The Press., 1884-04-03
I'D. Higbee in American Jsurnalist.] THE SENSATIONAL REPORTER.

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 He has much to answer for, and his sins are not wholly upon his own head. Not the least of these Is the fact that he has in- vozed contumely upon the efforts of the painstaking conscientious colaborers who stand shoulder to shoulder with him in the ranks of journalism, and has fallen with malign results across their way to respect ful recognition.
 He owes his existence to the tolerance of his species his sudden and amazing de- velopment to the opportunities of his gen eration. His origin is uncertain, and of comparative insignific nce in the consider ation of him subject his individual beginning is generally youth, and an un- due impatience for distinction. When fully fedged, he is ubiquitous, persistent, aggressive, interruptions in his methods and determin. in his pursuit of the thing vaguely designated as news" He has the penetration and the insi:uatiAg ad- dress of detective ; the imagination of Jules Verne the inventive freedom of Munchausen, and the unshrinking realism of Zota. In his choice If subjects he Is limited by no nice discriminations and his treatment of them is modified by no delicate considerations personal or other wise. He is amenable to no influence, and
 
 and damage suits, he is accountable to ne code. YS
 Tuose wonderous fsats of the imagina- ton, which before his advent were pur- sued and tolerated only as a desultory pastime, have become legitimate profes- sion, aad his Ingenious fabrications, whose truth and falsehood are separab]e only by infinite sagacity, have brought the mos careful compilations and plausible state ments of daily newspapers into distrust.
 He epines that no man dares question his inalieaable right to lie, so long as he does it Interestingly :; assumes that he does it interestingly, and glorying in the ingenuity that baffies detection, faunts his license in the race of an exasperated but ever gullible community Because he cal write well and to any extent about noth- ing, can take a sterile and unpromising subject and make it readable" " he fancies the imperishable spark of genius is alight within him, and he has only to persevere to wrest promotion and ultimate pre-em- thence from reluctant appreciation at the point of his intrepid pencil. Readable matter" is the motto he has inscribed up on his banner, his iaa boo signo spes naea, and panoplied in ineffable all-daring as surance, he goes forth to gather it al d readable matter" he will have, though he profane the sacred name of truth, scorn the t1ammels of syntax and break the rules of orthography as he would a tether of burnt flax. He begins by simply "dress- ing up" a fact. A man is found dead somewhere the eoroner's jury brings ill q verdict of 'Fdeath from unknown causes, !" and here upon this farthest contne of pcs itive information, where the man of truth would rest his pen, the man of sensational tendencies and fertile resource finds his supreme opportunity. He falls upon 1t with smile of exceeding breadth, which widens gradually into yawning vacuum of delight, as incident after incident is manufactured, detail after detail elabo- rated
 In tune he reaches point where bona fde circumstance is unnecessary If 1t comes in his way he will not disdain 1t, but he Is by no means dependent upon actual happenings. His boast, his certifi- cate of proficiency, his gold medal of ex- cellence, is the fact that he does not re- quire peg of truth to hang a sentence upon. At this stage of his progression he begins to. interview" people he has never seen, and who at the time of the alleged conversation are some hundreds of miles distant from him. Projecting his imagi- natlon across miles of intervening space, no DutCOnnoles politician and wrests from him grave secrets of statecraft or sits face to face with some astronomer of note, and ellclts paralyzing statements, concerning comet that is heading toward the earth predicts the collision and points with sat urnlne relish to each horrible phase of the catastrophe, that is to fill some unsuspect ing reader with sickening apprehension. He now begins to find caves full of petr:- fled giants discovers carriage loads of skeletons in remote Texan prairies, stum- bles upon uprooted trees where lie the buried treasures of the confederacy, and furnishes narrowing accounts of railroad and steamboat disasters from his place at the office desk. He has no regard for the finite, no reverence for the infinite, he can- not even be made to ''toe' the line that marks the boundary of another world, but will, when it suits his purpose, pursue man beyond his mortal exit, and interview his ghost through an alleged medium. He approaches no subject with uncovered brow no secret is safe from his enter prise, no sanctum secure from his inva sion. Last and greatest of all his offences he has created demand for his peculiar style of literature and made his perpetua- ton possibility.