The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-02-23

THE EVENING POST.
1 found my way, twenty five years
ago, into New York newspaper office,
in the capacity of assistant prOot-read-
err, with the liberal salary OF 81 week
and the privilege of FINDING" myself
was particularly attracted to the
Tribune in those early days. l fancied
when younger-and he gave me many
hearty fits of laughter. Once. when
Jim" Swain came in from the east end
of Long Island, with important cleo
ton returns from Patchogne or QuOgue
or some other queer place, brought ny
special engine at the rate OF sixty~hve
miles an hour, (On the Long Island
Railroad too y the yell OF joy which
Greeley uttered might have been heard
a quarter OF n mile. AS goes QuOgue,
so goes the Union, and the returns in
question settled theSfate of district.
Horace wasivery peppery, and has
not vet conquered that failing, though
much milder than formerly, owing to
the accumulation of fat. 1t his earlier
years, the infrmities OF his temper
caused some curious scenes. 1 was
once in the habit of studying him pret-
ty closely, and | found that the pains 1
took were not wasted. The painter who
desires to produce a characteristic pic
ture of his sitter, draws him out in var
ious ways and calls forth different ex-
pressiOns, and then SeiZes and COM
bines the salient points; so I, though
not a painter, and never dreaming that
[ should have need TO sketch even the
faintest outline OF Horace, took special
delight in watching the play of his
mind and the phases of his outward e1-
preston.
An old compositor in the printing
room of the Tribune, long gathered
with the saints, was what The printers
call "blacksmith"-that is to say, he
was SO feeble, wretched, stupid in every
way, that manuscript which fell into
his hands became horribly metamor-
phosed. BY evil fortune. this old man,
who was known as ''the Captain" once
had stake" of Greeley's copy to "set
up" AS was to have been expected,
he made sorry mess OF 1t, for Horace's
manuscript would have tried Job. By
another evil chance. that particular ar
ticle happened to go into the paper
without the supervision of the proof
reader. Horace saw the paper early
the next morning; bounded up stairs
three steps at time; showed the paper
under nose of the astoniahed foreman,
and shouted "Show me the man who
did thatH The unlucky culprit was
standing near, and innocentIy answer
ed, Il set that up, Mr.. Greeley Ho-
race turned to him with comical e1-
preston OF rage and despair in his face.
and exclaimed, "Well, G-d-you"
rushed back to the editorial room be-
low. He knew it was useless to swear
at the poor old Captain" for he
Wouldn't have understood it.
During one of'the most terrible snow
stormstf1at ever visited New York-in
February, 1S45-the Office of the Tribune
was burned down. The paper had
"gone to press" at ~ in the morning,
and the whole edition had been deliv-
cred to the carriers, when, at o'clock,
fire broke out in the lower part of the
building, and two hours later there was
only a heap of ruins. at o'clock,
looking on from the brink of the fiery
chasm whence smoke and steam still
assembled, I saw Greeley trudging
through two or three feet Of snow, close
~ followed by, his partner, Thomas
McElrath-the latter a shrewd business
man, to whom Greeley has repeatedly
attributed the pecuniary success Of the
Tribune. The two advanced to the edge
of the gap which held all that was left
of the Tribune establishment, and L,
standing by the side of Greeley, put to
him this question:
well, Eir: Greeley, what are you
published again ?"
Greeley replied, with that curious
corrugation of the brow which always
indicates any perturbation In his mind,
and in the odd falsetto note with which
he gives ear. piercing expression to any
woe that may aft1ict him: 1-do-o-l
MT knOw!"
Just at this moment McElrath came
up. Greeley turned to him with Woe
begone expression, and said:
well McElrathI' this is q pretty
clean smash! What shall we dor"
McEEath replied "Get out the paper
tomorrow morning as usual Fi