The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-08-18

hoWsve that it may not matera4lze INTO
anything Of more than ordinary lmpor lance
so he must be prepared for either conIlh-
gency. Ah. here comes other add 70
the II US of Commons. There may De
more than half a dozen of them before IN
night is through and the debate l, already
showing signs Of more than usual terest-
Is drift a incidents must be kept care
fully in mi d, for they must be emOo LED
at a la hour in brief and expressive
display head.
Meanwhile, all sorts of items, on all con-
ceivab subj cts. are coming in. They
must all be edited and sent to TIE com oSi-
tor. and the work must be done without
the slightest waste of time. There may be
twenty long dispatches which come IN from
three TO six installments, and over each
installment e TELEGRAPH editor must write
an add line" Tor indication head1 which
shall be guide to the foreman in making up
the forms and enable him TO put everything
4.l,s proper place.
As tue night ad tances the pace gets more
rapid. There Is a food Of news and the
strument ticks sat increasing speed.
Many item are given t. the comp sitor
without heads, brief add line'" being
placed over each one, for the sake OF iden-
flea ion later on. 1t is not lways possible
70 determine on the instant their relative
Importance OF the length to which they
may grow Meantime the telegr pm editor
is mentally planning his LAY out"-that Is,
the arrangement of his page, the display
heads, the double heads ald single eads
Sprinkled through the night are ais
special dispatches from country c)rresp n
dents, and at certain times in the year from
nat onal ard state capitals These as a rule,
require very careful editing. They may
contain Objectionable matter or discreet
expressions and are frequently marred by
crudti IS of STYLE and even erro in gram
mar. Some of them NAV be corrected by a
few m lrks of the pencil Others have to be
entirel rewritten. These special dis
patche' intermingled with the flow from
the re sular press wire, make the telegraph
editor realize what it is to hustle"
A national or state convention always
involv IS a night of toll. There are cOrrec-
ito s, adds, " inserts substitutions, ana
allm er of changes sent from time to time
4utIng the night. These won d be bewild-
ering If the telegraph editor permitted HIM
self TO become disconnected. But he must
keep his heAdn and be master of the stua-
ton. He must have firm hand on all the
strings and bring order out of chaos.
AS tho hour of goi e to press approaches
ne must have his "lay out" ready for the
foreman who makes up the for us, and must
be prepared to answer on theinstant any
question as to the proper place for this or
that speech, res Tuition, committee or no nj
nation. he type is scattered around on
twenty different galeys, and the forem an
is in a hurry, possibly nervous and cross.
There is no time for deliheratiol. Every
thing must be done with the utmost promo
titude, for there is an extra large editio
print, and the forms must go to press as
early as possible. All this time the tele-
graph editor must keep on jos trot from
the imposing stone to his own desk, for the
Instru nent Is clicking at break neck speed,
and fresh sheets of copy must be edited,
marked with appropriate add lihes," aad
run outn without a moments delay. And
if, as is often Q case, the telegraph editor
has to read his own proofs, it may De rightly
concluded that his hands and head are full
to Overlooking
In the morning the readers of the Boomer
see no evidence Of the toll or trouble. Tney
expect an orderly and seqlential accou 1t of
the work of the co ventlon whose acti IN
they have been anxilusly Waiting and thev
general get it. Tney also look and, as a
rule, ind tr lstwOrt reports Of the latest
| railway accident, a great food waich IS ca
| red death its path, a tor rad 1000 miles
| distant, a list of appointments by the p~es-
dent, and election of officers by some sacret
society-a score of other events in which
they have personal or gen
eral interest. But few real
ize the labor the pains, the anxiety ana he
strain involved in cove ing q whoe field,
and the same ii ne performing the task With
rapidlty and accuracy.
Perpl kites often present themselves in
the shape of a sudden rush of advertise
| me Is, or lengthy piece of local news,
either Of which may make inroads on the
! space for telegraph matter. In such ca es
| many spatcaes must be elected, and to
make Instant and wise choice Of what to
| print aud what to discard,
requires at times a very nice exer-
Csc of judgment. But duh night is most
TO b. dreaded There NAV be "trouble on
| the wire,n ne cessitating suspension of ork
| for two or three hours, or there may be a
| dearth of news Considerable ingenuity is
| required at such times to give the telegra phi
| page semblaa ce of freshness and interest,
| and though the experienced editor has re-
sources which enable him to accom- liSh
| this result with far degree of success, the
| situation Is annoying. Far preferable is
| the ny night, when the rush begins early
and continues late, when every nerve is
strained to keep up with the pace, when the
hand, eye and brain are kept on the Jump
The telegraph editor must be well in
formed reg ding the names of all promi-
| ment people, the project with which they
are Identified, their political or other
affiliations, and he special work in which
they may he from time to tims engaged
| 110 must nave u COupTele iSiN6 hnOWIe1ge
of politics, both domestic d foreign, and
a general detailed stock of information
on all subjects of current interest He must
have a keen eye for blunderS or iucoA isten-
cies in the dis Iatch.s wAich he receives,
and he prompt to co rect them or oOta n
corrections from the central office Of mis-
news associa ion. He is fcequsltly Gale.
| upon BY tue edirOr-in-I hief for facts rega i.
ing passing events and the Iyinys an do
| in M Ran tIsif ri 4
often made upon him for edlJori Al writ x
to which he is expected to respond wit
alacrty and cheerfulnesS, even thou n hi,
nightly battle with the new is sulficen
tax on the laboring capacity of any on,
man.
AS to pays Well, the salary is not munif
cent, but the Telegraph desk Is LOOK upoI
as the stepping tone TO al editorial, chair
|, and it generally proves to be sucn. if til,
labors are performed efficiently faithful,
and cons lentlo JsIy. Tue re ward may bt
, Ing IN )mlng, bud the outlook is a spur {
ambitio and energy. Ho Never, this is
side issue. Enough has be II said, perh ips
. to make IL apparent that mig t with tn
news IS a busy night - night full of ankle
4 hes, Response bllitles and critical Juuctures-
p a night in wh.cn attention to detail, a CON
a preheuslve view Of the 81 .uation, and tx
T. actless of performance are iAdiepsnSablt
= requisites in the WORK to be d ne
But this Is onl' one phase of newspape
= life. Every department teens with slles
activity. The city editor must cover nj