The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-06-13
TRIBE Of |NTERWEWERS.
Roundly Denounced Without Dis
elimination by Mr.. Henry Wat
terson, Of Louisville.
Ably Defended by Mr. j. B. Mo
Culla0h, One of the Ablest
of Them.
The Philosophy OF interviewing Well Set
overwhelmingly Experience With
President Andrew johnson.

AAA SSSs -
army Of intsrviewers. at whose hands he
has suffered spoilation of word and thought.
They have mixed him all up on several i'm
portant topics, including Mr.. Cleveland
and free coinage. According to his own
showing they have almost made him appear
to have Tilted the stsr-eyed goddess of re-
form to WOO with all the ardor of his ardor-
GUS nature the painted harlot of protection,
writes Mr.. ]. b. McCullsgh in the Globe
Democrat. Where there is SO much anger
there must be cause, at least, for a little
displeasure. and it is easy to conceive how,
in the multitudinous interviews to which
Mr.. Watterson has been subjected, he may
have more han once been the victim Of
rsportorial incapacity. But he is not con-
tent with ~denouncing the individual re-
porters who have represented him to an as
tonished world as waverinR in his loyalty to
Cleveland, giving out uncertain sounds on
the silver question, or failing in opinion
as to the blessings of free trade. He insists
upon abolishing the whole business Of
interviewing, or else reforming it altogether
by supplementing the interviewer with the
p~honograph. He has come to the oonclu-
sion that "the best intentioned and the
most intelligent reporter cannot take down
the thought Of another, except by the
photographic process, with any hope Of
exactitude."
Substitute in the above quotation the
word words for the word "thought,' and
MI. Watterson is correct. But the true
object of an interview should be ideas and
opinions, and not words, and the proper
ton of ideas to words in the average per-
- iOtorvSapvAA IN this rNrrfrv 10 MIGHTY
small. Why not apply the Photographic
idea TO the reports of congress. and print
each day in the papers, instead of a two
column condensation, the whole 1OO-column
report of the Congressional Record?
Does Mr.. Watterson know what phono-
graphic interviews would mean in their re-
latien to newspaper space? A man who
will utter 1870 words a minute in q public
speech will speak at nearly twice that rate
OF speed in the conversational tons OF an
interview, or at the rate of about nine col
umng an hour. What newspaper wants to
print oven a half hours interview at this
rate? The good interviewer is the man
who can listen to all this, expel from it the
carbonic acid gas of verbosity. and present
it to his readers in an entertaining way,
careful to retain all the ideas of the party
interviewed, the same as If he had been
sent to Condensa q six column lecture int o
a column of space. OF course there are
few reporters wko can make a good synop-
sis of a six-column lecture, and that is why
there are rev good interviewers How
experiment in chemistry failed to ma
t~erislize to his satisfaction: 1.-The expert
ment fails. but .the principal remains"
One Of my interviews with President
johnson was sufficiently out of the regular
order of things to be worthy Of mention now
for the FIRST tune, 1t escaped the record
because it was a thing of action rather than
Of words-lt was the doing of somsthing
rather than the saying of something. The
president sent a messenger in a hack one
night, requesting me to come to the White
house Immediately. / was there very soon.
swearing as he paced. "Well,'' said he, II
don't know what these id ~scoundrels
tmeaning the impeaohers) will do ne xt."
Then he turned to mo and asked if / KIN CIV
Senator -. "Oh, yes" l replied, 'he
boards at the Seaton house. and I see him
nearly every day at meal times, except when
he is on q bender, which happens quite fire.
quently." CHATS the very point I am
coming to-" said the president. II am
told on the best authority that these fell
lows (meaning the impeachers) hired a man
the other day to go to his room and rep
vino and liquor importers anxious to get
some change in the tariff on these articles;
but in fact his mission was to get him tSen-
ator - to accept some samples of brandy
and whisky, SO as to start him on q spree,
'et him to appear ON the floor of the SEN
ate while drunk, and then expel him and
take a vote on impeachment before his sue
csssor could take his seat After denounc-
ing this infamous scheme in unmeasured
terms, the president asked me if | thought
/ conld do anything with Senator - if 1
happened to come across him while he was
on one of his sprees. I reminded the presi-
dent that there was already pending in the
senate a resolution for the expulsion of
Senator -, which had been offered by
Mr.. Sumner and which was only held in
allegiance on promise of reformation. 1t
was liable to be called up on any occasion
created by the senator's conduct. 1.-The
best thing to do ;" said l, sis to have
somebody instructed to let me know the
moment Senator - appears at the Capitol
under the influence of liquor. | think i car
get hin home very easily, because he is al
ways very dOcile with me when he is tipSy
He ia the finest of gentlemen when sober
but when drunk he makes a break for tn
nearest dive and wants to 'waliop a niger.
But when | meet him on the street and asl
him to come home, he always comes" Thu
president promised to attend to the matter
and again fell to denouncing the villain
Gus conspiracy which he detected behint
the senator's drunks | left the Whit
house after promising to do my best to SCI
that Senator - was present when the vot
On Impeachment WAS taken. But | had III
1a0n skioe tIo oih il bn6 pIbhluch
would SO soon come near to realization.
have forgotten the exact date, but / cal
locate it by the event, which was an e1ecu-
tive session of the senate to hear tn
sneeches of republicans like Fessenden
Henderson and others who intended to yot
against impeachment. | WAS walking tn
corridors of the house side, when MI
Chrlsty, one of the senate dooYkeepers
rushed up to me and said. Senator = j
blind drunk, and trying to get the floor tc
make a speech. If you don't get him GU
pretty quick sumner will call up his resolu
ton and expel him." i rushed to the sen
ate door, sent my card to Senator -, an,
out he came, hitting both sides of the doc
In his exit. The ruse | adopted to get hir
home was to remind him that he had in
vlted me to dine with him that day, an,
that 1t was about time for dinner. Arm-in
arm we marched to the steps of the capito
when be suddenly stopped and said h
must postpone that invitation, az he felt
TO be his duty to go back to the senate an
"answer thoss id abolitionists'' who wer
speaking. A Kentucky senator came alon
Just then, and. easily taking In the situe
ton, took my side of tho controversy. w
were soon at the Seaton house, where Ser
stor = was helped to his room by
couple of stout porters, who put him to bee
and quoted him by threatening to use
Babcock ti~re-extinguisher on him as a ston
ach pump If he didn't straighten up shortl,
That night l went to the White house an
told what had happened. The senator WI
thereafter under a guard OF two stout Irist
men, who took him to the capitol in a hat
every morning, waited for him and brougl
him home In the afternoon. When the re