American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1876-10-21
The New Local.

of him after that, but we are sorry he
is gone. There was so much life and
sunlight about the office during his brief
| stay. He hadn't been on the street an
hour before he came rushing back into
the Office radiant with enthusiasm and
a whole hatful of fights in his note
book. Then he dashed out and went
around the block, and came tearing up
the back stairs like house a-fre with
a frst-class, gilt-edged, lavender-scent-
ed scandal case. He started off to din
ner, but came dashing back to write up
a runaway, an apoplectic fit, a small
robbery, and street-car collision he
had encountered on the way. We new
er saw such man to gather up news.
He could hardly find time to eat his
meals, on account of the constant rush
of items. And when he got to writing
them up in the evening, he had to lock
the door to keep new ones from rush
ing in on him. We said:
ssThe office has got treasure. That
man is worth million dollars week. -
And the rest of the boys stood around
with their meager note books, COM
planning that the town was awful dry,
and fairly bursting with envy. We had
to run a supplement to get all the young
fellows city news in.
The next morning the chief had a
very impressive interview with the new
reporter. The business Office was filed
With q Y,,icooIIopoo,,o oyoud of oiti7ops
and two or three policemen and a few
ladies. The boys leaned up against tie
door of the private Office to hear how
much salary the new man was going to
get, and if he would accept an inter-
est in the paper. They heard the chief
say:
"And this long item about jerome
C. Plastonburg. That is paid notice,
as you were told; it is worth $4,000,
and you have spelle1 his name, the
vital par. of the notice, wrong every
time. Once you have called him James
L. Dougherty and once Jabez O'Phili-
arity, and in all other places Jacob D.
Plathersbag. What on earth possessed
you to make such absurd and injurious
blunders as thatp'
"Well, good landp'' exclaimed the
young man, elbow was to know how
he spelled his nameP He's stranger
to me. Besides, I did my best to get it
right looked all through Zell's En-
cyclopedia and in Webster's Dictionary,
and couldn't find any such name any
where. How's any man going to get
along without mistakes if the Office Ii
brary hasn't got a reliable book of ref
erence in it?''
There was pause and then the chief
resumed again:
"And here is this item about Rev
Mr.. Throopledyke, whose marriage to
Miss Minerva Posonby you notice very
neatly, and then append the outrage
Gus statement that the reverend gentle
man has a wife and nine children in In
diana, and it is thought that he has one
or two more somewhere in Wisconsin.
Why
"Wen, that's so," broke in the new
man; "I know he has; man on the
train told me so down at the Union De-
pot yesterday. got that all straight.
That's true as gospel"
sWho was the manP''
81 don't know; he was stranger to
me and it looked too fresh to ask his
name"
"How did he know Mr.. Throople-
dykeP"
"He didn't know him; he just told
me about preacher he knew that had
a wife and nine children in Indiana,
and asked him to describe him, and
his description hit old Throopledyke to
a T. Oh, its him, know"
"Then," continued the chief, after
very painful pause, during which the
boys held their breath, "here is an item
stating that Christopher X. Roflan, a
Bogus Hollow sneak-thief, knocked
child down near the railroad crossing
and stole a tin bucket, ten cents and a
milk ticket from her. This is afro
cious. 1t is terrible. ~
"Why," asked the new man" wasn't
that Rofian?;'
"No," said the chief, with some as
perity, "N1r. Rofan is President of the
Young Mems Christian Association,
and citizen of the highest repute.
Now where did you get that item?''
"Well, the item is all right, but
wasn't sure of the name, but l told a
hackman about it and asked him if he
knew who the first man was, and he
said he guessed it must be old Roflan,
and 1 found the full name in the direc- |
tory.''
The boys could hear the chief sigh |
clear through the door.
"Then," he continued, "what made
you say that old Mrs. Malavers COM
mitted suicide while in a state of des-
brought on by excessive use
of intoxicating iquorp''
"Well, didn't shep''
s'Didn't she? She is alive and down
in the countingroom now, and is Pres
ident of the Women's Temperance
League.
'Wen, well, well,' said the new
man, in a tone of amazement. 81 must |
have got that mixed up with some 9TH
er item."
"And then look here," continued the
chief, "you take occasion to say, in an
entirely uncalled for manner, that Hon.
George j. Barnewell owes n grocery