pearson caricatured spy vanity fair, 1904 in 1900 pearson despatched explorer , adventurer hesketh hesketh-prichard patagonia investigate dramatic reports of giant hairy mammal inhabiting forests, , conjectured giant ground sloth, long since extinct. hesketh-prichard s reports 5,000 miles away gripped readers of express, despite him finding no trace of creature. during same period, pearson active writer, , wrote number of tourist guides locations in britain , europe. under pseudonym of professor p r s foli , wrote handwriting index character in 1902, works on fortune-telling , dream interpretation. pearson strong supporter of joseph chamberlain s tariff-reform movement, , organised tariff reform league in 1903, becoming first chairman. in 1904 purchased struggling standard , sister paper evening standard £700,000 johnstone family. he merged evening standard st james s gazette , changed conservative stance of both papers pro-liberal one, unsuccessful in arresting slide in sales , in 19...