St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-03-22
WESTERN JOURNALISM.


WeSJe0N OOOHUA1uOWs
do Mining Town.
| In the winter Of lSS4-5 was manag.
ing editor, city editor and the entire
| reportortal corps of . little daily
paper in . Colorado mining town. We
also had three printers, business man.
ager and IN Office boy, who acted a
mailing clerk and carrier. The business
manager filled in his leisure time run.
ming . cattle ranch and coal mine.
The town had boon" year or two
before, but the boom was gone and the
place was left with two daily newspa.
pers and hardly business for one week.
~. 1t was hard shedding. Associated
Press dispatches were out of the ques.
tion. We had to depend upon the Den
yer papers, which reached US the same
evening, for our telegraphic news. Our
readers didn't like this, Of course, but il
was the best we could do. and as we
were all holding on like grim death for
the return of the ''boom," which was al.
ways six months ahead Of US, nobody
cared to say too much.
But occasionally the trains got showed
up on the Pass for . week or more, and
then we were in box. On one of these
occasions we hadn't had . mail for four
days, and things were looking blue.
There wasn't any local news to speak
of. The business manager suggested a
chapter from the Bible with scare
head. He thought it would be news out
there, and I guess he was right.
The town had gas and water-works
and big hotel as reminders OF its de.
parted boom, and it also had telephone
line which connected with another little
town thirty miles further up in tho
mountains, on branch Of the same rail
road. The telephone in the station
thirty miles away was connected every
night with the one in our Office before
the central ofice closed, SO that in case
Of an accident in the mines we could get
the news.
Several times, while using this tele-
phone, had noticed that, late at night
when all was still, the clicking of the
telegraph instrument in the station up
in the mountains could be distinctly
heard over the wire. This suggested an
idea. The railroad wire was used IS .
news wire late at night If we had any
body with an ear acute enough to read
that faint ticking in the telephone in
strument we could learn what was GO
ing on over the wires. The business
manager had been an operator, and
good one, back in the States. He tried
the instrument and found that the
scheme would work. The next morn
ing we had column Of specials
including two or three items of Wash
ington news, which were of special in
terest just then, as every second man in
the town was q candidate for some Of
6ce under the incoming administration.
The editor Of the rival paper rushed
to the telegraph Office to inquire what
it meant He was told that we had re.
ceived nothing over the wire. With
the train showed up on top Of the Pass
taking" from the Denver papers was
out Of the question. Yet there were
the dispatches, and Enthusiastically genu.
inc, too. The wires had been tapped,
that was certain. but where, when, how?
The railroad people ordered an investi-
cation. but discovered nothing. No
body thought Of the clicking instrument
in the closed railroad statior thirty
miles away and the marvellous carrying
power Of the telephone in that clear,
still mountain air.
Our brother editor on the rival sheet
thought it was dead, cold fake" but
he was afraid to say too much about it.
Is he had run out Of paper and we had
him 1t our mercy, at least until a trai1
got in. OF course the secret was jealA
ously guarded in the Office, but the
specials" were kept up until the train
got through. Then we quit The busi-
ness manager was conscientious man,
and didn't believe in stealing news when
it could be obtained in any other way.
Besides. he objected to the work.-Cor
N. Y. World.