New-York tribune., 1901-08-19
A DIsGRUNTLED REPORTER.
A TRIBUTE FROM wR. RICHARD HARDING
DAVIS TO THE PROFESSION ~
WHICH TEE WAS TRAINED.

WHICH HI WAS TRAINED.
Persons q tender sge have been known 10 er-
tertain dark and awesome Arbitration for the
man who gets the testimonial from his intimates
that he would do immortal things if he would
only keep away from whiskey." For such per
sons Nr Richard Harding Davis has perhaps
composed the story called a Derelict." which
opens the August number Of ''Scribner's Maya
zine" The hero % is heaven-born genius
yciept Charlie Channing"-they are always
Charlie" Tommy never Charles or
Thomas-and really, the gentlemen who sit up
I'll O'Clock in the morning listening to his talk
are at Joss for words 10 express their rev
erence With a pen in his hand he is merely
colossal.
Write, Heavens how that man can write:
and he'd aIrnoe, rather DO anything else. There
isn't a paper in New York that wasn't glad TO
get him. hut they couldn't keep him week
Why, il was made him send ms hrst
Chinatown story The International Maya
zine" and they took il like fash and wrote
him for more; hut he blew in the check they
sent him and didn't even answer their letter
He said after he'd had ihe fun cf writing a
story he didn't care whether il was published in
a Sunday paper or IN white vellum. or never
published al all
That's the kind Of man he was. Charles
a genius growled the baseball reporter. de-
family. I say hes q genius" And NJ. Rich-
ard Harding Davis. who has been reporter
himself and knows all abGUt these things.
echoes the sentiment. He paints "Chsrlie' neg
lecting orders and devotiug himself instead 10
the oommernoration in undying prose OF & blind
beggar he had found on Broadway with ? dead
dog Ohe very thing 10 explain why there WASH I
a paper in New-York that wasn't glad 10 get
him'D He quotes the titles Of some Of his
masterpieces The Passing OF the Eighbinders'
and Tales OF the TenderIoin." He takes him TO
hall we'd 2
and indulge IN talk calculated 10 move matinee
girl TO scaldinc tears. But. Heavens, how that
man can write" we remember. and presently
he IS in6iting a msrvC'CE-S description of the
battle Of Santiago. while the Consolidated
Press" reporter. whose d-.r = IS - prepare the
dispatch. lies il 2 drunken stuPcr. As the
winged words take their flight over the cable
''Charlie" coIlapses into fever. Some weeks
later he returns TO New-YorI TO find THAI he
has written the only piece Of literature the war
has produced" and that "Keating." the to3er
aforesaid. Is taking all the credit. He acquiesces
IT'S all right" is the message he sends 10 the
thief and who we ask. could contemplate his
self-sacrihoe dry eyed?
Well the reader might who had got past the
tender age; who knew the difference between
life and a smart young mans idea ot it who
could distinguish reputable journalism from the
baser sort. Such reader recognizes at once the
morbid feeling and u2awkish sentiment in A
Derelict." and estimates al its true value the
authors effort 10 put halo Of intellectual glory
round the head OF an irresponsible drunkard.
and 10 extor; sympathy for his unappreciated
genius. such reader must wonder, too, what
theory OF art what principle in morals could
have led Nj Davis 70 throw up mis- baseball
reporters idol on the canvas by the cheap
process Of hlackening other writers for the
press. Whether in providing q foil for his
cloud-oompelng Charlie" in the person OF "old
Jimmie Heating Mr.. Davis had some par
ticular rival Of his own in mind or not, we can
not say. Whether or not he intends US 10 iden-
tify the Consolidated Press" OF his story with
The Associated Press that is known 10 every
body. We leave for the reader TO decide. Whether
Mr. Davis has or has not unpacked his soul in
this precious tale Of the chagrin which he may
have felt when the War Department compelled
him 10 leave the flagship New-York ar Santiago
and left a writer for The Associated Press on
board. he alone can tell Us. But that he has
put his hand 10 a dirty piece OF work is OBJ
vious upon the surface OF these pages OF his in
'Scribner's Magazine"
The Associated Press sen; 10 report the opera
tions in the war with Spain no such scottish
bounder as the object Of Mr.. Davis's sneers.
The representative later sent by the same as
sociation 10 report the Peace Negotiations in
Paris was not among those assigned 10 duty az
Santiago at all, though the incidents Of a
Derelict' are so arranged as TO create the op-
posite impression. old Jimmie Heating" being
rewarded for the stroke that Charlie Charming
had achieved by a commission 10 Paris. But II
Is not simply that a Derelict'' Is open 10 the
rnischievous Interpretation outlined above that
constitutes the authors offence. II is that this
tan6erous production is exactly the sort OF thing
10 bring horest Journalism into unjust contempt
representing as low and rreacherous the very
workers who disdain 70 use the methods OF the
fash and sensational reporter. The "Consoli-
dated Press is described conhning its cor
respondents 10 the baldest possible statement
OF facts and We are asked TO believe that that
was al Heating" was good for We might re-
mind Mr.. Davis that among those fact gather
ers az Santiago was the author OF that famous
dispatch on the great storm in Apia Bay. which
Mr.. Davis ever wrote has ever even begun TO
thrill them. In consideration Of his good quail
ties we have overlooked in the past his bump
tiousness and sharp reporters" style. But
when We find him pandering 10 false tastes and
in3uring the good name OF literature by work
OF ':iction' IN which Il is impossible not 10 dis
cern a malignant desire 10 cast obloquy upon
reputable members Of the profession 10 which
he has owed so much for his own advancement
we are constrained 70 protest The grave mis-
take OF allowing such q performance as this 10
occupy conspicuous place IN 2 popular Inaga-
zine has doubtless by this time been perceived
II is one, We fancy, which VIII not be repeated