Don Martin’s sudden
death from Spanish Influenza came as a shock to his fellow war correspondents and to the world at
large. It was a shock, even though it was the peak of the Spanish Influenza
epidemic. In New York City, the death toll was mounting and around the world,
the epidemic would eventually claim millions of lives.
The New York Herald European Edition in
Paris placed a big story in the prime location at the center of page 1 on
Tuesday, October 8, 1918.
Don Martin, the “Herald’s” Correspondent at Front, Dies
Suddenly of Pneumonia
in the American Hospital
Passes
Away After Few Days’ Illness
Following Chill Caught on Battlefield;
For Many years New York Herald’s “Straw Man” –
Dies at Forty-Five
Don Martin, special correspondent at the American front for
the NEW YORK HERALD, died of pneumonia yesterday morning at 9:20, in the
American Hospital at Neuilly. His friends among the correspondents at
Headquarters and in Paris and in official circles were absolutely benumbed by
the swiftness and sadness of the death.
Mr. Martin came to Paris from the field last Friday evening,
saying he felt tired and “seedy” and that he had been advised to take a rest.
He went to his usual stopping place, the Hotel de Crillon, where he was visited
by Dr. Paul Muller. He showed only evidence of a deep cold and fatigue, but on
Saturday night his fever rose rapidly and on Sunday he was taken to the
hospital, pneumonia having developed.
Newspaper workers in Paris and his colleagues at the front
all realized that Mr. Martin has been doing tremendous work in sending daily
despatches on the fighting to the New York HERALD in New York and to the
edition in Paris and in writing special features to be sent by mail. They know
he had suffered physically from hardships and had been on the verge of illness
several times, but none conceived the possibility that he would be taken away
so tragically.
Pending instructions from the United States, no arrangements
for burial have been made.
With “Herald” Seventeen Years
Mr. Martin was 45 years old. His home was in Silver Creek,
N. Y., where his mother and a daughter of [12] years now live. He had been with
the New York HERALD seventeen years, and early last winter came to Europe to
reorganize the London bureau. There he came into contact with the leaders of
the British Government, and won their confidence. In preparation for a feature
for the New York HERALD on the anniversary of America’s entry into the war he
obtained expressions of opinion from the heads of all branches of the British
Government and his article carrying these interviews caused much comment in New
York.
Mr. Martin came to France in March last and was accredited
to the American Headquarters. Since then his despatches have appeared in this
edition and in the New York edition, and in the half hundred or more journals
in the United States served by the HERALD syndicate. He gave an unusual type of
story, putting into his wires a wealth of small detail which appealed greatly
to American readers.
He established himself on an enviable basis with the army
authorities and with the large corps of special correspondents. Floyd Gibbons,
who was seriously wounded in getting a story for the Chicago “Tribune,” can
tell of many times when Don Martin was in grave danger, and the other
correspondents can testify from their own experiences of his everyday
hardships.
Not long ago one of the correspondents said: “I don’t know
how Martin does it. He’s a wonder. He never stops working on a story for one of
his editions. He’s out gathering stuff all day and writing most of the night. I
really believe he sleeps about two hours a night.”
With the great tasks he outlined for himself, Don Martin was
never too busy to give a helping hand to the many special correspondents and
special writers who are continually appearing at American headquarters looking
for material. To get this material the aid of an accredited correspondent is
often essential. It was known that Mr. Martin was ever ready to assist.
Mr. Martin’s work before he came to Europe was as well known
to HERALD readers and as much appreciated as his war articles came to be, but
it was anonymous. For years he was the HERALD’s “Straw Man” – the man who
directed the taking of the elaborate straw votes before New York State and
national elections, which votes were almost infallible indications of the drift
of the political winds. Mr. Martin worked very quietly, assigning his reporters
to go to towns and counties where contests were expected, listening to their
verbal reports, tabulating the ballots they brought in and forming his own
conclusions for the article he invariably wrote for the morning of election
day.
