Texas Almanac, 1947-1948 Page: 35
[610] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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FIRST CITIZEN OF TEXAS. 35
in the nine years preceding Richardson's
death in 1875, they rebuilt The News into
the leading newspaper of Texas. The
Texas Almanac, which had been forced to
reduce size and finally to a one-year
suspension in 1866, was resumed in 1867.
While his older brother Thomas was
learning the rudiments of the newspaper
business and the achievements and even
more ambitious plans of The News, young
George worked at a number of spare-time
and full-time jobs that had little connec-
tion with journalism. His schooling was
intermittent, for it became necessary for
the lad to earn a part of the family
income during the depression years which
followed the boom. There was at least
variety in these jobs, for they included
pumping the pipe organ of the Episcopal
Church in Galveston, serving as a Western
Union messenger boy, clerking in a fruit
store, acting as a runner for a German
cotton broker during the Franco-Prus-
sian War, an apprenticeship in a harness
and saddle shop and then a tour of duty
as a youthful factotum around the kitchen
and dining room of the then famous
Fifth Avenue Hotel in the west end of
Galveston.
After four years as office boy at The
News, Thomas Dealey was promoted to
the mailing room. Colonel Belo compli-
mented the youth and then asked if there
were any more Dealeys interested in
coming into the business. At the interview
the next day young George, now fifteen,
recited his strange assortment of jobs
held thus far. Colonel Belo laughed but
remarked, "Well, George, you're certainly
versatile; that's a quality we have need
of around a newspaper."
Red-Letter Day.
Young Dealey began work as office boy
for The News on October 12, 1874. He
always referred to it as the red-letter
day of his life, for he had found his life
work and never more was he so much as
tempted to change jobs. Thus he began
his span of more than seventy-one years
continuously with the same publishing
organization, a record of unbroken service
unique in American journalism, and
perhaps in that of the entire English-
speaking world.
It may be interesting to anticipate here
how significant the date of October 12
became as his long career stretched out
toward the three-quarter-century mark.Like Columbus who discovered a new
world on the same date, he came to feel
that the start of his connection with The
News was the most important anniversary
of his hlife. In later years when honors
accrued rapidly to him, many were al -
ranged to fall upon this date. Even his
birthday on September 18 became a
perfunctory occasion which he largely
ignored in favor of the day in October
Willard Richardson was within one
year of his death when young Dealey
began work for The News. The founder
of the paper had turned over active man-
agement to Colonel Belo but he came to
the office daily, usually to return the
copy of the paper delivered to his home
so that it might be sold after he had read
it. The Chief Proprietor, as the head of a
newspaper was called in those days, was
a notable and revered figure of his times.
The lad remembered him vividly. His first
encounter came a few days after joining
the office. Richardson noticed the new
employee and spoke to him kindly, asking
at last what he was being paid. The boy
replied that his salary was $3 a week.
"Never mind," said Richardson, patting
the boy on the shoulder, "keep working
and maybe some day you'll get more."
Serves Apprenticeship.
Not only did the boy soon begin to earn
more but his knowledge of the,business
grew rapidly. In a short time he was pro-
moted to the mailing room, beginning a
series of assignments that were to famil-
iarize him with the basic phases of
newspaper publishing. For ten years
he followed this apprenticeship w hich
made him a master of the business side
of newspapering. Above all he learned the
importance of each phase of newspaper
making, from the writing of copy to its
mechanical transformation by metal and
ink to paper and the distribution of the
complete publication. He also learned
the co-ordination of writers, advertising
salesmen, printers, pressmen, mailers and
accountants in this daily process.
Although Galveston from the days of
the republic was the chief seaport and
growing metropolis of Texas, its wisest
leaders, such as Richardson, always real-
ized that the rich prairie lands of the
northern part of the state would some
day contain the heaviest density of popu-
lation in Texas. After the Civil War this
settlement of the interior came about
rapidly as railroads were pushing inland
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Texas Almanac, 1947-1948, book, 1947; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117136/m1/37/: accessed May 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.