The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-08-18
ALL WERE BRILLIANTMEN
Possessed OF Wide knowledge of
Greater Affairs OF Life.
TaH TRAINING FOR THEIR WORK

which paper he had done more editorial
work than any other, OF maryelously
clever pen.
Bromley's 3 writing was Of a sort that no
one now employed upon tho metropolitan
press can successfully initiate. 1t COM
binod power with grace, strength with
wit, scholarship with profound knowledge
of practica, affairs, and keon incisivencss,
with playfulness in such proportions AZ
TO make Il effective to n rare degree.
It's like seems not to be developed by the
environment Of today It's formative Pc
riod embraced the years Of the civil war.
Then Noah Brooks, editorialist, magazin-
list and fiction writer; Junius Henri
Browne, war correspondent and essayist;
the late John C. Reid and Amos Cum
mings, now turned statesman, executive
Journalists of the old school; John Swim
ton, oombative and trenchant, and White
law Reid, now editor and chief owner OF
The Tribune, were entering their prime.
All these men were under the direct infiu-
enoe Of Horace Greeley, the elder Bennett,
Charles A. Dana, and Henry j. Raymond,
editor Of The Times when 1t was ut the zen-
ith OF It's power, and the early work of each
was fashioned to suit tho taste of some ono
OF these pioneers In modern American
Journalism. Whether the journalism OF
today Il better or worse than theirs, IL is
clear that we shall never see their like
again. for the conditions under which they
were trained can never be repeated. And 1t
A. no disparngcment to the writers and
editors Of the present to say that In some
respects the journalistic generation to
which Bromley belonged and which Is rep
resented ouSsido Of New York by such sur
vivors a. Henry Watterscn of Louisville,
Joseph Medill OF Chicago, William Pur-
cell Of Rochester and only a few others ex-
colled In many notable why's.
Men Of wilde Experience.
When these men entered newspaper life,
Il was not nearly 80 well crystallized as
now. Itwas not 20 cut up into depart
nente. 1t had fewer traditions The ex-
prsssion Of opinion was by no means SO
subordinate to business exigencies; tho
gathering and presentation OF news, or
that which is alleged TO DO news, were OF
far less Importance than the production OF
. strong editorial page. Pictures were
virtually unknown In the daily press and
the cost Of running newspaper was only
tithe al great.
Nearly every ono OF the giants Of those
days had served acceptably in some other
walk Of life before taking up the profes-
tion Of journalism and entered It after .
sort q general apprenticeship In the broad
lleld Of theaworld. Thus Bromley began
g l2wyer. bad experience as an official
6f the Connoutiout Legislature and was first
3 acaptain Of volunteers and then provost
marshal In the civil war before he finally
settled down to newspaper work, and
ho left It from time to time In later
years to engage In the service Of the Union
Paciflc railroad. Amos Cummings was q
printer before he began to write or WELD
the bl1o pencil as correspondent or man
aging editor. Dana's experiences as the
governments personal representative at
the front during the civil war are well
known from his own story thereof just
flnished In one OF the magazines. Noah
Brooks CROSSED tho continent when tho
Journey over the plains of tho great Amer
lean desert had to be made on foot, In .
prairie schooner or on horseback instead
Of by rail and was o matter Of months, not
days, and 30 on, and the richness OF each
mans experience contributed immensely
70 the value of his journalistic work.
Little Debating Then.
The shorthand writer was rarity and
the typewriting machine was not yet In
vented when these men began to write for
the press. Diotation. therefore, with Its
charactsristic lapses of style and often OF
Enrlish, into which most writer's who
ndopt the quicker method of copy produce
Zion arc certain 70 fall, was almost un-
known, and the time spent over column
q matter was consequently longer than 1t
generally IL now. This was true Of Brom-
ley's copy to the last. His work was an
especially strong negative proof Of the say
lnR that easy writing makes hard read
ing, for, though his writing, even when
it treated Of the most abstract subjects,
made the casiest, most pellucid reading, IL
was always done in slow, laborious fashion.
knew him best when he was the chief
editor OF newspaper In flourishing in
terlor city. He seldom wrote moro In
day than as much a. would Ill this col
umn, and sometimes his output was even
less, though II generally took several hours
70 get Il ont, his pen moving constantly
but slowly over the paper from the begin
ming 70 the end Sometimes he would use
HE copy a. the lender Of the day, some
times 10 would be ubcditorial, some
times Il would bo a collection of unheaded
editorial notes. and sometimes he would
contribute 70 the city page. but whatever
he wrote would always bo the feature Of
the days paper about which the readers
would do the most talking and concerning
witch they would send In those letters
40 the Editor" which prove the paper 20
be interesting the people. Bromley used
always e. smoke ae he wrote In those days,
Invariably uking cigar of n certain brand,
which he put into curious crooked holder
fiof held the cIonr at an angle Of 40 dc