The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1908-01-09

some of these callers viii surprise him
! by paying back subscriptions or starting
to take the paper" Although there
are hundred and one other tasks be-
sides the writing of the contemplated
editorial on hand, the cautions editor
must never neglect the opportunity to
make himself solid with his subscribers
and those whom he wishes to make sub
scribers.
It may be that some man. who thinks
that it is incumbent upon him to discuss
politics at length every time he drops
IN to get an extra copy Of the paper,
will some day have a personal sale, -
involving the printing of large posters
from wood type on the old-fashioned
nandpress that is still retained in many
Maryland offices for such service.
The EDITORS first consideration is to
find the wherewithal to get out his
paper without going to bank and bor-
rowing it. The news" comes to him
without solicitation, but he must exer-
else the patience Of Job in his forays
for cash. 1t is better to let an account
run until the Orphans Court settles the
estate of the debtor than to charge if
up to profit and loss. Nevertheless sub
stantial reductions in the price are Of
ferred for subscriptions paid in adj
vance, and to get these takes hust-
| ling.
These cares and worries are of
course, unknown to the man who fills
the copy basket in a city newspaper
office, racing against TINS as he does it.
But they are the principal aggravations
Of that life which the deluded envy and
believe to be life to blissful ease.
While ''the country editor has no
trouble to get the news, as above as
serted. the news-gathering end of his
| business is not without its vexations.
There are those who think that no bet
ter Jokes can be devised that to get
him to print something that has no
foundation in fact, and who will exer-
else copiOus quantities of ingenuity in
trying to make him the victim of
fake" He must display April FOOLS
Day caution all the year around, until
the idea that he is not one who can be
imposed upon becomes firmly imbedded
IN the minds of the mischievous.
Again one of his great difficulties is
to convince his corps of reporters
(which practically embraces everybody
past the age of infancy, that it is not
news to wonder why Tom Jones
drove over to neighboring village, the
home of Toms sweetheart, on a GER
tain night, or to say the in fence in
front of the village miser's home needs
a coat Of paint.
1t sometimes requires skill in nayiga-
ton equal to that of the ancient mariner
who sailed successfully between Scvlla
and Charybdis to meet the demands of
those who want things put in the paper
and of others who want the same things
kept out. The editor must try, how
| ever, to keep ION the right side Of" as
many persons as he can, and he only
puts his warpaint on when it cannot be
helped. 1t is an expensive luxury.
To him all citizens are highly respect
ed and influential, providing they have
kept out Of Jail and off the ticket of the
opposition party. They are esteemed"
consistent in convictions, - 'progres-
sive" and charitable" when occasion
requires it as certainly as they are
"well known" under all circumstances.
An exception is the rival editor He
is always a vile wretch, =" if not an
out-and-out "scoundrel," and is always
deserving of whitening contempt"
which is unspairingly poured on his de-
voted head
There are those who are amazed at
the bitter acrimony displayed in cross
fire between rival scribes, who other
wise seem as gentle as lambs. But
there is no cause for amazement.
The opposition editor is the only VIC
tim upon whom skill in invective NAV
be exercised with comparative i'm
punity.
There is no danger of losing sub
scriber IN ''giving it to him hot" All
the pent-up fury generated by an ac-
emulation of vexations, borne in sub
missive silence, finds its outlet in full
limitations against the scribber across
the way. These safety-valve emissions
prevent an explosion that might do
actual damage.
Many editors go into duel of this
kind, feeling little of the sourness of
disposition that they seem to display,
believing that they are expected to hold
up their end in the wordy warfare, and
regarding the combat as a time-honor-
ed institution and objurgatory frolic.
Others, however, believe in every caus-
tic sentence that they pen, and are