The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-12-26
THE SENSATIONAL MAGAZINES.

an excuse for their existence both
such service and excuse are things
of the past. From exposers of rot
tenness and wickedness, which they
claimed to be at the outset, they have
become opponents of greater evils
than those against which they in
weigh. Some of them-it were in
vidious to particularize-ar are notorious
Matchmaking publications. and their
diatribes against men eminent in pub
lie and private life are inspired by re-
sentiment at being unable to make the
objects of their assault buy their ST.
llence-not by any desire to promote
/ the public good. 1t is within the
knowledge of the writer that more
than one man in the public eye at the
present time has been approached by
those scavengers of the press with
propositions to suppress, for a none
ltary consideration. articles grossly
misrepresenting and maliciously ma
| ligning them.
In one instance the professional
blackmailer got his deserts by being
kicked out of the Office and
down the entire length of a
long hallway by the gentle
man he had gratuitously insult
ed by such an offer But for the time
ly interference of bystanders he
would have been pitched headlons
down a fight of stairs, with prob
ably fatal result The article submit
ted in this instance in connection with
demand for large sum of money
appeared later in one of the sensa-
tlonal magazines in the interest of the
great moral uplift,'' concerning which
We hear so much nowadays 1t was a
tissue Of lies and Misrepresentation
from beginning to end. but was wide
iy advertised by the magazine in
which 1t appeared as timely expose
OF a great wrong about to be perpe-
trated at the expense of the American
people.
We are reminded of this and other
incidents of like character by an
article from the pen of the Nestor of
journalism in this country, Henry
Watterson, in the columns of the
Louisville Courier-Journal in which
| ne paints the undertaking monthly
puDlicatlons in their true color-the
yeliowest OF the yellows. Mr.. Wat
| terson attributes their sensationalism
to desire to build up large circu-
lation over night and this may be true
OF the particular magazines he had in
mind But If he will investigate furth-
err he will find that fragrant and
1 shameless attempts at blackmail are
an important factor with some OF
them, in which event he will be iusti-
tee in using still stronger language
iran ne has yet employed. What he
i mas to say concerning them will be
read with especial interest in this
community, in which their true in
] wardness" is, perhaps, better under
stood than in most places. Mr. Wat
terson writes:
Inc yellowest of our journals in
the United States are our monthly
magazines. They are, in fact GU
rious and, let us hope, a temporary
outgrowth of sensationalism in the
local rooms of some of the great
dailies. OF late they have practically
usurped the prerogatiye of the press
as dealers In the screaming red, vel
low and blue horrible exposure
Casting an eye over the events OF
the last decade, the student of Amer.
lean history as she is writ notes
that as scandalmongers the dailies
have fallen into the ruck. The run.
ming has been led in the neck-and
neck and nostril-to-nostril fashion. by
the nysterlcal magazines whose hys
Terra is brought on by a business Of
nee demand for a prodigious circula
tion TO De builded up over night.
one OF the most successful maya
zines was made by the distinguish
ed author OF Frenzied Finance, Fri
! day, the Thirteenth and other works
OF fiction. Another destroyed the
American navy with ghoulish glee t.
make a Roman holiday for its prob
pective readers. Other cases in noin-
might be cited. Some of the larges
circulators have been made in The
space of six days-and the Lore
knows they're bad-as the result of .
: handful of former muck-rakers from
; the stats of the yellowest Journal,
forming themselves into soulless cor
porations to promote circulation b.
exploiting the wickedness of the civ
ilized world.
Frequently these shrieking, reek
Ing ten and fifteen cent 'dreadfuls
merely upturn the filth. real or i'm
: agined raise the stencil, leave the dis
cussion of the scandal to the news
, papers, and pass on to turn a newly
!, discovered chamber of horrors insid
out. The motif of this grand opera o
the muck-rakers is similar to tina
of the young man who asked hi
sweetheart about the health of he
? guantanamo, and added, parentbet
: ically:
E mot that / give a d-n. but jus
: to bring on more talk
/ REAL TEMPERANCE PERFORMERS
The real temperance reformers Il