Evening star., 1898-10-15
HOW HE, GOT The. STORY

uoH pIetSiiu 10 MAINTAIN tnaC tne
methods which some of the old-time re-
porters of Chicago used to employ in order
to get hold of facts were right or legiti-
nate," said one, of the correspondents from
the city by the unsalted sea, "but there
was a whole lot CT ~'fetchingness,' as II
were, about those methods, all the same.
There used to be g. time in Chicago when
a reporter, sent out after story by his
city editor, just had to bring results in.
and that's all there was about it. 1t made
no difference how hard the story was to
get. or how much difficulty there was in
volved in the getting of it, the reporter of
that time knew that he had to get it. He
also knew that if he didn't get it, somehow
or other, he might 5ust as well not go back
and report TO his city editor at ali. He
was bound to be fired. No excuses went.
The Chicago reporter of that period who
fell down on a story, no matter whether
he did SO through any fault of his own or
not, didn't turn up at the upstairs, or edi-
torial, department of his paper at all after
making the fiZzle. He'd just drop in at
the cashiers office, get whatever money
was due him. and consider himself fired.
But you can gamble that the schooied e.
porter who had to buck up against conGi-
tions like these didn't overlook any bets,
or waste any efforts In getting hold OF the
facts he was sent out for. They had to
employ rather mean methods, as / say,
occasionally, to make their quests fruitful,
but must is a word without a conscience.
Il was compelled to figure, myself, IN a
few sharp games when | was reporting out
there. 1 remember one case particularly.
1t was back in the late eighties. One
morning, about half an hour after mid
night, the night city editor of my paper
received a telephone message announcing
the sudden death. away over on the South
do Of 80 hoo,
nected with the growth of Chicago since its
earliest days, but who had retired from
municipal life about fifteen years previous
ly on account of increasing infrmities. The
night city editor rooted around the grave
yard to find an account of the life of the
old gentleman, but the envelope contain
ing the DATA relating to his long and useful
career was missing from the files. l was
the emergency man that night, and the
night city editor told me to hustle over to
from somebody or other, a connected story
of his Hfe-'about q column or So said
the night city editor.
ut was terribly cold night and the
seven or eight-mle ride on the cable cars
chilled me to the bone. When L reached
the residence of the deceased citizen l
found it totally dark. L tugged on the beH
for fully five minutes before there was any
response. Then l heard the padding of a
pair of slippers, a light was struck in the
hall and a middle-aged man opened the
door for me and asked me- not very cour-
teously, what l wanted. ] wasn't looking
for courtesy from anybody at that hour Of
the night, however, and so L told him the
name of the paper | represented. said that
unfortunately the paper had no compiled
account of the dead citizens life to print
for the morning edition and that L was
there to get it if he'd be so kind, etc.
81 am his son. said the middle-aged
man, but it's out of the question for me
to give you the data you require at this
hour of the night Come around in the
morning and I'll be glad to furnish you
with whatever facts you need
Il explained to him, my teeth chattering
with the cold, for he didn't SO much as
Invite me in out of the cold, that his prop
osition was equallyhout of the question.
All of the papers will print the sketch
of your fathers life this morning said l.,
and they'll have us beat on it il 1 don't
get this data from you now. What's more
l added, I've got wife and children de-
pending upon my job, and 1 won't have
any job If I don't get this obituary sketch
I'm after from you
well, I'm very sorry replied the son
of the dead man, but l can't possibly help
you out tonight. You'll have to see me in
the morning.
This seemed to be final. for he started
to decrease the size of the opening between
the door and the sash. 1 had to do some
quick thinking.
'Well,' said. backing down the steps,
If the story that was teephoned in to us
that your father committed suicide is true
why, OF course, it'll have to go that way,
but
1T was base, soggy thing to do, 1
know, but / had to do something You
should have seen him pull me into the YES
tibule.
Why. man. he exclaimed, what alb
surdity is this?
We knew, of course, that the telephone
story was out of the question: said |, but
It's the business of newspaper to investi-
gate all such matters this, and that's
why l came out here, as well as to get a
good account Of your fathers useful ca
reer
Come up to the library with me- he
sad then, and in ten minutes he had given
me a careful resume of his fathers life
which took down in shorthand In addi-
ton, he handed me a lot of clippings. PAM
phlets, etc, relating to his fathers early
work in connection with the advancement
or chicago | hustled back to the office
dictated connected obituary sketch to a
typewriter and ours was the best obituary
notice printed that morning. The manag-
ing editor complimented me on it the next
day, but | didn't tell him how / had got
hold of the facts for the obituary sketch. l."