Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-17
NOT HIS VOCATION

Last summer, Willie was uupc-'tS
around the home office" remarked a Cor
respondent of a San Francisco newspaper,
"a clean-looising young fellow walked into
the city editors room and braced him
for some work The young chap was the
scapcgrace son of an Atlantic seaboard
millionaire who had gone broke in en-
deavoring to bucl, against his dads ideas
as to what ought to te what. When he
found himself that way he to0i, i ito
his head that as the old gentleman back
east wasn't doing any digging in response
TO his appeals by wire, he ought to en-
bark Oh the wide of Journalism
80 he pre- scented himself to the city
editor of the paper that pays my wages
The city editor looked the young fellow
over. He'd heard about the Atlantic sea-
board mill. onaire. of course. and the young
chap looked sort of likely. in his way. He
had been through one of the big uniTer-
stiles, and the city editor figured that the
newapper business might be dru:nmed :hto
him & fter a while.
so he took the young fellow on.
THE Observation-Disclosures son of the NIL
lionaile happened to be alone of all the
reporters in the city room when the CITY
editor came across ii half-stick Item in an
evening papers last edition. stating that
the body of a very lovely young woman,
of evident refinement, had been taken from
the Bay of San Francisco that afternoon,
and that the body was al the morgue.
1.-THE city editor saw a story in that
of course, but he had all of his men out
assignments, and so he handed the
clipping to the new young man who
thought he'd like to have whack at jour
nalsm. and told him to hustle out and
get the story.
This gives you chance. said the city
editor, In a kindly way, to the son of the
eastern millionaire 1t looks as if it ought
to assay out into a spread yarn. Dig up
all the details. and get me good story.
and it won't hurt you any around here II
you make good on it.
THE young fellow 1iked out. looking full
of business, and he was gone until II
O'Clock at night.
I'm the meantime, hours before, the reg
ular police reporter had telephoned in to
the city editor that there was a big story
back of the finding of the young woman's
body in the bay. The police reporter added,
however, that he himself was up to his
ears in a highbinders' murder story down
in Chinatown, and he inquired of the city
editor If he had sent a man out on the
morgue case. The city editor replied that
he had. and the city editor already saw,
in his minds eye, the huge bank'head on
the big story the university educated young
man was going to bring in.
We'll, the young journalist strolled into
the city room along about IL o'clock that
night while the city editor was out for a
bite of lunch. and he sat down and wrote a
hundred words to the effect that the body
of young woman of pleasing appearance,
had been picked UP in the bay by some
Portuguese fishermen and that the body
was reposng ON a slab at the morgue.
HE further set down the fact that a
pocketbook had been found inside the dead
young woman's waist containing a num-
Der of visiting cards engraved with the
name of Miss Thus-and-So, and that there
was in the pocketbook in addition an un-
sealed letter addressed to a prominent
young clubman of San Francisco That's
all.
1.-The new young man had just finished
writing his little hundred words when the
city editor came in, and seeing the univer-
sity-educated youth who had been out on
the big story he rushed over to his desk
and eagerly picked UP his copy.
The city editor came real close to fall
ing down where he stood when he read
those hundred words or so.
" Did you go to the dead young womans
address on Preside Heights?' he gasped
=" No, SIR said the journalist hunting
through his pockets for a match to light
his collegian's pipe. I thought that as long |
as | got her name from her visiting card |
that that would do
1.-THE city editor backed up to the water |
cooler to get a drink to moisten his parch- |
ed throat.
E" Did you hunt up the man whose name |
is given in that letter. he managed to |
articulate to the son of the eastern mil |
lionaire.
50 No, sir was the reply I didn't sup |
pose the poor chap was to blame in any |
way, yknow, and so thought
I'm just two jumps the city editor reach |
ed one of the non-collegian reporters. who |
was writing story of no great Importance I
and in just twenty-five seconds the nol- |
coliegian reporter was out on the street In |
quest of the details of one of the most sen |
sational suicides that has occurred on the |
Pacific coast in years.
"The ordinary, everyday reporter was /
back at the office by l o'clock in the morn |
ing with enough notes scrawled on his |
bunch of copy paper to make a first-page, |
three-coiumn story, and II |
beat all of the other stories I'm the rest OF |
the morning papers hollow.
THE city editor didn't have time to fire |
the millionaire's son that night, but when |
the new young man made his appearance |
the next day the city editor called him into |
his room closed the door and. said to him: l
My son. be good, and so home to your /
paw. He'll treat you right Ii you'll only I
be nice. It's ridicuousIy easy to be nice, |
too. If you'll only try You don't like news
paper work. It's too hard. too exactfng.
too merciless. It's heap better graft to /
be the son of millionaire than it is to be
any old kind of newspaper man. Don't |
you think SOP
well, Journalism is real hard work.
for fact replied the fired young man. and
he Jared forth and bought him a ticket for
the Atlantic seaboard."
- L