The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-04-20
OF and About the
Makers of Books.
Some of the Latest Volumes
To Issue from the Press.

noblest in us by teasing anxieties and
petty ambitions. for results not worth
the striving for, scarcely worth the
having when gained. Immortal beings
though we are, our daily problems, our
crying necessities, chiefly concern the
question what we shall eat, drink, and
wear,-above all, how shall we answer
our neighbor's expectations of us and
put good foot forward. What a
feverish contest 1t is! Never ending is
this wild procession. Day and night
can be heard the quick tramp of
myriads of feet,-some running, some
walking. some halt and lame, but all
Fastening, all eager In the feverish
race; all straining life and limb and
heart and soul to reach the ever reced-
ing horizon of success Their speed
never slackens their race never ends.
There is no wayside rest, no halt by
cooling fountains, no pause beneath
green shades. On on, on.~-cn through
the heat and the crowd and the dust /;
on. or they will be trampled down and
lost; on, with throbbing brains and
trembling limbs: on, till the heart grows
sick and the eye grows blurred, and a
gurgling groan tells those behind they
may close up another space"
The touches in this book are deft and
true and the range of 1t fitted to minds
that like vivid imagery and swiftly
varying moods.
Mr.. Edwin l.. Shuman, an editorial
writer for the Chicago Journal, has
seen fit, through the medium Of a
: handy book of some 200 pages called
steps Into Journalism" to lift the veil
which screens from public view the
inner workings of the sanctum sane
forum. He shows us successfully the
managing editor. supreme over the en-
tire hive of coatless editors, copy read
ers. reporters and correspondents, and
in turn subordinate, if the paper have
such luxury, to the editor-in-chief, or.
If not. to its proprietor or its proprie-
tors; the news editor, whose eagle eye,
rebuking Solomon, daily scans the
horizon for symptoms of something
new; the city editor, upon whose
shoulders devolves the task of pleasing
at once staff of critically disposed re-
porters, the several thousand fellow
citizens of his town who generously
make 1t part of their business to ex-
press approval (rarely) or disapproval
almost invariably of the papers local
news, and likewise the editor-in-chief,
the proprietors and-if he have such a
thing-his own conscience; and the
various other fortunate or unfortunate
individuals who devote greater por-
ton of both day and night, for general
ly meager compensation to the task
of getting out daily paper full of hot
stuff and scoops" We had at first
intended to follow Mr.. Shuman through
these chapters; but since what he says
is not new to us and also since those to
whom 1t is new can buy the book for n
dollar, or thereabouts, we shall content
ourselves at present with. considering
his concluding chapter, the mission of
the press" 1t is written in what to the
prosaic mind will seem like almost a
hysterical key; and it thwacks the
press vigorously for its abundant scan
dal, Its pitchforkfuls of fermenting
crime. its impertinence, its superficial
ity and its irreverence. But it also al
lows as stand-off that the press, in
the main, Is improving, that it is a
growing power for good, and that with
out 1t civilization could no longer ad-
just itself to happy conditions. Hence
If 1t works some evil, it works more
good; and the preponderance of the
good over the evil is its claim to con-
tinued life and strength and develop
ment