank you for having included me in the number of those
whom you honored by remembering in connection with
that event.
The press has appropriately noticed the occasion, but it
has by no means exaggerated its interest or importance.
To you it must have been a day of conscious pride and
satisfaction, as it bore testimony to the position you hold
in the conduct of that power of the press which is stronger
than any other single power in the nation.
Few men, I apprehend, are aware of the responsibility
of a manager of a leading newspaper in our country, where
everybodly reads, and so many borrow the tone and character of their opinions from what emanates from the press.
It has grown to be the medium through which the public
thought is reached and controlled. I am struck with awe
when I think of the amount of good or evil, of truth or
error, which goes out into the community with every issue
of such a paper as the LEDGER.  It finds its way into the
homes of the rich and poor, into the shop of the artisan,
and the offices and counting-rooms of men of trade and
business, and silently works its way into the confidence
and conviction of its readers.  People are coming to appreciate this element of power more and more every year
154 
CORRESPONDENCE.
The daily and weekly press is no longer the organ of
political success alone, but is called in to the aid of every
scheme or system that involves the co-operation of numbers, whether it be religion, benevolence, or social or
political economy. Now, I repeat, to be one of the comparatively few who wield this power is a position of
influence and importance which can hardly be exaggerated.
I have no doubt you will worthily sustain the place
which you had already won, and which the opening of the
NEw LEDGER BUILDING has confirmed, in your new relation to the public press.  And it would have given me
great pleasure to join in the congregation of your friends
on  that  auspicious  occasion.   What  you  have  done
will become historic hereafter. The beautiful temple of
Art which you have reared as a monument of your own
taste and enterprise, will, I doubt not, hereafter be the
home of taste, culture, and good sense; whichl, in these
practical days of ours, are far better adapted to the condition of the times than the Mluses of which we read in
classic story.
I trust I may, some time, have the pleasure to see for
myself what I now know only from description; and perhaps catchl a lingering echo of that eloquence to which its
dedication gave utterance.  I shall trust to finding you
still its presiding genius, and to renew the assurance that
I now offer, that I am
Yours, truly and respectfillly,
EMORY WASHBURN.
[From IIENRY COPPiE, LL.D., President of the Lehigh University, Pa.]
BETHLEIIEM, PA., June 11tt, 1867.
MY DEAR MR. CHILDS: All prosperity to the LEDGER,
and to its excellent and distinguished proprietor, is the
wish of his sincere friend,
HENRY COPPEE.
i55 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From Professor C. W. SHIELDS, D.D.]
PRINCETON COLLEGE, N.J., June 14, 1867.
MY DEAR MR. CHILDS: The opening of the NEw LEDGER
BUILDING will bring to public view the fact that a daily
newspaper of sound moral tone, free from abusive personalities or sensational appeals, and the organ of no mere
sect or party, is liberally sustained by the whole people;
and, moreover, that such a paper can be made to embrace,
together with all the various industrial interests of the
community, whatever is of practical value in science or
literature.
The temptations to a different style of journalism ill our
day are very great; but I know that it has been the noble
ambition of your life to become a public benefactor as well
as a successful journalist, and the high position you have
reached is but the just reward of principles to which you
have adhered through all your course.
I anticipate for the LEDGER anll increasing influence
among all classes.  Your field of operations will now be
greatly enlarged, and with such a firm hold of popular
confidence, you will be able to educate, as well as reflect,
a sound public sentiment in every department of life, and
upon all questions.
As one of your oldest friends, I have confidently looked
forward to your success, and now rejoice in it with a peculiar pride and pleasure.
With sincere regard,
Faithfully yours,
CHARLES W. SHIELDS.
GEORGE W. CHILDS,
156 
CORRESPONDENCE.
[From M. L. STCEVER, Professor in Pennsylvania College.]
GETTYSBURG, June 12, 1867.
AY WORTHY FRIEND: I am sorry my official duties will
prevent me from being with you on so interesting an occasion as the dedication of your building.  I shlall be with
you in spirit, although absent in the body.  I rejoice in the
success which has crowned your past labors.   Your  remarkab)le career is a beautiful illustration of the influence
of American institutions.
I am, as ever, faithfully,
Your friend,
MI. L. ST(EVER.
[From lion. JO1iN II. B. LATROBE.]
BALTIMORE, June 26, 1867.
MIY I)EAR  IMR. CHILDS:  Hadl your invitation not been
mislaid, I would have made it a point to be present on
the occasion, to testify my appreciation of the energy and
talent of which the New Building is an evidence, as well
as my esteem for my host personally. Again expressing
my regret,               I am most truly yours,
JNO. H. B. LATROBE.
[From Dr. IHAMMOND, late Surgeon-General of the U.S. Army.]
NEW YORK, June 12, 1867.
MY DEAR SIR: I have delayed responding to your kind
invitation, hoping that I might be able to accept it. I find,
however, that it will be impossible for me to do so.  I trust
you will have a successful inauguration of your elegant
building, and that you will long continue at the head of
the great enterprise you have so energetically conducted.
With great regard,
I am yours sincerely,
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND.
GEORGE W. CIIILDS, Esq., Phliladelphllia.
157 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From GEO. II. POKER, Esq., Secretary of the Union Leagueof Philadelphia.]
PHILADELPHIIIA, June 15, 1867.
MY DEAR SIR: It will afford me great pleasure to be
present at the ceremonies that will attend the opening of
the NEw LEDGER BUILDING on the 20th of this month, and
to give my humble countenance to the deserved public
honors that will then doubtless be paid to you and to
your newspaper.
I have more than once expressed to you my high estimate of the patriotic course of the LEDGER during the late
war of the rebellion, and of the valuable services which
your newspaper rendered to the national cause by the high
tone which characterized its editorials during the most
disheartening periods of the great struggle.  This support
had the greater influence with the people, because the
LEDGER was not known as a partisan newspaper, nor as
the advocate of any political creed; and circulating as it
did, in the widest manner, amongst all classes of the
people, its broad and vigorous national views must have
carried great weight and convincing power into the minds
of the popular masses.  I know of no one newspaper that
was more useful for good in those dark days of our history
than that which you now control.  In these times of peace
and returning prosperity, the remembrance of what your
newspaper accomplished for the country, in her hour of
need, must be a pleasant reflection for you, amidst your
new labors.  Added to that, I hear on all sides warm commendations bestowed upon you, for the many admirable
changes which you have made in the LEDGEa since it came
into your hands, and for the fresh spirit which you have
given to its columns, as well as of the increasing prosperity
of its business.  No better evidence of that prosperity can
be called for, than the sight of the noble building which
you have erected for your purposes; and I feel assured
that the banquet with which you propose to open your
spacious printing-house will be a memorable event in the
annals of American newspapers.
