Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-21
A WHITE HOUSE LIST.
The Utterances of Those Who Attack
the Administration Are
KEPT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.
Scrap Books Are Now All the Style at the
National Capital.
SOME OF THE NEW METHODS EMPLOYED

men preserve the paragraphs about them
selves which are sent to them by the news
paper bureaus in New York; department
chiefs preserve the articles referring to sub
jects within their official scope; and news
paper correspondents seize every scrap which
NAV bear on cotemporaneous events or
describe the personal peculiarities or odd
adventures of men in public life. So general
has this scrap collecting become that there
is great competition 10 devise system which
will preserve the clippings in the most COM
pact form, well indexed, for ready reference.
The clumsy scrapbook has been almost
entirely shelved. 1 know only one man
who maintains a scrap collection of any
magnitude who adheres to it. He is
William Eleroy Curtis, author of 1.-The
Capitals of Spanish America" now acting
as agent of the State Department in guiding
the delegates to the Pan-American Congress
about the country on a tour of inspection.
Mr.. Curtis has so many interests that it is
impossible for him to memorize, for future
use, the facts he meets in daily reading.
As he goes through his papers, therefore, he
marks here and there an article which he
wishes to have preserved.
An assistant goes over the papers and
CLIPS luS udThSO dIllCACs, hhASh hS poSVSS
together in a long ribbon. To this ribbon
he adds every day, until it forms heavy
roll Then at regular periods, he takes
down the scrapbook, and, cutting the rib
bon into lengths" pastes it in the gummed
columns of the book. As soon as a book is
filed, it is indexed and laid aside. Mr..
Curtis has now a very ponderous and com
plete collection of the writings of every
prominent newspaper correspondent who
81, 1,r&
years as we'll as articles of interest, almost
without number, concerning distinguished
men and women in every part of the. world.
QUITE THE CUSTOM.
To the casual reader it might seem like
plagiarism to accuse Mr.. Curtis and other
newspaper writers here of using the con-
tents OF other peoples letters in making up
their own. But it is quite the custom, and
it can hardly be called bad custom either.
Washington letters, like fashions in dress,
run in cycles. At regular intervals the
leading daily newspapers publish descrip-
tioGs OF the Bureau of Engraving and Print
ing, the Patent Office, the interior of the
Executive Mansion, the money vaults In
the Treasury Department and other places
which every tourist who comes to Washing
ton visits. Some OF these articles may be
entirely original; most of them are original
in part.
The correspondent, who has preserved
several letters on the same subject, can,
when opportunity offers, combine the in
formation they contain in an effective way,
and with spice of cotemporRneous fact
added, can make a most palatable dish.
The information which be appropriates is
all to be obtained at first hand if he chooses
to seek it; it is regarded as common prop
erty. He does no one an injustice in ap-
propriating it for even the newspaper
reader who, perhaps, devoured another
article on the same topic year ago with |
avidity, recognizes no familiar ingredient |
in the dish that is set before him to-day.
The newspaper reader glances over his |
paper so hurriedly that what he sees there |
makes little permanent impression on him. |
OF course no correspondent can afford to be- |
come entirely "scrapbook writer He
loses originality of expression and becomes
dull and prosy. But every good letter
writer in Washington depends more or less
on his scrap-collection. One of the best
known writers of a few years ago used to
say to 7. c. Crawford, another well-known |
letter writer: 81 keep all of your letters.
and whenever run short of "reminiscences,
fall back on them"
CARPENTERS COLLECTION.
Frank G. Carpenter, the correspondent /
whose recent tour of the world mas made |
him famous on both sides of the globe, has |
a very large and very complete scrap collec-
tion. Carpenter is great believer in pub
fishing facUs rather than comment or criti-
cism. He thinks that the newspaper reader
is usually prepared to make his own COM
ments. His letters, therefore, bristle with
facts, pungently put. Whenever a CON-
bination of political conditions brings man
into the strong, white light of publicity,
Carpenter is ready for his readers with de-
scription and anecdote of him, gathered
from personal observation and from prior,
long forgotten publications.
Two years ago he wrote a most interesting
series of articles on the rich men of this coun-
try. They were the result of a careful col
lation OF every interesting fact about these
men published in the daily press for many
years. To the facts thus obtained were
added many that Carpenter had gathered
from personal contact with these men. The
articles were of absorbing interest AS far
as the newspaper reader knew they were en-
tirely original, and they were certainly of
more value historically than they would
have been had Carpenter relied upon per-
sonal experience for his material.
Mr.. Carpenter has adopted the enyelope
system of scrap collection. All of his clip
pings are folded and placed in envelopes.
which are appropriately inscribed. num-
bered and indexed. In addition to his
scrap collection, Mr.. Carpenter has a yalu-
able library containing many books of gen.
eral reference.
A WORK OF YEARS.
The prize scrap collection of Washington.
and one of the finest in the United States
is that Of E. B. Wight Mr.. Wight's col
lection has cost him about S15, 900 in cash
and labor expended. He would not part
with 1t at the most extravagant figure.
though, for 1t is the realization of a scheme
of 10 years ago, achieved by the exercise of
much effort and ingenuity. For many
years Mr.. Wight employed a man and boy,
whose chief duty it was to clip, index and
arrange his newspaper scraps. He SUBJ
scribed for great many newspapers which
were not on his exchange list. Every day
he would sit down with a pile of news
papers beside him and go through them
quickly but carefully.
Every article that seemed of value or in
terest was marked with blue pencil, and the
paper was thrown to the assistant. who. |
with shears in hand, sat readvto Gull the
fruit of Mr.. Wight's labor. When all of
the papers had been read Mr.. Wight took
the clippings and marked on the back of
each the catch word under which he wanted !
1t indexed. The appropriate title was then |
pasted on each, and it was classified under
one of the principal subjects into which all
of the clippings were divided.
THE METHODS PURSUED.
If 1t related indirectly to any other gen.
eral subject, it was cross-indexed TO that
subject on a card which was filed TO repre-
sent it in the other division Mr. WIGHT