In March 1884 one of the largest riots in American history took place in Cincinnati. The match that lit the crowd’s flame was a defendant who was charged with manslaughter rather than murder. Farny, realizing the crowd looked ready for trouble, watched and sketched the event.
Another person was also documenting the event, photographer J. Lewis Rombach. Hoping to capture a scoop for Leslie’s Illustrated, Rombach managed to capture a photo, then developed it in record time. Before sending it off to Leslie’s, he put it on display in Clarke’s window. Farny, concerned he might get scooped, tells the story of what he did, though the story didn’t appear until ten years later in the April 13, 1894, Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, page 4. Here is the story:
On at least two different occasions Cincinnati has been the point of interest to the large illustrated weeklies of the East. Those two occasions were the riot and the big flood. When the riot occurred Harper’s Weekly and Leslie’s kept the wires fairly burning in their efforts to get something about it. Henry Farny represented Harper’s here at that time, and they deluged him with telegrams telling him to illustrate it fully. The Court-house was burnt Saturday night, and by Tuesday night the drawings (or photographs) must be in New York for that week’s paper/ That meant some tall hustling. Leslie’s had a representative here, but in some way they communicated with Rombach, and told him to get a photograph of the ruins. In those days taking a photograph was not the simple, quick thing that it is now. It took some time to develop a negative and paint a picture.
However, Rombach performed what was then considered a feat in photography. He took a splendid picture and had it printed by Monday noon and placed it in Clarke’s window, on Fourth street, intending to start it off by express to Leslie’s that night. Farny came along and saw it and learned that it was to be sent to Leslie’s that evening. Then he realized that he would be “scooped,” and started to do some scheming. How he ever got possession of that photograph is a mystery, but he did, and within fifteen minutes it was in the express office, directed, not to, Leslie’s, but to Harper’s Weekly. When Rombach called for his picture and found it gone he was wild. When you ask Farny how he got possession of that photograph he throws himself back in his chair and laughs till the floor shakes, but he never confesses.
On April 12, 1884, Farny’s sketches graced the cover and interior pages of Harper’s Weekly.
On page 232 is likely the Rombach photo (top) that Farny sent Harper’s, along with another Farny sketch on the bottom of the page:
This illustration appears on page 236:
And two photos on page 240:
