The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1881-07-27

|
rect market Quotations, dash off lot of
notices of new advertisements, answer
| the numerous yexatious calls made upon
him, entertain esteemed subscribers who
come to complain or congratulate, read
his letters and papers, keep his eye on
the exchange iiend, and be in and out of
Office anywhere and everywhere at the
same moment of time; let our skcpticaI
friend attempt this, and if at the close Of
the day he is not conscious of heavy
drain uponhis nervous energies, he NAV
consider himself engaged, Heis wanted
Even when relieved of the business
management Of the paper, the time of
the editor can be fully occupied if he
be painslaking and thorough OF course
| refer to journals that aie edited. The
editorial work on some weekly exchanges
could be done in an hour. When q
paper has several editors, the labor is
divided, and We have Il right to expect
better results although we do not always
find them. We are all disposed at times
to slight work, especially when we see
that our best efforts are not properly
appreciated. 1t is easy to get into Il
careless habit, and in no department of
activity is Carelessness more sensibly
felt. ldleness in newspaper office is
absolutely ineXcusahle. lncapacity is
even more tolerable. Either or both
will make a newspaper of no account
AS in other professions, there are many
incompetent men in ours. There are
lawyers who aspire to be ornaments to
the bar, who would better adorn hoe
handle. There are doctors who would
make better pile drivers than pill driv-
ers. Many preacher has mistaken n
call to the cottOn-feld or the brick-yard
for n call to the ministry. SO it is that
there are men connected with the press
who would better fill their mission in
life if they were pegging shoes, measur-
ing tape, or engaged III some other
equally honorable employment which
makes fewer demands upon the brain.
The proportion of really incompetent
journalists, however, is not rs great as
many suppose, and in Tennessee it may
be said with pride and pleasure that
there is a wealth of journalistic talent,
and that there are very many excellent
journals that would do honor to any
State or any country, No plcasanter
duty devoves upon the editor than that
Of looking through his exchanges. OF
course the daily papers with their we'll
filled columns of Geographic news and
their generally well considered editorial
comments upon current events, stand
first in his estimation These are abso
lutely indispensable. Through them
the country editor keeps himself in
formed Of what is going on in the world,
and it is the first duty Of the journalist
to keep informed Yet his country cx-
changes are no less acceptable and nee,
cSsary. Aside from the information he
CLEANS from them and the practical in
formation they afford him, he enjoys a
peculiar personal satisfaction in rccciy-
ing these weekly visits from his esteemed
rural contemporaries. As they are laid
ON his table, a new interest is given to
his labors, and the monotony of the
sanCtum is broken for lime. They are
familiar and constant visitors and he can
it'lll' Nv ~ WV w NllNlll tlN u ENbl''' w
lore the wrappers are removed. OF
course ho has his rayoritcs, These he
opens with pIca,urabIc anticipationS
that are rarely disappointed. Others he
| ganccs over more hastily, and a few, it
must be confessed, he sometimes allows
to remain unopened.
1t would be difficult to properly elias
sify and discuss our country exchanges
within the limits of this paper. can
therefore only refer briefly to Il few
characteristics which attract my attcn-
ton at casual glance, one or more of
which may apply in greater or less
degree to this or that contemporary.
Here, for instance, is Il valued cX-
change whose able editor exalts and mag
nfcs his editorial page, almost to the
exclusion of other matters. His pom
dcrous leaders stretch from column to
column, dreary lengths of logic, cheer
less deserts of dialcctics. He grapples
with great problems, wrestles with
mighty mysteries. He goes deep into
the PHILOSOPHY Of things, and settles
questions for all time to come. The
slightest political movement draws from
his pen an exhaustive dissertation upon
the policies of parties. He even writes
his editorials as serials, "to be continued
in our next" They are well written
and contain 4 world of information.
What pity that they are not read
Here is 4 journal which furnishes us
an illustration of the other extreme. |
The editor is a paragrapher. He cSchews
long articles. If he were to write a
history of the late war, he would put it
in ten or twenty-five paragraph. He
changes his subject as often as a die
tionary. 1t matters not what the topic |
may be, it is never too mOmentous nor
too trivial for him. indeed the raison
d'ctre of some Of his paragraphs is some
times too obscure for any fellow to find |
out. He is generally sparkling and
witty, and makes capital hits; only
occasionally you find yourself dropping
a tear over one of his choice bits of
humor.
Then there is the journal with hob
by. Probably the hobby is the State
debt question. For the past ten years
its editor has scarcely missed an issue in
presenting his views on this novel and
captivating subject, He has discussed
it in every possible phase, week in and |
week out, but he has presented the same
idea every time. He might save himself |
some labor if he would clip out his last |
years editorials and republish them in |
the regular order. He never gets tired |
of the subject. 1t has an Undesirable |
and irresistible charm for him. When
he puts his pen to paper he may fall |
asleep in his easy chair, and the dutiful
pen, out of sheer force of habit, will |
splitter off like Planchette and write an
article on the State debt question. Men
may come and men may 60, but his con.
stantly recurring platitudes will on
for 80 years, or until he pays the debt
of nature and gets hold of new idea in