The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1869-09-16
The sorrowful Story Of Reporter.

Mr. James Duffy was the offspring of poor,
but otherwise honest parents, who instllled
into his mind many moral precepts, and
auences than you could get anywhere else in
a week.
Jim was IL e child of their hope, and often
when his mother tucked him into his bed at
night she would bend down over him and
gently kiss his forehead and push back his
golden hair, while in the far future her low
ing eyes thought they saw her only Jim go
ing about doing good to his fellow-men, and
carrying blessing with him as he went
through life
Thus did this tender parent think she saw
jim. but she evidently hadn't her hand in
at second sight. She was a selfsacri6cing
woman and good housekeeper, but as ga
ger into the future she was complete failure
For although Jim had been brought up in
the way he should 20, when he got old he de-
parted from it, and branched out in another
line. He blasted his mothers hopes ard
dishonored his fathers gray hairs by becom-
ing local reporter. .,9
That was his strong point if there was
any one thing on which he could spread him.
self with sense Of hearty enjoyment it was
local reporting. When he was a baby he
would lay awake in his cradle, and instead of
playing with his toes, he would cry until
you'd think he'd burst a blood vessel if he
couldn't get his regular daily journal to
play with. After while he went to school,
and he would sit there on the bench deprcss-
ed and out Of heart, hour after hour, until
the copy books were handed around, when
he would pick up his pen with tender JOY and
60 ia on heavy head lines.
It made no difference whatever toi3im Duf-
fy what the copy was. 1t might be, HCon-
tentment is better than wealth" or aPerse-
verance conquers all things" or virtue IS
its own reward" or any other old moral
falsehood it was perfectly immaterlal to- Mr..
Duffy, for his instincts were strong, and he
could no more help sidelong across sheet Ct
paper with such copies as "A disasterous cor
fagration is good thing" or "A brutal at
rocity is always to be desired, he could no
more help this, I say, than you conld help
saying yes" if anybody asked you to take "a
thousand dollar bill when you are poor and
deserted by your friends. Z. I
He never spoke Of summer simply as "sum;
mer !" it was a a,atter Of religious principle
with him to characterize it as the cheated
term, and when he wanted to express win
ter he would call it the 'scool spcll.'' 81.
If he went to Sunday school he would
come home and creep into his mother s lap
and lay his head upon her breast and tell hel
what he had seen. But he did not express
himself in TIE innocent prattletof childhood
on the contrary, he would say, The exercls
es passed off with great eclat; the elite o.
the city we're there, aud the chief feature O
The occasion was the magnificent concoursc O
sweet sounds which was deliciously discours
cd by the charming young lady at the melo
| deon.o s.T,.c .Ea ssa efs1.9a 6 .& III
These strong procillvities in Jim were de
l,veloped in his childhood, and although his
mother still cherished a hope that she would
see him ore day at the head Of the Society
| for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
jim was doomed to reach depths Of degrade
ton at which even an ordinary plaster Pari
angel might weep and shudder
| As soon as he grew up he went and took ;
lob at five dollars week as reporter on TIL
Daily Enaygerator. His mother shed gal
Ions on gallons of actual tears. and his gray
HEADED sire told him that localing was neces
sarily a low calling but James was iminova
bic. and he stated to his gray headed sir
that if he didu't get out of the way Their
would be material furnished for an item o,
Glial impiety l*aa ei :.
And Jim was good local reporter, and tn