Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-02-06
Yos Sugeles 9erald.
Trick. Of Reporters.
/ betrayed by the Reno aazette.l

umlrched SOME very responsible
aud respectable names. The IN
which followed was
made with the strictest secrecy.
Even the phonographic writer em-
ployed to take down the testimony
VA sworn to silence. Yet the Call
every day while the investigation
lasted had full reports of the pro-
How the reports were
none but four men knew.
The sharpest detectives were em-
ployed to unravel the mystery but
failed utterly. Every nook OF the
in which the investiga-
tion was held was examined.
It was before the days of tele-
phnnes. but the walls were
T16foed for tubes, the floors exam
Iu61 and the windows also, although
the room was three stories above
the street. The detectives watched
the building night and day, inside
and out. 1t was absolutely certain
that no reporter was on the pre-
mises and none of those present at
the Investigation could be suspected
OF giving the Information, il for no
other reason than that the fullness
and accuracy of the reports, proved
that no one could carry them In his
memory. The shorthand writer
was q man Of known probity and,
besides being under oath, would
not be such an idiot as to ruin his
business for any bribe that news
paper might make him. Still the
long and correct reports appeared
regularly in the Call and created o
great excitement in the city.
CAPTAIN LEES,
The chief detective, was mortified
and enraged. He would no doubt
have given thousands Of dollars to
have known the secret which is
now impaired to him and every
body concerned for the price of q
copy of the Gazette, or for nothing,
IL he or they are of that entirely
despicable class of beings who Dor.
row their neighbours paper. An
.observant Call reporter had noticed
In visiting every day for months
the court where that unhappy
short-hand man was employed,
that In destroying his notes after
transcribing them, he tore the
pages but once across before throw
ing them into the waste basket. II
was known that he was to take
down the proceedings OF the in
vestigation. When the darkness o.
his office showed that his work
was done and That he had gone
home, large Call reporter aud a
small Call reporter appeared In the
passage as careful Of noise as
A BRACE OF BURGLARS.
The tall reporter hoisted the
small reporter to the transom Ovel
the door. The small reporter crawl.
ed through, dropped to the floor
groped his way to the waste paper
basket, carefully turned its con.
tents into large handkerchief,
tied them up tightly to prevent
mixing, climbed up through the
transom again, and then the pail
of midnight robbers hastened To
the Call office, where the notes
were spread out and fitted together
and rapidly turned into English
The transcription finished, the
notes were rearranged, carefully
tied up again and taken back to
the photographers of1ice-via the
transom-and returned to the waste
paper basket. The devil himself
let alone a poor shorthand maj
and all the first-class detectives
who ever slammed society, coult
never scent a piece Of work like
that. They need feel no mortifica-
tion when they read this, for Mr.
Pickering will, with them, first
learn from the Gazette how those
famous diamond reports were cap
tured. With judicious prudence
which is characteristic. the old gen
tIeman seldom takes the trouble t
ask how news is got, so that it ap
pears in the Call. The writer Ii
not abusing confidence in making
this secret public; he has the per
mission to do SO from those who dix
the dark deed.
SECRET CONVENTIONS
Were the fiercely hunted prey o
the reporters. An announcemen nj
of privacy inspired them to devote
their whole ingenuity to make the
guarded proceedings public. Piect
Clubs always object to the presence
of reporters. The Twelfth District
Court Room on the second story o
the old City Hall was for a Ions
time the favorite place of meeting
for these bands of vote.sellers. A
Chronicle reporter discovered thai
by gaining the roof one could lei
himself down through u scuttle to
the joist above the plaster. BY
picking his way along, taking the
greatest care not to go crashing
down through the ceiling, the dis
coverer reached the ventilator and
had the meeting below in full view
and hearing. The plans fol
bleeding candidates, discussed
freely in the security of privacy,
all appeared in the following morn.
ing's Chronicle with the names of
the speakers. Night aftec night
from his perch the journalist had
the delight of hearing the rascals
accuse one another of having
ssgiven the racket away to the damn
Chronicle," and seeing them furi.
ously shaking lists under noses-all
of which was faithfully reported.
That courtroom became a terror to
evil-doers indeed, and piecetclubs
have avoided it ever since as if it
was haunted. Some Of the reporters
OF the dsfunct San Francisco Neil
improved upon this little. A
highly respectable body of citizens
met secretly in the Nineteenth
District courtroom on Kealney
street, TO nominate city ticket,
which was not to be made public
until completed. There is a lodg-
ing house over the courtroom. A
Mait reporter engaged a room, and
when the convention met there was
a neatly bored augur. hole in the
ceiling and the reporters ear at the
other end of 1t. 1t was highly ex-
asperating to the gentlemen of the
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