Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-07-16

Ills desk ON llc Uu.ehe. NOl llOIo
than two months ago he was asdapper,
well-dressed and apparently successful
a man as there was in the Cincinnati
reportorial fraternity. His duty was
the covering of the news along the river
fronts of the Kentucky towns facing
and Cincinnati, and, being a
graceful writer, he managed to get in
a column or two of breezy special mat
| ter Oh miscellaneous subjects each
week-every column Of such matter
being a clean addition of five dollars to
his not princely salary.
1t was nine O'Clock one Thursday
phone wires from the fire chieftain's
office that the tow-boat Ohio Greyhound
was burning at her landing, three miles
above Newport. In fifteen minutes
came the supplementary report that
her entire tow of seven barges was
doomed, and that John Stacy and
.'Stumpy,n the cook. were missing
presumably burned with the wreck.
Ferguson can have two columns for
that" complacently remarked the city
editor. ''Here, Newport, get a rig:
jump out there; find Ferguson andhelp
him. Get in as much as possible before
twelve. and, if it promises good matter
after that, wire the facts. We will
dress them up"
AT half-past twelve o'clock l was
again at the Office with the skeleton
article. The fire had taken place early
in the afternoon. Three lives and 500
900 worth of property were lost, had
seen nothing of Ferguson. But while
l was making a hasty oral report to
this effect Ferguson strolled into the
office. He was at peace with himself
and the world, and his stiff. white col
lar lifted itself Immediately above his
black tie and unruffled shirt front.
Nothing moving" he said, airily,
as he placed the days report on the
editor'sdesk. Every thing dead along
the river to-day"
NO fights nor %fires?" asked the city
editor in his blandest tones.
Nothing; but here is a little special
that will look we'll in the Sunday sup
plement. have been up to the library
looking up points for it all afternoon.
With a scare head--first line. The
Diamond Dollar!'-it will prove as
good matter as actual news, and"
"There is no actual news, them"
Nothing of Importance"
By this time the telegraph men, the
managing editor, half of the local force,
and even one or two of the BREWER
writer's, had dfifted into the city room,
whele they tloated about aimlessly,
waiting for the explosion that was to
lift the unfortunate Ferguson. But,
s%uspectlng nothing, he continued his
panegyric on the Diamond Dollar.
''Unless you call this piece of special
matter news, there is none. But it will
be news to most of the readers. 1t
deals with the subject of are coins,
giving the dates and the values of all
United States coins worth more than
their face value. There are hundreds
of pieces in daily circulation for which
collectors would give twenty times
their value as bullion. This article
will serve to tell the people what dates
of coin are in demand, so that they
may watch the money that passes
through their hands and sell the rare
coins at a premium. There is one dol
lar, of the mintage of 1904, which is
worth $500"
For the past few seconds the city
editor had been rapidly writing upon a
slip of paper, and here he interrupted
enthusiastic remarks aboutthe valuable
dollar.
"You know the rule of the office,
Mr.. Ferguson" he said, in an icy tone;
mo man with us gets a chance to be
grossly scoopedtwice. Youhave failed
to catch one of the most sensational
fires of the year, although you had
twelve hours in which to do it. Here
is an order on the counting room for
your money up to Saturday night.
You have my best wishes for your
future. Good night"
That was how he lost hisdesk on the
Gazette, and, breezy writer thathe was,
in three months he had found it necess-
airy to take up the lines of street-car
drivers life or starve.
"You remember that Diamond Dol
lar?' he said again, after answering
the sharp clang of the bell above his
head by bringing the car to a stop long
enough for the gray-bearded talker to
alight: ''well, %curiously enough, l
have found one of them. | should
never have known it's value had I not
collected the data for that unfortunate
article of mine; and"
''Do you mean me to understand that
you have found a dollar of 1904, act
ually worth $50O2"
"Precisely So, dear boy. Drivers
handle a great deal of silver, and
among the money in my pocket last
night | found this"
He had unbuckled his belt, unbut-
toned his coat, and with some difficulty
brought out in his gloved fingers a
worm silver dollar, without the milled
edges which characterize the late issues
of the coin. He was singularly excited.
He looked at the piece of silver as a
a doomed man might look at an unex
pectcd reprieve. 1t meant another
start in life, a chance to build up wealth
and reputation on ajournal of his own;
it meant a wife; it gave him Virginia.
His hand trembled slightly with the
tumult of his thoughts. One of the
cars front wheels, struck a stone,
jumped the track. and for afew seconds
the vehicle jolted violently over the
cobble-stones. Ferguson's face sud-
denly turned to the color of ashes.