The Press: Teeth, Fingernails

In London, The People, weekly newspaper, published an alleged psychic message delivered by the late Alfred Harmsworth Lord Northcliffe to Louise Owen, his confidential secretary of 20 years, via “Mistress Leonard,” a medium consulted by Miss Owen.

The Northcliffe tones, the Northcliffe mannerisms were said to have been heard:

“I am glad I passed over. I am in perfect health. I had an idea we over here would float around wearing white robes. How I hated that.

“I have teeth, fingernails and everything. I am wearing a grey flannel suit, a soft collar and soft shirt.

“Persons here are never ill, never hurt and never depressed. We have no money. We work things out in kind. I worked for my suit.

“I would not return to earth, for I am happy here and there is much for me to do. You .will be glad to know I have chosen a country home here, not in town. I have a beautiful home with flowers and birds . . . I was with Conrad when he passed over.”

Louise Owen was “most indispensable” of Lord Northcliffe’s staff. Editor Hannen Swaffer of The People believed in her present sincerity.

Hardly a Newspaper

Upon Manhattan news stands ap-peared a new tabloid sheetlet. It’s title read New York Evening Graphic; its motto, “Nothing But the Truth.” Gum-chewers, shop girls, taxi drivers, street sheiks, bummers, idlers took one look, recognized it as their kind of publication, fished out two pennies each, bought, read. They had known it was coming out, for Bernarr Macfadden, body-worship zealot, high priest of “health for everybody,” does not hide his journalistic lights beneath bushels of poor publicity. Publisher-Priest Macfadden’s latest contribution to civilization was hardly a newspaper. It called itself that, but only in the broadest of definitions. Save for a few tiny paragraphs, and a lead story about heroic firemen in Monterey, Calif., all the stories were purely local or intensely personal—”I Know Who Killed My Brother,” by the sister of a bootlegger’s dead friend; “I Can’t Enjoy Life Without Baby, Mother Says,” about a penniless woman who abandoned her child, then repented; “My Friends Dragged Me in the Gutter,” by Ann Luther, “wronged” screen queen; “Prince Tells Me Just Why It Is He Is So Sad,” by a Society Leader; “Ready for College at 53,” by Charles A. Templeton, Governor of Connecticut. Distinctly an innovation in journalism, The Graphic presented a confusing aspect in makeup, typography, language and subject matter. Only in the broader “feature” strokes could the reader come to grips with the nature of what he read. Here the Macfadden shrewdness appeared in full force. The editorial page, unmistakably labelled for the benefit of the dullwitted, announced that The Graphic was “of the People.” “We just want to be recognized as one of the folks. Many editors are placed on a pedestal. They talk as from a far distance. . . . Many might think that such editors confer with God occasionally before the wisdom they pour forth is presented. Now we are not of that class. We are just nice plain folks. Whether we are from Main Street, the Bowery or Hoboken does not make a great deal of difference. . . . This paper will be devoted largely to selfhelp. . . . We intend to dramatize and sensationalize the news and some stories that are not news.” Bernarr Macfadden’s own column, flanked with feminine portraiture and thus sure of attention, announced The Graphic as “a crusading newspaper,” fighting for “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” The fiction pages contained “an original Macfadden True Story” of the woman’s-soul-cruel-justice-and-fate type that has sold other Macfadden publica-tions into six-figure circulations.— Above all, the money offers: 1) (Amount not named) to any one recognizing Miss Courtesy of The Graphic in the subway and offering her his seat. Miss Courtesy was pictured twice in her bathing suit. 2) Ten $1,000 awards for marriages between “twenty American Apollos and Dianas.” Suitable pictures accompanied this. Also: “Idea wins spontaneous en-dorsement of clergy.” What did the publishers of the Daily Mirror and the Daily News think of their new competitor? They reflected that The Graphic’s pictorial pages were fewer than their own, had started out to be mechanically inferior. They noted four pages of sporting news, the same number as in the Mirror and News, but less illuminating. Radio, fiction and cinema pages were at parity. Macfadden’s “health page” was unique but nothing to worry about, so they waited to see if Macfadden’s disconnected, irrelevant “human interest” stories, in behalf of “clean living” and “the whole truth,” would offer any competition to their own flashy news columns. They knew that if money could sharpen this competition, Macfadden had millions. They knew that he “expected to make a few million dollars for myself and associates” and would therefore force the fray. They realized that if The Graphic turned out successful, many another such sheetlet would sprout forth in the land, being cheaper to produce than any gum-chewers’ delight ever evolved.

—Other Macfadden publications in the U. S.. the character of which can be guessed at from the above and from the titles: Physical Culture, 300,000; True Romances, 400,000; Muscle Builder, 130,000; True Story, 1,750,000; True Detective, 150,000; Fiction Lovers, 125,000; Dream World, 150,000; Radio Stories, 150,000; Movie Weekly. 100,000; Dance Lovers, 80,000.