Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-01-11
WERE GREAT FAKES.
REMARKABLE YARNS HAVE BEEN
WORKED OFF on CHICAGO
BY The IMAGINATIVE REPORTER.
In Every Case the story Was swai-
lowed with Great Avidity by the
Windy City PeopIe-Gigantic Pre-
washington Starr
varfcators.

newspaper-the general row over the ex-
tension of the Chicago street railway
franchise had been up for discussion-
1.-THE newspapers out there fell INTO INC
traps sent by a sad lot of brilliant repor-
torial fakirs about ten or dozen years
ago / meet one or the other OF these eA-
reportorial fakirs every once In a"hiIe'
They're all doing well. They've all won
out Several of 'em are theatrical man.
ayers and others OF the lot are press
agents for theatrical outfits; and IN these |
CAPACITIES they are congenially placed III
go far as they Joyous indulgence IN tne
riotousness OF their lurid imaglnatiohs -
concerned. They all just happened 10 uill.
into Chicago around the period say, ~.
1856 to 1890 and they all got elhploS No.
on the various newspapers OF Chlcaso'
which were all more or less hlgn III tlIe
standard and tone Of their local news
before these ingenious and incorrisloie
fakirs happened into the town. Ana II
wasn't the fault of the newspapers OF Ci
| the owners thereof that Chicago anu dll
! of the desmesnes adjacent thereto W.
so terrifcally faxed during the periou -
| which / refer. The newspapers -
| help il. Their spellbinders turheu III
| corking whoppers. with such a Wealth u
| Sotai IN everv case. that-wel the
| frankly named Liars Club OF chicago
! finding itself overtopped and outdone 10
a standstiu. lust voted to 90 out OF eN
| ist,nce at the time when the reportorlai
| taking of Chicago was at its zeni'h'
! For instance:
| 4 GIGANTIC WHOPPER.
THE guileless innocent-looKihs sou sn
/ mon Who aid the hotel interviewing for
one OF the most famous Of the Cn'csso
dailies-be's now the chief OF stan Oh
b,p American theatrical syndicate-useu
to get so chesty at times, wheh lhei
was no genuine news in his me 10 We
secured. that he'd study Tor weeks III
schemes whereby not only 70 move lhe
nonulace OF Chicago out Of its midsum-
, mer Iethargy. but to shake the whole
continent and to project a rumble oeheaOh
| the thrones Of the crowned heads across
: the sea His most e1traoruihdty
! achievement in this lire was his inter
I view with a famous Italian Statesman
{ travelling incognite through the Ohiteu
E States. and registered yesterday Al IN
q Hotel Richelieu. whence he departed 'a9'
e night for san Francisco For hugeness
j. Of conception and minuteness or uetal
= this interview' was surely a WONDER
X The great signor OF Italian Statesman
X shin was represented I'm the interview
= as the strongest supporter OF the Nat'Cdi
: rarty. and In this capacity ne was r. PlS
scented as having the greatest possipl
V intimacy with the hopes and plans OF III
Roman pontiff He talked at lengti
respecting these plans, and in yer;
significant paragraph he stated tnaI SUI
was the unsatisfactoriness OF the pon
e. tins position in the pOlity OF the KING
N dom OF Italy. the Pope medltated chang
s. ing in the very near future, the site Q
the holy see from Rome to Berne. Swl'
J. zerIand The interview two double
IN loaded columns OF IL. got into type on IN
7 first page Of the newspaper that Ell
Moved this hote-repOrting genius, an
he il was an awful scoop on the rest OF u
~ dailies. All Of the hotel reporters oil d
~ OF the rest OF the Chicago he"spdp'
we're fired in a body for not getting n
de interview and they only secured the
d. reinstatement when they produced u
at afdavit made under oath by 'Cardina
Remis the proprietor Of the Hotel Rich
lieu that no such person as the gre
signor Of Italian craftsmanship had Dee
n ! roetstered at his hosiery All the sam
q that interview was put on the cable el
IN tire and reproduced verbatim III all
at the great papers of Europe ana u
nj bronze doors Of the Pope's apartment
O. I'm the Vatican were assalled lot ia.
a., bv CORRESPONDENTS Of European pape
~ was ANYTHING in the story as to Il
nossibhe removal Of the holy see fro
Roma to Switzerland, and in general
deuce of a row was stirred up by U
ST. antervlevy' scrlbbled by the bland, gull
n less-loolting young reporter, who is no
re drawing big pay for writing ABOUT u
ch or that actress loss OF jewels, now SUI
X and such = corpulently inclined mgr
ingale Of the stage decreases her weigi
. on
got the interview precisely as 1t "
Observation-Disclosures not at the Richelis
A but in Chicago, all right he said-b
he that. having made a solemn promise y
al 10 reveal the name and title or the
teryiewed her. Of course, felt natui
delicacy. etc. etc. lie was kept on
staff NJ his paper, and he dldnt sprl
anoty.,r large one until the final day
Ige his newspaper Work IN Chicaso'
ties tell you about that one later on
Ire DIR. CRoNINs COTTAGE.
10 "Then there was the fake about
cottage in which Or. Cronin was mi
dered. You'll recall that the pol
searched the whole town OF chicago
te- weeks and months In their euortS
IN and ont lust where DR.. Cronin was m
dered. and they didn't have the lei
PARTICLE of success. young man VII
now running about a dozen fancy RET
meat-shops. with onyx counters, all o.
chicago was at that time connec
~ with one of the most conservative OF
= Chicago morning newspapers in the
4 pacitv OF a night police reporter. w
= he went out and found the cott
= wherein DR.. Cronin was murdered
= nicked out deserted wooden shack v
:, = oyer on the outskirts of the town,
- he scattered a lot Of broken chi
II around the front room thereof and Il
, up other realistic, If somewhat too o'
= done evidences that an awful and g
= struggle had taken place in the TO
: and then he sat down and wrote
= double-leaded pages (Which were illu
| > mated with about dozen DIG plctu
! telling just how he had accidentally 4
\ pened TO hit upon the cottage Whei
~ the murder of DR.. Cronin had been G.
Z mltted. That. too, was beat that
= most of the other police reporters
! Chicago their jobs-for excuses didn
4 ! ont there for getting beat at that Il
The writer of the story was promptly
rested and taken before the grand j.
| which was waiting for the submission
= an the evidence In the case before
4 turning incidents against the
: held on suspicion Of being involved in
murder He calmly repeated his stOr
: detail about the manner OF his disco
= ing the scene Of the crime. and ne coul
r I he shaken from II. He Ill
have a detail twisted, and he stoo
= blistering DISCRIMINATION withou
vince. He couldn't be cowed out OF
: fake-it was a long. long time before
! general belief in the story was 81
! cated-and he was sent 10 jail. r.
I ) few days he would be dug out or ia