The rise of Frank A. Munsey from a poor postoffice clerk in Augusta, Maine, to the head of one of the most profitable publishing houses in the world has been as rapid as it is remarkable. His only capital when he began his current business were his ideas and his nerve; yet, in less than ten years, he has made a fortune. Mr. Munsey was born in Mercer, Maine, August 21, 1854, the son of Andrew C. and Mary J. Munsey. After securing an ordinary education in the public schools of Maine, he began his business career in a country store, and later became manager of the Western Union telegraph office of Augusta, Maine. When, in 1882, he went to New York and started the Golden Argosy, a juvenile weekly (now the adult monthly, The Argosy), his friends thought he was as unwise as he was reckless. It is said that some of them actually proposed an inquiry into his sanity. Having made money by The Argosy, he invested it, in 1890, in a magazine, launching Munsey’s Weekly, which he converted October, 1891, into Munsey’s Magazine. He now also publishes The Puritan and the Junior Munsey, besides newspapers in New York and Washington. Although more widely known as a publisher than an author, he has written several books, including Afloat in a Great City, 1887; Boy Broker, 1888; Tragedy of Errors, 1889; Under Fire, 1890, and Deering Forte, 1895. JOSEPH PULITZER. Extraordinary energy and executive ability and a Napoleonic faculty of perceiving and utilizing the talents of others, are the qualities upon which the journalist and publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, has built his reputation and his fortune. He was born in Buda-Pesth, Hungary, April 10, 1847, and, after receiving a classical education in his native city, came to the United States at the age of sixteen. For two years he served as a private soldier in the Federal Army, and, afterward, failing to gain a foothold in New York city, he went to St. Louis, where he became a reporter on the Westliche Post, a German newspaper then edited by Carl Schurz. Studying law, he was next admitted to the bar of Missouri. Then he was made managing editor of the Post, and in 1869 was sent to the Missouri legislature. In 1878 he bought the St. Louis Dispatch, uniting it with the Evening Post as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which is now one of the most successful publications of the west. In 1883 Mr. Pulitzer purchased the New York World, which, thanks to his journalistic genius, is now one of the most widely read newspapers published in New York city. He was elected to congress in New York for the term of 1885 to 1887. In 1890 he erected in Park Row one of the most striking and costly newspaper buildings in the United States. In 1896 he was a strong advocate of the National (gold standard) Democratic party. Mr. Pulitzer has always been distinguished by his generous and courteous treatment of his subordinates. JOHN BRISBEN WALKER.