Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1860-03-03
An Editors Life.

II lncs not require master hand, SAYS tho
RrlnoR Jhig, to sketch with fidelity that
poor and abused class known as editors. AS
a contemporary remarks he may hc the "re-
spon>ih,r," the foreign, the literary" the
local, 4" the Commercial iii either depart
mcnt he is the subject of laudat!on, abuse, tri-
ais and triumphs. lie must have ready pen,
remarkable versatility Of knowledge, correct
Judgment, and considerable nerve. Ii you in
trudr upon him you discover him writing,
reading, scisSorinE. He will talk bat his pen
does not stop; he SpattcrS the ink he fumblcs
over books he hunts among newspapers he
grows savage in %radcr, or learned in n
"rcvicw." Politicians want to buy him
nrc,v artists ask his favorable notice; invent
o~r have mulcS to show him. lie is address,
I'd on more subjects than it was ever intended
single mind should comprehend; and, while
hi, journal i, called by some influential,
"valuahir," etc., there are others who bluntly
pronounce it ">rutrilous" and "roor" Swim
ming upon floods ofcXctrment, battling, chat
ting, arguing conscnting, eXa.ting friends and
crushing foes, thinking, working, is the sum
and substance Of an editors career. ut home,
he writes with his wife Mt his elbow and his
children on his knee; in the street he wrave|
! ont those ideas which, in n few hours, will
Startlc the men who now lostlc and crowd
| him in his Sauctum he makes ready thunder
/ bolts, moulded with a pen, but more powerful
! than any ever hurled from .Jnyc. lie delivers
lectures; he is politician; hc holds Office he
is Il traveller; he ave, verdict up0n manu-
scripts Wnici are more iErc!'u~ than the APP
liro their cir tu a>l'iihL aut ."r> he pleads
iur the poor he SnuAS tic rich he cOncfi-
atrs he dciic,,hr arou>vS nations, he dethroiks
kings 4; he is the guardian Of liberty, and om-
nipntrnt,
Up in gatrcts, in outofway places-sone-
times furnished ike par!or, sometimes worse
than pig.pcn--i is his mnct,tm SdnctoruAa, the
"holy Of holes Are you partial to frowns?
DO you wish to hear growIE Disregard the
notices Of Editors Room. Private" ""NO
Adnittance, aud enter the den; you observe
the contracting brow; you do not know wheth-
cr You are Salutcd or nsulted your tongue
proposes to speak, and your legs incline you
To run away; head lifts itself; worn pen
and mixed fingers point you scat, which takes
YOU an instant to reach, but ere you have done
80, the monster has his clutches SO deeply in
an idea that he has forgotten your existence.
There you sit; you try to count the pyramid
of newspapers, and wonder if to be All editor
it is necessary to be a savage. You see books
and maps; but you would as soon meddle
1
the Wild animal before YOU has an interest
Delegations OF "dcvil>" from the printing Of
flee, come for copy, and great many things
are going ON which are ncW tn you. Other
gentry come in, who glance coutcmptuously at
yourself They scat themselves, aud you hear
nothing but scratch, scratch, with gold pens,
steel pens, and goose quls; they pull at their
whi>krr> they clear their throatS; they look
up at the ceiling; they help each other when
their ideas run aground; they write and re-
writc they tvpungr and amend; they become
cheerful il their productions please them, and
cruSiy il they do not. Now, remember that
tins mrutal toll must 90 on by day and night,
when the head is dizzy 10y sick ness and the
heart weary with sadness that il entails study,
research and thought; that the themes are
Suggy >tvd and discussed within the hour; and
you will understand why you are not wanted
in an editors Sanctum. Presently, however,
he will talk to you; he will cut short your long
speeches; he will bring you at once to your
business; he will dispatch it, and YOU will at
once discover that necessity, if hot inclination,
urges him to rc>uiuc his pen. In the summer,
when the flowers are 50 tenn ting. at midnight,
with the glare of artificial light pouring upon
him, there he is, toiing slave. lie writes of
your pleasures; he adds to your joys. Doyou
ever think of his exhausted brain, his falling
life, his premature death? Literature was,
perhaps, a passion Of his boyhood, and he has
pursued the tempting but wicked phantom
from year to year, finding, in the qualification
of n refined taste. some small reward for his
painful iniatuatiOn.
-----4~A~E---
A man applied once to be shipped before the
mast. Are you an able seaman or q green
handy" asked the shipping master.
"Why, no, not an able seaman, but yet not
exactly a green hand | have some knowl-
edge of the water"
Ever been voyage:"
mo"
Ever been on the river craft?"
"No."
"Well, what then do you know about the
?"
why, have tended SGw mill"
~ live in Julia's eyes" said an affected
dandy in Coleman's hearing.
Every likely" replied Coleman, for Ob.
served she had sty IN one Of them when ]
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