The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-03-10
ESSAY CAIGH'S IDEAS.
And a Few Of His Experiences as
a Journalist.
THE NEWSPAPER OF THE FUTURE.
One Style of Reporting That Should be Abol-
Ished Until Eight Years Hence-The Chief
est of Them All-Generaiities.

When fellow has nothing of material
consequence to give worthy object, he
generally makes haste to congratulate, and
this he does with such prodigal profuseness
that you would think in some cases he was
composed of that kind of material. 1t often
REMINDS ME OF POOR PEOPLE
with a new child this occurs very often
these days and it is just as well, for other
wise ''holy war" goods would soon glut the
market) having nothing but name to give
the new candidate for colic wakefulness
and subdued profanity, they give him
plenty of that and hence the numerous
George Washingtons, Justinian Caesar
NapoleOns and Marie AntOinette Smiths
in the country. With these predatory re
marks, tender my regards to The HERALD
upon the occasion of its spreading its wings
and taking a higher flight. Keep on flying
and don't come down.
And yet the parallel is hardly just in my
case, for l have run newspapers a great
many times. In many towns have l I'M
furled my flag (metaphOrically) and after
wards INDUCED in the sensation of having
the same towns, or large proportion of
them, run Inc (actualy) with a flag of
another description waving from the seat
of my pants. l can give good cheer and
sympathy with full understanding of
what either means. l have had more
journalistic voyages into the Overhangiug
depths of ether only to descend into the
superintendent mud of earth when the gas
was exhausted than is contained in any
volume of statistics at present extant.
began
MY JOURNALISTIC CAREER
at a very early stage Of this probation.
l ha1 lNr1+ limit Cd nd
no money at all; naturally things are
different now; l have, of course, increased
my possessions very much-that is, l have
a great deal more experience, but other
wise the situation is unchanged.
There are good many people engaged in
the work of grinding out newspapers, many
of whom make a living at it. Sometimes
they deserve it, but not always. The peo-
pie of Utah ought to be the best judges of
who and what are deserving of support and
appreciation than any other people, because
within their midst have risen, reigned and
fallen more papers than anywhere else
among the same number OF people during the
present generation. They are entirely ac-
customed to new ventures; in fact, in every
community of a thousand inhabitants
where there is a coop store and a grist
mill, ii is a peculiar case if one or two pub
locations that have come to stay are not al
ready buried.
Some men have
"A MANIA FOR STARTING PAPERS,
and nothing entirely eradicates it from the
system when it once starts in. In a town
much less than 1000 miles from here is a
case in pOint-relating to a fellow whose
name is Meadow for the time being. This
fellow, at the time knew him best, was
the proprietor of a store, a theatre, a tan
merry, . shoe shop, meat market lumber
yard and lime kiln. Some adventurous
youths had recently brought printing out
It to the town, and started a paper with the
intention of making it a permanent fixture
in the place. After few issues it went
down, of course, and Joe THAT was his
front name) bought them out by selling his
store, and continued the business. Pretty
soon he went through with it, but that
didn't discourage him. Quite contrary; it
and make fresh start with
clean books. He cut off
the tannery and devoted the revenue thus
acquired to the renaissance. OF course,
the name had to be changed, but that was
an easy matter.
AFTER A SIX MONTHS CAREER,
this also sought the shades. The meat
market was abandoned and accounts being
all right once more, fresh start under
still another name was made, the announce
ment being given that this paper was there
TO stay" Sensation. 1t stayed seven
months and three weeks and went to Join
its sisters. The lime kiln was thrown over
board and a bran new beginning made.
Some new type that would print so plain
that people could read it was obtained and
things began again under more favorable
circumstances This time he not only
changed the name but made it a daily, tax
ing dispatches by telegraph. The paper
appeared every afternoon for several OF
them in succession, then it was thought
rcr,11 no oh he
present. This arrangement had the effect
of prOlOnging things for a good while, but
what was the use! There were only fifty
people in the town who could read;
one-third of these were too
moor to subscribe, one-third We're
too mean and the remainder had paid for
about three years in advance if the CON
GERMS predecessors were permitted to fig
ure, and SO the tri-weekly
WENT TO THE Wall.
This would have been discouraging to most
Deople. but it was not for Joe. He had
started in with the intention of running a
paper in that town and it had to go by some
means. He could get along without lum-
Der ward so this was sequestrated and the
proceeds turned in to the new venture.
This time he imported high-priced editor
and sent a canVasSer into the surrounding
regions equipped with chrOmOs, strawberry
plants etc, as premiums. He got quite
list too. With the most recent name in the
market the new banner was unfurled
Everything went on swlmmlngly for a
while. Then the importation wanted his
arrears of salary, which not being forth
coming a suit was brought, judgment OBJ
tanned and the theatre levied upon under
execution OF course the paper stopped,
and Joe laid it all to the editor. Its all in
the spellin," he explained afterwards; 4
had to pay that Teller big price
to write for me, and l kin write
Jest as well as he kin, but the spellln' glts
metz The last time 1 saw him he spent an
hour trying to make me understand how a
paper could be run in that place now and
F'mal,A slathers of money"
T newspaper field is variegated, not
only as to the men engaged in it, but as to
the manners, methods, styles, systems and
conditions. What one person regards as
news another looks upon as having no more
vitality than withered leaves; the forms
that dice used to go no longer find recogni-
tion, and all things past are no earthly good
now Take, for example, the old style and
the new of reporting. An tem-searcher
~ ,sg-I,+