Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1886-01-07
BILL NYE on EDITING.
a Journalists IxindAdvice to the Wis
conSin Editors.
The NEWSPAPER OF t

It is an encyclopaedia, = poem, bio
graphy, 4 history 4 prophecy, direc-
! tory, Il time table, q romance, 4 cook
/ book, a guide, horoscope, an arr crit
ic, 4 political resume, q ground plan
II he civilized world. l@W-prlccd
l.ul!u.n III paryo. Il IS . sernni:, I
song, "a circus, an obituary, a picnic, Il
/ shipwgeck, a symphony IN solid bre-
yiei, I. medley Of life and death, q
/ grand aggregation OF mans glory and
/ lis Shame. 1t is, i'll short, bird 's-eye
view Of all the magnanimity and mean
ness, the joys and griets, the births
/ and deaths, the pride and poverty Of
/ the world, and all for two cents-sone-
times. | could tell you some more
things that the newspaper of to-day is
/ If you had time to stay here and your
business would not suffer in your alb
Sence. Among others, it is a long felt
want, Il nine-column paper in q five
column town, a lying sheet, feeble
effort, a financial problem, totterins
wreck, a political tool and a sheriff's
sale.
If | were to suggest a curriculum
/ for the young man who wished to take
/ a regular course III a school Of journal
/ ism, preierring that TO the actual ex-
I the first lno years to meditation and
prayer. This will prepare the young
editor for the surprise and consequent
temptation to profanity, which in u
+ few years he may experience whcn he
/ finds that the name of the Deity in his
doubie-leaded editorial is spelled with
a little g" and the peroration OF the
article Is locked up between Il death
notice and the advertisement u y pat
ent moustache coaxer which Is 10 fol-
low pure reading matter every day in
the week ans! occupy top of column on
Sunday tt.
The ensuing five years should be de-
voted - tIIc peculiar orthograplIy ol'
the English language. Then put in
three years with the dumb-bells, sand
bags, slung-shots and tomahaws Ii
nay own journalistic experience | have
found more cause for regret over my
neglect Of this branch than anything
else. | usually Keep on my desk, dur
ing q heated campaign, large paper
weight weighing three or four pounds,
and III several instances have found
that | could feed that to constant
reader OF my valuable paper instead
Of Il retraction. Fewer people iick the
editor, though, now than diu 50 IN wears
gone by. Many peope-in the last
two years-haye gone across the street
to lick the editor and never returned.
After the primary course
mapped out already, an intermediate
course Of ten years should be given to
learning the typographical arr, SO that
when visitors come in and ask the edi
tor all about the office he can tell them
Of the mysteries Of making paper, and
now delinquent subscribers have fre-
quently been killed by well-directed
blow with Il printer towel. Five years
should be devoted 10 4 study Of the
art OF proot-reading. In that length Of
time the young journalist can perfect
himself to such degree that it will
take another five Years for the printer
to understand his corrections and mar
ginal notes. Fifteen years should then
be devoted to the study of American
politics. Z The student
should then take medical and surgi-
cal course, so that he NAV be able to
attend to the confusion, fracture, etc,
which may occur to himself or to the
party who may come to his office for a
retractlon and by mistake get his spin
al column double-ieaded. Ten years
should then be given to the study Of
law. No thorough metropolitan editor
wants to enter upon the duties Of his
profession without knowing the differ
ence between Il writ Of mandamus and
other styles of profanity. He should
thoroughly understand the entire sys-
TEN OF American jurisprudence so that
in case a certiorari should break out
in his neighborhood he would know
just what to DO for it.
The student will, by this time, begin
to see what is required of him and en-
ter with great zeal upon the further
study Of his profession. He will now
enter upon theological course of ten
years and fit himself thoroughly to
speak intelligently OF the various
creeds and religions of the world. Ig-
, norance on the part Of an editor is al
most Il crime, and when he closes a
powerful editorial with the familiar
quotation, ut is the early bird that
gets the worm,' and attributes it to st.
: Paul instead OF Deuteronomy, it makes
me blush for the profession. The last
ten years may be proftably devoted to
n the acquisition OF a practical knowi-
edge Of cutting cordwood, baking
beans, making shirts, lecturing, turn
n ing double hand-springs, being shot
+ out Of a catapult at a circus, learning
c how to make a good adhesive paste
t that will not sour in hot weather,
n grinding scissors, punctuation, capital
: ization, condemnation, syntax, plain
q sewing, music, dancing, scalping, eti-
5, quette, ,prosody, the ten commandments
l. every man his own tooter on the flute
y croquet, rules Of the prize ring, rhet-
n oric, parlor magic, calisthenics, pen
: manship, how to turn a jack from the
r bottom Of the pack without getting
!, shot, civil engineering, decorative art
L calsomining, bicycling, base ball, by
Is draulics, botany, poker, internationa
l. law, high low-jack, drawing and paint
e ing, faro, vocal music, driving break
? ing team, fitteen-ball pool, how to re
d move grease spots from last years pan
d taloons, horsemanship, coupling freigl
, cars, riding on rail, riding on pass
feeding threshing machines, teaching