The copper country evening news., 1898-06-01
OUR NEW YORK LETTER
DEcADENCE OF THE BUSINESS or
NEWSPAPER REPORTING.


Is Now More Interesting Than ANY
other Sort Reporting May Revive
Later-CharIes Emory Smith.
NEW YORK, June 1.-[Special. THE
war with Spain has struck harder blow
at the business of newspaper reporting
here in New York than any other event
or series Of events since the close Of the
civil war.
As now practiced this gentle industry
was unknown before the beginning OF
that struggle, coming into being at its
close TO furnish substitute for the STIR
ring news from the front. Since that time
IL has enjoyed steady succession OF ex-
pansions, sometimes suffering temporarily
from overproduction, it Is true, but still,
on the whole, constantly moving forward.
But the war has dealt 1t staggering
blow-a blow moreover, from which many
newspaper men believe 1t will never recoy-
er though that by no means follows. Bar
ring The Tammany Telegraph there is not
a newspaper in New York, save The sun,
that is now making use of its usual COM
plement of city mon, and The Sun would
no doubt have reduced its reportorial force
long ago but for circumstances over which
1t has no control.
These circumstances have to do with the
fact that The Sun is shut out OF the Asso-
ciated Press, of which all the other morn
ing papers and virtually all the evening
sheets as well are members. The Asso-
ciated Press now covers practically all
news of the city and vicinity quite as
closely as any one of the papers ever has,
and as its one staff of reporters furnishes
the news to all the offices belonging the
cost TO each is very much less than the low
est figure ever before paid for the service.
War News Costs Enormously.
In view of the enormous cost of war
news the comparative cheapness with
which city news may be got together Is
nothing less than n godsend to the newspa-
per publishers. No one but the publishers
themselves knows what their war news Is
costing them; no one not In the newspaper
business can have any adequate idea of it.
Ii Is suggestive that two newspapers which
dubbed together in chartering n swift
steam yacht for dispatch boat had to
give bond of $500, 600 for the craft S
safety to her owners, while the daily ex-
pense of navigating the vessel, exclusive
of salaries to correspondents, telegraph
tolls hire of the boat, ETC., runs well up
into the hundreds and has been known
to approach 81 900.
For this boat, which belongs to the
banker, J. Pierpont Morgan, is little less
than an ocean liner in size and requires n
large staff of skilled officers to navigate
her, thoroughly trained engineer corps
to operate her machinery and a big force
of stokers to feed her furnaces with coal.
In the circumstances it Is not surprising
that the newspapers are scrimping their
local expenses in every possible way. For
instance, with the exception of the two
above mentioned, they have all dropped
their 'Tenderloin precinct" reporters.
Had any working newspaper man of this
town predicted such thing five years ago
he would have been deemed crazy by all
his associates, and with apparent reason,
News From the Tenderloin.
For the Tenderloin contains nearly all
the important hotels and many of the i'm.
portant theaters, us well rs those eating
drinking and other resorts that are fire.
quented by those who wish to live the
life. " The Tcnderloin' police news has
always been of special importance, as po-
lice news goes. 1t was from the Tender
loin that much of the evidence laid before
the LeXow committee was obtained. Near
ly all the interviews with visiting foreign
ers and strangers from other American
cities have been obtained at the hotels in
the Tenderloin district. A goodly share
OF the suicides and no small proportion of
the murders occur in the Tenderloin, and
the human interest" stories that for
years have been staples, especially with
Sunday supplement editors, have been
drawn from Tenderloin sources
But human nature has not changed
and, Notwithstanding the present partial
eclipse of the Tenderloin, it is sure to en-
JOY revival when the war is finished, for
there must be something to replace the
dispatches from Cuba and Key West and
the Philippines, as there was in 1865 to
take the place of news from the front"
And there are many who believe that
this revival of interest in city affairs will
be accompanied by a revival of the report
ing business-in fact, that good city re-
porters will then be in greater demand
than ever.
Charles Emory Smith.
Writing of newspapers and newspaper
men reminds me that Charles Emory
Smith, editor Of the Philadelphia Press,
former minister TO Russia and at this time
the only newspaper man in the cabinet is
almost counted New Yorker by the news
paper men of this town from the fact that
all of his earlier journalistic work was
done in this state.
Mr.. Smith, by the bye, is held in very
high personal regard by all New Workers
who know him regardless of political af-
flliations, although he is one of the stron-
gest Republicans living Here is story
which heard about him yesterday that
may explain one of the reasons for his pop.
ularity. 1t was told by man who has
been newspaper worker for 90 years and
more.
when i was youngster " said this
man, 81 desired very much to get into the
newspaper business, but l lived away back
In the country, and do what ! could. turn
which way L would, there seemed no OPEN
ing. Finally / wrote 100 letters TO 100
newspaper editors begging each to give me
some sort of encouragement One of these
letters was sent to Charles Emory Smith.
then editor of the Albany journal. In
due time L began to receive replies. All
told, / believe there were about 60 of them.
but only one gave me the slightest hope.
Most OF them turned me down remorse-