The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-09-22
AS OTHERS SEE THEM.
Public Men Partial to Items About
Themselves.
Senator MorrelPs Birthday Collection
How the Two Gfbsons Were Confused
Some Amusing Stories.

Ing the comment OF the newspapers OF
the United States on President Cleveland g
message. There were nearly one thou
sand five hundred scraps taken from
about nine hundred newspapers published
In 500 towns or cities. They filed S65
large pages. If the newspapers express
the sentiment of the communities in
which they are published, the Finance
Committee viii have very little difficulty
learning what tie people want in this
financial emergency.
The Senate aud House committees have
been active patrons of the press clipping
bureaus for several years. When the
Mckinley bin was under consideration
the Senate Finance Committee subscribed
for clippings about tariff matters and re-
ceived several thousand OF them. The
Committee on immigration last year
subscribed to all the clipping
bureaus and spent S142 for about
3, 800 newspaper paragraphs. Pubic men
are very active buyers of press clippings,
though, strange as it may seems New
York is better field for the business than
Washington. Some men who are in Con-
gress 81 bscribe for clippings when they
are about to make speeches which will at
tract attention Senator Morrill, sub
his 10th birthday and received several
hundred pleasant comments on the ami
versary. Representative Durborrow of
Illinois had a scrap book made about the
opening of the World fair.
The foreign relations are buyers of
press clippings. The Spanish minister
paid 500 for about $4,000 clippings about
the InfaDta Eulalia-and they were
doubtless the pleasantest souvenir that
she took with her to Spain. The Russlan
admiral became a subscriber at the time
of the naval parade and carried away
fine collection OF press comments on the
Russian fleet.
DIR. Mott Smith, the Hawaiian minister,
subscribed for clippings about Hawaii
only two days before the news of the Ha--
waiian revolution reached the United
States. He was deluged with clippings,
and when he had enough to fill clothes
basket, he tried to cancel his order. He
could not find the agent who. held the
order for some time, and he was nearly
frantic with excitement when he finally
did find him and turned off the shower.
The White House has its own scrap
collection. One of the White House clerks
reads the newspapers from all parts of the
country carefully for news which may in
terest the president-and it is clipped out
and filed away. But even the White
House is patron OF the clipping bureau
at times. President Harrison subscribed
for the obituaries of Mrs. Harrison pub
lished all over the country.
The making of scrap books is novelty.
The first work of the kind was done for
the committee which had charge of the
quadrI- centennial celebration in New
York. The clippings about the celebra-
tion filed twenty four books. Then the
Gould family gave orders for clippings
about Mr.. Gould at the time of his death,
stipulating that only those which spoke
of him pleasantly should be pasted in the
scrap-books. The books containing these
clipping would fill broad library shelf.
A like order was filled for the Blatchford
family at the time of Justice Blatchford's
death.
But the clipping bureaus do not wait
for orders now. Whenever public man
dies, they go to work gathering para
graphs about him from current publica-
tions. Before long they have enough to
ill g scrap book and this is offered for
sale to the mans family. A very elabor-
ate collection was made at the time of
Jefferson DaviS'S death. The clippings
have been pasted into three scrap books,
of which one is devoted to favorable
comments and the third to anecdotes.
These books were offered to Mrs. Davis
but she refused to buy them. They will
doubtless become the property OF some
southern library.
A clipping bureau receives more
'tkicks'' in every twenty four hours than
even a newspaper Office, and that is Say
ing great deal. Every paragraph pub
lished in newspapers or magazines which
contains the name of a subscriber to the
bureau is game for the reader. The name
is marked with blue pencil, and when the
paper goes TO the cutter, the paragraph
is cut out ready for FASTING. When a
member of Congress makes a few unim-
portant remarks on the silver question or
perhaps interrupts a debater to ask
question, the press associations may in
sert in their reports an announcement
that Representatives Brown, Jones and
Robinson also spoke, 'or that in response
to question by Representative Brown,
the speaker said: This statement is
published in several hundred papers, and
ii is rather aggravating for Representa-
tive Brown to be deluged with copies of it
at the uniform price OF or cents each.
When Senator Morrill, celebrated his 10th
birthday, his mail was filed with clip
pings which read like this: 'sSenator
Morrill, of Vermont was 20 years old on
the 18th Of April. - The senator objected
strongly to paying for these paragraphs.
stDon't you think 1 know that l am 20
wears DID, he said. unjust | paw for
that inf0rmation7D
Sometimes an allowance is made to
man whose name appears frequently in
the press dispatches in consideration OF
duplicates. But the duplication of para
graphs is not the only source of COM
plant. There are great many public
men whose names are very much alike.
They are continually receiving clippings
about each other. When Senetor Gibson
of Louisiana, died, Senator Charles Glib
son, of Maryland, the uarcissus Of the
senate, received hundreds of paragraphs
about the event.
The following story about the attorney
general of the United States is vcuched
for by gentleman of unImpeachable ln-
tegrity. Unfortunately this gentleman
is in the employ OF the government, or
he would have taken an active part in the
incident which he describes:
Lafayette Square extends from Madison
place to Jackson place opposite the White
House. 1t is but step from the build
ing of the department. of Justice. It is
short cut between the business part of
the city and the residence section. 1t is
so much used morning and evening by
pedestrians, that a narrow asphalt walk
has been laid in the middle of the winding
gravel path extending from the southeast
corner to the northwest corner of the
park. The gravel walk is broad. Two
companies in columns of four could pass
each other without much crowding. But
the asphalt walk is wide enough for only
two or three. One afternoon recently
two elderly ladies, nicely dressed, were
walking along this strip of asphalt The
sunshade OF one of the ladies projected a
little. To avoid it hr. Olney would have
to take the gravel path. he did not
avoid it. When the offending eunshade
threatened his hat Mr.. Olney put UP his
hand and roughly brushed the shade
aside No word of courtesy or apology