San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-07-30
ON THE LOITER.
GONE TO SEED: NOT AN AGRICUL-

irresistible tendency to adapt itself
to certain forms or habits OF action,
known in the common parlance of
the day as ,"ruts," and consisting
of a sameness in the mode of
thought or action. This fiXedness
of habit or "ruttiness" often be-
comes chronic, so that the victim
grows helpless and whatever talents
he may have invariably are barren
of fruitful results, through the
"rutty" manner in which they are
utilized. Such chronic ruttiness,
favored with intemperance or
rank crankiness, is what cOnsti-
tutes a clear and unmiStakable case
OF "gone to seed"
This disease, ruttiness, or as it is
known in it's last stage, "gOne to
Seed" is usually produced by alb
ject lassitude or intemperenCe or
both. 1t is most apparent
in the newspaper profession,
especially when the person inflicted
performs the same kind of labor
year after year. Newspaper work,
particularly in the local depart
ment, requires the constant eXer-
else Of the laborer's ingenuity, lest
he should treat all subjects in the
same UNMARRIED way, which in time
will grow upon him to such an eX-
tent that he will find himself ut
terly unable to break out OF the rut
into which his carelessness has
gotten him. The result is that he
stands no earthly show of a promo
ton, but must consider himself
fortunate indeed if he still holds
down his job. The common fate Of
a rutty writer, however, is that he
loses his long held place and is
utilized only on special occasions
as a substitute or extra man. If
ruttiness is not superinduced by
intemperance it usually leads to it,
and he who once was one of the
papers "bright young men," wan
ders among society, seedy, not only
in his mode Of thought and work,
but seedy in his mode Of life and
personal appearance as well, cast
ing reproach on the profession he
once represented and which he
probably still claims to represent.
Who has not seen just such a
case of "gone to seed" and who
does not recognize him at first
sight? Through his news
paper career he knows every
body, and everybody knows
him, or would know him if they
cared to. The hopeless case Of
"gone to seed," who inspired this
sketch, is something like Crazy
Phillip, quite a character about
the town. In years gone by he is
reputed to have done fair news
paper work, but after while the
matter that he turned out, whether
from smallness of mental calibre
or not, l can not say, resembled
much the UNMARRIED sameness
Of a hand organ tune. 1t fair
iy bristled with scrofulous puns,
numerous diluted jokes, epicac
poetry and smutty small talk. Out
of this rut of writing, poor old Gone
tossed could not or would not
come, so his employer took advan-
tage of little affair to bid him go.
Since then poor old GOneto seed
has been gradually sliding down
the scale. Several ventures that
he started and filled to burst
ing full of puns and smut
have all been laid away in
his private little journalistic bone
yard, but by some oversight Of
fate, poor old GOne-to.seed has sur
vived his faded ventures.
Between free lunches, free re-
freshments at social parties, a few
crumbs from some generous fell
lows table whose boots he once
licked or whose enemies he one
maligned, and a weekly stipend
for anonymously contributing
column Of villainous smut to a
Sunday paper, published for the
edification of prostitutes and their
beloved pimps, poor old gone-to-
seed still manages to circulate
among the people of the town,
perambulating calumny on the
newspaper profession.
The modes that poor Gone-to-
Seed employs to dead head into
the interior of his disreputable old
carcass the fat of the land, are I'M
equaled indeed. On the plea Of hunt
ing for news he makes an appoint
ment with a man who has a
weakness for getting his name in
print, to meet at a certain saloon,