iN the present status of The Tacoma Ledger there is no indication of the times of stress through which it has passed. Issued first when Tacoma was a village in the woods, it has grown with the growth of the city, at intervals, indeed, having kept in advance of this growth. It has partaken of the vicissitudes that have marked the history of Tacoma, and now, in the day of prosperity, is the visible token of the new and permanent order.
Today the Ledger is in all respects a modern journal. It has, of course, the Associated Press reports, but its news strength lies largely in the corps of state correspondents. In point of makeup and in mechanical detail it is willing to stand comparison with any daily published anywhere in a place of population equal to that of Tacoma. The editorial page of the Ledger is one of its strong features, and the cartoon work of E. S. Reynolds has made a decided hit. Mr. Reynolds is a young man who displays a remarkable ability. Some of his work has been reproduced by such publications as the Review of Reviews and the Literary Digest. The Daily Ledger consists of 10 to 16 pages, while the Sunday Ledger is never less than 32 pages. The Weekly embraces 12 pages, containing in condensed form the best of the Daily. J. N. Bradley is the news editor. He is one of the veterans of journalism, a man with the instinctive knowledge of news values, and an experience covering many years. In executive ability it would be difficult to find his superior. S. W. Wall is the city editor. He, too, is a writer whose training has been in the broadest fields. The staff of the Ledger is not subject to many changes, and not a man upon it has been with the paper less than two years.
Perhaps the history of this institution may not be devoid of interest. In 1880 R. F. Radebaugh brought to the town the plant for a weekly. It was unloaded at the wharf, and there it had to remain, for the consignee had not the money to pay for the cartage, or for setting up the press. He appealed to the only banker in Tacoma, and secured the funds. Thus was born the Tacoma Ledger. Radebaugh was a writer with a pen that could sting. He made enemies, but the paper gained in influence. In 1883 the Ledger became a daily, and followed along a tolerably even path until the "boom days" of memory not wholly blessed. During these days it made money so fast that the proprietor hardly knew what to do with it. He invested in everything. Street car lines, realty and manufacturing were among the enterprises that engaged the attention and the cash of the proprietor. The Ledger itself was neglected, no betterments being furnished. It was regarded as a mine that could never cease to produce. Mr. Radebaugh saw his mistake, and in 1892 sold the paper to Nelson Bennett, then one of the wealthy men of this region, and it became his personal organ. Clinton Snowden, who had been managing editor of the Chicago Times, was placed in charge. But the struggle for a while was hopeless. Not only were the symptoms of financial collapse evident and depressing, but one of the first difficulties with
- ↑ Editor's Note:—This is the second in the "Prominent Newspaper Series." The first, "The Oregonian," appeared in the April number. Others will be treated in turn, providing a history of our great journalistic enterprises.
