Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-30

tSs g ssiss. !, Of til. y''; 'sas.
csPers OF colts on the grass, are but the mean
dngless antics os animal life. But our antics
meant something. They meant sweeping
away of ball and chain, throwing down Of dali,
grim walls, and no night police. fires or sui
cides for seven great glorious days.
We were at SissSn. which, everybody
ought TO know. is in northern California. near
the end OF the great Sierra chain. BGnzie,
who always used the word ''excavaie" instead
Of dig" III his copy. and had to be restrained
from pOesy by the city editor when there was
a tauacry eOufl grafton 10 be written mp. was
on his stomach before snOw-capped SHASTA.
which. he insisted. was the proper attitude to
assume before % wonderful manlfestlon OF
the powers OF the Deity" But Gordon. the
Lat -. Johnson and myself merely lounged
around. The Late Mr. Johnson was not IN his
CONN The tIJ.e lad been gwen HIM by the
city editor fog persistent representation IN
showing up wHen tie had an important assign
mc.:. There. l had forgotten "Ott; but
'-Uit." whose full vas O.tinghouse.
hardly counted He was merely an echo of
The Late ,lr. johnson, Tor whose easy bOhe-
MAN ways he mad profound admiration,
copying tLeTl rs closely as lie could 1 hen.
to-. --Utt, was not newspaper N IN. But he
vss fresh iEOm the university, and he meant
to be enc.
The Lac Mr. johnson was telling the story.
He was aivays telling stories and "O:t" was
abs0TbiI-, vast stock OF them for future re-
cIi.- LIS time tine story was on n theme
that johnson seldom touched. for he hated
shop. and iuls was SHOP. / don't believe that
Zuy OF US except "Ott" hear the frs; part of
that tale The pine scents came to US so
freshly. the smoke drift moved so iazIiy before
oar eyes over on the side OF the wood-;.ad
bEttas near whose base we had come anu ire
BITE creek was telling a tale SO much more
cha MN, than DIV Old JOhnson's that we let
ct have the preface all 10 himself. But
aSt oTdlng 10 Bunzie's EOt!ous-he had caught
VOID nov and ;hcn-the story did not nj
into the picture be wanted 1t closed up Inc
Eeatest way 10 10 this. IS LIE believed, was to
burt cut:
oh. hang your long instroductiors, john
soni Your yarns are just Ike your copy. A
Mail can always find good line for starter
on the middle page OF IL That what tenslow
SAYS
Now. FensIow was Johnson's city editor, but
10 a.iusiou TO HIM wOuld cut short the story.
johnson kept on and finally came TO the place
where the story really began 1t was abou,
that singular anomaly, as Gilbert calls her
1.-The lady journalist"
'.She came TO Fenslow in the beginning OF
that awful rainy winter three years ago. said
the Late Mr.. Johnson "Her name was Saw
age-Gertrude Savage"
Il remember her. said BlnZie- Il was
working ON the Tribune then, and the
Shield wasn't IN II that year..
loo much economy then. That was the
trouble" said Gordon. between puffs. but
Pension did well with the city news, though
he did hash up the evening papers for all
they were worth
We we're now deep in the shop again. as you
see. aad the pine scents and the smoke drift
We're lost upon US. Not even the grandeur OF
Shasta cOuid avail against shop.
For girl she was a rattling good reporter"
johnson went on Il never saw a better. She
v;.s not one OF those VINO run around with a
fOre-and-ait cap Cu and try to be nannish
while they gather IN the stuff for the paper.
Fact =. she was mOdesty itself. She walked
up to EenslOws desk very tiIniGly when she
made her first appearance. l was his assist
art then, and so, Of course, heard all that Was
Said
There isn't enough work for the regular
reporters. let alone extras, said Fenslow, after
she had made application for a job in tones
that would have won over a grizzly. Not
whine, not a whImps-, and yet nothing brassy
in her whole talk. But III what can do
for You. Miss Savage. IL you are from Boston
and have worked on the Precipitation you ought
to be able to suit us
Thanks she said and smiled L know
enough not to bring scrap book. or i could
show you some OF my articles written for the
PreeIPita.or- May so to work tomorrow
Lets see. Yes; you can take that women's
temperance meeting in Briggs Hall at ii a. m.
it Is on in the afternoon too. Keep il all in five
hundred words. please
''She pulled out a small note book and with
q dainty pencil put down the memorandum in
q rather shy way. as thought. But that Is
what liked about her-nOtnlng mannish. not
the least. Though it's deuced rare among girl
reporters"
why don't you say women reporters" put
IN Buuzie. on whose fine ear ''girl' grated.
Because this one was nothing but "a girl.
and a slip OF girl at that And then you
never heard o. a woman reporter. dId you?
THEY'RE ali girls. Don't try 10 ring IN your
poetry on the profesh, Bunzie. Devote that
10 Shasta.
LAS you all know" went on the Late Mr.
johnson. California journalism has many qulps
and gulrks that are not known TO our brothers
OF the east. Sometimes it's very hard for a
newspaper man from there to make 1t go with
US. and it's surely deuced sight harder for
girl There was one thing that favored Ger
trule, however. She was not in the office week
before every man there fell IN love with her.
That's a big thing for girl reporter. because
i; means no end Of pointers on what to do and
where to go 10 get the news IN the easiest way.
SO she got along swlmmingly
a morning newspaper office is the place
where you see the scales fall of the shams Of
life. This Is instanced by the pursuit of the
newspaper man by the conceit-stuffed fellow
who wants his virtues made known by your
types and paper. and who thinks those types
and paper were made for the express purpose of
lifting him upon a pedestal. But there was no
sham about the devotion of the Shield staff to
Gertrude Savage. You couldn't blame them.
Her black eyes were darkly iashed. and her
cheeks were so peachily feshed-so round
and her brown hair fell 50 carelessly and so
lightly upon her brow, that
''Who's getting poetical now!" came Bunzie' o
center shot.
As l was saying" went on the Late Mr.. John
son. as II Bunzses interruption more
than The dropping of pine cone from the
branches above us-''as / was saving. thew
cou,dnt help adoring her. In a way she be-
came one OF the boys. laughing and talking
with them as IL they were all her old chums.
and yet demure enough all the time. and the
Very soul Of a lady. Nothing that ever struck
the local room, not even Fenslow's savage lee
ture after the outbreak against the coin-bor-
rowing rule, ever did the men SO much good
as the coming Of the girl reporter. We had
only had one or two Of them before, and they
were earthly Sood-cheeky things from
Hills Seminary, who drove the copy reader to
the ragged edge of despair by their essay STYLE
Of writing up. Gertrude knew the ropes too
we'll TO put anything but pure newspaper En-
giish INTO her stuff and when she handed In
he- wad of copy there was precious little work
In IL for the desk man
The way she sized up the fellows that tried
to ring in ads On her when she out getting
nexs. ana the wa she tumbied the hopes OF
selfimPcriant ones who were itching TO be
interviewed. won Fenslow over almost as read
Ally as did her clean copy. He gave her all the
work she wanted and 1 think she hit the busi-
ness Office pretty hard on pay days. for be-
slides her rpUula- She got IN IL