The story of the Sun, New York, 1833-1918 / by Frank M. O'Brien.

THE FINEST SIDE OF "THE SUN" 409

In the list of writers of editorial articles which includes Dana, Mitchell, William O. Bartlett, and Hazeltine, are found also the names of Frank P. Church,
E. M. Kingsbury, Napoleon L. Thieblin, James Henry
Wilson, John Swinton, Henry B. Stanton, Fitz-Henry
Warren, William T. Washburn, Harold M. Anderson,
Frank H. Simonds, and Henry M. Armstrong. Of these
Church stands alone as the writer in whose case the
Sun broke its rule that the anonymity of editorial
writers is absolute. After Mr. Church's death on April
11, 1906, it was announced in the Sun that he was the
author of what for more than twenty years has been
regarded as the most popular editorial article ever
written. It appeared on September 21, 1897:
IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS?
We take pleasure in answering at once and thus
prominently the communication below, expressing at
the same time our great gratification that its faithful
author is numbered among the friends of the Sun:
DEAR EDITOR:
I am eight years old. Some of my little friends
say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says "If you
see it in the Sun it's so." Please tell me the truth,
is there a Santa Claus?
VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
115 West Ninety-Fifth Street.
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have
been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They
do not believe except they see. They think that nothing
can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds.
All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's,
are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere
insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the
boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and
knowledge.