Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1908-09-24

To the uninitiated the gathering OF news
may look like light and pleasant pas
time, requiring perhaps little whole
some pedestrian exercise but not by any |
means to be considered - . serious or
responsible kind of occupation. People
generally have but little idea of the time
and labor devoted to the careful sitting |
of idle gossip, careless tales or inaccurate |
reports in an effort to present . fairly |
that can properly come under the head Of
news, and the reader, skimming over the |
columns, is chiefly struck by an astonish- |
ing error in his middle initial.
Some rather self-centered mortals think !
that the paper exists principally to shoe
the neighbors' hens out of their gardens, !
to furnish Q handy weapon with which |
to stab an enemy in the back or to give
Q chance for the indulgence Of their mis- |
chievous propensities in the wide circu- |
lation of false and annoying reports.
This last phase of the popular mind
toward newspapers has just been exeM-
plified in the publication by the Burling-
ton Free Press in its Randolph news Of
an alleged marriage engagement between
c. Gerald Stevens and Miss Edith How
ard, both OF Randolph. The item, .
fabrication OF some disordered brain. bore
the forged signature of "E. Howard"
and was sent directly to the Free Press
office, SO that the local correspondent of
that daily, Miss Ida Rand, did not see it
until after it was printed, and could not,
therefore, detect its falsity, as she might
have done had it passed through her
hands.
This fact shows the wisdom OF news
papers that refuse to print items sent
| hop U w hQP w
the knowledge of papers regular cores
pondents, who are held responsible for
what appears in their columns and, being
on the ground, have some idea OF the
probability of the news handed in. The
fact that an item is signed is no safe
guard; for this engagement notice was
signed and no one in Burlington,
naturally, had any information on the
subject or any reason to suspect the trick,
except that the notice was not sent
through the regular correspondent.
| Someone has been very anxious to
have this engagement announcement
published; for about six weeks ago 1t
was sent to the Herald Office with the
signature Of Miss Howard's sister, Miss
Lucinda Howard, attached to it. The
| item had suspicious look and was taken
at once to q member of the Howard fam
| lily for verifcation and, of course, was
| found to be untrue. The item was sent
again the next week, unsigned but accom-
panied by an urgent request that IT be
printed. The prevarication meeting with
suffocation a second time, its author
1 despaired of securing home market for
that kind OF news and tried the Free
Press with more brilliant success.
A newsgatherer does not expect to have
items given in correct or perfect form
and, il conscientious in his or her work,
endeayors to get the same fact out OF the
mouths of two or three witnesses before
publishing it. Even two-liner about q
trim to Braintree has to be handled
cautiously in these days that no injustice
to reputable citizens may be done. While
a reasonable amount of inaccuracy in cur
rent reports is allowed for and carefully
corrected, some slight foundation Of fact
; is expected, and outrageous and NAL
icious lying should not be tolerated, even
IL il have no worse intent than pool
Joke. The person perpetrAting the hoa1
on the Free Press should also be dragged
into the Iimelight of publicity and prop
erly punished.
Music Hall Items.
The advance sale for "Mrs. Wigs o.
, the Cabbage Patchn opens Friday, Sept
. rs. This great American comedy hoioi
a strong position in the favor OF theatre
, goers and appeals SO forcibly to the aver
age audience that everything moves to
whiri of merriment and applause.
"The Thief" one Of New York's las
seasons big successes, in fact plsyet
there more times than any other attrac
tion. comes to Randolph before it In seel
in Boston. =.
al LYMAN Howe is with us again on hi
. semi-annual tour early in January Will
: the very latest moving pictures out.
Z The quaint, motherly Mrs. Wigs viii
; dispense philosophy and optimism amonl
= the rest OF the Cabbage Patchers. Mis-
; Helen weathersby as Mrs. Wigs make
: the most of the humorous possibilities.
The first of Hoyt's well-known farce
4 to como to Randolph will be "a buncl
: Of Keys.n said to be his record-breaker
: Edgar Selwyn, who made such hi
! here last season in "Strongheart," VII
soon be seen in his new plsy OF Western
\ life. "Pierre of the Plains"
: In the full cast OF twenty-six charac
\ ters. interpreting &c Mrs. Wigs OF the CAT
haze Patchn almost every role Ii repre-
= sentative OF an odd and unique type
= Even ssCubby," rescued by Mrs. Wigs
! comes into this category. There u AIS
r q mirthful group OF boys and girls y
a the piece who add happy tuvenii
: charm to the various scenes.
Q Passed Examination Successfully.
J.mes Donahuc, New Britain, Conn.