St. Paul daily globe., 1895-03-10

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He was called "Old Higgins when
/ first went on the paper, and no one
ever knew him by any other name.
He had landed on the other side of
SiXty-fiVe and was bent and old
when l first saw him one afternoon
in June He was the city and man
aging editor of the Morning Tele-
gram. and that day 1 had been hired
as the staff. He was busy writing
an interview with "a prominent citi-
zen when I entered his little den
and reported that the proprietor
had hired me as a reporter. He never
looked up from his paper, but NUT
tered '-All right, see what you can
pick up around the courts, the police
station and the docks" When l re-
turned at $50 that evening and laid
my days copy before him he merely
paused long enough to crack away
with his shears at a lazy cockroach
which was balancing itself on the
periious edge of the paste pot. The
bug jumped hurriedly from the cup
and made a bee-line for a crack in
the desk Old Higgins emitted
wheeZy little laugh and returned to
his paper.
After that 1 frequently watched
the old man as he lay in wait for
the impudent bugs, and if his shears
happened to land on the back of
an audacious roach, it tickled Old
Higgins so much that he nearly
laughed outright.
The bugs learned to know him.
They would come up over the back
of his old desk, gaze at him an in
stant in aggravating attitude; then
as he showed signs Of fight they
would turn and run as fast as their
little legs would carry them. They
pestered him as the school boys wor-
ried the apple man. He would lay
traps for them by pretending to be
asleep, and then as they swarmed
recklessly over his desk, Old Higgins
would suddenly awake and make a
Such a scampering was never seen
before, and Old Higgins would laugh
his thin, wheeZy laugh, and prepare
another trap in the shape of bound
copy of the congressional reports
balanced on his lead pencil. Then he
would lean back in his chair and
watch with half-closed eyes the ad-
vance CT the enemy. After a eau
tiouS reconnoitre by two or three of
the largest bugs, the main body
would come on into the open field.
AS soon as a sufficient number of
Old Higgins would suddenly dis
lodge the pencil and the falling book
crushed dozens of lives out of ex-
istence. The hurried retreat of the
survivors would cause Old Higgins
no end of amusement, and more
than once the old man went home
tired out merely from battling with
the bugs.
He carried on the unique warfare
continually, and frequently a dozen
Of the boys watched the battles
secretly through cracks in the par
tition.
AS the year passed on, Old Hig-
gins and 1 became well acquainted.
He had aged perceptibly in that
time, and it seemed a question of
but few months when "30'' would
be in. He had learned to rely on
me and L covered all the runs, Hig-
gins contenting himself with writing
fake interviews with ''a prominent
citizen" "a well-known Republic
an" and "a city official"
In that year l became greatly at
tached to the old man, and noticed
with sorrow that he was becoming
childish and f1ighty. His copy often
contained charges which, once pub
Gshed, would have swamped the pa
per in a sea of litigation. Secretly,
in the composing room, the night
editor and l went over his copy.
making such alterations as we saw
fit. Old Higgins never knew it, for
he never read the paper. We all
wondered why he was kept in his
pOollIOIl, Dul- lneTS WASH [ man
from the composing room to the
press room who wouldn't have been
sorry to see him go.
Eventually came change The
paper changed hands. The new
owners put more money into the con-
Germ and employed a competent
staff, appointing me in the place held
so long by Old Higgins. The duty
of informing the old man of the
change devolved upon me. The
others hadn't the heart, and thought
he would take the announcement
better from me on account of the
friendship between us.
L approached his door with sinking
heart. l would have been only too
happy had he been allowed to continue
at the head, but the interests of thu
paper demanded his removal, and there
was no help for it. l looked through
the door. The old man was sitting as
l had seen him a thousand times be-
fore. His old cob pipe peered out over
his long gray beard, and his hat was
perched so lightly on the side of his
head that it seemed ready to fall every
instant. His right hand, holding the
pencil, Travelled slowly over the paper
as he wrote the sentiments of his own
mind and put them in the mouth of hia
old friend, "a well-to-do merchant. :"