158 
CORRESPONDENCE.
With such a history and such prospects, you will feel no
doubt of the fair fortune that is in store for the LEDGER,
which no one will hail with more pleasure than
Your obedient servant,
GEO. HI. BOKER.
GEo. W. CHIIILDS, ESQ.
[From the Hon. GEO. W. WOODWARD, LL D., Chief-Justice of the Supreme
Court of Pennsylvania.]
WILKESBARRE, June 4, 1867.
GEO. W. CHILDS.
DEAR SIR: You may be assured of the great pleasure
with which I have observed your enterprising arrangements
for the future, and of my sincere hope that you may realize
the rich reward you so well deserve.
I am, dear sir, very truly,
Your obedient servant,
GEO. W. WOODWARD.
[From the IIon. GEORGE SHARSWOOD, LL. D., President Judge of the
District Court of Philadelphia.]
JUNE 12, 1867.
MY DEAR MR. CHILDS: I shall not be able to accept your
polite invitation to the opening of the LEDGER BUILDING
on Thursday, June 20, and to dinner.  It would give me
great pleasure to be with you, but you can see it would be
awkward, if not improper, for a candidate for a judicial
office to appear oni what would be a public or q?tasi public
occasion. I hope you may have a very merry time, and
that it may inaugurate to you a course of increased prosperity and usefulness.
Yours, very truly,
GEO. SHARSWOOD.
159 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From J. I. CLARK IIARE, Associate Justice of the District Court
of Philadelphia.]
D)EAR SIR: Thanks to your hospitality I passed on
Thursday last a most agreeable evening, and my pleasure
was certainly not less because the number of guests from
other States rendered it fitting that some of us who were
nearer home should be silent. If the occasion had arisen,
I should have been happy to respond to any call that
might have been made upo  inme by the LEDGER on behalf
of the press, and my chief difficulty in complying with
your request that I should write what I might have said is
a doubt whether the thoughts that occurred to mne merit
publication. I wish, however to express mny sense of the
importance of every onward movement of the journals
that have so large an influence ill shaping the future of this
country and of civilization, and to say how significant it
seemed to me to be of the spirit of the age, that if the
costly structure which we were inaugurating might justly
be termed palatial, it was a palace destined to be the abode
of industry, and of that industry which most elevates and
refines mankind-the industry of the printer.  The rest of
the world owes much to him, and we in this country shall
never be able to compute the magnitude of our debt.  The
trite maximi that in a popular government everything
depends on the virtue and intelligence of the people, is
now for the first time in the full sense true, because never
until now has government been intrusted without check or
qualification to universal suffrage.
That we are not worse than men have been in other times
and countries is not a sufflicient answer to criticism; we
must be much better if we would escape the fate which has
hitherto attended the efforts of mankind for freedom. Our
political task is the greatest and most difficult that has yet
been essayed, and cannot be acconmplishedcl without raising
the many to a moral and political height that has hitherto
been reserved for the privileged few. For this purpose the
daily press is a powerful instrument, more effectual in
160 
161
some respects even than the pulpit and the public school.
The newspaper is the library of the poor man; nor his
alone, but that of the numerous class which, having ample
mieans to buy books, wants the leisure or inclination to read
themi.  For the chalngces of politics, the result of caimpaigns,
thle fall or foundation of States and kingdoms- for all, in
filne, that nmakes up the sum of cotemiporary history, we
look to its pages; but they also contain a fund of information on other topics, past and present, so varied and extensiv-e, that few miie  whvllo have not considered the subject
are aware how much tlhey would lose if all that they have
learned from that source were erased firom their memories.
We might, therefore, well unite with the eloquent divine
who said grace before the entertainment, in thanking God
for'  printing and the power of the press"-as the power
having- the greatest capacity for good, with the least tendlency to evil.  A statesman of the last generation declared
his willingness to let others miake the laws if lie might
write the ballads of his country; but the ballad has, in
these United States, been replaced by the leading article;
and lie who would know what form lecgislation will take in
the coming years must look to the idceas inculcated by the
press of to-day. Whatever, therefore, tends to chastenl
and exalt the influence of the daily press merits the attention of every one who cares either for the public good or
his individual intei'est, and it was this whichl, even more
than numbers and brilliancy, gave significance to the celebration of the other day.  All who acldverted to the subject
on that occasion agreedl that the success which the LEDGER
achieved almost from the outset was due to its having
supplied a public need, which may be illustrated by  a
refcrence to my own profession.   The striuggle which is
constantly going on before the tribunal of public opinion
between the great political parties has an analogy3 to that
occurrinig between rival litigants in a court of justice.  The
country is the jury, and thle journals on either side appear
as advocates.  Their end is truth, the maintenance of great
11
CO'RRESPONDENCE. 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
ideas and principles; but the truths which they especially
affect are apt to predominate over others that are not for
the time being so much in vogue. Less than this would
not answer the purpose, which is, to array all the facts and
reasons in favor of a particular line of policy, leaving the
argument against it to be made by its opponents.  And
no one who considers the matter fairly can doubt that
such advocacy is in the actual state of things as essential
to the conduct of public affairs, as the energy and devotion
of the lawyer are to the full and thorough investigation
of the cause of his client. But there will, notwithstanding,
as society advances, be a growing demand for newspapers
whose columns shall be open to the entrance of truth in
every form, without regard to the question whence it comes,
or the effect that it may have on preconceived opinions.
Such a journal would occupy the position of an arbiter
moderating the spirit of party, schooling the faults of
public men, and tendillng, as far as the diversity of human
nature permits, to bring mankind to a common ground of
sense and virtue.  And if I am right in my conjecture,
some part, at least, of the success that attended the
LEDGER is due to its having been among  the first to
occupy a field that will hereafter be found susceptible of
even greater usefulness.       Yours, truly,
J. I. CLARK HARE.
PHILADELPHIA, Wednesday, July 3, 1867.
