The Delta independent., 1890-03-18
AN ENGLISH JOURNALIST.
w. T. Stead of the Pail Mall Gazette
--He Has American Ideas - Phe-
! nomenal Energy.

w. T. Stead of the Pail Mall Gazette
--He Has American Ideas - Phe-
homenal Energy.
In England the editor IL news
paper has no such interesting person.
ality as he has here. No matter what
the Influence or circulation of jour
nal, the name of the editor is rarely
asked for. The two notable excep-
tions, who prove this rule, are Sir Ed
win Arnold, of the Daily Telegraph,
and w. L. Stead, of the Pail Mall Gar
zcttc. OF these two, Stead Is by far
the moro notorious, for he has the
more striking and eccentric perscnali-
ty. The Pail Mall Gazette is
the one sensational daily Of. Lon
don, and many sensation it has
made. One of them landed Stead in
prison and fame. eThat was every
thing to me-cyerything to me-" he is
wont to say in his nervous, rapid way.
"Why, do you know, woman
told me that she ard lot of
other women way of ea the Cape of
Good Hope used to have prayer
meeting for me every day"
Since then stead has never dropped
below inc pub)ir horizon for more than
a week ct time. No one gave such
attention to the Maybrick case, or
managed to gather so many little items
of sensational interest regarding It.,
No one keeps such a sharp look out on
public events, or moral lapse; no one
makes SO much of his material, or
so arouses public scorn and sense of
justice. A man of social standing who
finds himself on the verge of being i'm
plica.ed IN an unsavory scandal, thinks
shiveringly OF. the Pail Mall Gazette,
before he does of the witness stand.
Stead has motive In sensationalism
aside from ioFe of noioriety and the
sale Of his paper. He is religious
man, fanatically SO, and is powerfully
impressed with the idea that he has a
mission in life.
That mission is to expose sin and
promote virtue, and he 'tmakes 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 man.
aged to meet at some time or other.
He may never print these Interviews,
he may stow them away in room
kept fer the purpose, but sooner or
loter they have their value. lie works
ten hours day. The first to reach
his office, he is the last to leave it, and
during that time he superintends every
article that goes into his paper, writes
every leader, reads and replies to a
correspondence which flows in like
waves of air, and receives innumerable
visit ors.
In appearance he is short, wiry,
active, with fine head, and bright,
restless, china-blue eyes. When a
visitor is shown into private office in
the little alley of the Strand, he makes
grab for his hand and rattlescalong
with such volubility, darting from one
subject to another, haranguing, preach
ing, laying down the law. advising. re-
proving, that the bewildered visitor
forgets his errand--which is probably
what Stead intends. All the time his
blue eyes dart needles right in'o ones
very soul. Stead thus knows his man,
without being obliged to hear him talk.
Suddenly he springs to his feet,
grabs your hand again, and, when
he is in one of his more inexplicablc
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 staircase. 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 journal
ism, and return to London to establish
paper whose idea, original with
himself, viii assuredly be like no other
of which The world has ever dreamed.
A Romantic Story.