Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-04-01
kEMseaesa REeoRTNc.
a Nss fsrk JoaraAis - "a tae Duties saa
kssvsosbiiltass - Efls Art.

lAes York radl
Ar. Davii a Curtis, ssle ia tie b.zst
kao@a FepeFtsss - this elty. spoke before
tls hgsfaFy secls1g ~ tas Na3lson Ave
aae csn sreza ionsi Ct area ia the church
tgiliing, corner Of Forty hfEh street and
N4siissH Avenue Ills sutl ecf ~as an-
noaaesd a. Reporting, by tn Reporter"
aad t1e large AID .sI.ee present sas tres1sd
60 very Interesting ak upon ths duties
aad responsibilities n = reporters llfe.
Ilero we're nany a. ~spapsr mea among
tae listeners, snd Dr. Ne.sma4 So near
ais aly do0f and caught t8s e IIIsnents
II ne reporter Up0n th. dJinss Of his
craft
NeSspaper repor -lns, ss it j. nov under
stool apd carried ca ia tbs aid other
large cities, tue speaker said. was aa art
o. very recenl growth, and gathered % It's
pursuits = ses of men who were blessed
with the many AMI peculiar qualifications
which went t0 make up tbs good re porter.
Tue day Of shorthand reports had gone
By, excep ia the Eazlish press. Amsri-
can newspapers had 40 room for such pom
dsr0us efforts, and American newspaper
readers no time 10 90 through them. What
~as demanded Was a man wbO could listen
20 a long speech, get impressed upon his
mind the salient features Of the discourse,
and then reprOdaes them IA a suecinct,
readable shape without doing injustice 10
the thoughts OF the talSsr or imposing
spon the patience OF readers. What was
more AMI more needed were men who saw
by shorthand as IL were, who caught a
mental picture OF the most exciting occur
renee, and then drew il out in Geld type,
without IA any way dis-0rEing IL or failing
70 give the reader chance t. make a cor
rect estimate Of he scene. To go through
the daily and hourly routine OF a reporters
life demanded combination OF physical,
mental and moral qualifications, which the
speaker exemplified by many entertaining
anecdotes and bits of personal experience.
he told of the difficulties met with in the
path of a reporter, and OF the erroneous
concep ions about tn newspaper-Inan
which existed in the mind OF a large por-
tion Of the public, declaring that in every
case where aman was heard berating those
who made newspapers il could be put down
as a fact that at some time a reporter had
upset some pet scheme OF that individual
perhaps exposed very cleverly devised
bit OF sharp practice.
Mr.. Curtis thought it misfortune for
clever writer's that such strict anonymi-
" was preserved in the columns of the
newspapers of the country. IL was cap
ital system for the papers considered as
business enterprises, but very bad for the
bright men who sunk their e forts in the
general makeup Of the journal.
IL was difficult, he said, for lay reader
TO put himself in the place of a newspaper
maa, and nothing was easier than for those
who knew nothing of getting out news
paper TO figure AZ critics OF the work ac-
complished. When the public demands a
certain class of news it was pretty sure TO
be supplied, and the better the demand
the better the news.
The cost of getting out a newspaper was
laughingly illustrated, and the rage for
news was brought out by the narrative on
the part Of the lecturer of his own expert
ence in pushing across the bay on a cold,
stormy night, and after twenty minutes
had been spent in grasping at the dang
ling rope ladder swinging from a steam
er's side, getting on board only to inter-
view Oscar Wilde.