The native Virginian. [volume] (Orange Court House, Va.) 1867-187?, 1867-11-22

II
Too old q hahd At the bellows to b
disgnintfed by this, I replied, quietly:
"Pitch it in the fire" :" $50
'sWhat ! and fill two columns mysel
between this and midnight? !? This i
every line Of editorial on hand" .Gl /
slam really very sorry. But what il
to be done II is impossible for me t
write any more. / neves can write af
ter dinner; besides I am broken down! ,
''Let me See. Let me see. -
He took up the unlueky editorial
read it over. more carefully than before
and then said, in tone of great salts
factions
g can fix it!r
| And so he did. Sitting down at the
table, he went to work, and, within
twenty minutes, transformed it COM
pletely. 1t appeared the next morning,
There We're certain awkwafdnesses
which we two, who were in the secret,
could detect, but to the bulk of the
readers of the paper were doubtless
/ quite imperceptiblc. it.2a ran =
/ When he had to write an article HIM
self, Ills first question, after the, usual
salutatiol; was, not sslYhat isthe news?''
but, ''What are people talking about?'
and Inc helipbraided me continually for
not doing what he himself never, did.
circulating among the people." lie
aimed always to make his paper inter-
esting by the discussion of subjects
| which were uppermost in the popular
mind; nor did it concern him much
what the subject might be. Ills only
concern was that it should be treated IN
the Examiner with dignity and ability,
if it7admitted, of such treatment; /; If not,
to dispose of it humorously or wittily.
But the humer or wit must he done
cleverly and with due attention to style.
He began to write about ten o'clock,
wrote rapidly, in a erumbled, ugly
hand, and completed his work, ,revision
of proofs and everything, by midnight,
tor'alittle thereafter. He. then returned
to his house; and either sat up, or laid
awake in bed, reading, until two or
three o'clock in the morning, His as
sistants in 1864, besides, reporters,
were, the local editor, J.dMarshall
HANNA; the.news editor, H. Rives Pol
lard, and 'the editor Of the "leadedi
minion," or war column, p. Fl. Gibson.
He had a higif opinion OF them all. =; -.
Pollard, he declared, was "the best
news editor in the whole South. -
Hanna he pronounced .'a genius in his
way" and took great credit to himself
for having discovered, developed and
fostered him. Gibson's ability he ac-'
knoNladged and complimented fire.
quentiy in my hearing.
d The business of the office gave him
very little trouble. He had, of course,
an eye to every thing; but the printing
floor, the press-room, the sale and dis
tribution OF papers, mailing, the pay
NE ut ii employ ees, the settlement of
bills lin d word, the finances, outdoor
transact ions, and banking business
were all a .ttetided to by r. ~. Walker,
the Manager, He had but a single
book-leeper-; gentleman of the name
of Carey, who was also his cashier. -
walker was his fa'ithfdl assistant in
everything, from the p lrcihafsing is!l OF type
and glue for rollers to c. >'rresPonltdenfce
with men of business and, o11entimes,.
with politicians and contribt,' TORS At
the end of every week, Walker efo"ght
to the house in Brood street, the 'ank-
book, posted up to date. | was per-
mitted several times to look at this
book. The nett receipts per week in
1851 were from 81 900 to $1,000, or
$500. After deducting personal ex-
penses of every kind, (and Daniel never |
stinted himself in anything,) it may be
safely assumed that, in the third year
of the war, the paper cleared at least
$4,000 O-perhaps double that amount -
The owner was often on the lookout for
investments, and made a number of
purchases of real estate. He may have
rspeculated, but, if he did, the. specula7
.tions must have been on a small scale.
During my visits to his house i never
saw there any one Of the men who
were known in Richmond to be largely
engaged in speculation. Moreover, his
paper, in common with others, con-
taihed denunciation after denuneiation
Of SPECTATORS Of all s6rts, and was par
ticularly severe upon brokers, gamblers
and whiskey' sellers. Towards the
close doj the war, when investments Of
all sorts were doubtful, l suggested to.
him that he had better buy gold. His
reply was, 81 have more gold now than
| know what to do WITH" 1 am per-
suaded, however, that this gold was
part of the 100000 in coin, or its equiv
alent, which he brought over with him
from Sardinia. a.4
have said that he never stinted HIM
self, and this is true. His table; in
deed, was never loaded with luxuries
and delicacies-which might have been
bought at almost any period of the war,
if one chose to pay the enormous prices
asked for them-for the reason that his
digestion would not tolerate anything
but the simplest food; but his selt-
indulgence was notably shown in arti-
cles of dress, in coal and in gas. He
brought with him from Europe clothes
enough to have lasted him for years,
but never scrupled to buy $1,000 suit
whenever he fancied he needed it,
When coal was very high, and oite fire
would have snflicr.d him. he kent two