Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1881-11-08
A Journalistic Ring.

In letter on New York Journalists
the correspondent Of the Philadelphia
Press says:
/ met old "Doc" Wood on Park rev
the other day. i have never known
why he was called doctor. unless it was
by reason of his ability 10 physic the
manuscripts Of other men. doc"
Wood is the most accomplished con-
denser in the world. He can boil an
article down into less space than any
man who ever welded blue pencil
For years he was with the San in the
capacity of squeezer, and he received
heavy salary for his services, too. Nov
he is reporter on the Herald, and is
paid like any common reporter, for
the mere work he does. II Mr.. Wood
is fair example OF Journalistic
and, barring his inability to look out
for himself first, be is up with the
best of them-writers retrogsde after
they have reached q certain point on the
journey Of existence. II they do not
become dissolute. they are either alb
ssrbed by some great institution and
never heard of afterward, or they get
out of the harness. There are no men
who are known so little Of rs a class.
There is no profession in which one
error can be so full Of serious results
and that, too, in the face OF peoples
notion that writer's are all Bohemians
and that within this mystic circle all Is
carelessness and ioviality. / am moved
to these remarks by the fact that to-day
I saw on Broadway a man who offers
singularly striking example OF the con-
dition named. Some years ago he was
employed in responsible position upon
great daily. He organized ring
which embraced a proof-reader, cor
respondence-reader, and city editor (he
was the telegraph editor, all employed
by the same great daily. The operations
of the ring were cleverly arranged and
MYSTERIOUS. One DIV a member OF the
editorial staff who had not been taken
into the secret picked up Western
paper and found in its columns tele-
gram credited to q Chicago journal.
The telegram he recognized as having
been cabled from London to the paper
for which he worked, AMI he therefore
wondered that the Chicago journal
should be credited with it. Only lit
tie time after this he found another
Paragraph in second Western paper
similarly mis-credited. He began TO
imagine curious things. He went TO
the exchanges and found copies OF the
publication which had been receiving
the benefit Of the enterprise displayed
by the paper which employed him. The
special dispatches from New York had
been carefully cut ont and destroyed.
He went To the Office Of another metro
politan daily and borrowed their
Chicago exchanges. His first dis
covery was ,ha. the journal in question
printed every day the best part OF the
" exclusive" news purchased by the
newspaper he served. Clearly, some
BODY had been stealing this material,
and The exchange reader knew all about
It. He posted his superior officer and
;hey sc; watch on the Office. They
found that extra proofs were struck oil
AID sen. down to the telegraph editor.
They saw him write busily sittle while
and give an envelope TO the city editor.
They Observed the latter leave the
building and hand the envelope 10 an
other man, who carried it TO the tele-
graph office. They pushed the investi-
CATION further and learned that the ring
was furnishing dispatches to ten or
twelve newspapers all over the country,
al an aggregate income OF about
S6O0-a week. One morning in
the office OF the great New
York daily there was CONSERVATION.
Four men were instantly and uncere-
moniously discharged. They were all
important members Of the staff, and,
therefore, their acts were not publicly
exposed. The originator Of this clever
scheme was the man l met on Broad
war this afternoon. de had black
eve, and his vissge bore other marks of
debauchery and its attendant cere-
monies. Once he was remarkably
promising journalist in the city. Now
be is drunkard and generally ruined
man. / believe all the others who
shared his dismissal from the great
New York daily have come to grief
since. One tried to be detective and
failed. The others, ali bright young
men, have drifted into that black I'M
known which We call obscurity.