San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-02-09
THE FIGHTING EDITOR.
Recent Death or q Highly Important funetionsrJ
OF q Paris Paper.
London Daily News.

or Paris Paper.
London Daily News.
There has recently died in Paris a
man named Antoine -Thomassin, who
for many years filed responsible situa-
tions as manager to liberal newspapers,
and in that capacity spent no
small portion OF his time in prison.
Yet he was not strictly speaking mar
tyr, and had no claim TO compensation
from his party when it came to power;
this he knew, and he never asked for
compensation. He was quite content
with the honorable compentency he
had amassed by going to jail and fight,
ing duels; for he belonged to that small
band of broad shouldered, thick-mus-
tached, hard-gritted men whom the
curious press laws of the Second en-
pire had called into being as gerdptS
reSponsables of different journals.
His name used to be printed every day
at the foot of the newspaper which he
served, and he was supposed to have
exercised u supervision over every line
which it. contained. He also signed
occasional articles to which it Was de-
sired to give special prominence, as
embcdying the opinions, not OF one
writer only, but of the whole editorial
staff. '-'' ''''H
BY virtue Of the law passed in 1851
by two rather obscure Deputies, NJ. Nj.
Tingy and hqbouhe, all articles pub
lished in political newspapers had to
bear signatures, and the effect OF this
law, intended to make journalists eau
tious, was simply to- oblige men like
Antonio Thomassin to commit great
deal of quite unblushing perjury, Tom
ASSN could neither read nor wilt". he
had been twenty years in the alInf, and
had retired as u sergeant-major OF dra-
goons. His utter deficiency i'll all
clerksy knowledge was held ito be one
of his best qualifications for the litera-
rypost which he filed, as editor had
learned by the experience that it was
troublesome to have a. gerant blessed
with enough education to acquire an
interest in the.s writings OF the paper
which he represented. Such gerdntS
we're apt to take their functions az SER
ieuw. anu to offer advice more thought
full than welcome. Thomassin was
above this foiDle; he had been taught
with infinite pains to scrawl his name
in large splay hand, and that was all
he knew or wished to know about the
letters Cadmus gave" Nevertheless,
when prosecutions were instituted
againsthi employers when the hatisSder
of the Correctional Court used to coma
to the newspaper Office with the stamp
ed paper, conveying an invitation to the
responsible manager to present himself
before the public prosecutor, Thomas
sin would put on his best frock coat,
which he buttoned up to his chin, and
brayely set off to the palace of justice.
He was familiar figure there, and the
procrrreurs, Judges and advocates used
all to grin when they saw him. The
press laws had become farce long be-
fore they had ceased to be applied. and
he must have been very wooden-faced
Judge, indeed, who could have preserv-
ed his gravity when Thomassin stood
up in court to say: "C'est MOI qwa
eCy'it act antique" His own demeanor,
while undergoing judgment, was always
perfect. He stood with head erect and
eyes front, as if he were waiting to be
shot by sentence OF court-martlal.
the judges would roast him
a little by asking whether he had well
the serious import of the
theories which he had emitted on poll
tics; but Thomassin was always equal
to such emergencies, and used to ans
wer by solemn mods. There was no
getting anything out of him except
plain statements as to his name, age,
Ind profession. When he had cried
with respectful distinctness, Il am a
journalist" he spoke no more, but took
refuge in wags of the head. 1t was
inc to see him bow and retire when he
lad got his sentence of three months
If the people at the
oack of the court asked him, How
much, and for what?" as he went by,
le replied: Three months for writing
lisre2 pectfully of the Senate" and
trode back to his office looking calmly !
,ontented with what had happened.
Is the Country Prospecting!