, 1884-11-07
A REPORTERS WORK.
wanted--oood Memory, Clear Head,
Pluck and Integrity.
"a Natural Nose for News"-sin
and AnaIyze and Throw
Out-Rnter Not Into
Temptation.


There are reporters born for the profession;
there are others who learn 1t as . trade 1t
Is the tirst who mako a success.
To be a good reporter one should b fairly
educated. Ho should be well posted on gem
eral subjectA. He should nave q good mem
DRY, a clear head, lots Of pluck, and the de-
termination 70 Withstand temptation His
style OF writing should be easy and smooth
Let him relate his incidents and happenings
In plain. everyday garb. But there IA much
beyond this. He must nave what the boys term
"a natural nose for news" One reporter wiz
pass a broken-down wagon and simply realize
that an accident had occurred Another will
investigate and perhaps find a runaway and
a broken leg In the same thing. One reporter
will pass within n block Of where somo tsrri-
BILE accident has occurred and find no hin OF
IL. Another will be drawn TO the spot as II
by magnetism. One will see three or four
gamins running across the street and simply
realize that he sees them Another will scent
a fire, accident, row or robbery In the move
ment.
The reporter who learns his profession as q
man learns 10 file a saw, tumbles into bed at
night with a feeling that he Is done With tue
world for the next seven or eight hours. The
reporter born for the place also sleeps, but
the first sound OF the hre-ben pulls him out
Of bed. Footsteps running past his window
mean q great deal. Tho one Is satisfied to let
news come TO him through official records or
By chance. The Other makes friends
with the police, fremen, letter carriers,
and indeed with all grades and classes
OF men. II he is a gooa fellow he
can get 500 men to act as news-bringers.
While murder, arson and robber y are pub
lie news, and soon find their way 10 police
headquarters, from which any reporter can
receive particulars, there are scores Of in
cidents and accidents to be picked up and
published long before they are officially To
ported. One citizen may know OF a child DO
ing scalded In his neighborhood; another Of
a theft; another Of an accident To a work
ingnan; another OF a runaway In which q
person was injured, and so on through the
list. And the successful reporter must hAye
considerable knowledge Of human nature,
and his mind must contain d slave through
which 10 sift his Information Nine man and
women out OF ten who give information either
to reporters or detectives eKnggerats. II a
household awakens In the morning 10 ind
that thieves have paid them = adj certain
results will follow. The loss will be exagger-
abod; there will be talk about the family DO
ing chlorofor1ned; some neighbor, who was
sound asleep at the time, will remainder Of
seeing strange men about or of hearing
strange noises; suspicion will be directed at a
dozen different persons; three or four women
In the same block will assert that attempts
were also made on their back doon or kitchen
windows. In brief, instead Of a plain, simple
fact, the reporter viii find his Item 10 mixed
and confused that he must sift and analyze
and throw out until common sense tells him
that he has arrived at the true facts.
The reporter Is trusted a. to his facts. He
must DO a man worthy Of this trust. He
- - IL - n
cannot make a journey OF three miles to
verify the statement that a man fell on a
scaffold and broke his leg, but be must know
something Of the man who gives him thu
news. Neighbors often revenge themselves
on each other by giving false news. A man
may have fallen, but perhaps q sprained
ankle was all the injury received You
must have tho acumen TO stft these things.
In seven cases out Of ten II the average man
gives you the information that "a man up
on Blank street tumbled off his shed this
morning and broke a leg and four ribsn the
real facts will sift out:
l. he was not on the shed, buton the fence.
2. He did not break ha leg. bat cut his
knee.
.. He did not break four ribs, but his wife
suspects that he cracked one.
And the successful reporter will nave temp
tations without number. Each day and each
night will bring them. His professional du-
ties carry him where he must be exposed. He
will be asked 10 drink and smoke and gamble
because he Is q good fellow. Men who feel
under obligations to him will pay the debt
by holding out a temptation. He Will mingls
the misery and wickedness of a city with the
charity and morality. II he IL not on his
guard ono evil habit after another will creep
over him, and a few years win add him to
the numberless wrecks floating and drifting
and driving about on the sea OF the lost
But you want to be a reporter would
not discourage you, but l warn you that
there Is much OF the dogs life In the pro-
fession. The salary. ranging from SIS to
ee5 per week. Is well earned. The reporter
Is like a soldier In front Of the ensmy. He
can call no time his own; his hour for slsep
belong TO the hre-bell and accident; he must
be alert, vigilant, careful, prudent untiring.
There is a feeling Of responsibility which he
cannot throw of; there Is q monotony In
crimes, fires and accidents which rob than Of
all the romance you have thrown aroun
them. But there Is room for yoa-