The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1867-11-06
From the Galaxy.
About Editors and Printers.

About Editors and Printers.
| To return to our journalistic moutons, tn
seeming work of the devil in the inventio
Of printing is proved by its merciless dealin
| with those who live by it That journalist
are sweepingly called Bohemians is not en-
tirely strange, for there is a certain-or, per
haps, an precariousness about thci
work which tends to make them so. It j
hard to convince man in mercantile bust
ness that publishing newspaper is bushes
at all and its half transitory character part
tally justified his incrcdulity. II is not un
just to say that there is rather more drunk
enncss, shiftlessness, and good for nothing
ness, among compositors and pressmcn, as
class, than among others; and this is onl,
partially explained by saying that the occu
patton, by in door confinement and nigh
hours, predisposes them to stimulus and rreg
ularity. There is peculiar viciousness abou
| types. Newspaper work is something like
holding public Office or place in the po
lice. A man who has been policeman i;
good for nothing else; the incumbent Of a
goverums Mt ofi.e, if he has been long in it
is like man without arms after he has been
discharged--a very Casper Hauser in the
world and journalist must remain one
he is disqualified for anything else, except
an Office, which he rarely gets, although he
bestows great masy OF them upon others.
A more vicious characteristic of the news
paper is its denial Of leisure. A very Syst
plus is the journalist. Cup the high hill
he heaves huge round stone" Once be-
gun, there is no cessation possible, no little
concession to fatigue or unusul inertia. The
compositor has his substitute, but not so the
editor, for whom vacations are hard to get; he
may babble Of green fields and long to thrust
his nose into the grass and smell the fresh
earth Of June, but he is always one Of those
who do not leave town in summer. He can
find no delight in books; he never reads, for
types are an enemy he hates and wishes at
times that he might never see again The
pen is Unsuitable; to-day work can never be
thrown over upon tomorrow. There is no
time to read anything or to go below the sur
face of anything. The work is not literary
except in burlesque; whatever mans dispo-
sition to study a subject and its treatment,
shortness Of time forbids he can take no
pride in his work, for he cannot stay at any
particular thing long enough to finish it be-
fore necessity drives him to another He is
forever kept from doing anything worthy Of
himself by his constant fatigue; and by be-
ing denied any time for thorough work he is
sculptor who does no more han strike out
the rude outlines of statue before he must
leave it for another block The editors life
is bundle of broken attempts. perpet-
,lal beginning without finishing. The ener-
gy aud the constructive ability which might
with time and leisu,e!y study granted, write
something worthy Of living, is trittcrcd away
upon little details. aimlessly except to earn
ones own daily bread and satisfy the daily
appetite # the public for something new
Inc Journalist makes half baked bricks but
never constructs building; Rome was not
built in day, but the newspaper must be.
The best newspaper men are fair average
workers, who never vary or fail in the emer-
gency. OF course versatility is valuable, and
50 is speed; but the indispensable qualities
are pluck and endurance In the language
of the turf, wind is worth more eventually
than mere speed Of foot and without endur-
ance all other qualifications are like gold in
an exhausted swimmers pocket. No man
who has drop of the Harold Skimpole or
the old Turvcydrop blood in him should ever
step inside OF an editorial room; if he abhors
practicality and small details, when he pro-
poses editorial work, he is thirsty man going
to settle in desert. Such an overwhelming
throng Of details, such an inconceivably unin-
tercsting routine, 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 is but a small part OF it, and there are
dozen good writer's were there is one good
editor; but the writing alone is enough to
overbear man. Almost every cultivated
man has time when he would like the oppor-
tunity Of public expression whicha newspa-
per affords, and it would be then easy to write,
and to write vigorously; it is even probable
that many readers could write better than
some editors, just as it is certain that the
best conversational ability which discusses
public questions would greatly improve pub
lie journals If it could be transferred to their
columns. But reiteration tells. 1t is very
easy matter to write newspaper article, say?
Not quite SO easy as you imagine it you have
never tried but grant that it is not very
hard
There is an old puzzle about man who
made rule to lift his calf every day, which
he could easily do, and so he went on until
it had becoasea bullock OF course there is
a tallacy here, although it is not easy to touch
the exact spot where the fallacy comes in and
the man could no longer lift the animal just
SO, it is easy to write one day. or ten, or forty;
but man is worn away by aa indefinite con-
tinuance of repetition. The hand organ
grinds pleasant tune which you hke-to
use DR.. Holmes illustration in his "Autocrat"
papers-and you want it to play on SO; but
you do not see the little steel spurs inside.
nor how the delicate machine wore itself
away. IF the player could but draw out an
other stop! What would have become of Pa
ganini or his violin if he had been obliged to
always play on one string? But public ex-
pectation or the it. was always SO keeps the
editor on the one string of politics and its
kindred topics; and beside weariueas, his
work produces shallowness. Mental bank
ruptcy is the most inevitable danger of
journalists life he acquires the bad habit of
SWIMMING" and can hardly SHAKEN himself
enough to read anything; facility begets
sbo llou,pocc op1 man &c varv liz DIV to ho.