Pathfinder News Magazine (January 25, 1950 Issue)
"A Man Who Started Something" by Graham Patterson
56 years ago this month (January 1894), Pathfinder [Magazine] was founded by an enterprising young man named George Mitchell, [the] son of a United States Senator. He had little money, but he was amply-endowed with energy, foresight & the burning conviction that America needed a magazine that would report & interpret the significance of the news as it happened. He [had] selected Washington as the magazine's headquarters because "the Capital City is the only place [for] which a truly national & independent news review can be issued."
He [had] died [on] January 3rd. He would have been 84 years old on March 16th. He [had] retired from business in 1936, but [had] lived to see the magazine he started in 1894 become the second largest news magazine in America, with a circulation of 1,200,000 [copies].
The birth of Pathfinder [Magazine] sprang from a trip around the world that the 25-year-old Mitchell & a companion [had taken] in 1891. They went through Britain, over the Alps, down the Danube, along the coast of Greece, through Palestine to the Far East. Altogether, they [had] traveled some 35,000 miles; 1/5 of it by bicycle.
Young Mitchell [had taken] with him one of the first Eastman cameras made & returned with hundreds of pictures & stories. Popular magazines [had] rejected his articles & pictures. "They told me that the reading public was not interested in facts, but only in fiction. This led me to the conclusion that if there was no periodical in existence dealing with facts rather than fiction, it was time [that] there was one."
The first issue of Pathfinder [Magazine] (January 6, 1894) had only eight pages. The contents included national & international affairs, industrial, financial & scientific news & "echoes" from the world of art, music & drama. Mitchell [had] printed 50,000 copies of the first issue, but after the first few months, [it] was cut to 1,500 in an effort to make the magazine self-supporting.
At the end of the first year, the magazine had grown to 12 pages, but circulation rose slowly. "It took five years to get 12,000, five more years to get 20,000 & 18 years to reach 45,000, when we [had] expected 50,000 the first year."
But these setbacks did not discourage him. For the first eight years, he [had] paid himself only $15 weekly & $20 after that. He [had] frequently worked [for] 14 hours a day. But, he said, "Every copy of Pathfinder [Magazine] that goes out is good seed. If we were not sure that the work we are doing is good (work which benefits mankind), we would quit. We appreciate the confidence & support of our readers; it is our rod & staff. We plan to show our appreciation by a renewed determination to give a paper which is all meat & which has no equal at any price."
In the light of today's events, some excerpts from the first issue of Pathfinder [Magazine] are highly interesting. Its editorial said, "Upon the surface, the nations of Europe are feverish with unrest & affright. Theoretically, Europe is in a state of siege. No nation, save Switzerland, can be considered exempt. Yet a state of siege is not war, nor is it necessarily a precursor of war."
A news item in the same issue noted that an income tax of 2% on all incomes over $4,000 had been adopted by a close majority of the Democrats of the House Committee of Ways & Means as the revenue feature of the [then-] forthcoming Wilson bill.
The third issue of Pathfinder [Magazine] (January 20, 1894) [had] contained a full column by [then-U. S. Senator] William Jennings Bryan on "The Proposed Income Tax".
George Mitchell was a most unusual man; gifted with a variety of talents as well as a huge storehouse of energy, he [had written] by hand the entire contents of the first issue. For years he [had] edited all the copies, working long hours with hardly a pause for lunch. Sometimes it was necessary to remind him when the day [had been] done. Sometimes he would be found on the floor mending the big printing press when it was not working properly.
He was many men in one; an artist as well as [a] writer, & for 12 years [he] did most of the artwork that [had] appeared in [his own] magazine. He was also an amateur magician of no mean ability. He [had] not only played the violin but [had] made one. He [had] built his own home & other houses with his own hands. He was an excellent cabinetmaker & woodcarver. Those who [had known] him [personally] wondered how he could do so much. The answer seemed to be in his power of intense concentration.
The editorial platform of Pathfinder [Magazine] was the same then as [it is] now. The masthead bore this statement by Mitchell:
"The aim of this paper is to give busy, earnest people a digest of all the really important developments in [the] world's progress in condensed, clean & orderly yet sprightly & entertaining form. We carefully exclude private opinions from [our own] news pages, stating simply the facts as they are found. The editorial comment is written more from the personal point of view, but with malice toward none & charity for all - never with the idea of forcing conclusions on our friends - but rather of stimulating thought & discussion on living topics. We have no interest but yours."
We pay humble homage to the memory of George Mitchell by expressing in his words our "renewed determination to give a paper which is all meat", & to repeat his pledge, "We have no interest but yours."