GEORGE W. CrIiLDS, ESQ.
[From JOSEPH HARRISON, M. E.]
PHILADELPHIA, June 19, 1867.
MR. GEO. W. CHILDS.
MY DEAR FRIEND: The erection of such a pile as the
LEDGER BUILDING is an event in ourt city. Its success,
and the success of the LEDGER, are assured. May you long
live to fill the place you now occupy in our community; and
to enjoy the honors you have earned and so well deserve is
the sincere wish of       Yours, most truly,
JOSEPH HARRISON.
162 
CORRESPONDENCE.
[From GEO. S. APPLETON, Esq. (D. Appleton & Co., Publishers), New York.]
NEW YORK, June 16, 1867.
MY DEAR MR. CHILDS:  I congratulate you on having
completed the edifice which, from all accounts, is the finest,
as well as the largest, newspaper office in the United States.
I do not know that it is possible for you to print any
more than you clo now, but I have no doubt that this exhibition of extraordinary enterprise will increase your circulation.
When the great ledger of life, where all our deeds and
actions are recorded, shall be opened, I think that the
record of the LEDGER, under your administration, will stand
higher, for purity of expression and freedom from slander
of personal character, than any paper I know of. The responsibility of a public journal, with its million of readers,
is immense. The obscure and humble individual, who never
writes for the press, can only poison his own mind; whilst
the public journalist may be the means of poisoning the
minds of thousands.
May God prosper you!
Very truly yours,
GEO. S. APPLETON.
[From WV. B. DINSMORE, President of the Adams Express Company.]
STRATSBURG, N.Y.
MY DEAR SIR: I wish you all sorts of success in the
enterprise on which you have embarked, and which has so
wonderfully prospered under your hands. May you continue to grow rich, until, satiated with legal tenders, you
wend your way to the banks of the Hudson, and pass the
remainder of your days beneath the shadows of her lofty
trees, and among the good and virtuous of her people!
With great respect,
I remain your obedient servant,
W. B. DINSMORE.
GEO. W. CHILDS, EsQ.
163 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From Col. R. M. HOE, Inventor of lIoe's celebrated Printing Presses.]
NEW YORK, June 24, 1867.
MIY DEAR MR. CHILDS: As I telegraphed you, I regretted very much that I was compelled to forego the pleasure
of being present at your opening of the NEW  LEDGER
BUILDING, as I had fully intended to be. Every advance
ill the usefulness and prosperity of the LEDGER cannot
fail to interest me, and I would have liked very much indeed to join with your many friends in wishing success
to the LEDGER and its present proprietor and manager.
What should be the duration of a public newspaper, the
world is not yet old enough to tell; but if one may judge
of a tree by its fruits, the LEDGER, for all I can see, is
likely to be perennial.  At any rate, in its present hands,
it will lack for nothi(ng.  I well remember the patient
industry and firm resolve which characterized the establislihment of the LEDGER, to make it in all respects a perfectly reliable newspaper, and on all subjects to consider
the public welfare, treating all subjects and persons simply
uponi merit;  always aiming  to express, on  important
national events and topics, the best sense of the American
people.  I have been familiar with its whole history during
the thlirty-onle years of its existence, and was very intimate
with its former proprietors, especially with my old friend,
Mr. Swain, whom I always regarded as one of the soundest
thinkers connected with the newspaper press.  I know it
was his and his partners', Messrs. Abell and Simmonls,
constant study and aim to give the LEDGER a sterling
character and individuality of its own, lifting it far above
all party or personal influences, and, regardilng only the
public welfare, associated the best talent in its editorials
an d conduct-the LEDGER alone responsible, the writers
always anonymous.  His (Mr. Swain's) sound views, and
steadfastness in maintaining them, and able financial mana'ement, established the LEDGER on a most enviable and
durable basis.  These facts are well known to you, and no
doubt induced you to become its proprietor.
164 
CORRESPONDEN2CE.
I am  certain that the many inmprovements  you are
making are but the legitimate growth of the paper in your
hands, and doubt not that the resources, energy, and
ability you are so bountifully bestowing upon it will
increase its usefulness, power, andcl prominence.
There is no position in life, it has always seemed to me,
more ennobling than that of a conductor of a well-establishedcl and prominent public journal-none that gives opportunity for greater usefulness, nor one that involves
more grave responsibility.
I trust you may live long to enjoy the high position
acquired by your own ability and industry.
Yours, very truly,
RICHARD M. HOE.
GEO. W. CHILDS,
Philadelphia.
[From R. DUNGLISON-, M.D., Professor in the Jefferson Medical College.
Philadelphia.]
1116 GIRARD ST., PHILADELPHIA, June 17, 1867.
GEO. W. CHILDS, EsQ.
MY DEAR SIR: Most reluctantly am I compelled to decline your kind invitation to be present at the opening of
your magnificent establishment on Thursday next. My
impaired physical condition has constrained me to relillnquish this and numerous other social enjoyments.  I beg
of you to accept my warm acknowledgments for your
goodness on this as well as on former occasions, and my
cordial wishes for a continuance of that prosperity which
has hitherto resulted from your well-devised and well.
directed endeavors for the diffusion of knowledge.
I am, very dear sir,
Verv truly yours,
ROBLEY DUNGLISON.
165 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From General E. S. SANFORD, late President of the American Telegraph
Company.]
NEW YOREX, June 15, 1867.
MAY DEAR FRIEND: It gives me great pleasure to accept
your kind invitation to help celebrate the opening of the
NEw  LEDGER BUILDING, and afterwards dine with a part
of your friends at the Continental Hotel.
I cannot quite say that I have been familiar with the
LEDGER from its start, but I have had very close and pleasant relations with its owners and managers from 1843 to
the present date. I learned many lessons for the conducting of my own business from the clear-headed, persevering,
and strongly-determined men who wielded its power until
1864.
The purchase by you was a surprise to me; but one of
my first reflections upon the change was, "This will show
the wisdom of the late proprietors, who always strove to
make the paper represent, not them, but itself." It was
not somebocldy's newspaper, it was always the LEDGER;
and when it had grown into a power, was capable of beingo
transferred an unimpaired power.
Although my acquaintance with you (which, I trust, has
ripened into friendship) began at a much later date than
with the LEDGER, you had made sufficient mark to convince
me you were equal to showing what the LEDGER could
become, especially when aided by your associate, Mr. A. J.
