The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1902-07-05

49, NSt oo'e'oAe y p 4 hAc
reminds us that many an editor has
saved his life by readi3g between the
lines Of contributions before accept.
ing them just to fill up with, but
occasionally some subscriber reads
between the lines Of what the scribe
says and then he has to hide out till
the storm is over. Frequently you
can place seventeen constructions on
a simple, harmless looking little sem
tence, half Of which you never
dreamed when you wrote it. This is
the meanest trouble of all; a true
case of where the father doesn't
know his own child; you don't know
how to meet it or overcome 1t.
"Then again you may lose a friend
who finds an o upside down in line
Of his obituary poetry. Next week
you try to make the correction, leave
the dot off an and another subscriber
is gone. Strange how easy it is to
lose subscriber. One win quit, root
and branch, when you ask for the
dollar due you; another will go to
Stew Creek and not finding his name
in the paper, top Of column, next t0
reading matter, and off goes another
name. The Oldest daughter, a most
lovely girl, Salla, graduates, and you
speak of her as Sallie and you are up
again. There is a new arrival at Sam
Jones', you forget whether it is a boy
or girl, but think it is girl, and say
so in your paper. The next week
you meet the father of that fine boy
and probably you are down again.
BY the way, when you don't know
just what it is always say boy
Experience has taught US that this
is safe rule. We don't attempt to
explain but its true all the same.
However, such things should not hap
pen. An editor ought to know what
would suit each individual or he
ought to take each item before it is
| published and let the person whom it
concerns censor 1t. An editor has
plenty Of time to do this as all he has
to do is to hunt news and clean
rollers, write editorials, set type,
clean the floor, pen short items and
hustle advertising, press the papers,
fold them and mail them, write
wrappers, talk to visitors and distrib-
ute type, read proofs, correct mis-
takes, split wood when there's any
to split), build the fires, hunt the
scissors, dodge the bills, dun delin-
quents, take cusslng and tell the
subscribers be needs money, these are
only a few Of the things a newspaper
man has to contend with and yet he
should not make mistakes in his
paper while attending to such minor
details, at the same time living on OK
tail soup, lettuce, prunes, sunshine
| wind. budding, and Imagination for
desert.
"But with all our faults we shake
our own paw and go right along try
ing to save the country, teach Others
how to walk circumspectly and be
good. We tie our tow-line to every
enterprise that comes along and say
| a good word for the sick and newly
married, to make them feel better;
crlticise all the dolngs OF Europe,
Asia and Africa, hold up for our own
party and-to be continued
A young lady in this city complain
ed TO some Of her friends that the
cats 81 l,er neighbors were catching
her chickens A young gentleman
friend told her to shoot at the cats
aud scare them away. He let her
have target rifle, and cautioned her
not TO shoot herself or any of the
ueighbofs. A few days ago the
young lady was sitting in her room
trying to decide between a Jayhawker
and a Missouri sweetheart, wheu she
saw hateful cat iu the barn lot.
She grasped the target rifle, took aim
and blazed away. The cat jumped
four or five feet high, and gave a
yowl that alarmed the neigbbors.
When the young lady saw that she
had hit her mark she dropped the
| gun and almost tainted, and every
yowl Of the cat was responded to by a
louder howl from the young lady.
! If anybody has missed a big catitmay
De given up Tor dead The young
lady Is recoyeriug, but She viii not
shoot at another cat