The times., 1899-04-23

|
Accustomed to rely on his fists for argu-
ment, he had never accustomed himself to
| think. Hence he beat and finally killed
! Trina; hence he fought with Marcus; hence
| he never troubled himself to reason, not
being used to the process. He went
through life very much as he practiced his
profession; he pulled teeth with his fingers
| because 1t was less trouble than using the
| proper instrument, and also made him a
reputation for strength. He is not pleas
ant figure, nor could he have been an ad-
mirable one; but he is very real, and dis
| tinct addition to literature. New York.
Doubleday & Mcclure Company. s150)
Newspaper Fiction.
"The Stolen Story, and Other Newspa
per Stores,' by Jesse Lynch Williams, will
be welcomed by those who have seen these
| clever little sketches In tn, magazines. Mr..
Williams is the only writer of fiction thus
far who has in any degree reproduced the
| peculiar atmosphere of newspaper Office
and in two or three of these tales he has
made his reproduction almost perfect. In
others he has to some extent sacrificed the
| realistic to the picturesque. This was true
Of one sketch which does not appear in
| the book-the story of the reporter who
was sent to Albany on an assignment, was
killed in railway accident,
and came back without the as
sistance of his body to give his paper
a Scoop Those who read the tale with
its weirdness and its air of reality, will
wonder why Mr.. Williams, or his publish
ers, saw fit to leave it out OF the collection.
OF the stories which appear, each is of
a different type from any of the rest, and
each deals with some particular phase of
newspaper work. THE Stolen Story de-
scribes an incident in the career of the
one distinct individuality in the book, ''the
great Billy Woods" star reporter of "The
Day." which Mr.. Williams describes as the
brightest and most self-respecting news
paper in the city of New York. The dis
cerning reader will easily see through the
thin disguise OF names employed by the
author, and recognize the original of THE
Day" and its disreputable contemporary,
The Earth" Mr.. Williams is nothing II
not partisan, and il Is safe to say that
there is one newspaper in New York whose
literary column will not contain an appre-
ciative notice of this book. The journals
tic methods of THE Earth" are enlarged
upon at some length in this particular tale,
and the picture is completed by various
skillfully conveyed hints in the remainder
of the book. THE Stolen Story" was unin-
tentionally stolen, in a fit of absent mind
edness, by Billy Woods, and while no or
dinary reporter would ever do just what
Billy did, it is quite possible that an ex-
traordinary character, such as he Is rep
resented to be, might have done It, Woods,
while unique in character, has many
things in common with a certain type of
| newspaper man. He is the sort OF man
who is least easily understood by the out
slider. The ordinary man thinks that
book or a magazine article is far above
mere newspaper work; to Billy Woods
| big beat is worth all the magazine ar
| ticles ever printed.
| To the outsider a mans work seems lost
If he gets no credit for it. If he does not
| sign his name-all three or four of his
names-to everything he writes. Billy
Woods scornfully remarks that 'newspa-
| pers and anonymity are good enough for
| him." To the outsider the editor-even
| the city editor-is a bigger man than a
| mere reporter; to Billy Woods any sort of
| desk work is purgatory. And therefore will
| the ordinary man never understand Billy
Woods, or comprehend the reason why this
star reporter, finishing his work at an hour
when no other recreation is to be had
takes his pleasure in the form OF a
spree" All these things. hints of which
| are given in THE Stolen Story" are ex-
| planned at length in the last of the
sketches. which is hardly a story at all
| THE Old Reporter" In this the close of
Billy's career is described-not his exit
from the body, but the final and irrevoca-
BILE collapse of his ambitions. Billy Woods
was as much martyr as any soldier, Grip
| pied in the defence of his country. The
public will have its news. and men will
ruthlessly use up their vital force in get
| ting it; and then, when they are wrecked
they are of no more use to the newspa-
pers than crippled soldier is
| to his regiment; but there is no pension
for them. They are only burnt-out rockets
along the triumphal pathway of civiliza-
| ton, and nobody remembers that they were
ever brilliant The story of Billy Woods
has never before been told In fiction-he
would never care to tell it himself, and
most OF the men who know him would not
| know how or have time; but 1t has been
very well told by Mr.. Williams
The gap between the newspaper and the
| non newspaper world is indicated in two
| stories called THE New Reporter" and
Mrs. H. Harrison Wells Shoes" The
new reporter, whose name was Linton, and
who was society man by origin, troubled
himself for time with trying to serve two
masters, but finally saw that there were
some things which he would have to do
in the course Of his business which his So
ciety friends would find It hard to UNDER
stand, and that he would either have to
give up society or his chance of getting on
in his profession. He decided to do the
| former.
Three stories with a humorous turn are
THE Great Secretary OF State Interview" !"
THE Cub Reporter and the King of Spain, .
and 1.-THE City Editors Conscience" The
first two are slightly improbable, but after
all, much more improbable things have
happened in real life. The third is a
quaint mixture of humor and pathos; and
all three are entertaining. Altogether, Mr.
Williams has not wasted a line in his book;
1t is all what the people he writes of would
call good stuff" But there is one thing
which should receive careful attention be-
| fore the next edition comes out, and that
is the careless construction OF a sentence
here and there. There are things in this
book which would certainly not have been
passed by the authors paragon of city
editor. 1t is doubtful whether the report
ers on THE Day were allowed ito for
mally interview" and there are other slips
considerably worse than this. Mr.. VIII
iiams should get that editor whoever he
may be, to read the book with blue PEN