Drexel, whom I have known from the time hle was a lad,
and honored for his str:aightforwardness, liberality, and
great ability since manhood has developed his character.
Trusting that you may have a continuance of that success, which I am sure you will merit,
I am yours, truly,
EDWARDS S. SANFORD.
GEO. W. CRILDS, EsQ.
166 
CORRESPONDENCE.
[From IIARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers, New York.]
NEW YoRK, June 14, 1867.
DEAR MR. CHILDS: We beg you to accept our acknowledgments for the invitation with which you have favored
us to be present at the inauguration of the NEw LEDGER
BUILDING on the 20th inst.
The "Brothers" who now write have been for well nigh
half a century "Brothers of the Craft," and no ordinary
obstacle would prevent them from being present in the
city of " Brotherly Love" on an occasion where they would
be sure to meet so many of their old friends and new
associates.
But it so happens that of us four one is now in Europe,
and he could only arrive ill time by way of the Atlantic
Telegraph, which, we believe, does not yet carry messages
of his weight.
Another of us comes near having the excuse found valid
in Holy WVrit, on an occasion somewhat similar.  He has
not exactly just " married a wife," and therefore prays that
you " will have him excused;" but on that dlay the wedding
of his cldaughter is to take place, and the bride elect properlinsists that for this one occasion her claims upon her father
and upon her fathler's brothers shall take precedence of
everything else.
We pray you to accept our warmest congratulations
upon the completion of your magnificent structure, and
our most sincere wishes for your continued prosperity and
happiness.
You have richly earned, by your persevering industry
and enlightenedl enterprise, the decided success which you
have so happily achieved.  May it be long continued, and
even increased tenfold, and eventually prove a rich inheritance to your children's children!
Very faithfully yours,
HARPER & BROTHERS.
167 
THIE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDI-NG.
[From JoHN WALTER, Esq., M. P., Proprietor of the "London Times."]
40 UPPER GROSVENOR STREET,
LONDON, ENGLAND, July 11, 1867.
M]y DEAR SIR: I received with great pleasure a copy of
the pamphlet containing an account of your new establishment.  I beg to offer you my hearty congratulations on
the successful completion of your vast undertaking, which
I trust will be the means of adding to the circulation and
prosperity of the LEDGER.
With kindest regards to Mrs. Childs, I remain
Yours, very truly,
J. WALTER.
[From J. T. FIELDS, Esq. (Ticknor & Fields, Publishers), Boston.]
BOSTON, June 5, 1867.
MAIY DEAR CHILDS: I wish it were in my power to be with
you and your guests onl the happy occasion to which  out
so kindly invite me. You will have a grand time, and I
would gladly join in it, for I know the excellent ability
of Philadelphia to accomplish all that is best in the way
of hospitality and good cheer.  If I could possibly attelnd
your festival, you know I would do so; but I have an engag,ement, made years ago, to spend all my months of June
in iNew Hampshire, my native State, and I can't break it
now.  Take, then, all my best wishes, dear friend, for your
continued success.  The LEDGER is a capital paper: make
it better still, if possible. Its circulation is among the
largest in the world: beat them all during the coming year.
The proprietor is an enterprising young man-and here I
stop wishing, and beg to remain, always,
Yours, most sincerely,
JAMES T. FIELDS.
168 
CORRESPONDENCE.
[From THEODORE TILTON, Esq., Editor of " The Independent."]
NEW YORK, June 14, 1867.
'MIY DEAR MR. CIIILDS: At the time of your feast I shall
be a thousand miles froiom  Philadelphia; "I pray thlee,
therefore, lhave me excused."  But, thiough absent from a
seat at the table, let me rejoice with a newspaper that is
able to " eat, drink, and be merry."  I trust that the starvation period for newspapers and their editors is gone,
never to return.  I congratulate yout oil your prosperity,
both physical and pecuniary!  Mlay your shadow never
be less!                   Ever yours,
THEODORE TILTOX.
[From Rev. WV.r. M. ENGLES, D. D)., Editor of " The Presbyterian."]
PaILADELPHIA, June 15, 1867.
MAY DEAR MAR. CHILDS: I thank you for your kind invitation to be present at the inautguration of your new a(nd
elegant structure, but from  a long( withdrawal from all
participation in public demonstrations, I feel myself to be
wholly tunadaptedcl to grace by my presence so distinguished
an occasion.
Mly interest in you personally, if anything could, would
inducLce me to overcome my reluctance and timidity in this
instance; but my secluded habits have become so chronic
as to be invincible.
I appreciate so  highly your public spirit and generosity,
and am so impressed with the political fairness and conservative moral tone of the PUBLIC LEDGER, under your
management, that you have my cordial good wishes for
success in every useful enterprise.  For about thirty-three
years I have been the editor of a religious journal, " The
I'resbyteria,m,"  and  hlence feel much interest in every
attempt to elevate the character of secular journalism.
With most friendly consideration,
I remain yours, truly,
WM. M. ENGLES.
169 
THiE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From GEO. P. PUTNA_A, Esq., Publisher, New York.]
NEW YORK, June 12, 1867.
MY DEAR CHILDS: Your card asks for a response- Wo)n't
I be there?  Most assuredly, Providence permitting.  No
light matter will keep me away.
For why? Not merely because I want to see your splendid new establishment, the fame of which has already gone
abroad, nor because I know that, with your accustomed
hospitality, you will generously entertain your guests, but
because I shall be one of the hundreds of personal friends
who will delight in the opportunity of joining in the tributes
of personal regard to yourself, and warm congratulations
on this last great landmark of your prosperous career and
your well-deserved success.
As a publisher of books, if you had achieved no other
successes than those connected with the names of Kane,
Bouvier, and Allibone, your name would remain embalmed
for posterity; and we of "the trade" all know that in those
and other enterprises you have shown a liberal sagacity,
taste, and enterprise rare in our fraternity.  That you
should also accomplish a notable advancement in the business machinery and the profitable results of a daily newspaper was a perfectly logical sequence.  Such an enterprise
as would positively frighten most of us timid and slowmoving old fogies, you, in your shrewd energy and wideawake sagacity, enter upon as a pastime.  You wave your
magic wand, and lo! palaces rise, and the genii of steam
and lightnling send forth from their subterranean cells and
lofty attics tens of thousands of daily messages over the
continent; and fortune follows deservedly, because you
regulate all these powers on liberal principles of justice
and truth.
