Extraordinary energy and executive ability and a Napoleonic faculty
of perceiving and utilizing the talents of others, are the qualities
upon which the journalist and publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, has built his
reputation and his fortune. He was born in Buda-Pesth, Hungary, April
10, 1847, and, after receiving a classical education in his native
city, came to the United States at the age of sixteen. For two years
he served as a private soldier in the Federal Army, and, afterward,
failing to gain a foothold in New York city, he went to St. Louis,
where he became a reporter on the Westliche Post, a German newspaper
then edited by Carl Schurz. Studying law, he was next admitted to the
bar of Missouri. Then he was made managing editor of the Post, and
in 1869 was sent to the Missouri legislature. In 1878 he bought the
St. Louis Dispatch, uniting it with the Evening Post as the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch, which is now one of the most successful publications of
the west. In 1883 Mr. Pulitzer purchased the New York World, which,
thanks to his journalistic genius, is now one of the most widely read
newspapers published in New York city. He was elected to congress in
New York for the term of 1885 to 1887. In 1890 he erected in Park
Row one of the most striking and costly newspaper buildings in the
United States. In 1896 he was a strong advocate of the National (gold
standard) Democratic party. Mr. Pulitzer has always been distinguished
by his generous and courteous treatment of his subordinates.