The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-11-04
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

H Is tue prevailing DeIef, said Gen. Stihbs,
the special examiner of pensions, to a Chicago
Herald man. that the great army of pension
ers Is und to grow larger as the years 20 by,
and finally. at period remote from the war
reach immense proportions. This is an error
however, for the next few years will witness an
Immense reduction in the number of persons
who draw quarterly stipends from Uncle Sans
treasury. Some years ago, down in the
mountains of Tennessee, came upon the case
OF young woman who was drawing
a pension as the widow of a soldier
of 1912. The investigation of the
case showed that she, a girl of II years,
married veteran aged 95 years. who had fough t
with jackson at New Orleans. The veteran
died in short time and the youthful widow
succeeded to the pension. and she is drawing it
yet She will continue to draw it, too. as long
as she lives, for she will never forfeit it by
marrying again. although she is still a youn z
woman. Among those mountaineers S24 every
three months is big income, enough to make
the happy posSessor of it an arstocrat II this
young woman lives to be 80 years old. and that
is not at all unlikely, she will be drawing a pen
sion a widow of 1919 one hundred and forty
years after the close Of that conflict.
GEN. GRANTS BODY will now finally be at rest
in New York. Blocks of granite and shafts Of
marble will be reared above it, but the body
itself will not De disturbed For nearly a mont
the operation of moving the tomb in Riverside
Park has been in prog ess. The little red brick
arched building, with its foundation Of con
crete, weighing nearly 100 tons, has been lifted
ten feet in the air and carried twenty five feet TO
the northward. Then it was moved nine feet TO
the westward to its permanent site The tomb
rests rests on fretwork of heavy timbers and
a ong inch by inch by a lateral pressure of
the screws. Men have been at work night and
day. as it was nee sSery to get the concrete
foundations well settled before the frost came
Tha result is a fine demonstration Of the posi-
bilities of American engineering. Hydraulic
pumps and several new applications Of standard
principles of leverage were brought into use to
move the huge mass. which will be located on
the northern foundation pier of the final monu-
ment. This foundation is twenty-five feet d6ep,
of solid cement, and 1t and similar pier to the
southwark will sustain the total weight Of the
immense superstructure. For the present the
old red brick tomb will be banked with earth
around the foundations end path and steps
will lead up to the door to allow the public. as
heretofore, TO visit the resting place of the dead
general.
A FEW DAYS AGO, when a Chico 20 newspaper
gave an assignment which caused the deaths of
three bright young members of the profession,
one ofthe trio remarked exultingy: "Thi5 is a
job for my life" Leaving out of consideration
the supersttious phase of the case in point and
the terrible, prophetic truthfulness of the re-
mark, it should serve to call attention to the
fact that in the journalistic profession, perhaps
| in greater degree than any other success often
| is largely a mere matter Of chance Crcum-
stances make an unknown reporter great in
| hour, while another equally endowed may re-
main in obSc rity half lifetime. Ability, ener-
| gy fidelity-the clements which command sue
| cess in any line of work-bring their rewards as
| certainly and probably as promptly in the
| newspaper field as in any other; but every
active newspaper worker knows that his Oppor-
| tunities to achieve greatness suddenly are few
| and very far between. 1t is. therefore, easy TO
understa the eagerness with which an ambi-
| tious young writer embraces his first chance to
| prove his mettle and to show his worth. A
| few years ago an unknown tramp reporter ap
piled for work at the Office Of the Cincinnati
| Enquirer and was given temporary employ
| me {. He was taciturn. uusociable, morose
and his work gave no indication that he was
| any exception to the army of bohemian news
| paper workers to which he belonged One
I night there came an unusual rush OF news and
| }. B. Mccormick, the well-known Macon" Of
the New an YORK PRESS who at
-; tba E,,,,,;rn o,ce eVS cna ais
| bv the unprecedented crush of important mat
ters to be covered Every man on his force
| who could be utilized was pressed into reporto.
rial service and sent out on ass gnments. At
the last moment word was received that muir
der had been committed at the Cincinnati gas
| works. In desperation this was turned over to
the new man with instructions to investigate
| the case thoroughly and as quickly as posi-.
bic. Within an hour he was back at the Office
| Without saying word to any one he threw
| himself down upon a long table in the report
| efS' room, and, stretched out at full lens En-
| began to write with his face held close to Inc
| paper beneath him Several of his c.
workers. who spoke to him received no reply
| The copy boy was unable to claim his atten
| ton. Mccormick himself came Striding across
the room and shook him roughly bv the shoul
| der. He glanced up angrily, handed over a
! dozen pages of manuscript, AID again buried
himself IN his work AS the city editors trained
| eye hastily ran over the matter before passing
| it to copy reader be suddenly stopped re-.
turned it to the writer, who seemed to be obliyi-
| Gus OF all except his work. and again Rrasped
! him by the shoulder. You NAV nave ALI the
| space you can cover" he said quietly. ami re-
| turned to his desk. The frst-page leader of the
| Enquirer next morning was q threecolumn
| article which competent judges have pronounced
| the finest specimen of descriptive reportorial
| work ever published in newspaper. The story
| of the Rufer-Sc tjllng tragedy is a classic in
] American literature. The murderer Rad hacked
I his victim to pieces and burned the body in a
| furnace at the gas works. The deed was dis
| covered Immediately afterward and the half
| cooked remains we're covered The re-
porter who first visited the scene seemed
| to steep himself in the awful horror. He
| felt of the crisp and blackened flesh, he
| smelled its sicGening odor. he took the
| recognizable head in his hands and ran his
| fingers into the empty eyesOckets. he felt the
| keen edge Of the weapon with which the muir
| der was committed and as he did so the gray
| hair OF the dea man. clott d with blood AMI
| dozen questions of the Mortified bystanders he
| bounded away and disappeared as suddenly as
he came The man who did all this became IA
is in a single night. He is known through
GU The entire literary world. There are few
| 100. Iers of modern literature who have not been
fascinated and delighted by his ma tchless word
painting His name when he achieved fame
was unknown; to-day everybody knows LAT
! cadiO Hearn,