HALSTEAD, Murat, American journalist: b. Ross, Butler County, Ohio, 2 Sept. 1829; d Cincinnati, Ohio, 2 July 1908. At 18 he began writing for newspapers, studied at Farmers' College, near Cincinnati, and did local newspaper reporting on several Cincinnati papers. In 1853 he became manager of a department on the Cincinnati Commercial. The following year he acquired a pecuniary interest in the paper, which began rapidly to increase in circulation and influence. The Commercial combining with the Gazette, its rival, the Cincinnati Commercial-Gazette became the recognized organ of the Ohio Republicans. In 1890 he removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., where he edited the Standard Union. Later he was a contributor to magazines and as a special correspondent went to the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. He wrote ‘The Story of Cuba’; ‘Life of William McKinley’; ‘The Story of the Philippines’; ‘History of American Expansion’; ‘Life of Admiral Dewey’; ‘The Boer and British War’; ‘The War Between Russia and Japan’ (1905), etc.