William E. Curtis of the Chicago record-herald

              William E. Curtis
OF     THE     CHICAGO     RECORD-HERALD
LECTURE TOUR
Direction of The Slayton Lyceum Bureau, Steinway Hall, Chicago
H. L. SLAYTON, President                                  CHAS. L. WAGNER, Secretary                                  WENDELL SLAYTON   Treasurer
Lecture Tour of William E. Curtis
TITLES OF LECTURES
The Eternal City—Rome and the Vatican —Personal Reminiscences
of Leo XIII.
Venezuela, the Land Where it is Always Summer.
A Search for a Mummy's Eye.
The Heart of the Andes—A Journey from New York to the
Capital of Bolivia.
The Turk and His Rebellious Subjects—A Discussion of the Macedonian Question, Which Will Provoke the Next War in Europe.
Damascus, the Oldest City in the Universe.
Bethlehem, the City of David and the Child Jesus.
SKETCH OF WILLIAM E. CURTIS
WLLIAM ELEROY CURTIS,   correspondent of the Chicago    Record-Herald, is a native of   Ohio, a graduate  of Western    Reserve    University,    and    spent      his  early days  in  Cleveland,     where   he   began  his  newspaper           career   as   a   reporter    for    The
            Leader.   When  The Inter Ocean
was started in 1872 he went to Chicago and remained with that paper for six¬teen years; filling almost every position from reporter to editor-in-chief. In 1884 he took leave of absence for fifteen months to serve as a member of a commercial commission which was sent to South America by President Arthur, with a rank of Envoy Extraordinary. During his absence he wrote numerous letters for The Inter Ocean, and upon his return pub¬lished the first general work on South America that ever appeared in the English language, entitled "The Capitals of Spanish America." This book has had a very large sale, and estab¬lished the reputation of Mr. Curtis as an author¬ity on South American topics.
In 1887 he resigned from The Inter Ocean, and went to The Chicago Record, becoming a general all-around correspondent, with head¬quarters in Washington, and a contract for life to write a daily letter. The same year he spent five months in Russia investigating Nihilism, which resulted in another book entitled " The Land of the Nihilist." That passed through several editions, and is still sold as a guide book. In 1889 he dropped newspaper work to become Mr. Blaine's personal representative in charge of The International American Conference, and was the executive officer of that assembly. He founded The Bureau of American Republics in 1890, and remained as its director until 1893.
In 1891 Mr. Curtis was appointed chief of the Latin - American Department and Historical Section of the World's Columbian Exposition, and was also the representative of the Depart¬ment of State upon the Government Board of Management. He suggested the idea of inviting the Queen of Spain and the descendants of Columbus to the Exposition, secured the pass¬age of a resolution by Congress for that purpose, and President Harrison appointed him a special envoy to carry the invitation to Madrid. He was received with honors by Queen Christina, who conferred upon him a decoration, and made him a Grand Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic. In 1892 Mr. Curtis was appointed special envoy to the Vatican on an important mission, which he conducted in such a manner as to win special commendation from His Holi¬ness, the Pope, and Cardinal Rampolla, as well as from his own government. He was commis¬sioner from the United States to the Columbian Exposition at Madrid. He suggested the re¬production of the Convent of La Rabida, and made the famous collection of relics of Columbus for the World's Fair, secured an appropriation from Congress for the fleet of caravels, and superintended their construction.
At the close of the Chicago Exposition Mr. Curtis returned to his duties as correspondent of The Chicago Record, now The Record-Herald, and has visited all the corners of the universe for that paper. His letters from China and Japan in 1895 were published in book form, under the title of "The Yankees of the East," and in 1896 his letters from Mexico were issued in a volume called "Free Silver in Mexico." In 1897 he made a thorough investigation of municipal sys¬tems of government in Europe, and the results appeared in a book entitled "Today in France and Germany." In 1899 he visited South Amer¬ica for the fifth time, and issued his third vol¬ume on that continent called " Between the Andes and the Ocean."
