Wichita eagle., 1890-01-09
Yhe auithita aailu eagle ghnrsas Informing guap 1885,

bogus prominent citizens Sam SteeAes ene
same dear old Sam, (which nobody can
deny, deny, ison The Times Fred Cook is
the alnoner of aaNew York association Of
,niIhouaires, and goes about doing good at
so much per good The Goodalls ran The
New York Graphic, and one is dead. Eaton
writes plays Ridgiey is railroad magnate,
and has perhaps forgotten he was reporter.
Colebrook is dead Stanley Hunt1ey created
Mr.. Spoopendyke, the average Amegican
husband of the gentle woman, and is dead
What scenes and secrets have passed before
these menl They saw the fra 1t was their
ideas that lit the intellectual pyre which then
burned in the west 1t was they who piqued
the world with the wonder of Chicago. 1t was
they who made baseball, horse racing, parks,
grand openings, tumultuous applause, pro-
found sensation, cheers, anu cheers mingled
with misses. It was they who filed the house or
left it a hollow and sepulchral cavern: or,
what was worse, would not mention it at all
1t was they who created Chief Justice Ban
yon, Chief Justice Charlie O'Malley, Senator
Bob Hart, Alexis, Kalakaua, Andy johnson.
If we take Guy Magee at his early prime,
we shall have proud young man, estab-
hshed in handsome bachelor quarters over
looking the old court house, with piano and
library. Where he walked the Chicagoan
went before, making salaams- The conven-
ton to which he went was reported with a
skill that cannot be too highly praised. Men,
events and motions, all appeared to be at his
command For this service, probably SS5 a
week. Editors with less work and less ability
were earning 500.
If we take Johnny English, we have
human automaton. He reported the trial
of Professor Swing. l saw him one night
transcribing page 375 of his daily task. He
wrote about twenty-five words on the page,a
legible hand. If we take Fred Hall, we have
the man who rated for our greatest scholar.
All print was open to him. He has been wor-
SHIPPED by all the young men of one era Not
to burn perfume before the mighty genius Of
Fred Hall was to refuse the first offices of
the sacred function. l believe the praise was
righteous. There was wide gap between
Fred Hall and other scholars. He was both
learned and quick He enters his mature
years with a volume Of Chicago's history
such as is possessed by no other man. His
memoirs above all the reams in our local
writings, should be put in our civic corner
stone.
The average crack reporter appeared for
duty at noon. He received one or two as
signments then as now. His work was over
at midnight or at o'clock. He had no Sun-
day rest, for the sermons were then large
part of Mondays paper. Many preacher
who now hears the call of the Lord only
when it is SIC, 900 a year got his true anoint-
ment from the group | have mentioned. One
preachers name was dropped out of The
Tribune for fifteen years, and he never re-
couped. He drew the awful circle about The
Tribune, and advised the sheep of his pasture
to fee from Horace White. Hence part Of
the earth fell on that pastor. Had he attacked
all the papers he would never have outlived
his sorrow. The Mississippi poker player cut
off two fingers Of an opponent who was sig
mailing his hand. "If your pard had held a
jack full" said the amputator, wiping his
bowie knife, ''you wouldn't have had finger
left, dear boy!"
Intimacy with the affairs of men, small
pay, submission to a rapid cortege Of city
editors, hard work, and disappointment made
the profession of the trained reporter nearly
impossible, as may be seen by the record.
The man who today is dying to get in will
next year be scheming to get out. However,
hard as the lot has been, 1 cannot say that
the scribes were unfortunate A majority of
have lived to be in turn magnified and
stuffed with reportorial straw.
The reporter of today is less in love with
his art than was the reporter of the other
era. The reporter of today has already lived
to see the righteous forsaken and his seed
begging bread Assassins of character have
climbed to the top and the reporter who was
DESTROYED must seek the patronage Of the de-
/ No Slt n
room of the stuffed effigies and receive their
contumely If judge the class, the expert
enced reporter does not believe there is a
God in heaven or a devil under the earth.
OF all the creations of the reporters imagi-
nation, there is not one he loves or admires.
he has not even the satisfaction Of the novel
ist.
Some of the reporters of the day-John
Ehlert, German of the war of 1870, for In
stauce-continually astonish their contem-
poraries by the high degree of proficiency at
tanned in the art of attending meeting, con-
| structing the great men, retiring In medlas
res, and turning over written copy to the
printer for the earliest edition. The ancient
reporter, able as he was, could not do that
The paper in those days went TO press at . a
! IN. 1t is midnight now. Hence John Ehlert
| and the SharpShooUerS.
| Can we blame this unknown, unpromotable
! atlas of society if we know that he also car
ries an intellectual razor in his pockets ii
| people insult him, in the depths of their igno-
| rance, shall we not see the patience wial
! which he nurses his wrongs
Did ever a wound sting sharper than the
! thrust the ignorant will some day receives
| Out of the history of these reprisals comes the
fear in which the working reporter is held.
| He marches past doorkeeper, sexton, janitor
and private secretary, requiring only to be
! known. He gets his seat in front He wishes
! it were through. He is the only disinterested
person in the house, yet he often is the only
/ friend of the performance. / know of preach
! ers, actors and actresses whom the good re
| porters should have slain twenty years ago.
! JOHN MCGogERA.
POINTS r,c nusban0s.
Do not jest with your wife upon
subject in which there is danger OF
wounding her feelings. Remember that
| she treasures every word you utter,
though you never think of it again. Dc
! not speak of some virtue in another
mans wife TO remind your own of a
/ fault. Do not reproach your wife with
personal defects, for, if she has sensi
/ bility, you inhict q wound difficult tC
/ heal Do not treat your wife with in.
/ attention in company. Do not upbraid