St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-03-22
They are Increasing in Enterprise
and will Soon Compare Favorably
with American Journals.
The Latest improvements Consist of
an Adoption of the Yankee Plan
of interviewing.
Prominent British Newspaper Men and Their
Methods Of Preparing the News-At-
tentiOn to Detail,
The Enormous Circulation of London Papers
and the Eagerness of the People
for War News.

senses than one being Americanized. Some
years ago was taken to task by more than
one of my journalistic contemporaries for ad-
vocating, within proper bounds, the addition
of ''the Interviewer to the London staff.
Within the past twelve months interviewing 6
has become regular feature of the London
press. The average American reader will be
astonished when tell him that interview n 9
is the latest and newest feature of English
journalism. The Pail Mall Gazette began it
in the regular American lines. The Daily
News followed suit and with the further nov
city of signed articles. So expert has the
Pail Mall become that its representatives
actually interviewed several politicians on
''the crisis"
Iyenture to indicate some points of con-
trast between the press of England and
America. The vastness of the empire of
Queen Victoria and the various and wide
spread character of 'sBritish interests are
produced not by what the metropolitan daily
papers contain but by what they do not con-
tain. There is no London daily in the local
sense. The English provincial press gives a
full record of local news as the American
journals do. But the London papers cover
the empire and deal with the events of for
eign cities sometimes more fully than
with the incidents OF their own.
If 'mperialism' had not become a
by-word with certain party organs one might
be tempted to call them imperialistic in their
character and tendencies. The London edi-
tor sits in the midst of telegraphic organi-
cation which brings ST. Petersburg as near to
him for all practical purposes as his own
suburban residence. He has private wire
under the channel to Paris. He knows the
latest scandal in the gay city, the last intrigue
at Constan tinople, Bismarck's latest mot the
newest ministerial move at Athens, the price
of bacon in Chicago, what the pope said to
his cardinals about Ireland; but how little he
knows of the daily romances of the London
streets The minor legal courts of the me-
tropolis deal with curious and interesting
cases. Our county court judges adiudicate
upon thousands of suits in a year. 1t is only
once in way that one of them comes into
the great court OF public opinion-the news
paper. The higher courts of law are in the
hands of legal gentlemen, who often report
the trials in such way that one must be a
lawyer to understand the decisions. The
clever specialists forget that to the outer
world the iargon which overlies the rules and
orders of the courts is as mysterious as San
scrit. Many important lawsuits are never
heard of bv persons who do not read the
Times, and the system Of reporting police
trials is singularly inefficient. At some of
the courts one reporter represents all the
papers, morning and evening. The London
police court is the very pulse of London
life, and almost every beat of it is
worthy of being recorded. Go to
one of these establishments any day. For
several hours you will be alternately enter
tanned and shocked by scenes from the great
drama of life, farcical and tragical; you will
meet with instructive incidents in the do
mestic and political economy of the govern
meRt, local aud general; curious episodes of
our civilization, stranger tokens Of our bar
5arism; the moving stories of great city's
daily history. The next morning look into
your daily paper, and you will find, perhaps,
only the very brefest reference to the court !;
and probably the report of only one case out
of the dozen that you would deem worthy of
public remark. 1t must be sensational
murder, a great scandal, or matter of ma
tional importance, that stirs the London
editor in the direction of the police courts.
III.
was Mr. E. Dallas, an accomplished Scotch
man, who died, com paratively young, few
years ago. His association with the Times
arose out of a casual contribution in literary
criticism forwarded to the editor without any
introduction except the authors card. The
article impressed Mr.. DeIane, the famous
editor, so favorably that he sent for his cor
respondent and gave him constant employ
ment. Mr.. Dallas will be remem bered as
the author of The Gay Science, and Kett-
ner's Book of the Table. He edited a clever
condensation of Clarissa Harlowe and was
the chief translator whom / employed to pre-
pare L'Homme Qui Rit for the Gentle
mans Magazine. He married Miss Glyn, the
actress, who is still giving public readings
from Shakespeare. The Times has had a
good deal OF trouble with its dramatic critics
since John Oxenford died. Its newest man
is Mr.. Nesbitt, a gentleman who graduated
believe on the Manchester Press. He sue
ceeded Mr.. Mowbray Morris, and, as it would
seem, emulating that gentleman's cut and
thrust style. Lately nearly every theater has
come in for strong treatment. Poor Mary
Anderson has not inspired his gentler muse.
She has not, il appears, made real success
in The Hunchbzck,' though 1 think her
Julia charming and artistic performance.
What can any one do that is natural with
| such stlted part and as the central figure
Of such "a one-hOrse story
It used to be about that the Times had
always ready the biography Of every promi-
nent man in the world. 1t is not even to-day
as we'll posted up in t5at direction as the
New York Herald, which makes a very special
feature Of its Geographic manuscripts. The
Chicago News recently showed me an elabO-
| rate arrangement of the kind, and the Bos-
ton Herald is, am told, prepared TO tell the
story Of a mans career at a moments no
tice Nor are my journalistic friends in
| Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Washington be-
hind their neighbors. Il is certain that the
com pIeteness Of this department Of the great
London Times used TO be very much exag-
gcrated, seeing that the death OF Charles
Dickens found the paper entirely unreadY
with q history Of the iIiustrious English au-
thor. Edward Walford was sought for
and between midnight and four in
the morning messengers at his elbow,)
be wrote the whole Of the ''unposted' biog-
raphv. covering many columns Of the paper
Bat that vas very triHing feature compared
with the responses which journalists now-a-
days make to sudden claims upon their in
tellect and physical endurance. To-day we
are living up 70 very high pressure in this
respect 4 feature Of the time is the at
tempted competition Of the daily press with
the illustrated newspapers. This, however,
has not gone the length at which it has ar
rived in the United States. Some Of the
English provincial papers, however, contain
pictorial representations Of the events Of the
day on quite an extensive scale. In Lon
don the Daily Telegraph and the Pail Mall
Gazette lead the way In this nex departure.
The latter Journal being printed on machines
which do more justice 10 cuts than the fast
rotary machines Of the Telegraph, produces
outline sketches vith some credit PietHres
Of the seat Of war. portraits Of Gordon, Bur
nzby, Stewart and other men have ap-