History of Philippine press / Carson Taylor.

32

History of the Philippine Press

It was financed by subscriptions from army and navy
officers who put up the money to cover the cost of a cable
service from the Associated Press, while the revenue from
street sales, subscriptions and advertising covered the cost
of printing, paper, general expense and the limited salary
list of the staff which was mostly composed of enlisted men
of the Army.
Wm. J. Mathews, a corporal of the First Colorado
Volunteers, was the first editor and H. G. Farris, a sergeant
from the same regiment, was circulation manager. Harry
F. Seymour was the business manager.
For the first few months the paper was edited and
printed in the Chofre & Co. plant on Calle Alix (now Legarda).
Later it was removed to the office of El Comercio
on the corner of Calles Poblete and San Jacinto (now T.
Pinpin).
Early in 1899 Brooks sold the paper to Mathews and
Seymour and went for a tour of China. A few months later
Seymour sold his interest to Capt. Woodward of the 6th Artillery, Capt. Charles H. Sleeper, who was Collector of Internal Revenue under the Military Government, and the
writer.
Seymour left for the States and was lost on the Pacific
Mail Steamship Rio Janiero, which sank in a fog just outside the Golden Gate.
Mathews was called home and the writer was left in
charge as business manager with David F. Morris as managing editor.
On the departure of General Elwell S. Otis, Military
Governor, for the United States, Morris published a brief
editorial headed "No Regrets" in which he expressed the
sentiment of the community as that of having no regrets at
Otis' departure as he was unpopular with the general public
and particularly so with Morris.
This placed Captains Woodward and Sleeper in a rather
embarrassing situation. They were part owners in a paper
that criticised and even ridiculed their superior officer.
They did not have control and could not discharge the offending editor so they wanted to get out quickly.
Franklin Brooks appeared on the scene and in conjunction with A. J. Findlay made them an offer for their interests which was quickly accepted. Brooks and Findlay
later acquired full ownership.
They in turn sold to Walter A. Fitton, a broker who
represented Hongkong capital.