Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-10-05
IN A DUAL ROLE.
THE INTERESTING TALK OF AN
OLD BROOKLYN SCIENTIST.

Once, While a Journalist, He Edited Two
Opposing Daily Papers in Holland-The
Amusing Story of His Experience-A
Huge Journalistic Joke.
t'It was in Zierikzee," Dr. P 81. Van der
| Weyde began, after a prolonged paroxysm
| of as merry laughter as ever was heard 81
tell you when l was young man l had
plenty of fun, but my journalistic career was
the rarest and mellowest experience of my
life. l was the simultaneous editor not only
Of a scientific magazine, but of two daily
papers, one published in the morning and the
other in the evening. The fun of it was that
the morning paper was a Conservative or
Royalist journal, while the one printed in
the evening was extremely, extravagantly
Liberal Thus enjoyed the peculiar felicity
Of abusing myself impersonally to my hearts
content, and retaliating impersonally in the
following issue of the opposition journal.
Sometimes when the king visited the city I
would palaver him in the Conservative paper,
describe his passage along the canals as a
sort of Venetian pageant, glorify his retinue,
and set portion of the populace wild with
patriotic fervor On the same evening per-
haps, through the Liberal journal, | will have
the town by the ears with my ridiculous de-
scription of the kings VISIT painting the
alleged gondolas as old mud scows, the ex-
IRENE patriots as fawning ours, the retinue
as uproarious drunkards the trappings as
tinsel and gewgaws, and the enthusiasm Of
the populace as venting itself in jeers and the
casting Of rotten apples and decayed vegeta-
bles at the royal procession. At night, when
! went to my club, would be saluted with
good natured taunts from my friends, such
as .Ah, hal you caught it this evening, didn't
your Of course was nearly bursting with
suppressed laughter during all those years,
which formed the happiest period of my life"
81 infer that your connection with this
Liberal journal was secret. How did you
manage to preserve your incognitoP'
''The huge joke was the result of an acct
dental combination of circumstances for
which l was in no wise responsible. While
editing The Tydschrift voor de Wis-en Ma
tuurkunde journal of Mathematics and
Physics, the printer one day suggested that
it was pity the type should be used only
once a month, and offered to print daily
paper if / would edit it. consented on con-
dition that my connection with the new
paper should remain secret In this way
The Nieusbode News CARRIER was founded.
4uo Ou1y JULIET 0dlly paper al GAo Sieys a CIV
eminent organ subsisting on patronage,
whose editor dared not maintain that his
soul was his own, was edited with almost
utter imbecility. At that time Qs42 almost
everything was taxed in Holland, and there
was stamp tax of one cent per sheet on
printing paper. This tax was graded accord
ing to the size of the paper, but fragments of
eight inches or less square were not taxed.
Therefore we avoided the tax by making The
Nieusbode a sheet l0x6 inches, printed on
both sides. After we had made a success
of the paper-which we sold at about
two-ffths of q cent per copy the
Conservatives succeeded in having the
legislature pass a bill repeating the
law exempting this small sized paper from
taxation. On the last day of grace The
Nieusbode appeared with cut Of a skull
and crossbones on one side and weeping
willow over grave on the other. Every
body thought the paper was dead and there
was great rejoicing among the municipal
politicians. But we were very much alive.
On the next evening The Nieusbode, unan
nounced and unexpected, appeared, greatly
enlarged, paying the full stamp tax, and
selling for cents copy. The populace
greeted our new appearance rapturously,
and we received great accessions of subscrip-
lions and advertising patronage The gov
eminent officials were thrown into state of
frenzied desperation"
'But you haven't told me how you were
able to preserve your secret and how you
came to be; chosen editor of the government
paper"
"My wife, who is French lady, was then
teaching a select school in my house. The
daughter of my partner, the printer, who
was one of the pupils, brought proofs to the
schoolroom twice a day, and they were
secretly transferred to me- On her return
she carried away the marked slips and fresh
copy. 1t thus happened that was known as
the editor of The Tydschrift voor de Wis-en
Natuurkunde. but my connection with The
Nieusbode was not discovered until long after
I had come to America.
"Soon after enlarging our paper received
visit from the secretary of the mayor. He
informed me that he had been authorized by
the common council to offer me the position
of editor Of The Courant, the government
organ. The paper was SO much enfeebled by
the opposition journal, he said, that some
thing had to be done to improve its standing
and fortunes. l was astounded at the propo
sition, but, as the salary mentioned was quite
large, | asked time for reflection. On the ad-
vice of a learned medical friend, who had an
acute relish for joke, l accepted the prof
fered position, without, however, relinquish-
ing my secret labor on The Nieusbode. 1t
thus happened that maintained the dual
role until was deposed from the editorship
of the government organ"
"How did that occur, if you were not
known to be the editor Of the opposition
paper2"
sin this wise: That same secretary Of the
mayor wished to become member of the
house of representatives the elective branch
He was an extremely INSCRIPTIONS politi-
clan, unpopular even with the Conserva-
tives. An article indorsing him was set up
without my knowledge. l promptly killed
it in proof. Nevertheless, while was at the
club that night, the article was again in
truded and appeared on the following morn
ing The indignation Of the government
party leaders was SO great that lost my
place. Eagle.