St. Paul daily globe., 1889-05-13
Writers on Local Topics Who
! Use the Newspapers
! Often.
Some Well-Known Men Given
/; to Airing Their Opin-
I ions.
"Pro Bono Publico," "Citizen'
: and the Rest Of
G Them.
Newspaper Experiences With
. Valued Correspondents
l and Their Writings.


just at this time when every man and
woman who knows anything about syn
tax, and several who do not, are writing
to the papers to defend or upbraid Tom
Lowry, it may be of interest to specu-
late OH the rise and fall of the Ameri-
can correspondent. However he got
his start in life he is here, and here he
means to stay.
There are two general classes of
newspaper respondents-those who
have advice to give and those who have
questions to ask. The, latter cover a
wider range individually, taking in all
classes of society, from the man who
wants to know how deep the ocean is
off Newfoundland banks to the girl
who is not sure on which finger the en-
gagement ring should be worn. The
other class is composed mostly of old
Office at some time and feel
an. intense personal responsibility
for the entire government ever
afterwards. Or they are old settlers
who see OF think they see the cOmmu-
nifty going to the dogs, and want to beat
the CANNES out of their prey. Some
times they are antiquarianS, simple, hon.
est and without malice. At other times
the correspondents an interested party,
and beneath a thin veil of philanthropy
the horns of scheme stick out. All
are more or less afflicted with vanity.
They like to see their names in print,
and to carry the paper round the neigh
borhoOd, and perhaps run for street
commissioner OH the reputation of hav-
ing fostered some much-needed reform.
ONE OF THE FINEST OF EXAMPLES
of the antiquarian was an old gentle
man who bored the morning papers for
a month with communication about
''The Old Red School House," The
managing editor of the first paper read
it and saw it was of no earthly interest,
and turned it over to the city editor with
instructions to run all abstract. The
city editor fired it back at the man
aging editor, the managing editor
lost it. Then the author began
to make daily trips to learn why it
was not printed The managing editor
cwas never in, and he would catch re-
porter and give him prOlix history of
the writing and delivery OF the manu-
script and ask him to tell the managing
editor he wanted it back. Five times
he visited the Office on this errand, ,once
climbing the stairs, without obtaining
All correspondents are not so labOrious-
ly useless. A communication from Doc
Ames on Bill King, OF from Bill King
on Doc Ames was in the
early days of this republic con-
sidered as good news as a fire
or burglary. Few people who read
Ames' letter addressed to "Bills King
and Washburn' but got an enlarged
idea of the capacity of the English Ian
guage. Old Thaumaturgus before he
beat Philo Remington welded the pen
of the ready writer, and could have
given Junius cards and spades aud
beaten him. -.
SOME. wELL-KNOwN CORRESPONDENTS
Then there was thatspirit of the vastly
deep n. T.. Hauser. What has become
Eof the ancient OF days, with his long,
s.laEk, weird-lOoking manuscripts that
drove the printers to strong drink and
the editors toisuicide?
His brother in the trade, Judge N. ii.
Hemiup, is still with us, however. He
writes very little now, though, and his
lurid opinions about the Dog Star are
sadly missed.
Joel Bassett is more of speech
maker than writer. He sits upon the
'.opposition bench"- of the board of
trade in the attitude of Norfolk squire
in the s'Ouse," and discusses every
thing from Canadian reciprocity to local
retrenchment, but he spares the papers.
The old boys are passing away, but
new generation is rising up to take
their places. c. j. Buell. is one of the
shining lights of the new era. He has
written by measurement ]. 1.235 inches of
Int fCf ft,rar NSnt, hov
printed at a cost in composition of not
less than $3.50, besides the wear and
tear OH editorial brains answering them.
And still Mr.. Buell. is as fresh as a
daisy.
Another letter-writer who seems to
have bottomless nk-horn is w. G. FL.
Smart, whose reformatOry ideas are ex-
emplified always in open letters.
1t is seldom G.. A. Pillsbury signs
communication, but when lie does he
nails lie and peels the bark off wher-
ever the shot strikes.
Ed Stevens cOmposes in flowing
style of thought and says cutting things
that bite and sting.
Rev. Edwin Sidney Williams COM
munications read like an extract from
st. Nicholas Magazine.
Elder Stewards fine Italian hand
New Testament OH postal card, but
lie prefers to write secular notices for
retraction on his pOstals.
The eminent labor agitatOrS, j. p.
McGaughey and I. H. Lucas. are
not writing to the papers so often now.
but the vox populi season has hardly
begun.
John Swift has not favored his con-
stituents with an address since the
court house commission got to work.
He used to write to the Journal, Offer
ing to do the foundation If Erickson got
the job to nail the joists together and
put on the frame work of the court
house.
The Wilson-De: :Laittre correspondence
over the latter'S criticisms of the park
for DE Laittre.
!. Judge Donohue's promised letter on
the Barrett trial has not yet appeared
in any of the 'spublic prints" 1t is
possible he means to evade his duty.
THE OTHER CLASS OF CORRESPONDENTS
have no thought of advancing the car
of civilization by any exertions of their
own. The people who write to the
newspapers to ask for answers to CO.
nundrums are generally lazy indi- |
yidyals who don't want to do the |
work of research for themselves. Pre-
facing their requests with the apollo
getic remark, ITO settle bet will you
answer through your valuable columns,
etc." they perpetrate the most hesrt-
rending puzzles and are indignant if |
the answer does not appear the next |
morning. When the colleges of jour-
nalism get their curriculum set up in
stead of having the students jerk logar-
s&l \
a few sample questions like these:
How big was Alexander?
How deep is the Atlantic halfway |
between two given points?
What is the difference between |