, 1880-02-26
A Thorny Road to Destruction

The royal road to newspaper honor is
very steep and very rocky, Take the
case Of an aspirant who comes to the
managing editor Of certain metropoli-
tan paper lie is referred to the city
editor. That autocrat questions him
about his experience and finds it nil. 1t
his appearance pleases, and there is
room in the office, he is told to come the
next day, and that he will be given
work on 'space"-that is, paid for what
he writes at so much per column He
reports at the office twice day for o
week, perhaps gets one assignment or
detail each day, and finds on pay day
that he has earned $40 and has spent So
for car fare. IF news is scarce and he
does not possess unusual energy, his
bills may not average more than this
amount for an entire Summer In such
a case he generally abandons the bust
ness and takes up some occupation
which does not demand so much of its
followers. If he really is in love with
the work and feels the stimulus which
comes from eager rivalry with competi-
tors for the best reports Of local Incl
dents, he will soon make Chit" and get
homework, or else, be placed on a regu-
lar salary. Then his further progress
is only question of ability, health and
time Changes will occur in the Office,
and promotion, though slow, will be
sure to HIM who. obides, his time and
does his work well. Bu. there is no
romance about the business The sue
cessful reporter may become special cor
respondent, or city editor, or night edi-
tor, or, editorial writer. But whether
his work is to write or revise other
mems writing, he will be compelled to
labor hard, and generally under pressure.
His hours Of labor are constantly men
aced by sudden demands for extra work.
Often he sits eight hours under gaslight
at the most exacting task ofreyising the
hastily written manuscript Of local re-
porters. He must see that there are no
lapses in the grammar, that no mac.
curete statements, are j made, that any
libelous assertions are excised, that. all
expressions of opinion are cut out. He
must remove all irrevelapt details, and
them give the articles attractive. head
lines. To follow this work six nights
in the week tests the strongest eonstitu.
tion. On all the great daily papers in
the leading cities the case of the man
who comes into journalism q noEice aud
takes any position, above that Of re-
porter is as one in q thousand. The
fact that man does escape this
necessary drudgery is against his future
usefulness as an editor. He will never
know the relative value of news, and be
constantly led to underrate the import
ancc' Of local matters. And the paper
which neglects local news and is persist
entity beaten by al more enterprising
rival is sure to losel heavily in the cir
culation. Despite the hard work and
late hours there is a singular attraction
about newspaper work. Journalism
pOSSeSStS IL SIlululuS tuHhHOWn III MOTG
staid professions. The fondness of it's
members for Bohemian life and their
devotion to the business resemble the |
passion of actors for the stage. Men
will stay in journalism, though they
make far less money than they would
IN other pursuits which require far less
exertion A notable instance Of this
perversity was furnished by the New
York World, which used to boast of the
brightest staff of any paper in that city.
The, men were all college graduates, and
their daily meetings were seasoned with
wit and humor But the standing Joke
for newcomers was that man must do
some outside literary work, az the Office
was n club, lie expenses Of which were
heavier than the salaries paid by the
paper 70 the members.
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"Doetor," exclaimed a wag TO a well
known physician, show long will il take
L.ps-iu-, g., t,voIttre laoth - uTv-.r4-.