Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-11-23
HOLMAN'S DEBUT.
The Maine Poet Tells of His Begin
ming in Journalism"
An Interesting Recital Of His Early Experiences
on Maine Weekly.

When l-ft school ana desired to
enter journalism. The proprietor
NJ Il Maine country weekly offered
mr s. Il week accepted. At tn"
rnd Of two weeks H. said | wasn't
earning the money but ~" kept me.
was expected I" put In on" day "A w"rk
visiting the millinery stores and other
'cntors of news and collect two c"l-
umns of locals I'll" rest ~ IN" time |
spent in collecting old. shaggy sub
scription bills. The eminent editor i'm
formed IN" that check Was an iuiis-
p"nsabi" requlsit" in a Journalistic
career. He said that hy the TIM ! got
thos, bills collected would haN" y
heck ike an iron pot. H knew "hat
h" VAS talking about.
The worst Snle IA klrd was "a man
Ia thc yillaS" Who wa> sort ~ An MIL
around lahor-r. II" had a new joh
every day Thc first time hunted
him W nv Was topping out chimney.
" n-n presented thc hill. after climb
ing tn" ladder II" WAS gong a. throw
III. m tt. roof. H. claimed thHf | ha1
irsultcd HIM ny duuning him before
III. eyes Of the cntir" community !
t!ndg"d around IN" chimney. escaped
and Wout back to thr niii,-. Their tn"
!uor informed me that would never
maxi a journalist. b.Caus" was tr"
lazy The n-xt morning hc told ms in
50 hunt that man W and max. him
DAY. found him in thc cemetery II,
was de"l, down in q grave. digging X.
Nobody bur q Eiddl.mighty news
80 o., t,...
lis gray" /" dun him f"r bill! Az
ellr"l H.
His calling me an editor Wa~ s.. ,nul-
plimnntarv that | spoke t. him soft.
and ne finally agreed 10 See m" nest
day II his hous- ana figure VI what
,uuld b" done. rode down on
III y,lc. Tor which I Was paying on tn"
inSt.llm-ut plan out az that s., p"r
v".. Tn" man lounE-d ont into thc
yatd. picked 4 plartain stalk. ana said.
as h- stripped m thr seeds with his
thumb nail: "Iv" got money du" AN
nlvin' mr. uut lik" any other man in
us'n.Ss. hain't got tn" ready cash to-
hay But I'm darn sick of havin'
editors ,hasin me around. See them
hons there Wal. them spring roost"rs
5ry vuth n cents apiece. Receipt the
hill an Ill give =" airy thru" Of en-. If
tha, don't suit. then cit the money
best We can
With Su' h an ultimatum presented
what could any aspiring young jour
ralist DO except take n" Offer? I re-
c.iited thc bin. | then suggested
cheerfuly that If H. would help M
cat h the roosters would h. travel
irg.
No, hy 4 damsite. H. clicked
They're yourn. | hain't the man to
trouble any Other fyllcr's prop'ty." He
sat down ~ the doorstep ana went To
smoking.
An old shots sack lay on the wood
pile. took that ana Went TO work. ~
the ere Of half an hour had caught
cnc ami had pulled the tail feathers
ont OF the other two. 1t was the best
opportunity. right then and there. to
leave Journalism that has ever pre-
sent"d itself to ms. Eut just as
was about to resign my position on
the staff Of the Peterville PodauEer
ny friend on tn" doorstep removed his
pipe and said with deep scorn:
Il allus have said that IN editor vas
the most useless cuss that ever chawcd
tripc."
That tlin. fired me. staid in jour
nalism. II was my busy day for the
rcxt hour and a half--but caught the
roosters. | had both thumb nails
nearly peCfed out: ! was n sight from
my last triumphant trip under the
barn-hut ! got the roosters and tied
the neck of the bag and fastened it to
the handle bar. The man on the door
step watched m. wheel away With 4
look Of deep disappointment on his
face. Contrary to his expectation he
had lost his rooSters. and the curtain
was down on an interesting entertain
n,cnt.
Three fat rooStcrs and man on a
bicycle built for one don't comprise
what one would term gentcel' load.
The roosters insisted on clawing each
other over and over and "craw-w-
wing constantly in raucous tones.
My passage along the country road
leading into the village attracted much
attention. and also several dogs. AS
most OF the dogs We're Short-lcgged.
yappinS crrS. I was able to sprint
away from them. But two stuck To
me--one giraffe-like greyhound. and
the other q big st. Bernard. with red
eyes ana humor in his genial counte-
nance. lie meant no especial mis-
chl"t. but the contents Of the bag in
t"rest"d him. My escort kept my at
t"hti"n 50 rivetcd that nearly ran
into the back Of a phaeton that was
Jogging along ahead Of me. ] dis
l.i"unted in haste. for recognized that
pIH"ton. | didn't care To wheel paSt
ii. IT contained tn. daughter of the
lc,al mill magnatc and her mother.
and for th"t daughter | entertained as
warm regard as was allowable in the