THE " ECHO " AND ITS RIVALS
Snt,—Mr. P. A. Shaw, in recalling some facts about the first halfpenny evening paper, leaves the impression that the Echo was subject to frequent changes of editorship from its start in J868. That, however, is not so. The first editor was Sir Arthur Arnold, younger brother of Sir Edwin s of the Daily Telegraph and The Light of Asia. He was successful for seven years. Albert Grant, " Baron " so called, was owner for a few months only. That astonishing company promoter deserves to be remembered as the man who bought Leicester Fields 70 years ago, handing it over to the Metropolitan Board of Works, which cleared the waste and made the Square.
Passmore Edwards bought the Echo from Grant in 1876, became his own editor and, with one interval, was in control for twenty years. The four brief editorships noted by " Janus " came in the closing stage of financial instability.
For all old journalists the specially interesting fact here is this: that when the Echo was fading out London had nine evening papers, four of them selling for a halfpenny. Led by the Pall Mall and the green Westminster, they made a most varied group. One or two of them would not only beguile the homeward journey, they were good for another
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