The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-08-14

when We struck, matches under his
nose.
DO they still recollect the scene in a
Republican State. convention, when g
bibulouS member from Durham got ms
dates mixed and made furious
speech against the adoption of resolu-
tons Of respect to the members OF
deceased postmaster?
The Marriage and the Funeral Bell.
On the other side of the dull level
of the daily grind is enough pathos TO
last a lifetime. The funeral toll is as
frequent as the marriage bell. After
the radiance and delight of a recep-
ton and german, comes the cold gray
morning when the reporter pushes
his way through the throng that
banks the jail. and climbs on top of n
steel cell to see Il murderer hanged.
Why there are always morbid men
who will fight their way to see Il
hanging / can not imagine. I've re-
ported fifteen executions, and the gal
| lows holds the same horror for me
now that it did the first time / ever
heard a condemned mans farewell to
earth and saw the black cap drawn
| over his head.
Every old newspaper man has been
at the scene of a hundred railroad
| accidents and helped TO pull the
wounded and the dead from under the
! burning debris of cars has stood by
| the bloody form of the murderer's VIC
| tim and waited for the, coroner; mas
| been in the midst of riots, and has
| been Scorched many times by names
| that roared high against the midnight
! sky He has been in touch with al
most every sadness that can wiring
the human heart For the young girl
| who has killed herself and lies dead
on the stony pavement is far greater
| news feature than a hundred happy
| brides in the brilliant lights and per
| fumed bowers of the nuptial altar.
To be Thankful For.
1t is a good thing that the worst
| happenings in life are news; be
cause news" is the unusual. the
| startling. the departure from the
| regular course Of things. And the fact
| that murders and infidelities ana nor
rors are news" is good proof thar
most men and women are virtuous ana
good, and that the average he OF man
runs its course in comparative nappl-
| ness.
But the newspaper man is often re-
| CURED to carry to q happy nome the
| first news of a great sorrow. Walking
up to a cottage where the roses are
! blooming over the door, the wife is
singing as she goes about her work
and the children are playing on the
! floor, it is hard to break the news OF
the fathers sudden death In some
! terrible accident. Did you ever nave
to tell a mother that her son and prlde
had been suddenly swept out OF the
world? Did you ever have to ask a
father if he could identify as his
daughter body mangled in railroad
! wreck?
When they begin, most reporters are
excited over every happening out OF
the ordinary. Accidents and bad
things ''get on their nerves, ana they
lwonder if they will ever forget them
Then they grow cynical, and pride
themselves on being men OF the
world that nothing can surprise ana
nothing shake And if they ever get
over this, they are possessed with an
abiding sympathy with mankind, a
discrimination that separates the true
from the false, and catholic charity
that covers a multitude OF sins.
And then-if they quit the neWspa-
per business and go into some other
profession or calling that with hall