New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-07-11

bothered was, and often sOrely. One morning
there walked INTO Tie Atlas office, in Boston,
gentleman of large proportions, and OF even
more than Roman dignity. He had in is hand
a cane which thought vibrated in an omlnous
manner and all doubt was removed when, IN
his most rOtund vein OF tragic el0cutlon, ne
expressed the intention OF chastising me.
was as innocent as an unborn babe of any
wrong which had done hm, except that of
listening sometimes to his loudest speeches III
rather q listlcss way. and of denying HIM
need of tears, even when he personated The
Stranger'-a part which in the most incom-
petent hands usually makes the pit cry pro-
iusely. found ont Immediately that my foe
was a certain Mr.. i. of the Boston Theatre,
and further found out that my theatrical critic
had said something about Mr.. P.'s wife, she
also being upon the boards. Now the critic
aforesaid was perfectly well-bred gentleman,
an Oxford man and could not believe that
one who had taken double first, and knew all
about Euripides and Hschylus, could be guilty
of any impropriety in speaking OF lady. 1t
turned out that he had said nothing of her
acting. either good or bad, but something about
her dress which he thought inappropriate.
gave this fierce Thespian to understand that
he was making too much noise about nothing
and that he had better make his exit at once. i
suppose he thought so too, for he left with an
air of c0nsummate dignity. Manager
Crummles couldn't have done it better
Sometimes | got q tonch of nature in the
letters which were sent from the theatre to my
as q child. Theatrical audiences, upon both
sides of the ocean, know Mrs. John Wood, an
actress who was not probably seen at her best
in New York. MIR. Barry brought her over
from London when he opened the Boston
Theatre, to do sOubIettes and parts III which
the distinction of the sexes, in respect to cloth
ing, is ignored. She danced cumsily and sang
prettily but woman fuller OF fine sense OF
humOr have never seen behind the fOotllghts.
She had husband. who did the low, comic
business and did it badly: He thought that fun
consisted in painting carbuucles on his nose, III
that extlayagant st. Vitus style of twitching
the arms about which, / believe, passes Tor
funny III England, and III BEING as much Ike
clown In a horse-iiding as possible. Our critic
noticed mildly but firmly these peculiarlties OF
Mr. John Wood, and suggested that he was not
upon the whole provocative Of laughter, and
hardly of slclEly smile. The letter which,
upon the publication of these comments, was
sent to me, was an admirable evidence OF the
love of woman, which eDdureth almost to the
end Mrs. Wood informed me that Mr. Wood
was acknowledged by English critics to be the
superior of blackstone; that his reputation
throughout the United Kingdom was of the
first order and that | had better be careful
how allowed anybody to speak disrespectfulIy
little woman 1t wasn't our fault II she, got
quite too much of him afterward, and was
obliged to send him adrlft
When Mademoiselle Rachel began her season
l
in that capacity by sending to the press no
tickets. We had all solemnly determined to
take no notice of her whatever on the morning
after her debut but dear old Tom Barry, the
lessee of the theatre, heard OF the blunder, ana
sent down the tickets in sheafs. One little
popularity of this engagement was that wrote
all the articles on Madenoiselle Rachel's acting
in our newspaper without knowing word OF
French. / looked these maivels OF criticism
over lately, and much astonished at the
81 Il. r.
nalst never betrays his ignorance of anything.
He carries the whole encyclopedia, so TO sneak,
in his vest pocket. How did do it2 Well,
did il much as Captain Shandon, in the debtor S
prison, did the prospectus OF the magazine mi game
choy, aid wished to be left to his "aoOm-
Unable devices" Mr. Goodrich, the foreman OF
the Office, whom / still remember gratefully as
the, best proof reader this erroneous world ever
say, happened to know ffencn WELL ana
q Phedre," of "Adrienne," and the rest;
threw in all manner of profound and acute
critical observations; followed the play care
fully at the theatre, and did the work beautl-
fully. We saved fifty dollars, which would
have hired really competent critic and nave
given our readers something which 1t might
have been worth their while to read. IIhey
found no fault with my ingenious reports OF the
wonderful tragedienne in Boston. Why not 7
Why because, | suppose, they knew no more
about the matter than did.
have thought it worth while to give this illus
tratIOn of what count among the pains OF Jour-
naism. have given lit, not because i would
tthe calling which has supplied me
have the reader understand how hard we have
10 work, to what shifts we are exposed, and how
we have constant use for all the faculties
which God has gifted us withal The foremost
pain OF Journalism Is the eegreglous miscenane-
BUSINESS of the work which is required. There
must be perpetual aleItness. There must be
that accurate general knowledge which sends
man instantly to the right authority. There
must be that sclf-suspiciOn, that distrust- OF
memory which sets one to searching to say
nothing of that industry which knows no
difference between night and day. whoever
undertakes to write for n newspaper needs
what Napoleon called the courage OF four
o'clock in the morning He must nave mana
in twenty minutes TO tear the heart out OF it 10
(asten upon all the points at glance to see |
their humOr or their tragedy to understand
heir relation to the general drift OF his own
newspaper and to write about them in English |
which will keep the breakfaster for five minutes
from his coffee and his rolls. Does anybody |
suppose that this is easy to do 7 say that it is
lard to do, and do well and | think L ought |
10 know Take leading article, for instance ! |
You may 90 the rounds of the universities, |
md the colleges, the churches and all the |
places which men OF culture frequent and how |
many men will you find who can write n lead |
ng article Outside of the newspaper offices, |
venture to say, few indeed. There is DO |
rouble in getting essays but well do | |
remember how the excellent Mr. Greeley used |
% condemn some of our articles as too |
,ssayish.' Learning is good; accuracy is |
,etter grasp of the subject cannot be dis |
)ensed with orthodox grammar, so far as the |
english language has any grammar, is highly |
desirable but more desirable than all Is the |
act which enchans the reader ana makes |
lin conclude that which he began; There must |
De a salient vvacity in the lines which prevents
lin from seeing how many Of them there are,
Until he has finished them.
The reason why so few men comparatively |
succeed in journalism is because so few have
or it the temperament and the constitution.
dore than mOety of mankind is slow, lacking
n alacrity, and devoid of sense of pro-
,ol ton. The art of putting things rapidly in
hape is not well understood by the general: