Evening journal., 1888-07-10

physician, the lawyer, the banker or tho
railroad man in matters relating to their re
spective professions viii calmly sit down
md tell tina editor how 70 conduct his busi-
ness, and fancy he has conferred a favor
upon the wieldar of scissors and quill. He
can understand the skill OF the surgeon;
ho can appreciate the vast machinery
Of banking or railroad business, but Of
the intricacies OF newspaper work he has
not the slightest conception. Aud yet 20 run
newspaper a man must have executive
ability Of a high order. He must have
broad and comprehensive knowledge Of men
and affairs, quick and unerring Judgment
and an ability 10 tell what he knows and
what he believes in a way which will inter
est and convince thousands OF average citi-
IONS
The great editor must be able to handle his
men with the promptituds and accuracy
with which the railroad man handles his
trains Each man on tho force must know
his duty and perform it, There is no time
for mistakes, for news is matter OF today,
and Yesterdays news Is dead and forgotten
bef5le tomorrow dawns Hs must have the
politics and relations OF tho nations Of tho
world at his fingers tips, for he must be able
10 judge what effect today's action Of tho
English parliament, the news of which is
flashed TO him under the ocean. viii have
upon the American congress or tho German
reiehstag tomorrow. He must have his
head crammed with an incongruous mass Of
all sorts and kinds of information IL the
Rev Mr.. Jones dies suddenly he must know
just which deacon TO send TO for ali obituary,
and IL BILLY the Kidn challenges "patsey
the Slugger7 he must be equally certain who
to have interviewed upon that important
event. Possibly 10 IS because there Is SO much
required that there are so few really great
newspaper mon. Above all he must be quick.
he must think and work ia a flash, or he will
stand very strong chance Of getting
'beaten,0 which is, in newspaper ethics, the
one capital crime, compared with which all
others are as naught
1t is the struggle not to get beaten or tho
effort 70 beat somebody elso which has been
responsible for some OF the best stories Of
newspaper work, and has induced men TO
display courage which would do credit to tho
veteran soldier and exhibit cheek which is
equaled nowhere elso in the world
fancy that reporters often get credit for
courage when they rather deserve consure
for recklessness; a thing has 70 be done in
hurry, and they jump in and do it without
counting the cost Gen. Hancock received
the notice OF his appointment to the com
mand OF the eastern section Of the army ono
Saturday night. Reporters were sent down
to Governors Island TO interview him After
they had obtained particulars they found
that owing to the dense fog on tho bay the
little steamer running 20 the island had
stopped. Brides and entreaties could not in
duco tho captain to make another trip.
Horace johnson, Of The Daily Ncws and
myself made friends with the qunrternasier,
borrowed a leaky small boat, and spent threa
hours rowing around in tho fog, were
nearly run down by ferry boats and had
other pleasing adventures before finally
landing at the Battery We wero not
in tho least frightened until an old
hoatmGn expressed his horror at our daring.
/ We had TO get TO New York with the news,
and we got there. It was timo enough to
worry after We had written our "copy.n We
wrote our stories for the Sundays papers
and then began to think over what we had
done
This sense Of duty is so strong ia q good re-
/ porter that am half inclined 70 balieyo tho
/ ghost story in ono OF the magazines which
described how a reporter was killed in pur-
suit OF his duty and his spirit went to tho
! Office, filed the assignment and then disap-
appeared as a well regulated ghost should
do. Newspaper men have a superstition
that a reporter is never killed while in pur-
suit Of his duty, a superstition which
is sometimes rather sadly dispelled, as in
the case Of tho young Star reporter
who perished in tho blizzard Of last
March while trying to get news from Coney
Island and that other bright young fellow
on The Sun, who was killed by falling lad
der while reporting fire.
But all the stories OF ''beats" are neither
sad nor serious by any means A number
Of men were detailed to do dog fight out on
Long Island They reached the ferry just
as the gates wero being closed. One, tall,
slim fellow, dropped ON his stomach, and be-
fore his astonished comrades could guess