Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-16
Mr.. George q Harries Relates Many In
tsresting Personal Experiences
Dangers of Editing in the Woolly West
travelling Through . BliEzard
and Digging Through Snow.

the procuring Of this paragraph, or that
column story involved great hardship, or
threatened life itself. He sees condensed
into thousand words the labor Of 1t may
be- weeks scans with Impotence page after
page, and then finding only little or perhaps
nothing that seems to interest him. throws
the paper down and abuses its management,
because the history OF that particular day
If 1t is an afternoon paper-or of the day
before If morning journal, IS made up OF
details that are either few or dull, or both.
He has no Idea as to the number Of people
who were approached for information, but
who either had nothing to say, or else hav-
ing something, declined to impart. One Of
the least hopeful sources OF news Is the
man OF prominence, who In days gone by
was the victim of the errors born OF poor
penmanship on the part of a careless re-
porter or puzzled printer. There is an
innate deviltry in the best OF chirography
when kindly deed is to be recorded. The
most careful editing. the highest skill Of the
compositor and the searching scrutiny OF
the proofreader avail not in such instances.
The rule has but few exceptions 1 saw a
scrap OF fiction in a western paper some
time ago which is essentially true and which
| illustrates my point. Jacob Prelman con-
tributed a selection of toys to children's
| hospital. The Morning Sun said that Jacob
Pullman had been liberal enough to donate
SD worth of toys to the chidren's hospital.
The Evening Moon made similar publ
cation as to, one James PuIlimer; the Semi
Weekly Planet gave credit to the generous
Job Pollin. Now, 1t happened that the man
saw the three paragraphs, and ne was so
Disguised that he imbibed more liquor than
he was licensed to carry. He also exercised
his lungs in an unseemly and boisterous
manner he was arrested and brought be-
fnr "a inS nd n Morning
the Evening Moon and the Semt-W eekiy
Planet were unanimous to the effect that
Jacob Preliman had been fined $40 for be-
ing drunk and disorderly. Is 1t at all
strange that after such an experience Mr..
Prellman avoided reporters"
The Dangerous Side.
Speaking further on the same subject, M.
Harries said:
Ibid you ever give moments thought to
| the dangerous side of the reporters calling?
Did you ever try to summarize the chances
he takes? When you read of great TRACE
dy and Of the murderers desperate resist
ance to arrest does your mind ever revert
to the man who wrote the story, and who
was probably at the officers side when the
capture was made? A ten-line paragraph
about q case Of smallpox, but who knows
anything of the reporter who hunted the
run1or into an alley howell and gave the au-
thorities information which resulted in the
defeat of the promisso-y pestilence? A
mysterious disappearance, of which every
reading man and woman devourS all attain
able particulars; do they have any idea as
to the identity of the men who day after
day and night after night search the dens
of iniquty. watch the trains and steam
boats. work side by side with. and often in
advance of, the police in dragging the river
or the lake? A great fire. Columns Of de-
scriptive matter in which may be found
every little detail Could the men who fol-
lowed out these lines of detail secure the
facts and describe the confiagration unless
they were where walls were crumbing and
crushing out the lives of woud-be saviors Of
life and property
g. g. r Difficult Editing.
Speaking of personal experiences in the
wild woody west the lecturer related some
interesting experiences.
My newspaper experiences on this CONT
nent." he said, had their beginning in the
1Os in the British northwest-the home of
| the mosquito, the thunderstorm and the
blizzard. In those days there was but one
newspaper printed between Winnipeg-then
better known as Fort Garry-and the Rocky
mountains. 1t was rough country in
those days-tenanted by some good people
and by very many others who were not only
far from good but who delighted In adding
to their uDsavory regulations. For such a 8
these latter we had no respect, and they
soon found 1t out. Occasionally frequently
i might say, editorial opinions would bring
to our office a wrathy and intoxicated dis
senter whose language or pugnacity gener-
ally resulted in somebody's being mutilated
and disabled. ~ complete roster Of the men
who hastily moved down the flight of
twenty-eight steps that connected the sane
tum with the street would be list of all
| the tough characters that in those days in
Tested western Manitoba. Once in a while
would-be censor of the press had no time
to find the stairs-they were on one side of
the house; our entrance was at the rear
and would reach the ground by a short cut
that involved rolling ove- the roof Of one
story workshop, onto consumptive cord
wood pile ard thence to the ground. Men
who forsook us by that route made 1t a
point never to come again.
Il have vivid recollection or the morning
when an incensed rustler' 1rom whose per-
son the editorial force had taken two over
grown revolvers and knife) moved toward
me rather hastily with a newiy-purcha sen
AK In his hands, of the shouted, but lnys-
FERROUS warning of an associate to let Dan
chase me upstairs of my obedience, and of
the terrific blow Dan caught under one ear
as he rushed after me through the open
doorway; and all because my associate
wanted to secure the ax-some conscience
! less rascal having stolen ours q day or so
| before. Many heated encounter took pla ce
| in that room before 1t became definitely
| understood that unbiased criticism was one
| of the most sacred OF editorial privileges
| a prerogative that could not be abridged
! even by force OF arms. Moral suasion
amounted to nothing in that region unless
| there was gun and at least one man be-
! hind it,
| Fighting a Blizzard.
| Mr.. Harries evidently experienced some
cold weather out in Manitoba. In one part
| Of his lecture he said:
| Perhaps some of you have seen a bliz-
| zard-not one OF those amateur disturb
| ances, but a real shrieking, freezing hurri-
| cane. If you have then you will the more
| readily appreciate one OF the several en-
counters i have had with the disturbances
| that occasionally ruffie the snowy mantle
that for al least five months together covers
| the prolific soil of the land OF the Great
Spirit. Imagine, IL you can. the dangers and
| discomforts of lonely horseback ride over
| an open piece OF country. with not a tree be-
| tween the traveller and the Arctic ocean,
! while the direct north wind roared cease
| lessiy and moved southwark at the rate OF
| nearly fifty miles an hour. picking up the
fine snow and carrying 1t along in never
| ending blast Then bear In mind the fact
| that the temperature was " below zero
| Not once-in ten minutes was 1t possible for
| the rider to see even yard beyond his
pony's nose there was no semblance OF a.
| trail, and no visible landmark For eight
| hours the struggle continued. and when 1t
! ended there was one of the worst cases CT
| all-over frost bite that had ever been known
! even in Portage La Prairie. But we got the
news"
Mr. Harries related a number OF thrilling
frnn co1d md do