The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1893-12-15
THE RUMOR CHASER.
HOW A NEW YORK NEWSPAPER PRAC-
TICES FOOL JOURNAL SM.

Secretary Morton Called Out of Bed at
Midnight-Modest Order For an Inter
view Intoxication Epidemics = Hard
Times at the Capital.
WASHINGTON, Dec. s. Especial =
During the last two weeks there have been
many rumors of dissensions in the cabinet.
A number of newspapers have even pub
lished dispatches to the effect that certain
cabinet ministers were about to resign,
or to be asked by the president to step
down and out. One morning about 2
o'clock Secretary Morton was called out of
his bed by couple of newspaper men who
insisted he was going to leave the cabinet
and who wanted to know all about it.
The secretary emphatically declared there
was no truth in the story, and it is feared
he used language more expressive than
parliamentary, for it is not pleasant to be
called out of ones bed in the middle of the
night to deny foolish rumor. Yet the
secretary did not blame the newspaper
men. They were only doing their duty as
they understood it. If it was unpleasant
for the secretary to be called out of bed it
was a disagreeable task for them to go
about at night knocking people up. 1t is
beyond explanation the manner in which
many of these rumors gain circulation.
Washington is a great place for rumors,
for gossip. Newspaper row is the center.
Any day of the year you may hear the
most startling rumOrs on Newspaper row.
The older correspondents know how to dis
count these wild tales and to save them
selves the trouble of running the stories to
| o.Eh Of fhn
half their time chasing rumors.
Running Rumors Down.
1t is astonishing how rapidly rumOrs
travel over the country. Some story like
that of the resignation of cabinet officer
starts on the rounds in way which no
| one can understand. In an hour or two it
appears to be known in the Office of every
big newspaper in the country. kilograms
of inquiry pour in upon the corps of cor
| respondents. They are set to work run
ming the thing down. They make inquir-
les in every direction, and the men to
whom they go, naturally astonished, re-
! late the matter to their friends. Thus the
whole capital is talking about it in a few
moments. The amount of talk, the num-
Der of people who az r"r to be aware of
the secret, give the incident an impor-
| tance infinitely beyond its q 2rts. Where
there is so much smoke, men conclude,
there must be some fire. Yet the whole
matter may have had it's origin in bit
of taking, wrong construction put upon a
chance remark or malicious classifying on
the part of some discharged official.
A certain New York newspaper has be-
come known here as the rumor chaser. All
these rumors that drift about the country
| f<o i,,fa hot off nd + hnY
aging editor, having a private wire into
the office of his correspondent here, pro-
ceeds to make heap of trouble for his
| Washington representative. This poor man
gets telegram after telegram. He is or
dered to see this member of the cabinet or
that Senator So-and-so or Senator Blank.
The correspondent hires cab He races
over the town. Every time he goes by his
Office new telegram, containing more or
ders, is found there. Into the cab again
and away. JERK more doorbells out by
the roots. Intimidate or lie to sleepy serv-
ants who are inclined not to rouse their
masters Hurried interviews with states
men in their nightgowns. Conversations.
brief and unsatisfactory, carried on be-
tween the doorstep and half raised second
story windows. What caps the climax, in
the Washington correspondents opinion,
| is when he returns, cold and miserable,
from one Of these night riding quests in
search Of information which does not ex-
ist and then to receive positive orders from
his superior:
Interview President Cleveland for a
column on the Hawaiian question, and
rush."
An Intoxication Epidemic.
| One of the neculiarities of Washington
life is the epidemic of intoXication which