72.“How many copies do you want printed, Mr. Greeley?”
“Five thousand!” The answer was snapped back without hesitation.
“But, sir,” the press foreman protested, “we have subscriptions for only five hundred newspapers.”
“We’ll sell them or give them away.”
The presses started rolling, sending a thundering noise out over the sleeping streets of New York City.?The New York Tribune?was born.
The newspaper’s founder, owner, and editor, Horace Greeley, anxiously snatched the first copy as it came sliding off the press. This was his dream of many years that he held in his hand. It was as precious as a child. Its birth was the result of years of poverty, hard work, and disappointments.
Hard luck and misfortune had followed Horace all his life. He was born of poor parents on February 3, 1811, on a small farm in New Hampshire. During his early childhood, the Greeley family rarely had enough to eat. They moved from one farm to another because they could not pay their debts. Young Horace’s only boyhood fun was reading—when he could snatch a few moments during a long working day.
The printed word always fascinated Horace. When he was only ten years old, he applied for a job as an apprentice in a printing shop. But he didn’t get the job because he was too young.
Four years later, Horace walked eleven miles to East Poultney in Vermont to answer an ad. A paper called?the Northern Spectator?had a job for a boy. The editor asked him why he wanted to boa printer, Horace spoke up boldly: “Because, sir, I want to learn all I can about newspapers.”
The editor looked at the oddly dressed boy. Finally he said, “You’ve got the job, son.”
For the first six months, room and board would be the only pay for his work. After that, he would get room and board and forty dollars a year.
Horace hurried home to shout the good news to his family. When he got there, he learned that his family was about to move again—