Mr. Curtis spent the summer of 1901 in Norway and Sweden, and his letters to The Chicago Record-Herald on those countries will soon appear in a subscription book by the Saal-field Publishing Company, of Akron, O.
The autumn of 1901 was spent in Servia, Bulgaria and other of the Balkan states — an almost unknown region — and in Turkey. The Fleming H. Revell Company, of Chicago, have gathered his letters from those countries and issued them under the title of " The Turk and His Lost Provinces."
The winter of 1901-2 was spent in Rome, and the spring months in Syria and the Holy Land — writing his usual letter to The Chicago Record-Herald every day; and another book, Syria and Palestine," from the press of the Fleming H. Revell Company was the result.
Since the first of December, 1893, when, after the World's Fair, he resumed his connec¬tion with The Chicago Record, now The Record-Herald, he has written over three thousand newspaper letters from all parts of the world. That paper has not appeared without an inter¬esting letter from Mr. Curtis, which is always printed in the same place of honor — the first column of the first page, except a day or two while he was in China in 1895, in Bolivia in 1899, and in Asia Minor in 1902, when his daily pack¬age was detained by the irregularity of the mails of those countries.
No newspaper man in the world ever pub¬lished so many columns as Mr. Curtis, and, as one of his commentators has said, they have seldom contained a dull line. His published writings would fill a set of volumes as large as the Century Dictionary. He is as well known as a writer in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America as in the United States. Few men have ever had so extensive an acquaintance with notable characters of the different nations; few have enjoyed so many novel experiences, or have witnessed so many important events. He is at home in every city of the universe; and is warmly welcomed by many friends in every country. He has interviewed popes and em-perors; he has dined with kings, queens and presidents, and has been honored with the friendship and confidence of rulers, statesmen, generals, diplomatists and other famous men of Europe, Asia and the three Americas.
Mr. Curtis is a member of several learned societies in Europe, South America and the United States, and is considered an authority upon questions relating to politics, diplomacy and foreign affairs. He is a frequent contributor to the magazines, a popular speaker, and an interesting figure in social life wherever he goes.
In addition to the works already mentioned, he is author of two novels, a series of handbooks to Venezuela and other Central and South Amer¬ican republics, a " A Diplomatic History of the United States," " The Life of Zachariah Chand¬ler," "The True Thomas Jefferson," "The True Abraham Lincoln," and several important works on commercial subjects, including " Reciprocity and Retaliation," which was published by the House of Representatives.
Lecture Tour of William E. Curtis
Lecture Tour of William E. Curtis
PRESS COMMENTS
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, HERALD
The success which has attended William E. Curtis, the famous correspondent of The Chicago Record-Herald, is rarely attained by newspaper writers. Beginning his career in Chicago in 1872 as reporter he rapidly rose to the posi¬tion of managing editor. He resigned that position on receiving a government appointment as Secretary of the South American Commission. Mr. Curtis traveled exten¬sively in Central and South America while in this position, producing several popular volumes as the result of his literary labors. Afterwards, co-operating with Secretary-of-State James G. Blaine, Mr. Curtis organized the work of the Bureau of American Republics, with the result that he was placed in charge of that organization, and at the World's Columbian Exposition he distinguished himself by his labors as the executive head of the Latin-American Department. As correspondent of The Chicago Record-Herald Mr. Curtis' travels have carried him into every sec¬tion of the United States as well as into all quarters of the globe. His China and Japan letters were published in book form; likewise his letters from England, Germany and France, as well as those written during his travels in South America.
No newspaper correspondent possesses the facility shown by Mr. Curtis in writing on any of the diversified subjects embraced in his correspondence and making it luminous. Nor is any correspondent followed so closely year after year by the thousands of readers of The Chicago Record-Herald. On his recent trip to the Holy Land Mr. Curtis' letters have been read more closely than ever, and his descriptions of that interesting section of the globe as it appears today have been quoted everywhere.