But I really did not mean to write rounded periods of
fulsome eulogy, but only to express-what I may have no
chance to do on the great occasion-my honest admiration
of your sagacious progress and your merited success; and
1 PIO
I 
CORRESPONDENCE.
to join your hosts of friends in heartily wishing you con tinued prosperity, fame, and profit in the responsible and
important position of controller of a leading daily news paper.
If any of your friends may be more emphatic than others
in cordial good wishes on this occasion, it is I, whom you
have always treated in such a truly friendly and brotherly
spirit, crowning many lesser acts of disinterested gencrosity with that important and substantial one when you
so promptly and cheerfully gave your name for large responsibility in guaranteeing the good faith of your brother
publisher, sinking, alas! from that proud position to the
meaner office of-publican! From this last, thanks to the
politicians, I am now happily released, and you, my worthy
friend, will be relieved from the danger you so generously
braved, of having to pay over any portion of that $100,000
you guaranteed to our "mutual uncle."  Let us congratulate each other!  And should you ever, in the course of
human events, be a candidate for the Presidency, or for
the office of tax-gatherer, it will be a hard case if you
don't find sponsors ready to imitate, although they may
not excel, the unselfish magnanimity and benevolence of
" G. W. C."
Accept my earnest wishes for the continued prosperity
of your great enterprises, and your own personal health,
happiness, a(nd usefulness as a discriminating benefactor
of the City of Brotherly Love.
Your obliged friend,
G. P. PUTNAM.
ili-i 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From Dr. J. G. HIIOLLAND (Timothy Titcomb), the well-known author.]
SPRINGFIELD, MIASS., June 10, 1867.
GEO. W. CHILDS, ESQ.
AIY D)EAR SIR: Though it will not be practicable for me
to accept your polite invitation to the banquet, by which
you propose to celebrate the completion of your  NEW
LEDGER BUILDING, I cannot refrain from sending to yout
my congratulations on your achievement, and the business
success of which it is, at once, the product and the monlument.  I know something of what success in a newspaper
enterprise means; I know something of what such a success
costs.  I was for many years connected with a newspaper,
as you know; and I know, as none but an editor can know,
what the indispensable elements of success are.  An author
may will a name byv a single book that may have cost him
no more than a year of labor.  An orator, inspired by
some great occasion, may achieve renown by one brilliant
effort, and carry the laurels green and fresh for many
years.  A speculator, by a luckly turn in the market, may,
in one bold dlash, find himself the possessor of an unearned
mlillion.  But the conductor of a newspaper cannot hope
to achieve his success by a single number, or by a year of
excellence.  Day after day, week after week, molnthl after
month, year after year, decade after decade, he must work,
work, work.  Not a (lay of effort can be missed. He must
be always fresh, piquant, thoroulgh, industrious, and alive.
To him repose never comes.  He must see everything, hear
everything, knowv everything, record everything. Hle must
have a quick insight into the people's wants, and supply it
unwearyingly.
So, whenever I witness a great success in newspaper enterprise, I know it is the reward of faithful work.  I know
that stucecess in this business is only won by work; and this
new buildilng of yours is your diploma.  It is a monument
of w-ell-directed, faithful, and long-continued industry.  It
is the summing-up of a long and worthy history.  It is the
fruit of a tree that was well planted at the first, and that
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has been pruned, watered, fertilized, trained, and tended
by patient and careful hands, throughl all the days of many
years.  It is the representation, in stone and mortar, of
blood, vitality, and brains, expended undcler the direction
of the virtues of patience and industry.
Kinowilg, therefore, that this new building has not a
stone in it, that was not worthily earned, I give yout my
congrat-ulations.  AIay the blessing of God rest upon it,
and tiupon the man whlo directs its enterprises, andi may
the future of the LEDGER be as useful, as brilliant, and as
successful as its past has been! I do not know that I have
any better wishl for you, unless it be that you may visit
me, and learn how comfortable an old editor can be whllen
div-ested of his hlarness and turned out to grass.
Yours, very truly,
J. G. HOLLAND.
[From Rev. Dr. CROOKS, Editor of "The Methodist."]
OFFICE OF " TIIE AIETIIODIST,"
NEW YOIm, Junle 19, 1867.
GEO. W. CHILDS.
MAIY DEAR SinR: I greatly regret that my  engagemients
will not permit me to be present at the opening of thle NEW
LEDGEr BUILDING to the public.  Allow me, however, to
offer you my  congratulations upon your success as the
conductor of a daily paper.  Your effort to raise the tone
of journalism was hlailed with satisfaction by all who feel
the importance of social morality, and has been, I an gladcl
to say, generously sustained by thle public.
I well remember the early history of the PEUBL,IC LEDGER.
It was a diminutive sheet, and along side of the " United
States Gazette," so long edited by thle scholarly Chandler,
it looked too small to aspire to rivalry.  It found a home
at once among the masses, who have ever since stood by it.
Long miay it prosper I        Yours, sincerely,
G. R. CROOKS.
173 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From Col. GREENE, Editor of the "Boston Post."]
OFFICE OF THE;; BOSTON POST,"
BOSTON, 15th June, 1867.
MIY DEAR MR. CHILDS: It would afford me much gratification to be present at the dedication of the grand monument to your enterprise and ability as a publisher, if it
were in my power; but engagements confine me here.  I
assure you, however, none will witness the ceremony with
more satisfaction than your humble servant, who has devoted himself for nearly half a century to the business you
have so honorably distinguishedl.  Mr. Gladstone truly
spoke when he said the newspaper press was interwoven
with the whole tissue of modern life, and that you cannot
tear it out; and if you could, that tissue would be rent into
shreds, so as to lose all signs of its identity.  Bearing this
important relation to society, gentlemen who direct the
press exercise great power for evil, and those like yourself,
who find their labors in this sphere sanctioned by the
cordial approbation and liberal support of a great, moral,
and intelligent community, are entitled to the reward due
to g(rood and faithful servants; and that such reward may
be yours here and hereafter, is the prayer of
Your friend,
C. G. GREENE.
[From E. P. WHRIPPLE, Esq ]
" EVENING TRANSCRIPT" OFFICE,
BOSTON, June 5, 1867.
