Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1898-01-29
A WOMAN REPORTER.

reporter disgraced the staff and it is given
here rs it WAS told by the city editor to
several of his reporters who were sit
ting in his room one morning after the
paper had gone to press:
1.-THE Times bought The Tribune and
consolidated the two and called it The
Times ribune and, like many hyphen
ated papers, there were morning and
evening editions, said tho city editor.
cit was question most of the time
whether we were working for morn
ing or an evening paper. That was the
case with those of us who were on the
evening edition.
sit was about Il month after the con-
solidation that the woman reporter
came TO work on the paper. Her COM
ing was like tho opening Of the Will
dows in midsummer to the hreezes of
June. She was about as innocent OF
newspaper work as catnip tea is OF
champagne. She paralyzed us all few
weeks after her arrival by clapping her
hands when the city editor asked her
to come down and work one evening.
She thought it would be such q lark.
Then again, at election time, when she
worked all night, she was almost tic
killed. to death and considered 1t quite a
glorious achievement.
This girl was quite Il hustler,
though, and she wasn't kept at society
stuff all the time. but was given little
assignments. such as justice shops and
undertakers' joints. Once the city edi-
tor sent her out TO hunt up 4 lost child,
and she found it, and she was the hap
piest girl in town. The kid was the per-
sonal property of the richest man there
about
Instead of paying her the reward he
sent her an invitation to come up to his
house and eat Sunday dinner. She did
not seem to mind this at all and took it
as matter of course, though the police
reporter wanted TO thrash the man, but
then he'd have done anything she might
suggest. But as far as this was con-
cerned, so would any other member Of
the staff Or Of the business office or OF
the composing room or even the press
room. Oh, she could have anything or
ANYBODY she wanted about The Times
Tribune Office.
"She used to have the inside run on
all the theater passes, while the rest OF
US didn't have time to get acquainted
with any one but our creditors or to go
anywhere except out oil our runs and to
bed. But this didn't trouble US, because
she was the woman reporter, you see.
well, she bad been with The Times
Tribune about year when she LETT IL
disgrace, and it WAS this thar caused sew
eral of the boys to lose their jobs.
You know, there are q great many men
who always want TO drown their sor-
rows, and there's no newspaper OIL earth
that's going to stand this. Some OF you
may let this drift through Your heads.
1t may co you good and save your NUT
ton.
Il beg you to excuse these side TO-
marks. AS 1 was saying, then came her
disgrace. 1t was terrible shock TO
those of us who had worked with her
every day for year and had had every
opportunity Of studying her and knew
ing just what she was.--Lddiun { blame
some Ct iiue boys for falling by the way
side. I'd have done the same, l guess, If
hadn' been married.
cit was surprise to US all, too, and
the managing editor was so put out that
he had the dumps for days and Went
about the Office scowling and so cross
that even the Office boy was still and
moved about like ghost.
cit was just about this time, TOO,
that the ether papers Of the town be-
gan abiding to kindergarten journal,
ism and 'skirted reporters and other
obnoxious phrases known only to the
profession, and in other ways kept be-
fore US what we had suffered. 1t was
then, toe, that these same papers began
sending to The Times Tribune all the
female applicants Tor places and noised
il around town that we wanted fe-
male reporter to take the place of the
one we had lost. Oh, it twas awful!'
The city editor bowed his head, and
we thought he was about to weep, but
he braced up and went on:
'We didn't employ any more women
reporters. / don't believe the old man
would have hired one if she had been
the best in the country. One had thrown
him down, and he was chary Of the sex.
He was an old bachelor himself and
had always been quite ladies man,
but after this disgrace he became cen
frmed woman hater and went so far as
to discontinue the womans page on
Sundays and swore that he'd discon-
tinue the society notes if the propri-
etors would let him. We all guessed
that he was pretty badly cut up, for he
had always thought the woman reporter
was all right. He had even gone SO far
as to take her to the theater, and he
used to loaf around the city room when
she was there and hang CT to her words.
eyes, it was a frightfu] shock, and
her disgrace was keenly felt.
The papers had come up from the
pressroom, and we had each got one.
We stood around waiting for the city
editor to come out Of his room. When
he appeared, one Of the younger report
ers approached him.
"You forgot to tell u.s." he said,
chow she disgraced the staff.
The city editor stopped with his hand
on the doorhncb and answered:
"she nanlCd the head prcofreader. "
st. Louis l.. ullic.
They Contain Essential Elements For Per-
feet Hourishment of the Body.
"Cereals and frnits should form the