The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1873-12-18
The Lively 'LOcal."

Few men appreciate the delicate
duties of an editor, and especially of a
local editor of a newspaper. They have
a great many obstacles to contend with,
q great many obstacles to overcome,
and once in while they are talked to
death. Jenkins was man who fell
victim. He was a faithful worker, but
met a most horrible fate at last, after
fighting bravely the battle of life. He
lived in a Western town, and earned a
precarious subsistence by writing for
the papers. He worked early and late,
and tried to amuse and instruct people,
young and old, by his chronicles of
passing events.
The man who chronicled his demise
did it in this manner, and in this touch
ing illustration
Sometimes this little local editor
wrote things about some rough or row.
dy, and the next day he would meet the
rough and get all battered up, and go
to bed for week or two till the swell
ing came out of his nose and the cuts in
his face healed up. One time he told
some unpleasant truths about the big
monkey king of the country, and the
next day the big monkey king came and
shot the unfortunate local through the
right lung, and he hovered between life
and death for several weeks.
Another time jenkins took occasion
to remark that Squire Tompkins, who
was County Commissioner, had robbed
the county and built his barn out of
bridge timbers. Then Squire Tompkins
waited on the local and gave him COW
hiding, so that he could neither walk,
- G.,
Four times they put the local in jail
for what he said, and twice, when he
pitched into the police, they arrested
him when he was on his way home at
night, put him in the calaboose, and
next morning swore he had been drunk
and had him fined, although he did
not drink. An irate landlord, because
he said the landlords house was not
well kept, kicked him around three
blocks one morning, and still he recov-
cred sufficiently to sit in chair and re.
peat the charge with more particulars
that night.
So eager was this little local editor
afterwards, that when, one time, he
heard there was to be steamboat ex-
cursion, and there were leaky boiler
and a drunken engineer aboard and O
fine prospect for an explosion and 6
terrible loss of life, he went along fol
an item, and the explosion took place
and the little local was on hand, and
although he had one OF his eyes blown
out. he saw enough with the other tC
I nv ',huUnef UIme he climbed to the TOP
of new Court House they were build,
ing. and the scaffolding, 100 teet from
the ground, gave way, from the care
lessness of those who built it, and pre-.
cipitated them to the ground. Jenkins,
in trying to get his note-bo out, when
on his way down, had his arm broken,
and had a serious time with it for many
weeks.
Many more sad accidents befel oul
hero, because he was on duty
and always enterprising in the pursuit
| of news. But at last our hero met his
fate, aud this is how it happened He
had written something about lady Of
the city, and the next morning lady
came to see him. She asked If he was
the local editor, and with a polite bow
he said he was. She then said she was
Flora McFlimsey. Z" In the paper this
morning, in your account of the party
last night, you say that was beautl,
fully arrayed in pink silk dress, with
a white Swiss overshirt.' Now, every
body has been ridiculing the idea Of
my being either in an overshirt or un
der a shirt, and have come to demand
an explanation" And with that Mrs
McFlimsey commenced such TRADE a;
man never heard before. She swore
that it took nine tailors to make man.
and it only took one local editor to un
make one. She said it was we'll the
local had to do so much of his work al
night, for his deeds were those of dark
ness. He had to nose around into
everything, and make everybody's bust
ness his own; had to study impolite
ness and impudence, and make reg
ular hog of himself. She kept at him
talking louder and faster as long as she
continued, until, at the end of the frs
hour, you could hear her tongue snaI
like whip-cracker every time she ar
ticulated the letter r."
Now, our hero could have explained
the matter if he could have got wore
in edgewise, but he couldn't do it
He had written: "Miss McFlimsey
was beautifully arrayed in a pink sill
silk dress with white Swiss over
skirt" and the printer, proof-reader
or somebody hadn't corrected the mis-
| take.