H. HITCHCOCK, SUPT. BAY VIEW ASSEMBLY
I know Mr. Curtis, personally, and have heard him lect¬ure, and can use him at Bay View Assembly for two days.
WASHINGTON  MIRROR
He is perhaps the most generally quoted of any corre¬spondent in Washington at the present time or for the past ten years. He is an indefatigable worker, apparently never idle, and after reading his entertaining correspondence every day of the week, one cannot but wonder and marvel where he gets so much valuable information, and how he finds time to write it. He turns out between two and three thousand words daily, treating upon all kinds of subjects. He has not only an excellent reputation as a writer, but has made money. He knows where and when to invest, and is, perhaps, the richest of any of the Washington correspond¬ents. He is not only a good writer but an entertaining talker. He has an interesting family and is in a position to enjoy the luxuries of life as the fruits of his long service of honorable toil.
THE BUENOS AYRES EL PAIS
Mr. Curtis resides actually in Washington and exercises there his profession as the correspondent for The Chicago Record. His ability as a judicious journalist, his prepara¬tion for the profession and the perfect knowledge which he has of the political and economic questions of this country make his reports very appreciative and the utmost confi¬dence can always be placed in them.
THE  GLOBE-DEMOCRAT
William Eleroy Curtis is one of the most prolific as well as one of the most graceful writers on the contemporary press. During the sessions of Congress he remains in Washington and daily sends his Chicago paper an ever readable letter. His vacations are often spent in remote parts of the world. Sometimes he has held official posi¬tions bf more or less importance, politically, but which offered him fine opportunities for accumulating interesting memoranda.
EL  COMMERCIO, LIMA, PERU
Mr. Curtis visited this capital two years ago, and in pub¬lishing his arrival El Commercio devoted some space to the history of this energetic, intellectual North American journalist. Occasionally we have also been afforded oppor¬tunities for translating various articles in which Mr. Curtis conveyed to The Chicago Record his impressions of Peru.
Illustrious, affable and distinguished, the possessor of a highly developed sense of observation, the journalist who now interests us is the true type of an American gentleman. Mr. Curtis evinces in his articles a great degree of educa¬tion, impartiality and benevolence.
THE  DETROIT   TRIBUNE
It is probably true that Mr. Curtis knows more public men and prominent men of affairs than any other news¬paper man in the country. It is doubtful if anyone has a larger acquaintance than he. His experience and length of service do not altogether account for this. In the first place, he is a remarkable man in many respects. His pro¬fessional equipment is first-class. He knows a great many things and knows them well. His acquaintance with men and their affairs, public life and events, in fact everything that is popularly interesting, is wide and intimate, and he is competent to write about these in an interesting and in¬structive manner.
Mr. Curtis is one of the newspaper correspondents whom the President is always glad to see, and the two discuss ques¬tions of the day in a friendly and frank fashion. One is apt to make unsupported sweeping statements in discussing the strong points of public men, but it may be safely said that he has the confidence of more public men than any newspaper worker in the country.
WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY BULLETIN
Because of his extensive travels, careful research and close observation, no writer is more familiar with the his¬tory, the resources, the industries, the politics and the habits and customs of the Spanish-American people than he, and Mr. Curtis enjoys the happy faculty of presenting informa¬tion in a most attractive way. He is universally acknowl¬edged to be the best descriptive writer in this country, and his versatility permits him to drop from a profound discussion of economic problems to the familiar gossip of the easy-chair. He has written several works of travels, but the critics think his last volume is his best. With a keen sense of humor, an eager interest in personal affairs, a love of the picturesque, and a training and experience that enable him to see all there is to see, and to know all there is to know, he mixes instruction with entertainment in a manner that never tires.
HOLUSTER     BROTHERS PRINTERS          CHICAGO