Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-01-28
A FEAT or MODERN JOURNALISM.

Among the hundreds of thousands of
people who read with bated breath the
story of the lroduos disaster In the Chi
caFo newspapers perhaps there were not
"A dozen who thought of the brilliant part
OF modern Journalism involved in It,
This memorable disaster did not oc-
cur until tho middle Of Wednesday af-
tcrroon. and yet before daybreak the
next morning the narrative of it vas
spread before tho eye of the reader with
vivcdness and completeness which
could hardly have been expected until "a
iav iater.
There was, first of all n series of alb
solutely correct views, taken by photo
grarhers on the spot, of the locality
Of the fire, including tho street crowd,
tho movements of the death wagons
and the operations of the fire depart
building without and within and like
resees Of many Of tho leading characters
involved in the catastrophe.
rhe accompanying reading matter was
sim mbre remarkable. After the
reader had roruscd a classified descrip-
tive liet of FIVE or six hundred killed.
Injured and missing persons. the like Of
which had never before been seen in n
ncv spaDer. he was furnished with n
graphic account of the beginning prog
ross and fatal elimination Of the fire.
He mieht then read more at his leisure
vicIs illinS ont tho coarser outlines Of
, tho story with thrilling particulars. II
ho could endure any more he couiu then
read for hours the description and his
tory of the Iroquois theatre, the review
Of theatre eros in all lands and no end
OF similar opposite information.
Readers took all this in just as they
brsathed the air and enjoyed the sun
Hight without stopping to think how
and by whom 1t was prepared, and for
this they cannot be blamed. But there
Is n story Of enterprise and adventure
connected with that nights work which
would he worth almost as much space as
tho fire story itself.
Tho gencralship required in the news
paper offices in directing the movements
of reporters, the taste and system dia.
! PLAYED in the makeup and tho good
! work done IN ~ mechanical departments
were all essential TO this journalistic tri-
umph.
For n person in any other calling ia
| realize the performances of the report
ers on that busy afternoon and even
ing it would have been sufficient for
hundreds OF things they had on their
hanGs. For instance if the sharpest
| Young lawyer had set out simply to as
certain how the fire originated or the
names of fcw of the victims he woult
probably have been found later in somt
hospital or lunatic asylum.
Th. reportorial work done on thi;
occasion required the highest qualities
and faculties OF manhood ever called
for in the line of human duty. The re-
porters of the Irouuois fire needed and
actually exhibited the Indifference I"
danger Of a fireman or a soldier the
inscnsihility to cold and fatigue of an
Artic explorer, the quicknesS Of mp
prehonsion Of a bright lawyer or do
tectiNe. a faculty of observation aud
memory peculiar to their profe ssicn
and the physical endurance of a trained
athlete.
All this in securing the facts, anc
then perhaps The browning performance
of it as the ability, after so many
hours of toll and exposure, to sit dowi
and typcwritc or dictate in appro
pirate language all they had found
out.
Never before in the history Of Chicar'
We're such demands made on the news
paper profession and never before did II
acquit itself so NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Chronicle