The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1889-03-30
SALARIES OF EDITORS.

Some OF the Men who Have Drawn Prizes
I'm the Journalistic Lottery.
II think every young man and
woman in this town wants to go into
journalism"
The speaker was one of the best
known managing editors in New York
city, and he passed his hand over his
troubled brow as he spoke.
II get about forty applications per
day from men and women who want to
become journalists and the proprietor
OF this paper gets twice as many more.
A young man whom / know to be
making 500 q week in the dry goods
business came to me this morning and
offered to work for $25 per week as a
reporter. 1t makes me trife weary.
Ii these young men and women knew
how many blanks there are in this lot
terry and how few prizes drawn they
would quit
This managing editor was in bad
humor, but he was all right as to facts.
There isn't newspaper Office in town
that isn't flooded with applications for
work. The prizes in New York jour-
nalism are few. You are reasonably
sure OF drawing blank pretty nearly
every time. There are more than 1000
Aard-working newspaper men in New
York City. Outside of their own Offices
and the New York Press Club, not a
dozen of them are known to the general
public. Those'who are known outside
OF New York could almost be counted
upon the fingers OF single hand.
The men who have drawn prizes can
not themselves tell how they did it.
All they know is that they started at
the bottom and got there somehow.
Three of the brightest working news
paper men in New York to-day-and,
singularly enough, their proper names
begin with the same letter 'sC''-John
A. Cockerill, Amos Cummings, and
Foster Coates, started from the printers
case. The latter, just about the timo
when his trade was learned, and whilo
still boy, was insulted by superior,
and in an unconscious but happy mo-
ment. threw about a pound of lead typo
in his face. He was discharged, be-
came rerorter. and is now leading
managing editor.
When asked the other day how he
came to succeed he said laughingly:
~ hardly know, but think that hand,
full of type did it,"
This is not intended to encourage
printers devils to throw type around,
but as an illustration.
Charles A. Dana is perhaps the most
famous of the men who have drawn
prizes. As editor of the Sun he draws
salary of $25. 900 per year and from
other sources his income is swelled to
about 100000 per year, upon which
he manages to live very comfortably,
aided by French cook whose income
is bigger than that of Congressman.
Dana began on the New York Tribune
at salary of SIP per week. He started
in small way from town in the inte-
rior of Ohio.
Joseph Pulitzer, of the World, is said
20 clear $1,000 per day. He is not a
working journalist now. but not many
years ago he was an ordinary reporter
in St. Louis, and they say he was a
hustler, too.
Whitelaw Reid, as matter of form,
draws salary of some $4,000 per
year from the Tribune, but his income
from his stock in the paper is several
times this amount, and he is the SON.
in-law OF ID. o. Mills. These are about
the only editors-in-chief who are
known outside of New York. There
are three or four more who draw good
salaries, but they are not known to the
general public.
John A. Cockerillis one of the work
ing managing editors and newspaper
men and draws a salary of SIS, 900 pei
year from the World and has an inter.
est in it besides. Cockerill was type
and fought his way up from the ranks,
Amos Cummings is said to have ar
income Of $4,000 per year. He was
a compositor and private in the
Union army during the rebellion. and
he. too, came from the bottom up Il
where he is now.
Chester A. Lord, the managing editor
OF the Sun, has salary of $500 pei
year. He started on small paper II
the interior of the State and had Il
work hard for success. But he is LITTLE
known outside of New York.
George F. Spinney, as managing
editor OF the New York Times, has |
salary of about 81, 900 per year. Blu
he has been Woodworking journals