The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1884-07-18
STARTING A NEWSPAPER.

Did you ever start a paper? No? Well,
you ought to try it. Falling down stairs
with a stove on top of you is nothing to be
compared to it in point of excitement. The
name of the paper was the Re0ieao, and it was
started to Fill long-felt want" Jerry
Cochrane was my partner. There were
several very comfortable things about that
paper. For instance, Jerry and | always
knew on Monday that we wouldn't have
enough money to pay the hands off on Satur-
day, and we never did. The hands knew 1t,
too, and SO their nerves were never shocked
by disappointment. We ran that way for
awhile, getting more deeply in debt all the
time. At last, one morning | entered the
Office and found Jerry looking rather solemn.
'Jerry," says l, you want partner. "
EYES, we need new one, Bob" he rejoined.
"a business man." said he. "a fnancier," |
observed. "A man who can take hold of the
thing and tnrn it into money" he concluded.
Then I've got the man you want" L said,
and introduced Frank Hitchcock, the sheriff.
Jerry said Frank was the very man he had
been thinking of, so we installed him at once,
sir. He ran the paper with the greatest sue
cess until he had turned it entirely into
money. When we wound up the concern
there was nothing left but two passes one to
Cincinnati and one to Burlington. We dl-
vided them, and went in different directions.
81 got to Burlington feeling pretty bad. l
was about 200, 900 miles in debt, having
managed to owe everybody I knew 1 would
have owed the strangers, too, only | had no
way of making their acquaintance One day
I remarked to Mrs. Burdette that Ia go over
and see if / couldn't get job on the Haaok-
eye postponed it for awhile and one day
the business manager came over to offer me a
place. I could have Rugged the man, but 1
didn't want to be demonstrative, so | held
back rather coyly. He asked me if 1 had
anything in view, and I told him [ had 1t
was the truth, as had an idea of going out
to the poorhouse, if l could get a ride on the
cars; was too proud to walk. Well, he
urged me, and finally agreed to take the
matter into consideration. | was 10 go in at
6 o'clock the next afternoon, and | bid him
a chilly good day. For fear I'd miss the
train, was down there at quarter to four,
but when I entered the Hapkeye Office I
walked in like a lord and called the business
manager Charley" slapped him Familiarity
on the back. 1 tell you his offering me the
place gave me great moral advantage, and l
used it, the result being that l was allowed
the usual princely salary of a reporter
81 worked along for awhile, and finally got
an interest in the Hdl1keye. A curious thing
happened after awhile, which has caused me
to laugh many time. There were four of
us on the editorial page. Frank Hatton, John
F. White and John Burdette, my brother.
Frank was the first one taken from that glori-
Gus band, and he became first assistant
postmaster general. John Waite followed
by becoming postmaster of Burlington, and
my brother was then appointed collector in
the first internal revenue district of Ohio.
Frank was born in Cadiz, Waite in Ravenna,
and my brother in Cincinnati, all in the same
state. was from Pennsylvania and didn't
get anything. 1t takes Ohio men for offices. !"
--Burdette.