In times of National anxiety especially, it would be hard to over-estimate the boon of such a paper. We had no such advantage, e.g., in the Boer War, and the anxious longing for the evening post was very trying, especially when one had relatives or friends in the Army. The French papers gave short telegrams, but these were often misleading and sometimes untrue, and only added to the anxiety. But now this is changed, and one can get a fairly full account of English doings at the breakfast table in Paris.
As the paper can be dispatched by the early morning trains, those in the South of France and other parts get their British news at least twelve hours earlier than heretofore.
During most of the time Mr. McAlpin represented this paper, whom I well knew. Mr. Lane was also upon the staff, and some others. Mr. McAlpin is now no longer on the Paris staff of the “Daily Mail,” and was succeeded by Mr. J. B. Brandreth, who is well known in the journalistic world. The “Daily Mail” has been the death of the “Galagnani Messenger” which used to be so well known upon the Continent.
For the American Colony in Paris there is no paper like the “New York Herald.” This paper, owned by Mr. J. Gordon Bennett, is a remarkable publication, produced it is said at a loss, very chatty, and containing daily current news from America. Before the “Daily Mail” came to the front, most English people took the “New York Herald,” as it gave a certain amount of English news from the papers of the day, and whetted the appetite for the London paper which arrives in the evening.
Mr. J. Gordon Bennett is a well-known figure in Paris. He is said to be several times over a millionaire—spends freely, and is a great traveller and sportsman. He has the knack of getting the men he wants upon the staff of his paper, and of getting the best out of them. But I am told the tenure of office there is rather precarious. Many of the journalists of Paris have been at one time or another on the staff of his paper. I have also heard it said that the name of no person disliked by the proprietor is allowed to appear in the paper. The Editor publishes at times all letters, etc., even though they revile the paper and things American. A letter from an “old Philadelphian lady” has been repeated daily for some years!
I received much kindness from the “Herald” during my chaplaincy. I was never charged for any advertisement, and any communications I sent were always inserted.
Another journalist whom I often met was Mr. Clifford Millage, who was the Paris correspondent of the “Daily Chronicle,” and an ardent Roman Catholic. He was fond of discussing theological subjects—an able man, and well thought of among his confrères. He passed away in 1903. I may also mention Mr. Strong, Mr. Longhurst, and Mr. Fullerton, among those from whom I received kindness from time to time. I was brought a good deal into contact with the late Mr. Cuntz, who managed the “American Register”—owing to serious illness in his family.
Besides the journalists of the sterner sex, there are also ladies who are well known as brilliant writers for various society and other papers. I may mention among those whom I was privileged to know, Mrs. Emily Crawford. This lady was in Paris during the war of 1870, and the almost more terrible Commune that followed. She writes for the “Daily News” and “Truth,” and has published a memoir of our late beloved Queen, under the title “Victoria, Queen and Ruler.” Mrs. Crawford is well known in all literary circles in Paris.
Mrs. Alison Robson I knew for almost the whole of my chaplaincy. She is a clever writer for the “Queen,” under the nom de plume of E. de Campo Bello. Mrs. Robson went as special correspondent to the Hague at the time of the wedding festivities of the Queen of Holland; and also Madrid, when the King of Spain came of age. She gave us a most interesting account of these visits.