Last Straw Vote Triumph
These articles, models of terseness and analysis, always
gave an excellent idea of what would transpire at the polls. A notable
achievement for Mr. Martin’s straw vote was in the last election of President
Wilson, when the figures gathered in all States under his direction indicated
the triumph of Mr. Wilson. For a day or two it appeared the “Straw Man” was
discredited, but final returns proved him right.
Mr. Martin began his newspaper career
in Buffalo, N. Y., and it was there he met many of the men who later became
political leaders in the State, and it was there that they learned how Don
Martin played the newspaper game. Later, in New York City, in Albany and in
Washington, these friendships stood him in good stead, and he had the
confidence of hundreds of leaders of both parties. President Wilson sent him a
personal letter on his coming to Europe, and Charles E. Hughes presided at the
dinner which the staff of the New York HERALD gave at the time of his
departure.
The
New York Herald also ran a big story, which started on page 1 in its Tuesday,
October 8, edition.
Don Martin, Herald War correspondent,
Dies in France, of Influenza
Ill Only Two
Days, Career of Widely Known
Newspaper Man Closes
DEEPLY MOURNED
BY PROMINENT MEN
Gained a
Nationwide Reputation as a Political Editor
and Foremost Election
Analyst.
Paris, Monday – Don Martin, war correspondent of the New
York Herald, died here today from Spanish influenza after a two day illness.
It was learned here that Mr. Martin contracted a severe
cold, when with the troops fighting between the Argonne and the Meuse. At first
he refused to abandon his work, but as his condition became worse he was forced
to repair to Paris for expert medical attention.
Career As Political Editor And Analyst
Don Martin, for many years political editor of the Herald
and since last December staff correspondent of the Herald with General
Pershing’s expeditionary army in France, is dead. The news, received late yesterday afternoon in a brief cable despatch from Paris, caused profound
sorrow throughout the newspaper world in all parts of the country and among men
in public life.
For fourteen years Don Martin had been a member of the
Herald staff. Before that he was a writer for the Buffalo Express; but from one
end of the country to the other he was known as a journalist, able, honest and
fearless; a man of superb judgment, keen analytical powers and possessed to an
extraordinary degree with common sense, a sense of proportion and a sense of
humor.
In his personal life he was a man of unusual charm, his
natural magnetism bringing to his circle of friends men in all walks of life.
He knew and was known to bankers, business men, politicians, national and State
legislators, Governors, Presidents, men high in statecraft– in fact, included
in the intimacy of his life were almost all of the men of all political parties
who have lived and done the big things in this country during the last fifteen
years.
Keen Observer; Virile Writer
A keen observer, a virile writer, with all the enthusiasm of
his trade, he nevertheless maintained to the highest degree the ethics of
journalism and was trusted with secrets that were passed to few men whose
livelihoods are gained by writing the news of the day.
To HERALD readers Don Martin was best known for his
political writings and for his amazing success in forecasting the result of
local, State and national elections through the eyes of the Straw Man. Don
Martin was the Straw man and through some of the closest and most perplexing
political situations that ever developed in this country he saw the truth with
amazing clarity, always taking HERALD readers into his confidence on the Sunday
before elections.
When Don Martin went to Europe last December to join General
Pershing’s forces he was absolutely new to war correspondence. With that
adaptability for which he was famous, however, he rapidly adjusted himself to
new conditions, new experiences and new environment, and for the last few
months HERALD readers have had many rare treats from his pen. That he died in
the performance of his duty will cause no surprise to those who knew Don
Martin. Plunging into the fray with the American forces when Foch started the
great allied drive at Chateau-Thierry, he remained in the field, tireless in
his labors until he was stricken down a week ago. One of his last personal
messages from abroad was a letter to Theodore Roosevelt, an old friend, in
which he gave that stricken father the last details of the death of his gallant
son, Quentin, and enclosed a photograph of the rough grave in which lies the
body of the young aviator.
