Chapter 235 Acquisition of World Journal (1/2)

The sandstorm that swept through New York lasted for an entire afternoon before it ended.

Although the sandstorm has left, the problems it caused have just begun.

Coming out of Louis' house, the entire street has been covered with a thin layer of sand and dust, and people cleaning with shovels and brooms can be seen everywhere in the streets and alleys.

The visibility in the urban area has become extremely low. If it were not for the existence of [Super Perspective], Colin could not even see the direction of the Courier newspaper office on the corner of the block. Residents living nearby could only fumble their way through the foggy streets. Some people even tied ropes around their bodies to prevent them from finding their way back when they turned around.

However, New York was the least affected city.

It is said that as much as 12 million tons of dust fell into the urban area of ​​Chicago, and the cleanup alone took several months.

Even seagoing ships 300 miles off the Atlantic coast are covered with a brown blanket.

The raging sandstorms also contributed to the prosperity of the "rainmaking business". This group of people appeared not only in various towns but also in the streets and alleys of New York.

The "rainmaking business" in the United States does not have a long history. It originated in 1902 when a salesman named Charles Hatfield composed a reagent of 23 chemical ingredients and named it "rain accelerator". With his knowledge of astronomy and his salesman's talent for sales.

From 1902 to 1904, in just two years, Charles's artificial rainfall costs increased from US$50 to US$1,000.

Despite this, there was still an endless stream of people coming to ask him to make rain, and Charles was nicknamed "The Rainmaker".

Relying on his status as a "rainmaker", Charles lived a smooth life for a long time until the end of 1915, when he received an invitation from the San Diego government to take charge of a rainmaking project.

At that time, there was no rain in Santiago for almost a whole year, and the drought was extremely serious.

Therefore, as a last resort, the government can only rely on Charles, a well-known "rainmaker", to make rainfall.

After receiving the invitation and negotiating the price, Charles quickly started his work.

He set up a six-meter-high platform next to the Morena Reservoir and placed a large pot on it filled with clean water. Afterwards, a bottle of "rainwater accelerator" was poured into the pot, and bursts of thick fog suddenly appeared in the pot.

According to an onlooker who was present at the time, "it smelled like a cheese factory exploding."

Charles' rains were successful, or a little too successful.

Beginning on January 5, 1916, the heavy rain turned into torrential rain and continued until the 10th. It became a flood and Santiago suffered heavy losses. As a result, the two went to court. The lawsuit has been going on for more than ten years from 1916 to now, but there has never been any conclusion.

Although later, the U.S. National Geological Survey conducted a new investigation into this heavy rain and flood disaster and found that as early as January 5, 1916, weather monitoring points near San Diego had collected that heavy rain was brewing in San Diego and its surrounding areas.

However, the 'rainmaking business' also prospered as a result. During the dozen years that Charles Hatfield became famous, various people with the name of artificial rainfall emerged in endlessly. Especially in arid areas where sandstorms are raging, hopes are pinned on these people.

Colin once saw a related advertisement in a newspaper. A man named Tex Thornton swore that the potion in his hand could make it rain and even prevent sandstorms.

Such an obviously gimmicky description actually caused many people to believe it.

It is said that there is also a group of people in New York City who plan to raise funds to hire others to prevent sandstorms. Obviously, the sandstorms sweeping the city have left a huge shadow in the hearts of many people.

However, Colin knew that this approach was obviously useless.

This sandstorm will rage for a full decade, leaving a profound memory of the "Dirty Thirties" for everyone.

The "Dirty Thirties" may become history, but the traces it left will always be engraved in the memory of a generation.

And passed down together with their memories is the "Superman" serialization about the sandstorm in the "Daily Courier".

In the decades that followed, those who witnessed the sandstorm never forgot this story in "Superman" every time they mentioned that thrilling disaster.

…

The dust that filled New York didn't completely dissipate until the next day.

At the Courier Newspaper Office, Colin, together with Little John and his team, spent half a day working to completely clean up the dust on the roof and surrounding areas.

Judging from radio reports, this sudden sandstorm caused dozens of deaths and more than 10 million in damage.

Many homeless people on the streets had no time to escape, and hundreds of families in Hooverville lost their only shelter in the sandstorm.

A house made of wooden boards simply cannot withstand the violent force of a sandstorm.

Although the streets of the city have been cleared for traffic, the railways are still unable to pass normally.

According to the railway company, it will take about a week to clean up the sand and dust covering the railway. At the same time, it was not just the cars that were submerged by the sandstorm. Two trains of the railway company were also lifted off the track, causing Serious losses.

A huge sandstorm caused Colin's originally planned trip to San Francisco to be repeatedly delayed, but it also brought him unexpected gains.

"The current owner of the World Journal, Scripps-Howard Newspaper Group, intends to sell the newspaper."

This was the news that Lange Wurst brought to Colin the day after the sandstorm that swept New York left.

It is unknown when the World Journal has changed three owners.

1 Pulitzer once stipulated in his will before his death that the World Journal should never be sold.

However, the emergence of the Great Depression changed everything. In 1931, Pulitzer's son Herbert sold the World Journal to the Scripps-Howard Newspaper Group during the Great Depression. For this reason, Herbert also hired a lawyer and went through a tortuous legal process, including changing the name of the newspaper, and finally modified Pulitzer's will.

After taking over the World Journal, the Scripps-Howard Newspaper Group tried to make the newspaper.

To this end, he made various efforts, including the serialization of the copycat Superman, which also happened during the Scripps-Howard newspaper group period.

However, the wave of the Great Depression was more severe than expected, and the previous copycat Superman incident also caused a certain degree of damage to the World Journal.

