The Topeka state journal., 1900-03-19
rHE 1Asr HrRA1n sroRY.


Wednesday night the editor of the
State Journal received a telegram from
the editor OF the New York Herald ask
ing for the Sunday Herald, an exclusive
original and faithful storsr about the
Sheldon daily. covering new lines. Civ
ing some inside workings. incOn-
gruities, humorous happenings, etc. In
company with William Allan White. of
the Emporia Gazette the writer went
over to the Capital office shortly be-
fore midnight. White said his COM
panion, you want me to go over to the
Capital office with you and of course
1 will go out of courtesy to an out of
town guest. Ostensibly I am going to
introduce you to Mr. Sheldon and any
body who happens in our path; but
the real truth of the matter is I am
going over there to get the material
for the /, 1,500-word story ordered by the
Herald for it's Sunday edition. the early
pages Of which go to press tomorrow"
Thursday.
The story was put on the wires at
midnight. It may interest the reader
to know that the Herald had ready for
this purpose a direct wire leading from
the Postal Telegraph company's Office
in Topeka right into the Herald office
in New York. It was filed in three
parts. as fast as written. the first at II
o'clock, midnight; the second at 12:15
and the last at 1890.
It appeared in the Herald yesterday
and appears in the State Journal today
through the Herald's courtesy and that
of Manager Thomas OF the Postal COM
pany-the latter loaning the original
manuscript from his office files.
Mr.. Sheldon will no doubt. if neces-
sary, vouch for the truthfulness of the
portion of the story in which he is made
a part.
Once Mr.. Sheldon said as the writer
was making a notation on the back of
an envelope: "Mr. Chase. Mr.. Mac
Lehman is taking notes" This was at
a point where it was desired to quote
Mr.. Sheldon exactly on what he said
about giving the public what it needed
not what it wanted.
Special to Herald for Sunday Story:
savage looking bulldog guards the
entrance to Mr.. Sheldon's sanctum and
everyone who crosses the Christian edi-
torial threshold must take his chances
with Cerberus. A gentleman and myself
entered the precincts doubly sacred, by
reason of the character of the paper, for
the first time just before midnight to-
night. We were wondering at the neces-
sity of a four-footed watchman at the
door and hesitated a moment; in that mo-
ment we were not lost but found that
the canine was a fraud: as peaceful, quiet
and serene as the kindly-faeed editor in
the big office chair
Having made our peace with the plas-
ter of Paris quadruped, we ventured to
say Good evening to the editor He
fa1Ix a. fe1xr
sat down again and said: Gentlemen,
I have only one more line to write and
I'll be through We took chairs, thank
full for an opportunity to recover COM
posure which the bulldog had sadly dis
arranged In trying to discover whether
Mr.. Sheldon was using an American made
pencil, or one of Faber's MADE in Ger
many" in closing his editorial our atten-
ton was attracted to the huge bust just
back of and above the editor This image
was none other than that of that patron
saint of printing and patriotism. Benja-
min Franklin. But what struck US as
most peculiar, was that, instead of looking
benignly down upon the head of the new
boss" Franklin's eyes were in a deep,
stony stare, fixed directly upon the bull
dog. Franklin apparently had no concern
for Sheldon and his paper. A large Gus
pidore full of some amber-colored liquid,
which was probably not tobacco essence,
was Immediately in reach of the editor, If
necessary. It appeared, however, that
the cuspidore had not been cleaned since
General Hudson gave up the quarters four
days ago. The room, handsomely car
peted. was Uttered with newspapers and
discarded copy. Picking up a long piece
of the latter. whose sheets had been
pasted together by the telegraph editor,
we were astonished to see that this was
an exclusive Associated Press story Civ
ing Rudyard Kipling's first views on Cape
Town, covering the situation from the
British standpoint of the famous writer.
Kipling referred to 1.-The sin of witch
craft" which he called the alleged dis
loyalty of the British in South Africa.
Mr.. sheldon said one of his visitors,
did this drop from your table or have
you thrown it away?'
No waste basket was in sight
Yes" said Mr.. Sheldon, ''I did not see
any good to be accomplished. anything
to make men better or make them more
useful by the publication of this story