MY DEAR MR. CTILDS: I regret very much my inability
to be present at your grand " Opening."  It must be a
great occasion for you and the LEDGER, and I would that
I could be there to see; but my engagements here will
prevent my having that pleasure.
With best wishes for your success in all things,
I remain, very truly, yours,
E. P. WHIPPLE.
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CORRESPONDENCE.
[From the Editors and Proprietors of the "Journal of Commerce,"
New York.]
OFFICE OF THIE " JOURNAL OF COMMERCE," 
NEW YORK, June 11, 1867.
MR. GEO. W. CIIILDS.
DEAR SIR: I congratulate you and the LEDGER on the
prosperity which calls for a new  building, and were  I
addressing the public, I would congratulate them upon
hlaving in their service an "Institution"'' at once so conservative and so active as the enterprising establishment
whose fortunes you represent.
I regret that I cannot share in your festivities on the
20th inst. I have not been away from this office two
week-days in succession (except over a national holidcay),
for eighteen years, and I have become a rusted fixture,
nearly immovable.
Wishing you all that success you so richly deserve, and
thanking you for your kind invitation, I am
Your friend and obedient servant,
DAVID M. STONE.
OFFICE OF THE "JOURNAL OF CONIMMERCE,"
NEW YORK, June 4, 1867.
GEO. W. CHILDS.
MIY DEAR SIR: With the most sincere good wishes for
your prosperity and that of the LEDGER,
I am truly yours,
W. C. PRIME.
[From F. B. PENNIMAN, Esq., Editor of the "Pittsburgh Gazette."J
OFFICE OF THE " GAZETTE,"
PITTSBUIRGH, June 4, 1867.
MR. GEO. W. CHILDS.
I;      DEAR SIR: As a fellow townsman and fellow apprentice
with the founder of the LEDGER, and a sincere admirer of
the tact and talent with which it has ever been managed,
by him and by you, it would afford nme great pleasure to
be present on that occasion.     Very truly yours,
F. B. PENNIMAN.
175 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From iM. IIALSTEAD, Esq., Editor and Proprietor of the "Cincinnati
Coinnmmercial."]
OFFICE OF TIlE "CIN-CINNATI COIMMIERCIAL,"
CINCINNATI, June 5, 1867.
GEO. W. CrHILDS.
DE)EAR Sin: If I could, I would be with you at the formal
opellingll  of the \NEw LEDGER BUILDING on the 20th.  It is
an incident ill the progress of journalism in which I feel
an especial interest.  I hope you have built the "model
newspaper office" in the country.  I will take great satisfaction, whenever I visit your city, in inspectilng it.  IJavimg been engagedl for nearly twenty years in the newspaper
business, you may inifer that I have accumulated some
views on the sulject of the  construction of newspaper
offices. As to newspaper management, the LEDGER (yours,
not Bonuler's) is and has loing been a favorite of mine, as I
have an especial admiration for a truly andcl thloroulghly
independent newzspaper; a paper that is conducted for the
express purpose of placing before the public intelligence
of general interest, without any partisan or sectarian bias
or coloring; the publication of facts, irrespective of whomn
they may help or hurt.
But the feature of the LEDGER that commends itself to
mie most decidedly is tllat of making a rigorous distinction
between advertisements and reading-matter.  I reacd with
especial pleasure recently, iii the proceediings of the District
Court of youtr city, the testimony that in the LEDGER "no110
paid matter was allowed to appear in the local or editorial
columns."  I can say to you that, after a long struggle, we
have definitely established that rule in the imanagyement of
the' Commercial;" that no paid matter, under any circumstalnces, appears in the paper, except under the regular
classification heads of the advertising departments.  I consicler that an essential feature of an indepenident journal,
and onle the general establishment of which is necessary to
insure the self-respect of journalists and to make the newspaper business legitimate and honorable.
i li- 6
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Looking over your personal history in a recent copy of
the "Chimney Corner," I find that you were born in the
same year with myself; that you are described as " of sanguine temperament, ruddy complexion, fresh and decidedly
healthful appearance." All that, I suppose, I may claim
for myself.  In your portrait in the "Chimney Corner" I
observe that there is a scarcity of the capillary adornment
of the cranium. I can offset that by prematurely gray
whiskers; but I am not an owner of the fine, open, and
pleasing expression of the countenance, or of that which is
said in compliment of your manners.
If the editorial corps of the " Commercial" were not redutcedl to the minimnum, by the absence of members at the
Paris Exposition and the Rocky Mountain Buffalo Hunt, I
would certainly accept your kind invitation, and be present
at the formal opening. As it is, I must content myself
with this expression of kind wishes.
Very truly yours,
M. HALSTEAD.
[From JOSHUA LEAVITT, Esq.]
OFFICE OF THE " EVENING POST,"
NEw YORK, June 11, 1867.
MAR. GEO. W. CIIILDS.
DEAR SIR: It would give me great pleasure to join the
company who will congratulate the LEDGER and its proprietor in its occupancy of the new building which so fitly
honors its enterprise and crowns its success.  The power
of an honest and patriotic press to subsist and triumph,
as the champion of public morals and justice, without the
support of party or sect, is a pregnant fact to illustrate
the inner life of this republic, and inspires unlimited confidence in the perpetuity of the institutions under whose
shadow such plants live and thrive.
Wishing you the continuance and increase of success
with the increase of effort,
I remain, with much respect, your friend,
JOSHUA LEAVITT.
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THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From R. SHELTON MACKENZIE, D. C. L.]
OFFICE OF " THE PRESS,"
PHILADELPHIA, June 14, 1867.
MY DEAR MaIR. CHILDS: I feel honored as well as gratified
by your invitation to assist at the opening of the LEDGER
NEW BUILDING, and cordially accept it.
Perhaps I ought to say no more, as you must be far too
busy at this moment to read long letters; but I think it
right to add that, after nearly forty years' editorial experience, in the Old as well as the New World, I have not
yet found any daily journal at all equal to your PUBLIC
LEDGER in supplying general and local information to the
community, at a price so low that I often wonder how you
can afford it. The variety of news, as well as the succes;sful effort to deprive it of that diffuseness which is the
crying evil of newspapers at present, the healthy tone, the
reliability of the information-these are points which strike
me, day after d(lay, as a constant reader. No wonder that
the public at large appreciate them also.
