The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-03-14
THE TIMES-RICnMOND VA. SUNDAY. MARCH Ia, 1897.

months OF Garfield's and Grants Illnesses
all the newspapers that had any jump In
them had men ready day and night. 10
rush the news out the moment X came
and coupled with long obituary. John
Holmes, the managing editor OF the Bos-
ton Herald. told the narrator that when
Garfield died Holmes was in bed. III you
remember the news came at about II
o'clock at night Mr.. Holmes was awak-
ened by the ringing OF a telephone in mis-
bedroom. He arose and answered II.
When he was told what had happened
he gave some general instructions over
the wire and in three minutes was b TX
In bed snoring the snores Of the just. Next
morning the Herald appeared double it,
usual size and In the exact shape Mr
Holmes wanted H. There Is system for
you! The morning that General Grant
died the news reached this city shortly
after o'clock. Eight minutes AFTER
wards. The Times containing a fully
illustrated biography OF the dead man.
was being cried out on the streets. That
feat IS unparalleled.
OF course. in these cases. the type had
been standing for months. There are
many instances where this has been lone.
and the man IS still living and the Type
has been distributed. Alexander II.
Stephens on three different occasions mad
fun page obituaries In type all over the
country. One time the Times people
caught George Alfred Townsend In this
city during one of Stephens dying scares
bluffs. n card player would call them
and made him sit AZ a desk and write
IN a brand-new biography. which was
put I'm type that night Perhaps stephens
heard OF II. for he quickly resuscltated
Pope Plus TX. was I'm type for long per-
iods on several occasions Charles O'Con-
or. OF New York. fooled the newspapers
dear knows how many times. kossuth
and Add IL Kader-the latter the man
who fought tho French so nobly In Al
geria-were killed IN type on numerous
occasions and ,ontrived TO live in de-
fance OF the obituary hend.
After tbs long explanation. If any OF
you walk into a newspaper Office and
see any one clipping from newspaper.
f. Is to be hoped that you will not point
to the shears and say with CHASTITY
smile: "Ah, IS that your assistant
editor?" or 1.-THE editors best friend, he.
he. hew n you knew how idiotic you
look and how idiotic you are when you
do this-pardon this frankness-you would
not do it, There Is no more valuable
work done IN a newspaper office than the
intelligent clipping Of exchanges. NOT
only do credited extracts furnish good
reading but the material obtained by the
scissors adds 20 the biographical depart
ment and 20 the general information with
which every newspaper should DO pro-
vided. what i'm the world do you do
with all those scraps?" said visitor In
a daily newspaper Office 10 an enthusiast
upon this subject. whose desk was COW
cred with n mass OF clippings from
H. 10 H.
handing the 0uestioner large envelope
box fun OF clippings similar to those ly-
ing on the desk on examination IL was
shown 10 contain n great number OF clip
pings lafeled with subjects from archaic
ologv to zymotic diseases. Then the
nowspapcr man said: I'm my experience
as a writer for the press / have found
that tho freshest Information on any
given subject is not 10 be found In on
cvcloDaedias or ordinary books OF refer
cnce SUPPOSE John L. Sullivan or Nancy
Hanks were 10 die. where would 7 find
the material 20 supply the events lof
their livos2 Certainly not I'm books Of
biograph. When a great theatre fire oc-
ours how can I compare il with other
similar eycnts2 When an earthquake
turns tho earth topsy-turvy. how can I
tell whether one has ever occurred In
tho same pace before or not. VIII NOT
find the facts supplied IN an encyclopaedia
nor in any book. III a former Presiden-
tial candidate saws ne never said last fall
something tiat he Is now accused Of hav-
ing uttered. how can 7 tell what he did
saw? Memory IS 4 treacherous thing to
rely on for exact quotation. All such
knowledge and more IS supplied by post
ing up from day TO day the Information
20 be cafucf from those daily cnry-
oionaedies. the newspapers. I'm which
bunting Tor a certain fact "a year after
Il Is recorded IS Ike hunting for a needle
in n havstack. for the most important
statement NAV be hidden I'm n column Of
paragraphs. Therefore. 7 cut my scraps
and sunnlv from them facts when they
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