- Graham Patterson (Publisher)
"A Man Who Started Something" by Graham Patterson
56 years ago this month (January 1894), Pathfinder [Magazine] was founded by an enterprising young man named George Mitchell, [the] son of a United States Senator. He had little money, but he was amply-endowed with energy, foresight & the burning conviction that America needed a magazine that would report & interpret the significance of the news as it happened. He [had] selected Washington as the magazine's headquarters because "the Capital City is the only place [for] which a truly national & independent news review can be issued."
He [had] died [on] January 3rd. He would have been 84 years old on March 16th. He [had] retired from business in 1936, but [had] lived to see the magazine he started in 1894 become the second largest news magazine in America, with a circulation of 1,200,000 [copies].
The birth of Pathfinder [Magazine] sprang from a trip around the world that the 25-year-old Mitchell & a companion [had taken] in 1891. They went through Britain, over the Alps, down the Danube, along the coast of Greece, through Palestine to the Far East. Altogether, they [had] traveled some 35,000 miles; 1/5 of it by bicycle.
Young Mitchell [had taken] with him one of the first Eastman cameras made & returned with hundreds of pictures & stories. Popular magazines [had] rejected his articles & pictures. "They told me that the reading public was not interested in facts, but only in fiction. This led me to the conclusion that if there was no periodical in existence dealing with facts rather than fiction, it was time [that] there was one."
The first issue of Pathfinder [Magazine] (January 6, 1894) had only eight pages. The contents included national & international affairs, industrial, financial & scientific news & "echoes" from the world of art, music & drama. Mitchell [had] printed 50,000 copies of the first issue, but after the first few months, [it] was cut to 1,500 in an effort to make the magazine self-supporting.
At the end of the first year, the magazine had grown to 12 pages, but circulation rose slowly. "It took five years to get 12,000, five more years to get 20,000 & 18 years to reach 45,000, when we [had] expected 50,000 the first year."
But these setbacks did not discourage him. For the first eight years, he [had] paid himself only $15 weekly & $20 after that. He [had] frequently worked [for] 14 hours a day. But, he said, "Every copy of Pathfinder [Magazine] that goes out is good seed. If we were not sure that the work we are doing is good (work which benefits mankind), we would quit. We appreciate the confidence & support of our readers; it is our rod & staff. We plan to show our appreciation by a renewed determination to give a paper which is all meat & which has no equal at any price."
In the light of today's events, some excerpts from the first issue of Pathfinder [Magazine] are highly interesting. Its editorial said, "Upon the surface, the nations of Europe are feverish with unrest & affright. Theoretically, Europe is in a state of siege. No nation, save Switzerland, can be considered exempt. Yet a state of siege is not war, nor is it necessarily a precursor of war."
A news item in the same issue noted that an income tax of 2% on all incomes over $4,000 had been adopted by a close majority of the Democrats of the House Committee of Ways & Means as the revenue feature of the [then-] forthcoming Wilson bill.
The third issue of Pathfinder [Magazine] (January 20, 1894) [had] contained a full column by [then-U. S. Senator] William Jennings Bryan on "The Proposed Income Tax".
George Mitchell was a most unusual man; gifted with a variety of talents as well as a huge storehouse of energy, he [had written] by hand the entire contents of the first issue. For years he [had] edited all the copies, working long hours with hardly a pause for lunch. Sometimes it was necessary to remind him when the day [had been] done. Sometimes he would be found on the floor mending the big printing press when it was not working properly.
He was many men in one; an artist as well as [a] writer, & for 12 years [he] did most of the artwork that [had] appeared in [his own] magazine. He was also an amateur magician of no mean ability. He [had] not only played the violin but [had] made one. He [had] built his own home & other houses with his own hands. He was an excellent cabinetmaker & woodcarver. Those who [had known] him [personally] wondered how he could do so much. The answer seemed to be in his power of intense concentration.
The editorial platform of Pathfinder [Magazine] was the same then as [it is] now. The masthead bore this statement by Mitchell:
"The aim of this paper is to give busy, earnest people a digest of all the really important developments in [the] world's progress in condensed, clean & orderly yet sprightly & entertaining form. We carefully exclude private opinions from [our own] news pages, stating simply the facts as they are found. The editorial comment is written more from the personal point of view, but with malice toward none & charity for all - never with the idea of forcing conclusions on our friends - but rather of stimulating thought & discussion on living topics. We have no interest but yours."
We pay humble homage to the memory of George Mitchell by expressing in his words our "renewed determination to give a paper which is all meat", & to repeat his pledge, "We have no interest but yours."
