Thirty-eight or forty years ago, Jay Charlton Goldsmith, of the New
York Herald, was ushered into the world with little if any ceremony.
He was born in a small village in eastern New York, not far from the
great metropolis. Like other dutiful sons, Jay pleased his parents by
attending school until he was thirteen years of age. He then entered
a lawyer’s office and mingled with his legal learning the study of
phonography. About this time he began acting as correspondent for the
Herald from the rural district wherein he lived. At the age of sixteen
he was one of the editors of the Register, a small evening paper
published at Patterson, New Jersey.
The health of the young man, however, forbade his steady working in a
newspaper office, and a year later he was compelled to relinquish his
position. He immediately began preparations for a journey abroad, his
intention being to travel two years on the continent. He changed his
mind at the last moment and went to California, and from there to the
Sandwich Islands. During these travels he penned very creditable and
quite readable letters to the Herald. He also wrote occasionally for
other journals. On his return, after an absence of a year, he accepted
an editorial position in the office of the Republican, at Savannah,
Georgia. His health again failing him, he was driven from the South by
the climate.
In 1867 he returned to New York city, where he became a reporter and
occasional editorial writer for the Tribune. When Oakey Hall became
mayor of New York, Goldsmith, who was a warm personal friend, became
his private secretary. He retained this office for four years. Early
in 1873 he succeeded Mr. E. G. Squier as editor of Frank Leslie’s
Illustrated Newspaper. While editing this journal he wrote many
critical, terse articles, which attracted general attention. His health
again failing, he made a second visit to the Pacific coast two years
later. About this time Goldsmith commenced writing to the Danbury News,
a series of letters signed by “Jay Charlton,” which became a feature of
that famous publication.
Five or six years later, finding himself greatly improved in health, he
again accepted a situation on the New York Herald, and has retained it
ever since. One of his duties was to write the Personal Intelligence
column. He determined to make it spicy, and wrote short items that
could be read between bites at the breakfast table. The name of the “P.
I. Man,” by which Goldsmith is so widely known, was probably derived
from this fact.
He is said to be the editor of the Weekly Herald, and adds much to
the character and worth of that popular edition of Bennett’s famous
newspaper. Goldsmith is an odd looking, but not unhandsome genius. He
wears his black hair long and it hangs down upon his neck and forehead
in profusion. He possesses a poetic face, which is adorned with heavy
side-whiskers.
Jay Charlton’s Hints to Farmers is one of his best efforts. It shows
what horrible puns he is capable of: