Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-05-11

William +. Curtis, the Well-knOWn cor
respondent of the Chicago Record, whose
journalistic skill has enabled him TO
amass a comfortable little fortune. re-
Gently stirred up quito an editorial breeze
by publishing some interesting figures
showing the salaries paid in four profess
sions. He discreetly confined his efforts
to the income OF the most famous men
in the various vocations discussed and
produced facts which read almost like
fairy tales.
The probable incentive for his contri-
button on this subject was the recent Of
fer made TO Rabbi hirsch. who was prom
ised $4,000 a year to remain the pastor Of
Sinai Congregation, in Chicago. A New
York church was anxious to get this good
man, but from purely unselfsh motives
he decided to remain in the Windy City.
Mr.. Curtis mentions the fact that sew
eral New York ministers receive from
$4,000 TO $4,000. The late DIR. Hall, aside
from his manse was paid $4,000, and
Henry Ward Beecher received a like
amount. Bishop Potter has $1,000 with
a rectory. Some of the church dignitaries
In England receive still more, but the ex-
penses incident to their high official sta
ton require them to spend pretty much
all they make.
The stories Mr.. Curtis tells about the
| fees which have been received by law
ycrs are in themselves sufficient 10 slim
ulate every young man to prepare for
the bar but. unfortunately, he selects
only the great legal lights for discussion,
and their records are, Of course, eXcep-
tional. Attorneys say that the one good
| thing about their profession is that other
| people cannot guess their incomes The
| young lawyers, We are told, are very glad
| that this is the case. But there is no
denying that the successful attorney
sometimes commands magnificent sums
for his services, though we opine that he
generally earns all he gets. Mr.. Curtis
mentions instances where lawyers have
received as much as a quarter Of a mil
| lion dollars, and fees of 5000 are COM
paratively common. These handsome
sums. however, We're paid to men who
conducted vast negotiations, or who rep
resented millions of dollars.
The talented newspaper writer also dis
:usses the incomes of physicians, and
shows that some specialists make from
1900 to $4,000 per annum. while scores
of practitioners earn from $4,000 to $4,000.
Last of all, Mr.. Curtis alludes TO the
brethren of the fourth estate, who, he
says are the poorest paid of all profess
sional men. The high-water mark
with editors is $4,000, and this
goal is rarely reached. There are
not. he adds. in all New York six
teen editors. aside from proprietors. who
receive $4,000 or upward a year. A Chi
cago temporary doubts these figures. and
naively says it can recall several cases
sion with a biz j. have been tempted
from the Windy City with offers of $25.0ol
TO so to New York.
J But whether MIR. Curtis be right or
wrong, there's no denying the fact that
the newspaper man can never attribute
his professional enthusiasm to a hope fol
riches. Wealth is not for the journalist
and unless he be a prodigy he need mo-
I hope for IT, 1t is only when the reporter
or editor blossoms out into fiction thai
he can expect great gain, and even ther
he may be disappointed. We hardly dar'
, 10 presume that Kipling and Davis anC
a score OF others who took the tide at III
food would submit to being classed a!
journalists, though their early training
, was found in newspaper offices.
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