- Graham Patterson (Publisher)
Pathfinder News Magazine (January 25, 1950 Issue)
"A Man Who Started Something" by Graham Patterson
56 years ago this month (January 1894), Pathfinder [Magazine] was founded by an enterprising young man named George Mitchell, [the] son of a United States Senator. He had little money, but he was amply-endowed with energy, foresight & the burning conviction that America needed a magazine that would report & interpret the significance of the news as it happened. He [had] selected Washington as the magazine's headquarters because "the Capital City is the only place [for] which a truly national & independent news review can be issued."
He [had] died [on] January 3rd. He would have been 84 years old on March 16th. He [had] retired from business in 1936, but [had] lived to see the magazine he started in 1894 become the second largest news magazine in America, with a circulation of 1,200,000 [copies].
The birth of Pathfinder [Magazine] sprang from a trip around the world that the 25-year-old Mitchell & a companion [had taken] in 1891. They went through Britain, over the Alps, down the Danube, along the coast of Greece, through Palestine to the Far East. Altogether, they [had] traveled some 35,000 miles; 1/5 of it by bicycle.
Young Mitchell [had taken] with him one of the first Eastman cameras made & returned with hundreds of pictures & stories. Popular magazines [had] rejected his articles & pictures. "They told me that the reading public was not interested in facts, but only in fiction. This led me to the conclusion that if there was no periodical in existence dealing with facts rather than fiction, it was time [that] there was one."
The first issue of Pathfinder [Magazine] (January 6, 1894) had only eight pages. The contents included national & international affairs, industrial, financial & scientific news & "echoes" from the world of art, music & drama. Mitchell [had] printed 50,000 copies of the first issue, but after the first few months, [it] was cut to 1,500 in an effort to make the magazine self-supporting.
At the end of the first year, the magazine had grown to 12 pages, but circulation rose slowly. "It took five years to get 12,000, five more years to get 20,000 & 18 years to reach 45,000, when we [had] expected 50,000 the first year."
But these setbacks did not discourage him. For the first eight years, he [had] paid himself only $15 weekly & $20 after that. He [had] frequently worked [for] 14 hours a day. But, he said, "Every copy of Pathfinder [Magazine] that goes out is good seed. If we were not sure that the work we are doing is good (work which benefits mankind), we would quit. We appreciate the confidence & support of our readers; it is our rod & staff. We plan to show our appreciation by a renewed determination to give a paper which is all meat & which has no equal at any price."
In the light of today's events, some excerpts from the first issue of Pathfinder [Magazine] are highly interesting. Its editorial said, "Upon the surface, the nations of Europe are feverish with unrest & affright. Theoretically, Europe is in a state of siege. No nation, save Switzerland, can be considered exempt. Yet a state of siege is not war, nor is it necessarily a precursor of war."
A news item in the same issue noted that an income tax of 2% on all incomes over $4,000 had been adopted by a close majority of the Democrats of the House Committee of Ways & Means as the revenue feature of the [then-] forthcoming Wilson bill.
The third issue of Pathfinder [Magazine] (January 20, 1894) [had] contained a full column by [then-U. S. Senator] William Jennings Bryan on "The Proposed Income Tax".
George Mitchell was a most unusual man; gifted with a variety of talents as well as a huge storehouse of energy, he [had written] by hand the entire contents of the first issue. For years he [had] edited all the copies, working long hours with hardly a pause for lunch. Sometimes it was necessary to remind him when the day [had been] done. Sometimes he would be found on the floor mending the big printing press when it was not working properly.
He was many men in one; an artist as well as [a] writer, & for 12 years [he] did most of the artwork that [had] appeared in [his own] magazine. He was also an amateur magician of no mean ability. He [had] not only played the violin but [had] made one. He [had] built his own home & other houses with his own hands. He was an excellent cabinetmaker & woodcarver. Those who [had known] him [personally] wondered how he could do so much. The answer seemed to be in his power of intense concentration.
The editorial platform of Pathfinder [Magazine] was the same then as [it is] now. The masthead bore this statement by Mitchell:
"The aim of this paper is to give busy, earnest people a digest of all the really important developments in [the] world's progress in condensed, clean & orderly yet sprightly & entertaining form. We carefully exclude private opinions from [our own] news pages, stating simply the facts as they are found. The editorial comment is written more from the personal point of view, but with malice toward none & charity for all - never with the idea of forcing conclusions on our friends - but rather of stimulating thought & discussion on living topics. We have no interest but yours."
We pay humble homage to the memory of George Mitchell by expressing in his words our "renewed determination to give a paper which is all meat", & to repeat his pledge, "We have no interest but yours."
