 A. C. McDonald, one of the owners of the Telegram Publishing Company, was killed in a duel with James K. Mercer, assistant editor of the "Portland Bee", in 1878.The paper had a high degree of turnover in its leadership in its first decade.One consistent presence was Catherine Amanda Coburn, sister of Harvey W. Scott and Abigail Scott Duniway, who ran the editorial page from 1883 to 1888, when she left for the "Oregonian".