Mexico weekly ledger., 1879-06-12
THE FABER KNIGHTS.
Their Late Re-Unicn ut Col
umbia.


umbfa.
No good reason can be given why
she members of the Press Association
should not have their celebrations.
They are as much entitled to an an
nual merry-making as any other or
g~anization. The folly of the occa-
sion, and there is no doubt much
foolishness. connected with such gath
erings, is the high falutin nonsense
shot off extemporaneously in regard
to editors and editorial prerequisites.
It may be well enough to talk
about. the necessity of editors being
as well educated as lawyers and doc
tors, and point out the proprlety of
an editorial professorship, at Colum-
bia, where all the prominents are
professors, and where. horses and
mules are cIrried scientifically Is
we'll as students, at the States ex-
pense; but had the association as
sembled in this city, Notwithstanding
the suggestion was well received and
handsomely responded to by one of
our newspaper Jenkins" 'just re-
covered from a spell of SICKNESS"
there might have been practical IL
l~ustration afforded the society of the
possibility of conducting a newspa-
per without the slightest attention
to photography, etymology, syntax or
prosody. And as to the Importance
Of letters and dots in composition,
the lecture of Burdette, so mach miss
ed by the literati, would have been
entirely out of place where there is
no call for commas, c%olons, semi
colons or full stops in either manu-
script or proof.
That there v will be an edito-
rial professorship, anywhere, is GER
tain, since practical knowledge of
how to conduct a newspaper car be
obtained only by experience. Those
that have been behind the scenes
know that most money is made by
economizing lamp-black and paper
and whooping up the typos. The
next most prolific source of dollars is
advertisements. Most sensible peo-
pie get these up themselves. Mer.
chants and exhibitors prefer to blow
their own horns and if there are err
rors in ''copy," what has the fore
man to do, but see that they are cor
rected? The Association was told at
Columbia that two of the most sue
cessful country newspapers in this
state were conducted by gentlemea
that could not write.
Formerly the successful editor WAS
the best writer connected with his
establishment, but in these degener-
ate days he has subsidized into the at
~tractive figure head. Beauty is more
requisite in the position than skill or
knowledge. A polite and progresses
ing demeanor works wonders. 1t
overcomes all obstacles. 1t distrib-
utes far and wide a sheet gotten up
by reporters, contributors, cores
pondents, scissors and assimulators.
At a late press dinner in London,
Sir Robert Pell is reported to have
said that most modern newspapers
contained articles superior to those
produced by "Junius" whose writer's
were equally unknown. 1t is fatal,
therefore, to the project of an edito-
rial p~rofessorship at Columbia that a
newspaper prepared in the ordinary
way from the usual sources is more
varied, more comprehensive and more
attractive than n that eminates
from a single unassisted intellect, no
matter how brilliant.
A late number of the St. Louis
Dispatch claims that the Missouri
editorial brick is not dead, but is re-
divivus at Carthage, where he is de-
Tending the cause of intelligence and
humanity against the unknown wretch
who edits the Patriot, whom he also
ch-aracterlzes as the sold fraud that
fills the swill-tub."
We can't beat that in Mexico, but
we can show more grammatical and
typographical errors, than any other
city. The editor of this sheet is am
bilious, but when he takes up the
two papers that are opposed to him
and considers the magnifieence of
the composition of n editor and
the personal good looks of the other
he gets very much discouraged.
Alas, their attainments defy compe-
tition. He asks the one that makes
so many sings at the Police Gazette
to consider how far he IS surpassed
by the Carthage brick and hang his
diminished head.
---
The pews in ST. Brendan's Catholic
Church, in this city, will be rented to
the highest bidder, next Sunday even