Very soon after I came to this city, ten years ago, to
perform the duties of associate editor of "The Press," then
being established by my kind and able friend Mr. Forney,
I had the advantage of becoming acquainted with you; an
acquaintance which soon matured into mutual regard and
friendship. As I recall the vanished years, I recollect your
saying to mne-it must have been nearly nine years agothat,?f you lived, you would become proprietor of the
PUBLIC LEDGER; which the then owners, by the way, had
not the remotest idea of parting with.  When you fulfilled
your prophecy, I was not in the least surprised, for I knew
your energy, your persistency, and your enterprise.
With warmest regards, I am, my dear Childs,
Your faithful friend,
R. SHELTON MACKENZIE.
GEO. W. CnILDS.
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[From HonRACE GnEELEY, Editor of the "New York Tribune."]
ALBANY, June 5, 1867.
DEAR SIR: You may not have observed the fact that I
am a member of the Constitutional Convention, now sitting
here to revise the Constitution of our State. The duties
thus accepted by me will preclude my attendance at your
festival.  I am sure, however, that it will be amply attended,
and that so signal an era in the history of your journal
will be fitly and deservedly hlonored.
Allow me to suggest this sentiment for your festival:
Our National Reconstruction: whlile it unshliackles every
slave, may it give no victim to the gallows, but fling open
every cell of every political prisoner.
Yours,
HORACE GREELEY.
GEO. W. CHILDS,
Editor Ledger, Philadelphia.
[From Col. A. J. II. DUGANNE, Editor of the "New York Dispatch."
ALBANY, June 10, 1867.
MR. GEo. W. CHIIILDS.
MAY DEAR SIR: It would give me much pleasure to be
present at the opening of your new building on the 20th
inst., but my duties as a member of the convention here in
session must forbid. I need not assure you, dear sir,
whom personally I esteem so highly, that my best wishes
and congratulations will attend the interesting festival;
and I beg leave to send you the following toast:  The Old Paper and the New Building: the former an
example of how Public a LEDGER may be made, when kept
by Private Integrity: the latter a symbol of that solid and
beautiful -Reputation which the life of a good citizen erects
in the community wherein he dwells.
I remain, very cordially, yours,
A. J. H. DUGANNE.
ill-9 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From the HIon. W.Ar. Baoss, Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois, and one of
the Proprietors and Editors of the "Chicago Tribune."]
ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE SENATE CHAMBER,
SPRINGFIELD, June 15, 1867.
GEO. W. CUILDS.
MY DEAR SIR: I regret exceedingly that my engagements will not permit me to accept your very kind invitation to be present at the formal opening of the NEW
LEDGER BUILDING. I regret this the more, as I wishl to
see for myself the evidences of that splendid success which
has crowned your efforts, proving, as it does, that the time
has come when the press can be really independent. The
conductors of the LEDGER have appreciated that growing
intelligence of the American people which now demands
the news, and the advocacy of sound political and moral
principles, rather than mere devotion to party. The press,
not many years ago, was the organ of political cliques; it
dared not offend some trickster, whose influence was supposed to be essential to its very existence. Now, its success is assured precisely in the ratio that it adheres to the
right and denounces the wrong, no matter who may perpetrate or uphold that wrong. To simplify and make known
to the public every new fact in science-to encourage and
develop a pure national literature-to illustrate and enforce sound and comprehensive political and moral principles, and, in general, to do all that can be dlone to cultivate, instruct, and elevate our common humanity, and
render it more virtuous, and therefore more prosperous
and happy;-these were some of the duties and high prerogatives of the American press.  Acting on these principles, no party has money enough to bribe the independent
metropolitan press to support false issues and bad men;
and hence the charge of venality, so often made against it,
is fast becoming an absurdity. Venal presses there still
may be, but they are destined to a sure and early extinction. Integrity, energy, commanding talents, comprehelnsive learning, and perfect independence, now characterize
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CORRESPONDENCE.
the leadcling journals of the country, and are the sources of
their popularity and power. Among these journals the
people recognize the LEDGER; and hence the marked success which is appropriately celebrated by the completion of
your magnificent building, and the festivities attending it.
I beg to propose, "The Press"-not only "the palladium of our liberties," but the patron and the defender of
everything that can elevate and promote the intelligence,
the prosperity, and the happiness of the human family.
MTishiung you and your guests all possible happiness, I
am, most respectfully and very truly,
Your obedient servant,
WM. BROSS.
[From C. D. BRIGHAM, Editor of the "Pittsburgh Commercial."]
" COMMERCIAL" OFFICE,
PITTSBURGH, June 14, 1867.
MR. GEO. W. CHILDS.
DEAR SIR: A conflict between inclination and a variety
of opposing circumstances has delayed my acknowledgment of the receipt of your kind invitation to the LEDGER
Opening on the 20th instant. I need not assure you that
the inclination has been and is to be present. Nor need I
assure you-familiar as you are with editorial life-of the
nature of the opposing circumstances. Such conflicts are
doubtless familiar to you. In this instance, I have been
compelled to forego what, for days, I have contemplated in
the light of possibility with genuine pleasure.  We  all
worship success-I do in the newspaper world: and so
marked an instance of it as the LEDGER-not only in its
present unequalled position, but in its whole history-does
not fail to receive my peculiar homage.
Promising myself the satisfaction of a quiet visit to the
NEW ILEDGER BUILDING "some day," probably about the
time Mr. Greeley goes fishing, and thanking you sincerely
for your kind invitation, I beg leave to subscribe myself
Yours faithfully,
C. D. BRIGHAIM.
181 
THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
LFrom the Editors and Proprietors of the "Missouri Republican."]
OFFICE OF GEORGE KNAPP & Co., )
" MIssOURI REPUBLICAN," 111 and 113 Chestnut St.  f
ST. Louis, June 7, 1867.
GEO. W. CHILDS.
DEAR SIR: We received to-day your letter of the 3d
inst. Please accept our thanks for the friendly terms in
which you invite us to be present at the formal opening of
the NEw LEDGER BUILDING, which is to take place on the
20th of this month.  WVe are compelled, by reasons of a
business and p)ersonal character, to deny ourselves the
pleasure of meeting you on the occasion named, when we
should have the opportunity in person of tendering to you
our most hearty congratulations upon the merited success
and rare prosperity which have attended your career as a
journalist, and upon the splendid contribution which you
have made to the facilities of the newspaper art, in the
magnificent and costly building which you propose to
dedicate on the 20th to the interests of journalism.
