More Owners
and Closing the Saloons
Dr. Tolar, later
a member of the Texas Legislature, took over in the dry months
which produced the Drought of 1887. He spent much of his editorial
time predicting rain, hoping for rain, insisting that it would
surely rain, but his interest in journalism dried up with the
crops.
The paper went into the custody
of Attorney Henry Sayles. Sayles hired the local weatherman,
Dr. Isaac M. Cline, later the weatherman at Galveston during
its devastating flood, to edit about three editions while a sale
was being arranged to John Hoeny Jr.
Hoeny, an experienced newspaper
man from Weatherford, took over the paper in July 1888 and organized
it into the Abilene Print Co. Under Hoeny's guidance, the paper
made progress. It became the first to print classified advertisements
in a column by themselves; Hoeny and Lowry hosted in 1891 area
newsmen who formed an organization no known as the West Texas
Press Association; and Hoeny employed in 1894 a young man from
Roby, George S. Anderson, who became one of Abilene's leading
businessmen, financiers, and philanthropists.
Anderson began acquiring interest
in the newspaper and by 1900 was the owner.
He set about stabilizing the
newspaper. He continued the involvement in local and area affairs
and took strong stands on moral issues. A devoted Baptist churchman,
he would put an end to rowdiness. He determined to close the
saloons -- and voters did so in 1903.He was deeply involved in
cultural and educational causes, a benefactor of local colleges
and later of Hendrick Medical Center.
Early in the 20th century, Anderson
persuaded a young man named M.B. Hanks to try his hand at newspapering.
NEXT: Bernard
Hanks: The Extraordinary Newsman
(Abridged from Katharyn Duff's
April 19, 1981 "The Story of a Prairie Newspaper" You
can buy this book online from credit card-secured site shopARN.com.)
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