- Graham Patterson (Publisher)
"A Man Who Started Something" by Graham Patterson
56 years ago this month (January 1894), Pathfinder [Magazine] was founded by an enterprising young man named George Mitchell, [the] son of a United States Senator. He had little money, but he was amply-endowed with energy, foresight & the burning conviction that America needed a magazine that would report & interpret the significance of the news as it happened. He [had] selected Washington as the magazine's headquarters because "the Capital City is the only place [for] which a truly national & independent news review can be issued."
He [had] died [on] January 3rd. He would have been 84 years old on March 16th. He [had] retired from business in 1936, but [had] lived to see the magazine he started in 1894 become the second largest news magazine in America, with a circulation of 1,200,000 [copies].
The birth of Pathfinder [Magazine] sprang from a trip around the world that the 25-year-old Mitchell & a companion [had taken] in 1891. They went through Britain, over the Alps, down the Danube, along the coast of Greece, through Palestine to the Far East. Altogether, they [had] traveled some 35,000 miles; 1/5 of it by bicycle.
Young Mitchell [had taken] with him one of the first Eastman cameras made & returned with hundreds of pictures & stories. Popular magazines [had] rejected his articles & pictures. "They told me that the reading public was not interested in facts, but only in fiction. This led me to the conclusion that if there was no periodical in existence dealing with facts rather than fiction, it was time [that] there was one."
The first issue of Pathfinder [Magazine] (January 6, 1894) had only eight pages. The contents included national & international affairs, industrial, financial & scientific news & "echoes" from the world of art, music & drama. Mitchell [had] printed 50,000 copies of the first issue, but after the first few months, [it] was cut to 1,500 in an effort to make the magazine self-supporting.
At the end of the first year, the magazine had grown to 12 pages, but circulation rose slowly. "It took five years to get 12,000, five more years to get 20,000 & 18 years to reach 45,000, when we [had] expected 50,000 the first year."
But these setbacks did not discourage him. For the first eight years, he [had] paid himself only $15 weekly & $20 after that. He [had] frequently worked [for] 14 hours a day. But, he said, "Every copy of Pathfinder [Magazine] that goes out is good seed. If we were not sure that the work we are doing is good (work which benefits mankind), we would quit. We appreciate the confidence & support of our readers; it is our rod & staff. We plan to show our appreciation by a renewed determination to give a paper which is all meat & which has no equal at any price."
In the light of today's events, some excerpts from the first issue of Pathfinder [Magazine] are highly interesting. Its editorial said, "Upon the surface, the nations of Europe are feverish with unrest & affright. Theoretically, Europe is in a state of siege. No nation, save Switzerland, can be considered exempt. Yet a state of siege is not war, nor is it necessarily a precursor of war."
A news item in the same issue noted that an income tax of 2% on all incomes over $4,000 had been adopted by a close majority of the Democrats of the House Committee of Ways & Means as the revenue feature of the [then-] forthcoming Wilson bill.
The third issue of Pathfinder [Magazine] (January 20, 1894) [had] contained a full column by [then-U. S. Senator] William Jennings Bryan on "The Proposed Income Tax".
George Mitchell was a most unusual man; gifted with a variety of talents as well as a huge storehouse of energy, he [had written] by hand the entire contents of the first issue. For years he [had] edited all the copies, working long hours with hardly a pause for lunch. Sometimes it was necessary to remind him when the day [had been] done. Sometimes he would be found on the floor mending the big printing press when it was not working properly.
He was many men in one; an artist as well as [a] writer, & for 12 years [he] did most of the artwork that [had] appeared in [his own] magazine. He was also an amateur magician of no mean ability. He [had] not only played the violin but [had] made one. He [had] built his own home & other houses with his own hands. He was an excellent cabinetmaker & woodcarver. Those who [had known] him [personally] wondered how he could do so much. The answer seemed to be in his power of intense concentration.
The editorial platform of Pathfinder [Magazine] was the same then as [it is] now. The masthead bore this statement by Mitchell:
"The aim of this paper is to give busy, earnest people a digest of all the really important developments in [the] world's progress in condensed, clean & orderly yet sprightly & entertaining form. We carefully exclude private opinions from [our own] news pages, stating simply the facts as they are found. The editorial comment is written more from the personal point of view, but with malice toward none & charity for all - never with the idea of forcing conclusions on our friends - but rather of stimulating thought & discussion on living topics. We have no interest but yours."
We pay humble homage to the memory of George Mitchell by expressing in his words our "renewed determination to give a paper which is all meat", & to repeat his pledge, "We have no interest but yours."
- Graham Patterson (Publisher)
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