Ellsworth American., 1871-03-30

their orGers. and in this way add
greatly To their receipts. The paw OF
an ordinary reporter varies from Slj
to s3" per week the average is s6r
per week.
The yicissitudcs of reporters life
are very great. and they tend To make
him reckless. improvidcnt. and dissi-
pated. One conid hs, div lead more
unsettled existence. His hours oi
sleep and meals vary almost daily, and
unless man has strong sell-command
these irregular habits connected with
the profession will have bad effect on
him. On most of the large dailics, the
| reporters have to be at the office al
eleven o'clock each morning. By that
time the city editor has read over the
papers, and made out list of the mat
tiers to be looked after for the next is
sue, AMI he then assigns to each man
one day and one evening report. The
former must hc written out and sent in
to the Office by six o'clock, and the lat
ter as early in the evening as possible,
IN most cases by eleven O'Clock. On
the average, therefore. reporter is oc-
cnpied twelve hours per day. and he is
expected To write half n coiumn of re-
/ ports. Sometimes there is only "A par
/ agraph io be prepared. and on other
| occasions column or column AID .
half OF matter. Much of this is night
work. while there is always considcra-
bile travelling abont the city TO be done.
\ in or'er 10 get 10 and from meeting
/ Shorthand reporters have the double
labor of taking down their notes and
then copying them out, purely me
7 chanlcai but l.ksomc task Daring
the Mcfarland trial. for example. se,-
cTal OF the Photographers, rnployed
Ia take doNn the testimony, STAYED in
court all day, and were then kept Till
nine or ten CLOCK at night writing out
their notes. each man complciin. oa
the average two columns daily. Short
ha"d reporter, get the highest pay lisu-
ally, but they can do 80 much better At
Ia" reporting and other worA that tucy
do not "A, a rule stay long upon the
press. Phpno-rarhy /, sad 10 InJurc
a in1u a. a general writer, because IL
-rt~ II be - mechanical u 10 doslru,
ones facility Al literary composition.
CURIOUS CHARACTERS.
~ the course ui our experience
among New YORK reporters We have
me: with a number Of curious chArac-
tcr,, some oi which wc will briefly
sketch. H. Young man of great
literary aitainmcnts. a fine Spanish
ana German scholar. had been A
spccia! stuicnt of four authors
Homer. Ctrvantcs, Goethe, aud Shake
-peare. and knew them by heart but,
unfortunately. was misanthrope and
gwen to drink, which le,l 10 ins Dis
grace X -, an old Irish patriot.
since deceased. who once edited "A pa
per N Ireland, AMI took large share
Ia the struggle FOR Irish independence,
but vas. through ill-heaith aud loss OF
means, forced TO become reporter.
D, a metaphysical scholar, though
quite Young man, and thoroughly
read Ia Kant, llegel, Fichte and other
similar authors, and translator of
bernlan books for the publishers, is
stca.y and, therefore, successful.
N, I transccnden,al bohemian,
Nho admires Emerson and A. Bronson
Alcott. but iustead of living mp 10 his
ideal is content 10 write any trash that
viii sell. l., man who has travel.
Ell and seen life IN many phases, writ-
ten Life Of Grant and is now one OF
the smaricst police reporters in New
York. D, thoughtful, p!odding
student, who never takes anything for
granted but is constantly inqIiring
into all sorts of subjects, with leaning
toward those Of psychological and
fantastic character. He is Young
philosopher, and regulates all his ae-
tions by pure reason.
Reporters as a body are great critics.
They see SO much OF the word, and are
brought in contract with people i'll such
a variety Of WAYS, that they become
very skeptical regarding outward ap-
pearances, and are given TO looking be-
low the surface for the truth They
are SO often asked TO puff unworthy
persons and schemes that they are apt
TO lose faith in human nhture, and vet
it is rare to tiad pure iconoclast
among them.
DEFECTS.
The maio fault of most reporters is
lack of ambition, or rather ambition of
the right kind. Few of them expect or
wish 10 remain among the rank and
| file Of the press all their lives vet they
| make but little effort 10 advance them
selves into higher positions. Perhaps
| this Is due 10 the fact that it is becon-
| ing less and less the custom TO pro
mote reporters to be subeditors, and
pectations of improving their condition
IN that way. Not long ago, when :.
reporter applied for the vacant position
of city editor, on one of our large
dallies. he was told that he was too
valuable as reporter TO be promoted.
We'll, then, he said, pay me salary
IN proportion 10 the value Of my SER
vices. We will see about it,, was the
reply, but as might be expected, moth
ing WAS done about the matter.
| QUALIFICATIONS OF REPORTERS
| Journalism has only lately become a
regular profession, which men pursue a.
they do the law, divinity or medicine
The practice OF interviewing has thrown
reporting somewhat into disrcpute, but
with this exception, it has improved
very muchin standing of late years, and
promises 10 do SO still limOre in the future.
The qualifications needed by good re-
porter are varied experience, both oi
men and books, quickness in seeing and
setting dewn on paper, indeiati.able
industry, temperance, and a deep inte.
est in his work. Dickens and Thackera.
were model reporters. The latter used
to say, Playfuily, that he had no head
above his ewes, Orin other words, that ht