Colin relied on the popularity of "Superman" to successfully rise the "Daily Courier".

The "World Journal" fell into depression, and the last straw that caused the Scripps-Howard newspaper group to decide to sell the newspaper came from the huge sandstorm that occurred in New York in recent days.

According to Lange Wurst, because of the sandstorm, the Scripps-Howard newspaper group suffered losses in many assets in New York. For this reason, the newspaper group had to shrink its funds and abandon some unprofitable or loss-making businesses. There is no doubt that the "World Journal" is what the Scripps-Howard newspaper group considers to be an unprofitable business.

In fact, the Scripps-Howard newspaper group itself also operates more than a dozen newspapers, and they obviously have their own plans for acquiring the "World Journal".

However, the Great Depression and the occurrence of the Dust Storm dealt a huge blow to the newspaper group's plan.

From the information revealed by the Scripps-Howard newspaper group, in addition to selling the World Journal, the newspaper group also had the idea of ​​directly applying for bankruptcy.

"Please contact the Scripps-Howard newspaper group for me and tell them that Colin Luper of the Daily Courier is very interested in the World Journal in his hands."

Colin did not have much impression of the Scripps-Howard newspaper group.

However, it itself has a great influence in the American newspaper industry. The predecessor of the Scripps-Howard newspaper group, the Scripps newspaper group, also known as the Scripps-McCrea newspaper joint organization, is the first newspaper group in American history.

The business of the newspaper group is mainly cheap mass newspapers, using subheadings and short messages, omitting redundant words, so that the newspaper can publish as much news and comments as possible.

Because of this development concept, Scripps-Howard Newspaper Group has been acquiring various newspapers for many years, which also caused the closure of 15 newspapers in 1923-1924.

If Colin had not intervened, perhaps the World Journal would have become one of the newspapers that went bankrupt under this newspaper group.

…

That night, in the 21 Club.

Colin met the chairman of the Scripps-Howard Newspaper Group, Royne Howard.

"Good evening, Mr. Colin Luper."

"Evening, Mr. Royne Howard."

Royne Howard has a huge influence in the Scripps-Howard newspaper group, which can be seen from the name of the newspaper.

He has been the general manager of the newspaper since 1920 and became the chairman of the newspaper group in the same year. After that, he deepened his cooperation with the boss and finally changed the name of the newspaper from the original Scripps newspaper group to the current Scripps-Howard newspaper group.

When Colin was looking at Royne Howard, the other party was also looking at him.

The World Journal, which was acquired by the Scripps-Howard newspaper group, had contact with his Daily Courier more than once, and there were often disputes in the newspaper.

However, unlike the current precarious operating conditions of the World Journal, the development of the Daily Courier is getting smoother and smoother. .

And the reason for this is "Superman".

It would be a lie for Scripps-Howard Newspaper Group to say that they are not jealous of the comic "Superman".

According to current survey statistics, the revenue from the serialization of "Superman" alone has exceeded more than 90% of New York newspapers.

If it were any other creator, Scripps-Howard Newspaper Group could have spent money to invite him to serialize in its own newspaper.

Unfortunately, the creator of the comic is the boss of the newspaper.

It is precisely because of this that many of the methods of the newspaper group could not be used. By the time Luo Yin Howard reacted, "The Daily Courier" had become a major newspaper in New York that was comparable to "World Journal".

It is also the first time in the history of the newspaper industry that a comic book has become a best-selling newspaper.

"Mr. Luper, you seem to be interested in "World Journal"?"

Without getting too entangled in the issue of "Superman", Luo Yin Howard was quickly led to the reason for the two to meet.

"In fact, I am interested in any newspaper."

In response to this, Colin did not give a direct answer. The resources left by the World Journal may be important, but they are not completely indispensable to him.

In fact, whether the final result is to acquire the newspaper or declare bankruptcy, it is not a bad thing for his Daily Courier.

Once the World Journal falls, the most likely to take its place is undoubtedly the Daily Courier.

Nodding, Luo Yin Howard was also somewhat noncommittal about Colin's answer.

Today, the development of the Daily Courier has reached a certain scale, especially during the election period, the various news reports, and the drastic changes in the design of the newspaper layout, which can show that the Daily Courier is unwilling to lag behind. In addition to the blessing of the Superman comics, in fact, in today's New York, there are few newspapers that can compete with the Daily Courier in terms of sales.

"I just don't know if Mr. Luo Yin Howard is willing to let go."

Looking up at Luo Yin Howard in front of him, Colin threw the question back.

"..."

Faced with the question raised by Colin, Luo Yin Howard fell silent for a rare moment.

From the perspective of the Scripps-Howard newspaper group, it would be a good thing if they could sell the World Journal and collect some funds.

However, considering the sales volume of the Daily Courier in New York owned by Colin, once he acquires the World Journal, it will obviously replace the original position of the World Journal and become the largest newspaper in New York City.

This is not necessarily a good thing for the Scripps-Howard newspaper group, which has been trying to develop.

From the perspective of the development of the newspaper, the Daily Courier is much more stable than the World Journal.

In addition, there are some other issues that Luo Yin Howard is concerned about.

As the actual owner of more than a dozen newspapers, the Scripps-Howard newspaper group has a wide range of information channels. It is precisely because of this that he knows that Colin Luper in front of him is not only the owner of the Courier Newspaper, but also the creator of the Superman comics. He himself even has a very close relationship with the incoming President Roosevelt.

The Daily Courier stood firmly behind Roosevelt during the election, and Royne Howard learned from special channels.

Not long ago, Roosevelt had dinner with Colin Looper.

The meeting place was in the 21 Club where the two were at the moment.

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