The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1883-02-15
A REPORTERS DUTIES.
Errors the Public Make.


"Do you have somebody at the office
to write out these things after you
gather up the notes ?" asked the pref
ty girl at the wedding, who was Civ
| ing the reporter valuable Information
about the brides dress.
The reporters mind was working
over the question of cap OF lower case
l. in satin de Lyon" but he dropped
the paper is despair, and looked into
the blue eyes to see what sort of
creature it was that was capable of
such devilish, eXcruciating, heart
rending sarcasm.
The eyes were innocent, and it was
too evident that the question was hon
est and the questioner sincere. Was
it for this, then, that the reporter
spent his time toiling while other men
slept, to describe the happenings of
day in the choicest, most carefully Sc
lected language; for this that his beau
tifully turned sentences were made to
surpass the eloquence of Cicero, the
pathos or humor of Dickens, or the
sweet sentiment of Morvel, only that
pretty girl at party should believe
him the gatherer of stray notes for
great men to write upp Was it
possible that the great public, for
whom he was wearing out brain and
body. had no higher appreciation of
his services? 1t seemed so, and but
for the fact that no one would have
read it, book would have then been
written upholding the dignity of the
craft.
Of the inside work of any business
or profession the public is more or
less ignorant. OF all others it con-
fesses its ignorance, but of the re-
porter's work it concieves theories
which are rather amusing. but much
more aggravating. The theory that
a number OF young men are flying
about the town gathering up notes,
which some Office man "licks into
shape" is very common.
Another common theory is that
the reportorial staff of each paper is
turned loose at certain hour each
day to find out what is going on in
the city, and that each individual one
exercises his own secret will as to
where he shall go or what he shall do.
Several times 4 day the reporter hears
some citizen say;
IL should think you fellows would
get all mixed up, several of you GO
ing to the same place after the same
thing, and occasionally, when the re-
porter happens around several hours
after an important and unexpected
thing has happened, by dilligent ques-
tionlng finds out all about it, and
writes a particularly vivid descrip-
ton, some citizens ask: How do you
happen to have q man there just in
time y
The most exasperating idea of the
public Is that time cuts no figure in
the reporters work.
Come around in the morning; Mr..
Smith will be here at nine o'clock,
and he'll be glad to tell you all about
II, says the courteous gentleman
whom the reporter finds in Mr.. Smiths
office, and then the reporter wants to
club the courteous gentleman for not
knowing that Mr.. Smiths story must
be ready for the printers before one
o'clock the next morning. Does the
courteous gentleman think, perchance,
that the reporter is getting informal
ton for some good, quiet quarterly Z
Everybody appears to believe that
the reporter is the deadhead of all the
deadheads; that he never pays for any
thing. He is not supposed to pay for
theatre tickets, railway or streetcar
fare, restaurant meals or clothing,
The idea Of free theatre passes is so
firmly imbedded in the public mind
that the reporters own assertion to
the contrary carries no weight, and
his acquaintance mark him down as
ungenerous and mean because he fails
TO distribute some of the favors
which theatrical managers lavish up
on him in unlimited quantities.
People are sure that the reporter
goes everywhere and sees everything.
They see him on duty at theatre or
convention, and the impression is
made that his time is filled only by
those public occurrences which ap-
pear TO be most pleasant and agree
able things TO make note of. The
fact that he works from four to eight