The Southern herald., 1886-08-07
COLLEGIATE JOURNALISTS.
Invaluable Suggestions for the Founders
of Schools Of Journalism.

COLLEGIATE JOURNALISTS.
Invaluable Suggestions for the Founders
of Schools, Of Journalism.
The proposition of Mr.. Charles E.
Field, editor Of the Rochester Demo
crGt- Chronicle, that our colleges estab-
lish special course Of instruction in
journalism is good one, and we trust
soon to see II acted upon by all the
universities in the United States; for
there are many things which are essen
ial to the equipment of a frst-rate
journalist, and which can with difficulty
be acquired>outside Of a thorough and
especial course Of study.
One of the desiderata, for example,
without which no person can fairly
presume to call himself a journalist, is
the faculty, to speak Of it by no higher
term, of making use of the greatest
possible number Of words to express
the least possible quantity of idea; and
and if such a course as Mr.. Field sug-
gests be established in any one of our
colleges, 1t is to be hoped that this
branch of instruction shall constitute
the A B G and controlling motive of
the curriculum. Any ordinary person,
quite unlearned, may write concisely,
and say, for instance, that ''the man
died;" but to put the same crude
thought into journalistic language, and
announce that "the unfortune individ-
ual passed from the confines of the
movable and entered the dark and
esoteric vistas Of the land beyond the
curtained grave" requires either high
order of natural intelligence or long
and careful training in journalism.
And there are many other matters
which must not be overlooked. The
student should be taught that the near
is vulgar, while the remote is the es-
sence of good taste, and that conse-
quently the plain and homely word
should never be used wherever and
whenever rare or obsolescent one
can be availed Of. Indeed, it should
be large part Of his training to search
out and select rare words for the sole
purpose of building thereupon long
and labored articles.
Among the other essentials Of study
is the subtle and graceful handling Of
the scissors and the dextrous welding
of the dextrine brush-though, to be
sure, these matters may be deferred
until the pupil has shown himself quail
flied, by excellence in the lower
brances Of composition, for introduc-
tion to these higher realms of knowl-
edge.
The student will also, no doubt,
have the benefit of lectures by eminent
professors upon the proper way in
which to describe ''lurid conflagra-
ton" (vulgarly called a "fre"), a
murder, an elopement, the breaking
Of Mrs. Murphy'S Uranium while Mrs.
M. is under the influence of alcoholic
refreshments, or the latest scandal in
high or low life, as the case may be,
and how to indite puff for Mr.. Pill
rollers all-embracing cure-all or
Haberdasher, Grosgrain & Biasfold' 8
patent dress improver.
When sufficiently advanced, the
student will, of course, if he discover
true journalistic talent, be introduced
into the classics Of the profession, so
to speak-the arena of art. Here he
shall learn how to make diagrams Of
whatsoever he may be encrusting with
his ornate rhetoric, and after time he
shall be able to give you a diagram Of
q wedding or a murder with equal
facility and with such surprising ac-
curacy that either might answer for
the other without violence to ones
sense of propriety.
The student will necessarily be fully
instructed in how to make an interro-
cation point of himself, and as an in
terviewer misrepresent the hapless
wight interviewed in q free and Or
nate manner, and he will also be
taught as to tho most expeditions
fashion of Draining Doors, pitching
poets out of the window and immo-
lating exchange fiends.
The subject is by no means ex-
hausted, but space prevents our doing
it full justice at this time. Many other
branches will naturally suggest them
selves to the reader. It only need be
added that poetry and editorial writ
ing might be thrown in as electives.
They are not essential, as anybody can
do either, but it is we'll to have some
ornamental features in the curriculum,
as sort of pastime and relaxation to
the hardly-worked student. : Boston
Transcript.
STENOGRAPHlC NOTES.