Wichita eagle., 1890-01-30
How an EnterErising Business Manager
Got His Specials for Nothing.

How an EnterErising Business Manager
Got His Specials for Nothing.
In the winter of 1SS4-s5 was managing
editor, city editor and the entire reportorial
corps of little daily paper in Colorado
mining town. We aisoahad three printers, a
| business manager and an Office boy, who act
| ed as mailing clerk and carrier. The business
manager filled in his leisure time running a
| cattle ranch and coal mine.
| The town had ''boons'' year or two be-
| fore, but the ''boom" was&gone and the place
was left with two daily newspapers and hard
ly business for one weekly 1t was hard sled
ding Associated Press dispatches were out
of the question. We had to depend upon the
Denver papers, which reached us the same
evening, for our telegraphic news. Our read
ers didn't like this, of course, but it was the
best we could do and as we'were all holling
on like grim death for the return of the
boom" which wassahYays six nonthsahead
of u.s. nobody cared tossay too much
But occasionally thestrains got showed up
on the Pass for a weekior more, and then-we
were in a 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. Therbusiness manager sug-
gested chapter fromtheBible with ''scare"
head. He thought it would be news outthere,
and | guess he was right
The town had gas and water works and
big hotel as reminders of its departed boom,
and it also had telephone line which con-
nected with another little town, thirty miles
further up in the mountains, on q branch of
the same railroad The telephone in the sta
ton thirty miles away was connected every
MIC with ha in off haf fJ,a
central Office closed, SO that in case of an ac-
cident in the mines wescould get the news
Several times, winnie using this telephone, I
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 as a
news wire late at night. If we had anybody
with an ear acute enough to read that faint
ticking in the telephone instrument we could
learn what was going on overthe wires. The
business manager had been an operator, and
good one, back in the States He tried the
instrument and found that escheme would
work. The next morning we had column
of specials" including two or three items of
Washington news which were of special in
terest just then, as every-second man in the
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 received 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 genuine, too.
The wires had been tapped, that was certain,
but where, when, howe The railroad people
ordered an investigation, but discovered
nothing. Nobody thought Of the clicking
instrument in the closed railroad station
thirty miles away and the marvellous carry
ing 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, as ne
had run out of paper and we had him at our
mercy, at least until train got in. Of
course the secret was jealousy guarded in [
the Office, but the specials" were kept up
until the tram got through Then we quit.
The business manager was a conscientious |
man, and didn't believe in stealing news when |
it could be obtained in any other way. Be- |
sides, he objected to do the work--M G. N. |
in New York World.