Tidings of His Courage
American war correspondents returning from the battlefields
of Europe, have informed the HERALD from time to time of the indomitable
courage and energy of Don Martin. When Floyd Gibbons, of the Chicago Tribune,
who won the Croix de Guerre for his gallantry in action, although himself
technically a non-combatant, reached New York several weeks ago, he called at
the HERALD office to tell of the work of Don Martin in the field.
Dozens of such tributes have come to the HERALD during the
last few months, but never a word from Don Martin himself of the hardships,
perils and difficulties of his task, of the sleepless nights spent in mud
holes, with little food or water, and continuously under fire, during which he
must observe, note and promptly dispatch from the front the news of the day so
that the readers of the HERALD would have it without fail when they picked up
their papers in the morning.
Here are the words of Joseph Scott, overseas commissioner of
the Knights of Columbus, when he returned from Europe in August and called at
the HERALD office to tell how he has seen Don Martin sit at a typewriter in a
quiet little village his boots mud caked and tears in his eyes from the memory
of what he had seen during the day in the trenches: -
“No more valorous man fights on the battlefields today than
this man. I could tell you enough to fill a book about the hardships he endures
to furnish the news to the HERALD readers.
“When the Americans go over the top, over goes Don Martin
with them. When they are under barrage fire he does not hesitate, but goes
forward grinning like the rest of the American soldiers. The men of the army in
France respect and admire Mr. Martin for his gallantry and his eagerness to get
the news and forward it accurately to his newspaper. Sometimes as I have
watched him buckle on his brug bag and walk out beside the swinging columns of
American soldiers on their way to the places where the bullets are thickest, I
have felt a very deep desire to come back to America and go from one end of the
country to the other telling of the bravery shown by men such as he, about whom
nothing is said, but about whom volumes could be written.”
Don Martin was as well known in Albany, Washington,
Philadelphia and other large American
cities as he was in New York. He began his newspaper career in Buffalo, to
which city he went as a boy from his birthplace, the village of Silver Creek.
There he worked side by side with such men as Samuel G. Blythe and Byron R.
Newton, now Collector of the Port of New York. He early developed a taste for
political writing, although in handling news of any character he was a reporter
and writer of the highest type. One of his early successes was his graphic
description of the assassination of President McKinley at Buffalo. His stories
at that time attracted attention in parts of the country and resulted in his
being brought to New York, where he became a member of the staff of the HERALD.
During his service on
the HERALD, he was day city editor, political editor and reporter. For the last
few years he had been Albany correspondent during the sessions of the
Legislature. In 1912 and 1916 he was in charge of the reporting of the
republican and democratic conventions at Chicago, Baltimore and St. Louis. One
of his greatest personal triumphs was in 1916, when he predicted the
re-election of President Wilson because that result was indicated by the
HERALD’s straw vote, which he personally conducted.
Presidents His Friends
Don Martin numbered among his friends such men as Theodore
Roosevelt, William H. Taft, President Wilson and Charles E. Hughes. In October
1916, when Mr. Hughes was travelling through the country in his campaign for
the Presidency his train stopped for a few minutes at Silver Creek, N. Y. Recalling
that this was the birthplace of Don Martin, he paid this remarkable tribute to
him:
“I am glad to
have come to Silver Creek and greet you because of the many pleasant
recollections and for another reason. An honest newspaper man is the holiest
work of God. And this is Don Martin’s home. I have a great regard for Don
Martin and am glad to come to his home town,”
Don Martin left for his work in Europe late in December
1917. The following account of his farewell at the HERALD office is taken from
the HERALD of December 19, 1917, and tells better than anything else of the
high regard in which he was held by his associates: --
“Don Martin, friend
and associate of many of the leading men of the nation, and for many years
political reporter on the staff of the New York HERALD, who starts for Europe
soon as a correspondent for the HERALD, was thrust suddenly into the darkened
council room in the HERALD (continued
on Page 6, Column 1)
Comments
Post a Comment