St. Paul daily globe., 1892-06-13
A Paper That Was Born in
an Hour. and Died
A-Borning.
a Special Train Carried the
Copy From Scribe to
Printer.
1t Was Uniquely Named, and
Murat Halstead Was Edi-
top-in- Chief.
Many Well Known Names In
cluded in the List OF
Contributors.

Contributors.
One of the most peculiar scenes that
was ever witnessed in an American yill-
age, says the New York Sun, was that
in Gettysburg Oh last Wednesday night.
during visit of train load of New
York and Philadelphia newspaper neil
and their wires, who had gone there at
the invitation of the Philadelphia q
Reading railroad. sThey suddenly de-
termined to turn out a newspa-
per for the fun of the thing.
Murat Halstcad was chosen editor
in-chIef; John EIderkin. Joseph
j. c. Clarke, George f. Spinney and Mr.
Bailey, of the Philadelphia Record
were the editorial writer's, and two
dozen well-known New York CORE
spondents. editors and reporters turned
to and wrote the ''copy,' for the paper,
Weston Coyney, being, the night editor.
Something like twenty columns of mat.
ter were written in less than an hour,
each article being prepared precisely as
it would have been in a genuine news
paper Office. except that every man
signed his name to what he wrote.
That was the making Of the peculiar
scene. The hotel Office table was sur
rounded by working journalists, the
Office counter supported line OF men
writing as if the battle Of thirty years
before had just been fought and they
were sending accounts of it to their
papers The villagers passing Oh the
sidewalk saw the unwonted sight with
out the faintest idea of what had trans
formed the usual lounging place OF
commercial travellers iltO such
a perspiring workshop. But the
villagers saw only corner OF the situ-
alton. Other men were as hard at work
OIL the dlning-room tables, others wrote
on the bar, others filed the laundry and
stiikOthers sat in their bedrooms witt:
coats and vests off grinding away" as
they would have expressed il. lis if il
were the night of national election.
The clerks, walters and ioungers went
from aoor TO door, peeping in at the
newspaper men. and wondring wha'
had turned so merry party into SO
earnest corps of workers.
The Reason for the Haste
was that a special engine and coach
stood at the station with d crew in
charge, with the steam On at full head
in the locomotive. and with a conductor
pacing nervously up and down the plat
form, anxious to be off with what the
scribes wrote. Thereby hung q queer
tale, more peculiar even than the scene
of the work in the hotel.
Writing a newspaper. bad proved an
easier task than getting il published.
Aessrs. Coyney and Clancy. of New
York, had gone to the Gettysburg news
paper Office, and found that the pr0prie-
tors would have been glad to get out the
holiday paper, "but for the fact that the
editor and the foreman were going t6
the court house to attend the reception
of the journalists by the mayor"
This was too important. they
said, to be interfered yith by
business. They suggested a visit TO i
job printer, who was found in behind
white apron and case of type in his
work-roOm. He did not mind making
the money that was to be had, he said,
but he could not work at night. "a
nights sleep lost,' he said, "can never
be oVertaken." Arrangements were
therefore made in Harrisburg at the
Call Office by telegraph, and the railroad
provided special train to take the
manuscript.
Ralph Meeker, Mr.Coyney, Mr.. Clancy
and others went with the train, ana,
having been brought up to regard
nights sleep purely as luxury. like
stewed terrapin, and as thing well
enough in its way but easy to do with
out, sat up all night i'll the Harris
burg compeSing-ro0m seeing the print
ers turn ink into lead and back TO
ink again. 1t was slow work, and it
was hot finished when f1uttering corr
pany of editors, who were tie editors and
reporters of the paper, came to work
and found their sanctum filled with to-
bacco smoke. which all too thinly Yeiied
the forms of strange and rude men in
their shirt sleeves. At last the fourth
and fiifai page was Stereotypad and tie
editors saw their paper about TO be born.
In the meantime the train OF seven car
loads of journalists and ladies and q car
load of refreshments had reached the
Reading railroad station at Harrisburg,
and been waiting half an hour TO get
copies Of the paper.
The Editors Reported
that it would follow them quickly It
didn't. In another half hour printer
came emptY-ianded to say that nothing
had been done, because the foreman did
TO be folded or not. He re-
tired with the knowledge that
the eXeursiOnists would take the
copies iii any way they could get them.
He reappeared in another half hour TO
say that the motor had broken down,
and that noOne could tell how or when
the paper would be printed. Several
hours later five copies were sent on q
special locomotive to functional point
near Philadelphia. at which the eXcur-
sioniStS were again waiting.
The paper was called Our Little Kid,
and is one of the curiosities of journal
ism. 1t is, in appearance, a four-page,
siX-coiumn. ail-leaded paper, like the
neatest of the Journals that are pub
liShed III the smaller cities of the land.
1t has leading sensational arti-
Gle, embracing shorthand re-
port OF the meeting in the Get
tysburg court house of the pre-
vious night, it has editorials, poems,
faxed and humorous dispatches from
abroad, a financial article, advertise
ments in word. it is complete. Ii
contains articles by Murat Haistead. W.
j. X. Kenny, Hugh Hastings, James
Clancy. Editor c. W. Price, OF the Electric
al Review, Z. Y. Kane, of the Philadelphia
Bulletin; Joseph }. G. Clarke. Bailey,
the funny man of the Danbnry News;
w. j. Henderson. e.. Ii. Dow, f. D.
Madeira, e. Z. Hinman, Ike Allen, OF
the San Francisco Examiner; S. 5.
Pratt, of the Public Ledger; the Hon.
John W. Golf. II. B. Davenport, and
several others.
Thing. IEau,a, a.a Doy;D-