Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1886-12-25
AN EDITORS CHRISTMAS.

ms y Mr.. NofthingtQnS story lust as lie
told 1t to number OF us one Christmas eve
ming at his house Mr.. worthington isn't
DIR. Worthington at all in real life, but
very fasnuIls man whose tongue and pen
carry great weight:
Ny first Journal was country weekly in
Dooaviilc A "iiourishing and fearless~ jour
nal, was the way my kindly disposed contem-
poraries spoke of il in their sable pages Its
naino was Tho Trumpet, and speak only tho
plaiIcst truth when say that it gave forth
no uncertain sound / was very Young
man and very ambitious. thought | knew
exactly what a forccful weekly newspaper
shoald he, and hadn't the leass doubt Of my
capacity to construct and manipulate such an
engine Of reform and advancement. That is
tho way OF the very young, God bless them.
Before they have had hand to band en-
counter with life they feel so strong and con-
tiiicnt they believe they can do anything, and
this very belief, mark you, IS what makes
the phenomenal successes we so often admire
and wonder at The Spaniarls have
proverh, "He who expects good luck Win Get
It," and it is as true a sentence rs ever was
penned. Believe you can do anything, and
you can, il any ono can do it. Success, liko
tho art Of swimming, is largely matter OF
confidence.
worked very hard on Tho Trumpet. I
WINS business man, editor and staff. had
very decided ideas in regard to lettering the
world, md started out with the praiseworthy
intention Of extinguishing several "giant
wrongs under which plainly saw that SO
ciety suffered We all have the rcformaiory
spirit much stronger in us in youth than later
GA. for the reason, perhaps, that we haven't
fully measured the strength Of our antagonist,
tho existing system of things. | was sincerely
anxious to thoroughly represent all worthy
local interests To that end l secured Doom
vile night and day, and @wrote up" all sorts
of things that never before had been described
BY pen, or immortalized In type. | wanted
to wake up my fellow townslilen and women
to the interests that lay close around them,
and of all things | wanted them TO properly
appreciate The Trumpet.
intended to issue a magnificent Christmas
number OF my beloved Journal, twice its
ordinary size and brim full of tho most
alluring holiday matter / could create and
rake up To perfect that number | almost
worked myself into decline. Looking back
upon it now, from the standpoint Of what
beg to be permitted to call mature common
sense, commend myself heartily for the in
d,istry, zeal and confidence | nursed into
respectable development in those old, hard
working, moneyless days on Tho Trumpet.
Among other attractive features for my
Christmas paper determined TO write up tho
very poor of Doonville. / could thus DO the
means of comforting two benefactions-giv-
ing the rich chance to taste OF the blessing
of giving--for it is more blessed to give than
to receive--and also open the way for the
poor TO be helped And on Christmas, you
Ill cotd To a far aftI
more generous. and many are glad of an OPP
portunity to do something for the needy
Doonville was small place, and SO very
prosperous that scarcely knew where to go
TO hunt people so poor that dare iutrude
upon them and tell their wants in my "valu-
able aud widely circulated" paper Many OF
its citizens were very rich, and none whom |
personally knew had fallen below decent and
tolerable poverty. But down below Doon's
mills, on the river bank. were some broken
down houses about whose doors | had some
times seen very ragged and very dirty chill
dren playing. I determined to go thither and
investigate
had this thought in my mind as l was go
ing to Office one morning just two days
before Christmas. / determined to go out
that afternoon and begin tho search. hadn't
gone far when I met calamity" Parker.
That was what called him when my speech
was without bride, for / held him in great
contempt
He was o. tall, thin, broken down creature,
who posed as gentleman and moved about
with n solemn, nnhealthful gait and dis
trbuted religious tracts. He always seemed
to me q frightful cxcrescence on society. al
though he had the discretion to say but little
1t fretted my progressive spirit to see HIM
sta,.o
ture under more intelligent and buster peo
pies eyes. "The day and generation are be
yond tracts,n said to myself, "and here Is
this tlireaibare fraud keeping up this relic of
fogyisin" | dcspised him so heartily / could
hardly speak a decent good morning as he
passed me- | think he felt that ! disiked
him: hut he had cultivated the unctuous Of
fectation of godiness and an appearance of
patience and sweetness under sights and
taunts, and invariably returned smile for a
frown. That very habit made him detestable
to me.
I began to think shout him as went
along. He had only been in Doonvile a
couple of years, and had mover heard OF his
doing anything but distribute tracts aud
preach on the street corners down by the
mills. concluded that it was time he was
abolished. Accordingly my first work on
reaching the Office was to write q half
column editorial article ON religions
frauds" in which the practice of tact
distributing received merited castigation. /
drew picture Of tho typical tract man, Of
which Parker was the model, which wasn't
calculated TO make bis path in Doonville any
smoother. This incisive, and may say
sable" article, which was certainly a flaming |
sword Of righteous wrath against the tract
fraternity, was to adorn the Christmas num-
Der.
Then / started out in my search for pow
erty in q self satisfied spirit. IL is delightful
to do something that wins ones own appro
bation found tho row of old houses all
locked and tenantlcss save one, the last one