Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-02
GETTING A FooTHoLD.
Difficulty Experienced by Many
Newspaper Men.

"As all who have had practical experience
in newspaper and literary work. not OF the
dilettante kind but the real thing for bread
and butter well know, the hardest thing is
to get the initial start" said the managing
editor of large daily to some friends in
the lobby Of an uptown hotel last evening
in discussing the probability Of success In
callings to which one may be adapted.
The newspaper field Is we'll titled. On
some papers comparatively few changes are
made in the reporterial Stairs, while on
others the shifts are more frequent. In
either event it Is at times difficult for even
an experienced newspapr man 10 fall into
another berth as good as the one he last
vacated, or find on a paper the particular
branch OF work in which he may excel. OF
course an experienced man can do most any
sort OF work attached to his calling, from
the night police detail to a society function
assignment. but it is the same in our bust
ness as in any other, some men excel In
certain lines Of effort, and unless they are
pursuing these lines the paper does not get
the full benefit oftheir energies and talents,
while they suffer correspondingIy In the
lack of interest and incentive and the TAX
ing in their work that natural personal
pride and interest which counts for SO much
in the long run.
ut has always been my endeavor to have
my force In sych positions, but sometimes
fortutious circumstances reveal to an edi-
tor mans peculiar abilities more clearly
than careful consideration Of the man and
his work l will tell you a little story TO
illustrate this point:
Zone day in separating the many different
pieces Of mail which daily accumulates
upon our desks 1 came across large en-
velope which instinct told me contained the
ever-present manuscript. l was about to
throw it into the city editors mail when
by reason of some impulse I thrust the
sharp envelope opener under the flap Of the
cover and ripped 1t open. 1t was manu-
Int ,,rrt, t.,,T ola
first page. in the center of which was writ
ten the following:
IF YOU LIKE THIS STUFF USE IT;
IF NOT CHUCK 1T IN THE
Beneath the two lines was the figure OF
hand roughly drawn In pencil with little
ziZ-zag dots leading down to the bottom of
the page from the extended forefinger to a
sketch which was intended for a waste
paper basket.
There was no name initials or address
anyhere on the manuscript-not line to
indicate its authorship. I momentarily
commented that If the author was as poor
a writer as he evidently was an artist his
matter properly belonged in the receptacle
to which his words and suggestive drawing
consigned 1t. On the other hand / agreed
If his stuff was as original as his idea 1t
should go to the composing room instead.
Il glanced through the stun and found
to my surprise that it was original matter
of a peculiar kind that my paper wished
and which we always had difficulty In Sc
curing regularly because men cannot turn
1t out right along unless they possess a
natural aptitude for that kind of writing;
1t is hard to get up regularly and requires
unusual perceptive and descriptive quail
ties
THE stuff went to the composing room
of course and not into the editorial waste
paper basket. A few days later PALE
anaemic young man came into my office,
and, pointing to some marked articles In
my paper, thanked me for accepting them
and asked me If wished any more In the
same line. Recognizing the articles as
those written by the unknown contributor
| replied that We did ami to go ahead
That was ten years ago and the order has
never been countermanded.
Now you all may think that this chan
was some high school or correspondence
school graduate. That would be fairy
story. AS this happens to be a true story
he wasn't. He was an experienced news
paper man from another city who had drift
ed to my city to convalescence from a lin
gering Illness But he was turned down I'm
every local room In town with the usual
formula that must necessarily be handed
out to the average stranger, and he took
q unique way of butting in anyway"