Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-21
HUM0R|STS OF OLD.
Recalling a Lively 0rganiza-
ton That Never Met.
MANY BRIGHT WRITERS
KNOWN BY ALL A GENERATION
OR MORE AGO.
Who Some of Them Were and the
Newspapers They Served and
Made Famous.
BRIGHT WRITERS

The meeting this week in Baltimore, Nd
of the Photographers Association" recalls
a similar organization that was in exist
ence about thirty years ago. 1t had all the
officers common to any well-regulated So
ciety, but it never hadsa meeting except by
mail. One of the members suggested that
the cause of this was that, like their para
graphs, they were always short" They
never had any money in their treasury any
how.
Photographers, as every newspaper reader
must know, and that classification COM
prises about all the people in the country
that know how to read, are those chaps
who write the brief "squibs'' that follow
along on the editorial page, right after the
heavy leaders have passed by. They are
usually read first to sharpen the appetite
for the other good things in the paper, and
sometimes read last as one takes cloves or
some other pungent or fragrant bits to
take the bad taste out of his mouth. They
are like the crack of the whip. sharp
pointed and noisy, that calls attention to
the fact that a whip is there. Sometimes
they sting, too, but more frequently they
are expected to contain laugh and, once
in a long while. a tear.
Every newspaper of any character now
adays maintains Photographer. He is as
necessary as an artist in these times, I'M
less the newspaper is published in Penn
sylvania. He Is somewhat expensive some
times, for there have been paragraphs that
have taken more labor. time and skill to
construct than would be necessary to frame
an editorial of column in length. 1t
might be entertaining to describe the evo-
luton of a paragraph. 1t is like a spark
when complete; but 1t Is all there. The
scfntillation however, seldom comes like a
spark, as one can see stars on certain occa-
sions, as. for instance, when the side
walk flies up and hits you in the face" or
when the blacksmith hits with a heavy
hammer piece of red-hot iron To the OBJ
server this seems to be the fact but to the
maker of the paragraph 1t is not So A
true paragraph Is a little nebulous at first
but 1t gets together fast and condenses and
condenses until at length it flashes on the
mind like a new star in the armament,
bright and glittering.
George d. Prentice of the Louisville Cour-
Ter was among the first If not the first,
that made a standing for the paragrapher
and gave 1t an influence and an interest
that the photographers of the present gen
GRAFTON keep well up to high-water mark.
Robert Bonner of the old New York Led
ger, which some may remember gave Mr..
Prentice falf column in which to dis
port himself every week with witticisms
that were quoted everywhere some of
which still live.
In the early seventies of the last CEN
fury the Pars graphers Association 1 have
mentioned was formed. Some claimed that
it was like Masonry, originated by the
sa me master mind and founded on the BIZ
BILE. alleging that Solomon was the first
paragrapher known in the history of lit
erature. Perhaps he was. for some of his
paragraphs are as pungent and forceful
as any of the present day.
1t would be hard to tell how the asso-
citation was started. Some one of the
lot, however, announced that such an Or
'ganization was in existence It might be
well to observe that sometimes paragraphs
are not founded on what Montague Tigg
would call the Sunday school truth" One,
man, who had been hit pretty hard by a
paragraph, observed, and thereby made an
ideal paragraph himself, that most para
graphers depended their memory for
their wit and on their imagination for their
facts" If they don't always tell the truth
they frequently tell what ought to be the
truth
This Photographers Association of thirty
and more years ago brought together at
least in spirit a very bright lot of men,
some of whom achieved national reputa-
tons for their peculiar and characteristic
work. The old New York Daily Graphic,
the first of the daily illustrated newspa-
pers. got them all together once, or rather
their nkenesses, and devoted two pages
to their pictures. This was the nearest
that they ever came to having meeting.
Robert J. Burdette, Bob Burdette,
as the association knew him. who made the
Burlington Hawkeye famous, was an ac-
tive member. c. B. Lewis was the Detroit
Free Press man. He is the famous IN.
Quad" who is still at newspaper work,
but 1t Is not paragraphing Does any one
remember the Danbury News man? 1t is
to be doubted. He was j. NJ. Bailey and
was known far and wide the man who
would never wear necktie." He came
into possession of a little weekly news
paper in Danbury, Conn. He also speedily
came into possession, through his bright
paragraphs, of very large reputation, his
newspaper reaching a circulation that was
at that time phenomenal" At the height
n he CT yyyiff nor how
made enough money to live on for the
rest of his life. He quoted~all over
the world, and was known by his nom de
plume as widely as Samuel l.. Clemens
is now known by his In those days a
little weekly printed in Norristown, Pa,
called the Herald, one of the most
widely quoted newspapers in the country
Its Photographer made 1t. His name was
]. H. Williams. The Louisville Courier
Journal had a successor not unworthy of
Mr.. Prentice in John E. Hatcher. There
was Isaac M. Gregory, Ike Gregory OF
the Rochester N. Y, Democrat and Chron-
icle. who served afterward for many years
as editor of Judge, and who only recently
wrote his final paragraph. There was
Daniel B. Hopkins, Dan Hopkins of the
Poughkeepse, N. Y, Eagle, and Edwin
Wood of the deceased Chicago Journal; B.
F. Guild Of the Boston Commercial Bulle-
tin. who made streaks of wit fash over a
newspaper devoted otherwise only to hard
headed business matters. There was e. M.
smith of the New York Herald, who are
still at 1t. w. A. Wilkins of the White
hail. N. Y, Times and ]. G. P. Holden of
the Yonkers, N. Y, Statesman still have
their brief and sharp sayings quoted in all
the newspapers. And they are as taking
as any that go the rounds. George L.
Catlin Of the old New York Commercial
Advertiser was a nephew of the painter,
George L. Catlin. who went early in the
last century into what is now the country
Of the two DakOtas and lived months
among the Indians, giving the world the
first intimate knowledge 1t has Of the daily
life of our aborigines. He painted por-
traits of the chiefs, braves and women of
| the Mandans, and his book about it all
| is as rare as 1t Is valuable. Many IL not
| all, Of the original portraits are now upon
| the walls of the National Museum here.
| The Photographer Catlin was very active
! in the old association, being the secretary
| thereof. He was made consul at one of the
| towns in Germany years ago. and is there
yet.
There were others in the association
| whom it is pleasant for those left to re-
member and all of them If they were
| living would greet this new organization
with enthusiasm, even if in that enthusi-
asm there is just a little tinge Of good
| natured jealousy that the new association
| can do what the older one never could do
get together in the flesh.