Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-09
TOLD OF TOM HANNUM.
One of the Brightest Men of His Time
on the Row.

A number of years ago William Hawkins
launched magazine here called the Ana
| lostan He got up a symposium on What
Is News To every newspaper man and
correspondent in Washington he sent out
request to send him, briefly, the definition
of News" Among the answers was one
from the late Tom Hannum, one of the
brightest fellows who ever worked on the
Row. At that time Hannum was doing
work on a local paper and he and the city
editor didn't get along as smoothly as Tom
thought they ought. He was Chatting under
the too free use of the blue pencil when he
received the letter asking him to tell what
news was. His answer was this:
News is that article, or portion of an ar
ttcle, written by painstaking and intelli-
gent correspondent or reporter, and which
has the blue pencil run through it by the
man at the desk
Hannum and the city editor drifted fur
ther apart than ever after his answer was
published.
Hannum was not only good newspaper
man, but one of the swiftest printers in
America. When he first came to WASH
ngton from Pittsburg he obtained a job in
the government printing office. While there
he found out one night while loafing on
the Row that there was big piece of news
touching some foreign matter which the
newspaper boys could not get hold of The
White House had been worked to no pur-
pose, none of the correspondence would
be given out. Strange to say, the very next
day when Hannum returned to work his
Slug" was called for hurried copy. He
took OUT and had set but a line or two
before he discovered that the very copy he
had in hand was the paragraph the news
paper men were tearing their shirts to
get. Not being very particular whether he
kept his job or not, he determined that he
would abstract that piece of news.
There was no chance to crib the copy.
and he knew If he attempted to copy II inc
fnrsa
studied over the situation and by the time
the take was up he had decided what
to do. He walked around by the proof
press, rolled the roller over the stick of
tyne and going back to his case he took an
impression of the linked type on his arm.
He worked until noon, got excused Tor the
balance of the day, and going down On the
row he told some of his newspaper friends
that he had what they were all after. Roll
ing up his sleeve Hannum let his friends
copy the paragraph, and the afternoon pa
pers announced the Presidents decision
several hours before the printed matter left
the hands of the public printer.
Hannums newspaper friends sent him
to California, hoping that stay there
would cure him of consumption, disease
which was fast taking him to the grave.
A few nights before his departure a din
ner given him at the home of Mr..
George Gilleland where the boys tried to
cheer him up. One of the correspondents
in making address said he felt that
their friend would return from California
in perfect health, and stated that he had
a friend who went to that state a few
years before when he was almost shad-
ow but came back weighing one hundred
and seventy-five pounds.
When it came HannumS time to say a
word he referred to what his friend had
said about someone coming back from Cal
ifornia more than doubled In weight. Il
had friend, too, who went out there,
continued Nr Hannun. HE stayeth several
months and came back weighing two hum
dred and twenty-five pounds, but, my
friends he came back in a box