The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-04-30
HARD WORK SOMETIMES.
Two Striking Instances of Almos1
Superhuman Physical Effort.

The story Of the soldier and the e2-
perience Of the spy contain no greater
records Of the triumphs Of physical and
mental strain than does our daily press,
said e. J. Edwards In his address on
Journalism. When Daniel Webster
died Henry J. Raymond, then editor OF
the Times, shut himself In his private
office, giving orders that he should not
be disturbed until the work he had IN
hand was finished. he proposed TO
write a life Of Webster, and he wrote
steadily for more than fifteen hours
z mastery, comprehensive, and, for a
newspaper, an exhaustive sketch and
study Of the departed statesman. That
exploit was for many years regarded
as one Of the greatest personal achieve
mems Of journalism. It was always re-
ferred to when the endurance OF the
newspaper man was the theme. But 1t
was conspicuous because it was one OF
the first. 1t is so frequently matched
nowadays that the achievement excites
no especial interest In newspaper Of
fees. Take, for instance, the report OF
the hanging of Guiteau, which appear
ed in one Of the papers. The editor had
Instructed his Washington correspond
ent upon three points only-one, that
It was desired that the correspondent
should write the whole account himself,
so that it could be consecutive, SYM
pathetic and free from the raggedness
which is inevitable when two or three
men are engaged in preparing lengthy
report Next the editor wanted it put
upon the wire sheet by sheet; last OF
all, he was anxious to have it complete
In the home Office by 10 o'clock at night.
Mr.. Raymond's achievement did moi
compare either with endurance or swift
ness Of work with what this CORE
spondent must do If he were to meet
the requests Of his managing editor.
The Jail where Guiteau was to bs
hanged was three miles from the tele'
graph Office. The execution was to be
done between the hours Of II 2nd 1.
Certainly a half hour would elapse af-
ter the drop fell before the body was de-.
Iivered to the surgeons, and after that
there would be. the ride back to the
correspondents Office. At the earliest
moment possible the correspondent
could not see how he could begin his
work before o'clock, and between that
time and 10 he was expected to write
about $1,000 words, send 1t at white
heat over the wires, and have 1t CON-
plete in the newspaper office IN New
York. 1t would have been a physical
impcssibility to have written that re-
port under those conditions. There
fore, the correspondent employed three
stenographers, instructing them. to
mark their copy "a" "B" and &C." A
little after he began work with them.
First he dictated to stenographer a
for some twenty minutes; then, leaving
the stenographer to write out his notes,
the correspondent went to stenographer
B, debating to him twenty minutes, and
then to G. When he had finished with
stenographer G he returned to Sten-
ographer A, who had by that time writ
ten out his notes, and they were put
upon the wires, and SO the correspond
ent went on sort Of treadmill expedi-
ton, making the circuit Of those three
stenographers for seven hours. Ten
minutes after he had sent the last page
be received dispatch from the home
office stating that the account was all
In type. It had been put in type almost
simultaneously with its dictat1on, but
1t was most exhaustive piece Of work
for the correspondent. He had not only
to speak without interruption for seven
hours, but he had to bear in mind the
faithful sending Of the sheets as they
were written out. The achievement OF
Senator Allen, Of Nebraska, In speak
Ing all night in the Senate chamber has
become a tradition, but it was really no
greater exploit than was that Of this
correspondent.
l might tell you OF the courage le
auired to obtain the document which
exposed the Credit Mobilier scandal, Of
the courage and endurance which were
necessary in order to secure the infor-
nation upon which that latest Of ma
tional scandals was based, that which
was called the sugar trust conspiracy.
But time fails. These illustrations will
show Of what service these qualities
are for you and for the great public,
and how they are always to be conf
dently called upon and relied upon
when It is necessary to obtain the great
er news which, after it has been print
ed, enables you to base your judgment
upon events, their causes and infu'
ences, and thus forms public opinion.