While obliged to decline your invitation, we mnay be permitted to say to you that you present in yourself, and in
the grand results you have achieved, an interesting and
instructive example of the substantial pecuniary rewards
which await a resolute purpose, patient industry, a sagacious, liberal policy in management, a wise public spirit,
and high personal honor.  These have assured to you surprising and most rapid pecuniary success, with that which
we know you value most of all, the confidence and esteem
of your fellow-citizens.
Please accept from us expressions of our most cordial
good wishes for your continued prosperity, and for the
increased popularity of the journal which, through your
intelligent direction and control, has won for itself a wide
and commanding field of influence, and a most enviable
share of popular favor.
Awaiting, with pleasant anticipation, the gratifying re
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ports which we are sure will be given to the public, of the
ceremonies and festivities with which the inauguration of
the LEDGER BUILDING will be celebrated,
r7e remain,
Alost truly your friends,
GEORGE KNAPP & CO.
[From A. M. IIoLBROOK, Esq., Proprietor and Editor of the New Orleans
"Pieayune.'"]
OFFICE OF THE " PICAYUNE,"
NEW ORLEANS, June 8, 1867.
GEO. W. CIIILDS, ESQ.
MIY DEAR SIR: Your telegram of the 5th inst., addressed
to me, renewing your kind invitation made last summer,
to be present at the opening for use of the grand edifice
which you have built for your journal, was duly received;
and I have been trying to so fix the disposal of my time
that I could be present.  Despairing of this, I write to you
now to express my deep regret that I shall not be able to
be with you.
The LEDGER is a folio whose pages show so many credits
to your account, that I cannot, in commensurate terms,
declare my  admiration of the ability with which it is
mana,gedl and edited by you. The LEDGER itself, and the
great monument to the Art of Arts which you have erected,
are in themselves too expressive to need eulogy.
Hoping that you and your guests may enjoy their reunion under your roof tree, I will append a sentiment,
which I pray you to repeat to them; and subscribe myself
Your friend and co-worker,
A. M. HOLBROOK.
Philadelphia and its LEDGER-clean, well kept, and well
balanced.  May they always be as square, and continue to
be as crowded, as they now are.
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THE PUBLIC LEDGER BUILDING.
[From W. A. COLLINS, Esq., Editor of the "Pittsburgh Chronicle."]
OFFICE OF THE " E-VENING CHRONICLE,"
PITTSBURGH, June 8, 1867.
MaIR. GEO. W. CHILDS.
DEAR SIR: The absence of my partner on a European
tour will prevent either of us accepting your flattering invitation to be present at the opening of the NEW LEDGER
BUILDING.   I avail myself of this occasion, however, to
express a sentiment long cherished, and that is, that the
success of the Philadelphia LEDGER demonstrates that
wealth and legitimate influence in the newspaper world
may be acquired without ministering to gross appetites,
palndering to violent prejudices, becoming the vassal of
temporarily popular opinions, or in short resorting to any
a(d captandum devices to secure public favor.
The temperate and thoughtful spirit in which the LEDGER
discusses questions of exigent interest, its rare abstinence
from the jargon and strife of politics, the admirable system
of condensation with which it embraces the field of current
news, and the refinement and purity of its tone and management considered as a whole, make it, in our judgment,
a type of what a business, literary, and family journal
should be.
In wishing the LEDGER success, we employ only another
mode of expressing our sincere desire that the taste of the
American people may accept the true and reject the false.
I am, cordially and heartily,
Your well-wisher,
WILLIAM A. COLLINS.
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CORRESPON)EN'CE.
[From Col. JOHN S. DUSOLLIE, Editor of the "New York Sunday Times."]
OFFICE OF THE " SUNDAY TIMES,"
NEW YORK, June 8, 1867.
Min. (GEO. A. C HIL,DS.
DEAR SIRT:  I have received your polite invitationl to
assist at the' opening of the NEW  LEDGER BUILDING" 011o
tlhe 20th instant, and I accept it with much pleasure. Seventeen years lhave elapsed since, as the editor of the " Spirit
of the Times," I shared ill the esprit du corips that animated
the'Press of your city.  For over thirteen years of nmy
edlitorial career in Philadelphia, my sanctumn stood vis-a-?-i.s
to the old LEDGER BIJLDING, and for nearly seven years I
enjoyed  a cordial intimacy with  Mr. Swain, its active
imanager and your predecessor.  Such an experience naturally makes me anxious to see the new LEDGER BUILDING,
its present enterprising proprietor, his aids, &c.
Respectfully yours,
JOHN S. DUSOLLE.
[Fromn S. M. P'ETTENGILL, Esq.]
:NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING AGENCY,
NEW YotK, June 19, 1867.
GEO. W. CIIILDS.
DEA.R SIR:  I regret that business of importance will
prevent my attendance at the opening of the NEW LEDGER
BIUILDIN(-.   Allow me to say that I congratulate you on
this new evidence of your prosperity and success.   We
have always found the LEDGER one of the very best newspapers inll the country for the advertiser, and always recommend it, as it inlvariably gives a good return for the money
expelndled inl it, and satisfaction to the advertiser.
Thle PUBLIc LEDGER: may its balance always be onl the
rig,lit side, as its editor is, and its shadow never be less.
Yours truly,
S. 31. PETTLXGILL.
185 
THE PUBLIC  LEDGER BUILDING.
[From L. A. GODEY, Esq., Editor aind Proprietor of thle "L:idy's I'Book. ]
Jun( 14. 18(,7.
MY DEAR MR. CHTLUDS: I accept y,our  kind invitationl
with great pleasure.  I long to meet those who will  )e
)resent to do you honor, andi I know  no man who  i)ett(,v
(leserves that honor.  The LEDGER. under you'i  rmao(meit, has wonderfully improved in al)lpe'i'ance and liteirairmerit, and I know that its circulation has also increased.
May- it continue to do so, uilntil y-ou cry,  HIlold! enonol."
Yours, (corTdiill,
I
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J,. A.  (T',) I-) E  Y.