The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1872-05-23
IDAHO WORLD.
MARX TWAIN AS ED1ToR-IN-cHIEF.

Mark Twain, in his new volume, "Roughine
It." gives his experience as local editor of the
Virginia City (Nevada) Daily Enterprise, and
incidentally credits the s'leading writer" of a
daily journal in manner as rare as it usually
deserved. In the case mentioned, Mark had
tired of his labor as local editor. He says;
aIiwANTED VARIETY or SOME KIND. a
1t came. Mr.. Goodman went away for a week
and left me the post of chief editor. 1t de-
stroyed me. The first day / wrote my leader
in the forenoon The second day had no sub
iect, and put it off till evening and then copied
an elaborate editorial of the American Cycln-
pedia, that steadfast friend of the editor all
over the land. The fourth day I"fooled round
till midnight, and then fell back on the Cyclic
pedia again. The fifth day cudgeled my brain
until after midnight, and then kept the press
waiting while penned some bitter PERSONAL
ties on six different people. The sixth day /
labored tar into the night and brought forth
nothing. The paper went opress without any
editorial. The seventh day resigned. On the
eighth day MIR. Goodman returned and found
six duels on his hands-my personalities had
borne fruit,
Nobody except he who has tried it, knows
what it il to be an editor.
IT IS EASY TO sCRIBBLE
local rubbish with the facts all before you; it is
easy to clip selections from other papers; it Is
easy to string out correspondence from any
locality; but it is an unspeakabe hardship to
write editorials. Subjects are the trouble
the dreary lack of them, mean. Every day
is a drag, drag, drag-think and worry and
sutfer-all the world is a dull blank, and yet
the editorial columns must be filled. Only give
the editor subject aud his work is done; il is
no trouble to write it up; but fancy how you
would feel if you had to pump your brains dry
every day in the week-hty-two weeks IN the
year. 1t makes one low spirited simply To
think of it. The matter that each editor of n
daily paper in America writes in the course of
q year would fill from four TO eight bulky vol
nines like this book Fancy what an editors
works would make after twenty or thirty years
service Scott, Dumas. etc, have been able to
produce so many books. Ii these authors had
wrought as yolumninously as newspaper edit
ors do, the result would be something 10 mar
vel at Indeed.
How editors can continue this tremendous
labor-this exhausting
IL CONSUMPTION OF BRAIN FIBRE
flor their work is creative. and not n mere
mechanical laying up of facts like reporiine).
day after day aud year after year, Is incom-
pEcnousIolc. Ite1CheEs lahc TWO hioI1As Hn1'
iday in midsummer, for they find that TO pro-
duce two sermons week is wearing in the
long run In truth. il must BE- so. and il il go:
and therefore how an editor can take from ten
10 twenty texts and build upon them from Ten
TO twenty painstaking editorials week, aud
keep il up all the year round. is further beyond
comprehension than ever. Ever since | have
survived my week rs editor. have ioand at
least one pleasure in any newspaper that comes
to my hand; it il admiring the long columns of
editorials. and wondering to myself how the
mischief he did il