Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-01-24
THE NEWSPAPER LIARS.
AND THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN
THEIR TALENTS TO THE STAGE.

People Who Wsavs Fictioas About Thsil
Own vAlue-Hev The Stories Of Trs-
me7dous Salaries are Started.
Fool Liars and Their Lies.
Especial CurespondenceI
NEW Yoax. Jan 2l-There is . deal ol
lyi"g in this world In nothing is It NOR
conspicuous than in the matter Of salaries
among . certain class This class is largely
composed Of blowhards whose talent fol
Dragging Is expected to atone for their lack
Of higher talenta They fancy that fame
comes BY much trumpeting Of aattering lies
about themselves The topic ON which they
lie most nuently. persistently and extrava'
gantly ID their salaries On other subjects
they may be average truth tsllers lying
not unless they arc obliged to. but on ths
question Of salaries they lie heroically and
elaborately.
The mediocre actors are much addicted to
thia II has even been hinted that the stars
are not entirely free from it, and that the
enormous sums they are said to receive are
not infrequently fabrications OF graphic
managerial imaginations Such thing As
accuracy in the figures given the public Is
rarely known The margins are always
very liberal Usually the receipts are re-
ported in the figures the manager wanted
them to amount to, not a. they actually
were And tls stars salary. That too, un-
dergoes IN In iating process on paper. 1t is
put At . figure that daxzles the public
Quite often It dazxles more than does tho
stars genius
It b the actor Of ordinary capacity and
msagre salary who puts forth the widest
Rctions in rrgard to the value OF his services
He never 50 much as tells the truth about
this matter 70 his chums, though he knows
perfectly well that they don't believe his
hbS The experienced professional "knocks
or in his mind, tl5 or go from
the weekly salary Of his friend a. his
friend tells it He Il given to the same ex-
agRsration himself, and knows exactly
where to slice the sum to got at the exact
amount
Each knows that be lies himself, and knows
that the other Is lying. but hugs the dslusion
that his own fbs will pass for truth, while he
laughs In and out Of his sleeve At tn,
thought of his friends assurance in putting
forth such tottering and thinly disguised
yarnA Each politely pretends to believe
The othsr. This II one Of tho courtesies Of
the profession They rather respect each
o.her for this little prevaricatiou- 1t be-
.~aL. = -or<h,, lie >,,,xvo,; >tfon, . A>,;ra
to stand high in the minds Of their friendA
A msrs stand -the-throne, who 70
csfves IS week, says he gets $40 A SO
man raises himself to SIS, when he talks
about salaries; the el5-man jumps to SIS;
lbe Ss5man never quotes himself below 80,
and the s4aman would blush with shame
il be dreamed that any one suspected him of
giving his time and talents for . cent less
than go week
So0stimss, whsn he knows to dead cor
tainty that the actual figures Of his salary
Gait be concealed, he says: Il don't get $50
In money, TO Be sure, but it amounts to that
I get my carriage hire and sleeping car
privileges paid, and %, you ses, its about
DoO, alter ALL
In this way b compromises with his con-
scienca He thi-ks IL over % much that be is
! most honest in believing It amounts" to
what be says It does The actresses are not
exempt frum this weakness, either.
When questioned about II, one said: "Yes
No all lie about our salaries We are OBJ
iged to- 1t is one Of our methods Of COM
the respect Of the selfish and criti-
al people We are thrown among in boarding
houses and cheap hotels Ths only thing that
makes soms Of them treat rs like human
beings b their bslisf that We make consider
,bs money And then although our friends
rnow that We are lying, they arc bound to
luo,s our salaries At the figures we say when
hey speak Of them to Others and all that
,rops us up when We apply for new engage
nents, you sec"
The newspaper liars are . much more dis
lgF cable class They are generally worn
'ut hacks or pushing. commonplace begin
,ers. whose only capital is their talent for
,oaslng
They lie to the initiated and uninitiated
like. They lie when the truth would suit
ar better. They geS their lies printed and
win in bliss to see them floating over the
country. Their lies are invariably about
how anxious certain papers are
o get them, and how doubly anxious Ger
ain other papers arc to keep them They
oar Always when the question Of salaries Is
discussed They may b. clad in rags and
i've in garrsts, but they tell graphic yarns
bout the tremendous salaries they receive.
rhey know as well as they know they are
live tha. other newspaper men and women
lon believe their fibs This does not deter
hem from spinning their foolish fabrica.
ions
Sometimes there arc firms employing
vritsrs who have . weakness for lies abou,
alariss themselves, and will even make II
worth the while Of one or two Of their en-.
loyes to tell . whoppsr about their sal.
rieA 1t is only just to say, however, thai
hey are not the most reputable Trims A
ie Of that kind Is pleasing to them, because
t gives the public an idea at once that they
re bo,h rich and generous, two things they
Sant to le and doubtless never will BE-
" whenever any writer is quoted IS receiv.
ng any hing enormous in the way Of salary,
/ Is safe to discount the story. There are
seated cases Of big salaries, but they are
ever tnan angels in flesh and blood. Chip
er young men With the tottoms out Of thei,
ocke,s and talent for prevarication strong
developed in the vacuum they call their
Minds, are prone to tell Of the enormou;
i M they make extra" and apart from
..eir salaries-if, indeed, they have salar.e.
} Ill Young women of great assurance DO
. sometimes, also. the moro humble thel
'osltion in le tiers the more do they lean to