Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1889-01-05
KNIGHTS OF THE QUILL.


remained In that humble position, pretSr-
ring to be known in history as the First
Grenadier of France than to wearing the
epaulettes of General, to which rank, o.
to that of a Marshal. the Great Napoleon
would have been only too glad to have
promoted him, rs he was dssirCus
of obtlining the favor of the
old noblesse. The Il stimction of being
the lie Tour dAuvergne of journalism lies
between Joe Howard and Amos Cum
mings of New York, each Of whom has
attmrcd distinct OF in the rel ortorIal
ranks. Many references have been made
TO the literary clique that o zee assembled
at Pfaff S restaurant, twenty years ago.
which was composed of such men a.
George Arnold, Fitz james o Brien. Ate
mus Ward, and others of lesser note.
here have been, however, many men ON
the New York press whose work. tho lgh eff
an cphemerdl char. cter, yet, ncNerth less,
showed considerable genius. No veteran
reporter has Yet entered on the ttsk of
collecting the numerous anecdotes and
adventures of his colfrcrcS, and such n
volume would he very entertaining read
ing. At the close of the war the writer
found himself OH the Tel orto!ial staff of
the New York Herdh, consisting of about
thirty young men who had drifted INTO the
profession from other occupations. \ feW
olsonal "reminiscences of Tho note taking
chiel of that day may serve to illustrate
the statement that it is n mine worthy of
Icing worked by the veteran newspaper
rIstler, which, by the way, is strictly Il
" eStern term.
Conspicuous in the cd HcrdldS repor-
torial looms was Kenward PHILIP, the son
of n London journalist, and who was tie
only one present that was virtually Graded
10, T.. &.
rested on the charge of being the author
of the Morey lie ter He was also seat
by interested plIties to Europe during the
Eeecher trial, as he had served for Il
period rs Theodore Tilton's assistant on
the 81 ooklyn IRj0n Philip was the PER
sonltication of impishLess, both in APP
pearance and manner, having very light
hair, very dark eyes, very short stat
ure, and such n squcaky voice that
his landlady, TO whom lie owed an I'M
iiquidatel Ioagd bill, invmillly 81 o,ie Of
him a. the sque tlar. one day he called
on a ficnd at the T,ibOWe Office, and
VIII lie sitting at a desk Il lng'ing his shot
legs. out rushed Horace Greeley with ROLL
OF manuscript, and screamed III his shrili
to: Arc you the little d d fool that
wrote this?" Philip gao qui tly into tie
placid counteuance of tn philosopher
and sque /: I'm not a little id fool,
and didn't wIite that"
HI and damnation, you're mockiug
me, sir, Are you attached to the TTibuRc?'
Yes, sir; very much attached. ! buy
it every morning"
Horace, on closer oil servation. finding
lie had mistaken his man, retiled into his
sanctum, and Philip skiple for other
scenes. DR.. johnson once said of POOR
Oliver Goldsmith: lie had raised money
and squandered it by every artiiico of ac-
QUESTION and folly of expense" Philip
seemed to commence life every day, was
always ii debt, and was constantly de
i,ing means of getting money by hook or
crook. principally by the latter. and, like
Goldsmith, laid all his friends under Goa
t.ibution, but, unlike loor Oliver, failed
to |. ave posterity anything worth remem-
boring except the memory of his di-
ublenes and practical Jokes.
| Circulating around the HeraM at this
period VS. Harry O'Connor, gifted
hishman, with facilc pen and II Il, pical
Imagination. Young Jim Bennett and he
was young then; OH, 50 young-got it into
his heal that he would let the animals
loose iii the menagere il Central Park.
Harry was deputed to DO this work, and
! made such IL pl tusiblo and sensational
article that New 70 k wa; terrified and
school that day. Lions, tigers and ele-
plants were represented as playing havoc
in the city. At the end of Il whole page Of
this stuff, preceded by eAormous head
lines was little paragraph stating that
all this might happen if the bars OF tho
cages of the animals Were not made
stronger" 1t was very cleverly gotten up
and contained many sly 20 iticnl nitS,
Governor Dix and Samuel j. TIlden, for
example, being repre- -euted as hunting
the tiger and bringing him to earth
These gentlemen ut that time were wagin4
war with Tammany Hall, which Mast. the
caricaturlst, represented rs tiger
The article, however, was rather damag-
ing to the Herdi", as it pointed ne
moral and adorned 10 tale, beng similar
to the exploit of Alcibiades, who, finding
that the public was neglecting him, cut OH
the tail of his dog and sent him bowling
through the streets, thereby giving tic
people something to say about the dog of
Alcibildes Harry did much pol ii a.
writing, and on one occasion, when ouly
doing piece work Oh the paper, was seat
over to Brooklyn to interview Tom Kin
sella, the noted politician and editor of
the Brooklyn Eagie Mr., Kinsella, see
ing that Harry looked somewhlt tired, re-
marked:
Perhaps, Mr.. O'Connor, it will save
time if you Will permit me to write ont
tn $ interview myself
Certainly, my dear Tom, was the
ready reply; don't condeuse; spread
yourself. Just remember I'm writing o /
space and am being paid by the column. "
This request must have caused IL Gym
zeal smile to spread over the features of
Tom, no was himself an editor and an
adept with the obliterating blue pencil in
cutting down copy.
Another bright Irishman was Stephen
Hayes, brother of the stenographeG of the
| United States Senate during the war. On
| one occasion Mr. Hayes was summoned
into tho severe presence of the senior
Bennett, who, with his strong Scotch
| face and cooked eye, had II most disin-
| heriting countenance.
Mr. Hayes" said the chief Il hear We
/ are sometimes in the habit of getting
| high
It's true, | sometimes do, Mr.. Ben
| nett, replied Hayes, in brisk, short ac-
! cent, but thin, sor, l niyer neglect me
| work"
That's right Mr.. Hayes, that's right
| I've seldom met n man of genius yet who
| wasn't III the habit of occasionally getting
high. But see that it don't interfere with
| your work.
HAYES returned to the reportorial- room
| and very injudiciously told the result OF
| his interview The effect was alarming.
| 1t completely demoralIled the establish
| ment, as those were hard drinking
| DAYS fCrcyeu the cattl c reporter and thos,