The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1886-06-26

and Correction. One man is kept at
the quarantine station in tho Narrows
to telegraph any important news OF
transatlantic steamers;
another visits all the theaters each
to criticise the play, that
comes under another department OF the
to learn of any important
in the cast of performance,
or to obtain any interesting informa'
ton pertaining 70 the stage. The re-
porters also visit all the leading hotels
to get the names of prominent men
from all over the world, from the hotel
registers.
From great many OF these places
no information worth printing is OBJ
tanned once year; but a newspaper
takes no risk Of being cleft" on any
matter of news. The large newspapers
have each a reporter in Brooklyn, DER
sew CITY, Newark and Paterson, who
does not report at the Office, but sends
in his "copy" by messenger. Besides
these out-Of-town men, reporters are
kept by each paper-one on Long
Island, one on Staten Island and one to
travel daily in Westchester County, up
the Hudson between Sing Sing and
New York, to obtain the news from
those places.
But all these are merely the routine
reporters, who do the same work each
day. Besides these, there are the men
who do general work." rs it is called
who are sent to religious meetings
and prize-fights; who interview great
men and women; who attend funerals;
who obtain obituary sketches of men OF
prominence, whether living or dead;
who write sketches of street occur
rences; attend important trials in the
courts; report sermons and lectures
and hangings; investigate rumors, and
do a thousand and one other kinds OF
work that goes towards filling the local
columns of the great dailies with cur
rent intelligence. If well-known
citizen is dangerously i'll, a reporter is
sent to some friend or relative of the
suffering man, to obtain the main facts
of his life for an obituary sketch, in
case the man should die. If the sick
man RECEIVERS, the sketch is written and
put in type. with blanks left for the
date of his death, when it occurs at
| some future day. Then proof-sheet
of the article is filed away in the obitu-
airy department of the paper, known
among newspaper men as 1.-THE grave
yard, " and retained until the promin-
emit citizen does die. In these ''grave-
yards" of the great newspapers, there
are kept obituary sketches of the most
prominent men and women of the
world, ready to be filled in with the
date of death and published as soon as
the subject OF the sketch, as must hap.
pen sooner or later. is claimed by the
King of Terrors.
When noted citizen is dangerously
ill a reporter keeps watch for his death
each night, until the paper. goes te
press. Should the death take place
the reporter telegraphs at once to his
city editor; the blanks in the obituary
sketch are filed in, and the sketch Of
the mans life appears in the paper the
next morning. Commodore Wander
bilt's last illness was so long, and hi
death so lingering that the newspaper
hired a room for their reporters in thu
vicinity of his residence, and during
his illness the old man sent jOcost
messages to the men who were waiting
for his death.
When a great accident occurs in tn,
city, such, for instance, as the crust
of the East River bridge after it wa
first opened to the public, when thir
teen persons were killed, a number o
reporters are sent out to work on tn
case. Each reporter is detailed to Civ
only one portion of the account tina
shall appear in the next mornings pa
per. For examples: When the Eas
River bridge tragedy took place on
man was directed to obtain such in
formation as would enable him to Civ
the introduction to the sketch and
general description of the tragica
scene at: the time Of its occurrence
There his work ended. Another re
, porter was detailed to ascertain mi
, nutely the cause of the accident. Thi
] he was to do and nothing more. !
! third was sent to the police station
where the dead were carried, to describ
the sad scenes there. Another reporte
, was detailed to visit the hospitals wher
the wounded were. and to ascertain lat
at night their condition and chances fe
!. recovery. Among five or six other n
: porters was divided the list of names I
. the dead and wounded who had bee
. carried to their homes; and that lis
which comprised names from all ov'
4 New York, Brooklyn and Jersey Cit
q was absolutely verified by a persons
visit to the house of each victim. Tw
i reporters were sent out to interview ;
3 many eye-witnesses of the tragedy
could be found, and to give each man
t description of the scene as it appear.
4 to him. The different sections of Il
e article were then given to the city ed
q tor, who joined them together in the
s proper sequence. In this way ea'
d paper the next morning had long al
J. reasonably accurate description
# the tragedy.
% Reporters are recognized Institute
= ond iUYYr