Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1890-11-12
AN ENGLISH Editor.
something About Editor Stead Of til,
Pail Mall Gazette.


Pail Mall Gazette.
In England the editor Of a news
paper has no such interesting personal
ity as he has here. Nobody takes the
slightest interest in hilG No matter
what the influence or C.4Sr1la;ion of a
journal, the name of the editor is rare
ly asked for. The two notable ex-
ceptions, who prove this rule, are Sir
Edwin Arnold, of the Daily Telegraph,
and W. L. Stead, of the Pail Mall Ga-
zette. Of these two, Stead is by far
the most notorious, for he has the
most striking personality. The Pail
Mall Gazette is the one sensational
daily of London, and many q senss-
ton II has made. One of them landed
Stead in prison and fame. "That was
everything to me-everything TO me-"
be was wont to say in his nervous,
rapid way. "Why, do you know, q
woman told me that she and a lot of
other women way off on the Cape of
Good Hope used to have a prayer
meeting for me every day. Since then
Stead has never dropped below the
public horizon for more than a week
at time. No one gave such attention
to the Msybric case, or managed TO
gather SO many little interesting items
of sensational interest regarding il.
No one keeps such a sharp look out on
public events, or moral lapse; no one
makes so mach of his material, or SO
arouses public scorn and sense of JUS
tice.
A man of social standing who finds
himself on the verge of being impli-
Gated in an unsavory scandal, thinks
shiveringly of the Pail Mall Gazette,
before he does of the witness stand.
Stead has a motive in sensationalism
aside from love of notoriety and the
sale Of his paper. He is a religious
man, fanatically so, and is powerfully
impressed with the idea that he has
mission in life. That mission is tn ex-
pose sin and promote virtue, an he
"mAkes for righteousness" TO quote
his own pet expression, for all he is
worth His energy and enterprise are
phenomenal. No celebrity living has
ever put his or her foot in England
without being interviewed by Stead,
and there are few in Europe whom he
has not managed TO meet some time or
other. He may never print these in
terylews, he may stow them away in q
room kept for the purpose, but sooner
or later they have their value. He
works ten hours a day. The first to
reach his Office, he is the last 10 leave
1t, and during that time he superin-
tends every article that goes into his
paper, writes every leader, reads and
replies TO a correspondence which flows
N EaT of OIL
Vulnerable visitors.
In appearance he is short, wiry,
active, with a fine head, and bright,
restless, china-blue eyes. When a visitor
is shown into his private office in the
little alley off the Strand, he makes a
grab for his hand and rattles along
with such volubility, darting from one
subject to another, haranguing, preach
ing, LAYING down the law, advising,
reproving, that the bewildered visitor
forgets his errand-which is probably
what Stead intends. All the time his
blue eyes dart needles right into ones
very soul. Stead thus knows his man,
without being obliged to her him talk.
Suddenly he springs to his feet, grabs
your hand again, and, when he is in
one of his more inexplicable moods,
bursts into peal after peal of laughter,
which echoes after you as you grope
through the labyrinthine corridors, as
you stumble down the rotting stair
ease, and into the narrow little street.
1t is reported that Stead will sever his
connection with the Pail Mall Gazette
In the spring, come to this country,
study American journalism and return
to London to establish a paper whose
Idea, original with himself, will sssur-
edly be like no other of which the
world has ever dreamed.