Instead of the little penny sheet of thirty-four years ago, "The New York Herald" of to-day is an immense journal, generally of twelve, and often of sixteen pages of six columns each, making a total of from seventy-two to ninety-six closely printed columns of matter. From four to nine pages are filled with advertisements, classified with the utmost exactness. No reader has to search the paper over for the article or advertisement he wishes to see; each subject has its separate place, which can be discovered at a glance. Its advertisements have reference to every trade, profession, or calling known to civilized man, and are a faithful mirror of the busy age in which we live. Its news reports are the freshest, most complete, and most graphic of any American journal, and are collected at an expenditure of more time, care, and money than any other journal sees fit to lay out. It has its correspondents in all parts of the world, and when news is worth sending, these are instructed to spare no pains or expense in transmitting it at once. During the late war it had a small army of attachés in the field, and its reports were the most eagerly sought of all by the public. During the Abyssinian war its reporters and correspondents furnished the London press with reliable news in advance of their own correspondents. Any price is paid for news, for it is the chief wish of Mr. Bennett that "The Herald" shall be the first to chronicle the events of the day.
"The Herald" office is now located at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street. The building, of white marble, is five stories in height, and is one of the handsomest in the country. It is the most complete newspaper establishment in existence. It has two cellars, in which are placed the two steam-engines that drive the huge presses which strike off the various editions of "The Herald." Every thing is in perfect order, and the machinery shines like polished gold and silver. The proprietor's eye is upon the whole establishment, and he is quick to notice and reprimand a fault. The street floor contains the business office of the journal, a magnificent room, gorgeous with marble, plate-glass, black walnut, and frescoes. The editorial rooms are above, and near them are the reporters' rooms. The top floor constitutes the finest composing room in the world, from which speaking-tubes and vertical railways communicate with all the other parts of the building. Every department of the paper has a responsible head, and the most rigid discipline prevails throughout the office. There are twelve editors, thirty-five reporters, and four hundred and fifty-three other employés, making a total force of five hundred men engaged upon "The Herald." The circulation of the various editions of the paper amounts to tens of thousands. It is to be found in every town of importance in the land, and its daily receipts from advertisements alone are counted by tens of thousands of dollars.
Mr. Bennett rarely writes for the paper now. He assembles his editors in his council at noon every day, hears their suggestions, decides what topics shall be treated in the next day's issue, and assigns to each man the subject upon which he is to write. In his absence his place at the council-board is filled by his son, or by the managing editor. Mr. Bennett in this way exercises a close supervision over all the articles that appear in "The Herald," and imparts to them a considerable share of his personality.
Mr. Bennett is married, and has two children, a son, James Gordon Bennett, jr., who will succeed his father in the ownership of "The Herald," and a daughter. He lives on Fifth Avenue at present, his favorite residence, at Washington Heights, having been recently destroyed by fire. He is said to be a courtly and agreeable host, and one who rarely fails to send away his visitors with a pleasant impression of himself.
In person he is tall and firmly built, and walks with a dignified carriage. His head is large, and his features are prominent and irregular. He has a thoroughly Scotch face, and is cross-eyed. His forehead is broad and high, betokening great capacity and force of character. His expression is firm and somewhat cold—that of a man who has had a hard fight with fortune, and has conquered it. He is reserved in his manner to strangers, but always courteous and approachable. To his friends he is genial and unreserved. He is finely educated, and is said to be a man of excellent taste. His favorite studies are history and biography, and he still pursues them with a keen relish. His home is one of the most elegant in the city. He is proud of his success, as he may well be, and very proud of the fact that he owes it to himself alone. While he was building the new "Herald" office, he was waited on by the president of one of the national banks of the city, who said to him:
"Mr. Bennett, we know that you are at great expense in erecting this building, besides carrying on your immense business. If you want any accommodation, you can have it at our bank."
"Mr. ——," replied Mr. Bennett, "before I purchased the land, or began to build, I had on deposit two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the Chemical Bank. There is not a dollar due on 'The Herald' building that I can not pay. I would pay off the mortgage to-morrow, if the owner would allow me to do so. When the building is opened, I shall not owe one dollar to any man, if I am allowed to pay. I owe nothing that I can not discharge in an hour. I have not touched one dollar of the money on deposit in the bank, and while that remains I need no accommodation."