The Union flag. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1865-187?, 1867-12-20
The Editorial Profession.

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A vicious characteristic Of the news
paper is its denial Of leisure, A very
Sysiphus is the journalist, "Up tht
high hill he heaves q huge round stone
Once begun, there il no cessation
possible, no little concession to fa.
igue or unusual inertia. The compos.
itor has his substitute but not 30 the
editor, for whom vacations are hard
to get; no may babble of green fields
and long to thrust his nose into the
grass and smell the fresh earth Of
June but be is always ono of those
who do not leave town in summer.
lie can find no delight in booksj he
never reads, for types are an enemy
he hates, and wishes at times that he
might never see them again. The
pen is Unsuitable; tO-daJ,s work can
never be thrown upon tomorrow.
There is no time to read anything, or
to go below the surface of anything.
He is forever kept from doing
anything worthy Of himself by his
constant fatigue, and by being denied
any time for through work he is a
sculptor who does not more than
strike ont therude outlines of a statue
before he emust leave it for another
block. The editors life is q bundle
of broken attempts perpetual be-
ginning without finishing. The en-
.ergv and the constructive ability
which might, with time and leisurely
study granted, wright something wor-
thy Of living, is frittered away upon
little details, aimIessly, except to earn
ones daily bread, and satisfy the daily
appetite Of the public for something
new. Thejournalist mako half baked
bricks, but never constructs a build
ing. Rome was not built in a day,
but tho newspapers must be. s7
The beat newspaper men are the
fairaverage workers who never vary
or fail in the emergency. Of course,
versitality is valuable, and so is
speed; but the Indispensable qualities
are pluck and endurance. In the
language Of the turf wind is worth
moro eventually, than mere speed of
foot; and without endurance all of
the qualifications are like gold ia an
exhausted swimmers pocket Mol
man who has drop OF the Harold |
Skimpoleor the old Turvydrop blood |
in him should ever step inside of an
editorial room if ho ahhors prao-
ticability and small details, when he.
pr, poses editorial work, he is thirsty |
man going to settle in desert. Such
an overwhelming throng of details,
such an inc Inceiyably uninteresting
is not to be found elsewhere,
unless in the fairy.tale task of picking
up the fallen leaves OF October, and
replacing each on its own twig.
1t is mistake to think editorial
work chiefly original composition -
This IL but small part of it, and
there are dozen good writer's where
there in one good editor but the
writing alone is enough to ovCrbear
! man. Almost every cultivated nun
has times when he would like the
ofpublic expression which
he newspaper affords, and it would
30 then easy for him to write, and TO
write vigorously; it is even probable
hat many readers could write better
han some editors, just rs it is certain
hat the beat conversational ability
which discusses publicquestions would
greatly improve public journals if il
,ould bo transferred TO their columns.
But reiteration tells. II is very
,asy matter to write newspaper
lrticle, say you? Not quito so easy
ls you imagine you have ever tried;
,ut grant that it 10 not very hard
There is an old puzzle about man
gho made u rule to lift his calf every
lay, which he could easily do, and
10 he won't on until it had become
bullock. Herald.