The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1883-08-10
PROSPEROUS PEN DRIVERS.
Concerning Noted Newsmongers WHO Tickle
the Taste Of the Curious by Furnish
ing the Gossip ofGotham.
The Comfortable Incomes Earned by the Poet
Of the Sierras and the Omniscent
and Reminiscent Gath.
Also Glimpse Of Genial Joe Howard, the Old
but Never-Aging Nestor of
Journalists.

NEW YORK, Special Correspondence, July 81.
Il have already told you some Of the things I
know about Gotham and its newspapers, aud
if you found those statements interesting
perhaps you would like to go into the question
little further, and hear something Of the
large and in some respects curious body Of
men who furnish New York CORES ondence to
newspapers printed in various parts of the
country. There are a good many men-and
women too-who make more or
less sumptuous living in this way, and there
are good many more who by means of
metropolitan correspondence add largely to in
comes gained in other directions Joaquin
Miller, George Alfred Townsend, Joe Howard,
old New York rockingham, Jennie June Croly,
Annie Wakeman, Janet Glider. and raft Of
others, make it their business to tell the count
less thousands out of Gotham what is going on
here-and good deal that isn't Some Of
these folks are worth writing about Some of
them are not. Take the case Of man
like Miller-often an interesting writer
of prose, always an attractive talker
about the wild life Of the extreme West GER
tainly poet by nature, and generally as, full
of eccentricity as q locomotive with wheel
off, Miller cuts striking figure wherever he
goes. His present occupation is the furnish
ing Of ten rural journals with weekly letter
written in manifold. In addition to this he
turns up random poem now and then,
and he makes in all about $1,000
a year. His letters bring him $40
apiece, so that for actually writing column
and half Of matter with manifold pencil,
he receives the handsome sum of 800 week
which is better pay IN comparison with the
! actual work done than any other writer in
America receives. believe the sierrau poet
has also had a hand recently in new comedy
for Annie Pixley-a piece Of work in which he
went "cahoots" with Archie Gordon.
who is one Of the cleverest and brightest
writers in New York Long ago Miller
ceased to receive royalties from the Danites
His contract called for nightly sum until the
total of 500 should be reached. He re-
ceived the final $500 two years ago, and has
never turned out another cohesive dramatic
work, though believe he is all the time doing
something in the dramatic line Miller's long
hair Of former days has yielded to the persua-
sive shears of the barber, and he is getting
to be slightly bald. But he wears his blonde
beard just the same, and has never fortaken
his slouched felt hat. Miller has fine large
| AAooA oho q 6o4AAO AC6 A40 6Ot LILO AdttcI AuOlu-
m emf, he says, through the agency Of some
Modoc bullets For long time he lived in
fiat in New York, his only attendant being a
colored boy who vainly tried to keep the place
in order, while Miller did the cooking, slept on
the floor rolled up in buffalo robe, broke the
necks from his bottles in preference to using
corkscrew, and otherwise conducted his daily
life in way vaguely reminiscent OF his former
times on the border. The greatest mistake
Miller ever made WAS in not staying in London
tho first time he went over. He was lion on
that side Of the water, where the
quaint freshness of his poems struck
forcibly upon the minds of read
ers unaccustomed to his method He came
back here, was considerably guyed, and
for some years lived in more or less poverty
But there proved to be more stuff in him than
he was given credit for, and he finally came
down to solid, hard work, after giving up the
silly notion that he had been intended by high
heaven to represent the great American nation
as minister to the court of St James, Miller
is pretty we'll fixed at present, and hardly
think he is likely to lose his head again. He
is one Of those rarely-found men who have
lived down the aniuloslties of early life, and
whose excentricities, if pronounced, are at least
innocent
GATH.
Another sort of bird is George Alfred
Townsend You know him, of course. He
writes over the name of Gath, and he sings
personalities around him with free hand. In
consequence, he has made great many enc
mics. What is more, Gath doesn't always mind
what he says. or course, he doesn't tell down.
right whoppers you know, but some Of his truths
hav IN India r,1hher of fonhro For &hna
convenience, that is exceptionally aggravating
at times. Not long ago Gath went after
Joe Howard with some statements about
the latter's private relations, which were not
strictly governed by the facts Of the case. In
response to this, friend Of Towards inter-
viewed Gath according to the rules of the Bos-
ton prize ring In other words, Gath was
knocked out in one round. A sarcastic
journalist said to me that night, "Townsend
won't fight. He belongs to the ambulance
corps Of journalism-goes around with
Geneva cross on his arm, picking up the
wounded" Nevertheless, Townsend is an at
tractive cuss He writes moro matter than
any other one man in America, and moro Of it
is probably called untrue. But his work
has the merit Of unhagging interest at all times,
and it helps the circulation of the paper he
writes for. 1suppose no individual journalist
in America is 80 much copied So Townsend,
and few il any men get such good prices for
their work. At the time Of the Chicago con-
vention, for instance, he wrote page after page
for the Cincinnati Enquirer and sold tho same
material to the Chicago Tribune. Each paper
paid him 500 9 column and he used to run as
high as nine or ten columns day. or
course. he did not do all the actual
writing himself He had three or four
stenographers, and he has learned the difficult
task of debating with rapidity and at the same
time putting character into his work thus
accomplished Few newspaper men who
dictate give their productions tho same dir of
indi viduality which is possessed by the stuff
they turn out from the points of their per-
sonal pens. It is only when man is better
talker than writer that he is able to carry his
individuality into dictation. Townsend, how
ever, has got it down fine. One other
thing about him is his memory,
which is of most extraordinary description in
regard to it's tenacity. He is acquainted with
pretty much everybody in the United States.
and mover knew him to forget either face or
the name of man at all prominent in politics
or other branches Of life, if he had once come
in contact with him. In Chicago, Townsend
used to drift around tho hotel lobbes and
tho outside edges Of the conven-
ton, stopping for moment and chat
ting with everybody no met who was
familiar to him, or exchanging o. word here
and there with people he knew only by reputa-
ton. Ho never took note that I saw during
the entire time, but he would sit down every
now and then with his shorthand mon and load
them up ono after tho other with the material
gathered during the day. He wrote but little
A.