Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-02-01
A JOURNALISTIC ESSAY.

While certain amount of brain (enough to
keep out of the fire, for example) is necessary
for the successful conduct Of a newspaper, the
knowledge Of how to use what one has is far
more important. a man of very ordinary in
tellect and requirements, who knows his busl-
ness, is economical, industrious, energetic, en-
terprising, painstaking and careful OF leaks
will usually succeed in journalism, while the
most brilliant intellect and profound scholar
ship will inevitably 60 down if the practical
working of the business is not understood
thoroughly, and if the most unremitting at
tention is not given to every detail of the COM
plex affairs of newspaper.
A man might write an editorial every day
equal in beauty of thought and composition to
the finest passages of Shakespeare, and his Cir
culaton would be limited to the small proper
tion of people in his community who have
taste and time to appreciate such things II ne
did not keep the reading and news columns up
to the proper standard. In the same place a
man who says what he has to say briefly and
plainly, without offending decency, and de-
votes most of his time to getting news, keep
ing down expenses and keeping up appearances
will succeed. Fine writing and abstract brains
will not make q newspaper any more than they
will make grocery business. Hard, steady
work and close attention will succeed in both
or either.
The anxiety to build regulations by special
writing is the curse of practical journalists.
Humor is the most popular thingin newspaper
writing, and it has lured many bright fellow
to his mental and financial destruction. 1t Is
as inevitable as any operation IN mathemat-
ics that the man who undertakes to be funny
every day or every week will in time lose his
faculty Of exciting mirth, and be thrown aside
like sucked orange, wreck, with all the life
drawn from him by a remorseless public appe-
tite, and abandoned for new favorite.
Who ever hears of the Danbury Ne,cs man,
whose anecdotes set the whole country to
laughing and ran up his circulation enormous
ly few years ago Where is Spoopendyke
whose chronicles recently filled the columns OF
every newspaper q? Who knoweth the tomb
even of the New York Times funny man at
whose quips and quaint conceits we all roared
of late ? Where can we find William Nye
whose nastinesS made some people laugh so
uproariOusly Even the perennial BlJah and
his police court have lost their hold on the pub
lie, although the Detroit Free Press is still
fresh, fourishing and popular as ever, because
it's fun is not it's only dependence. There are
signs of weakening in the humOr OF the 1erGs
Siftinqs Quotations from the Chicago 1rib-
one romancer are becoming rare in our ex-
changes, and mark Twain in his last public
speech gave token of incipient idiocy, while
Burdette, the Prince of them all, has taken to
writing rather soshy sentiment.
If we were appointed to a chair of journal
ism in the Pierian puddle we would have but
one lecture for journalists intendant-"Don't
try to be eloquent don't try to be pathetic,
don't try to be funny say what you've got to
say as briefly and strongly as you can to be in.
telligible, and work, you miserable outcasts
Work morning, noon and night, and every
where you are needed, from writing leaders to
proving galleys or washing rollers work all
the time and in all places and all ways and
every day, and then die successful and happy,
leaving behind you the reputation of a brilliant
genius, and have the most idiotic utterances
of your work bemuddled brain held up in af-
ter years as the inspirations of an intellectual
giant !''-Greenrille Ners.