The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1909-12-01

ago, if you're asking for exactness-
when | got down to the city room o.
the Chronicle office in San Francisco
was a reporter on the paper-I no
ticed sitting over in a corner W. tt
his hands thrust a bit gloomily into
the pockets of his somewhat shabby
sack coat little, runty, bristly hair
ed man, with pair OF large but weak
looking eyes masked by the lenses OF
an enormous pair of spectacles," said
newspaper man, now employed in
| Washington, who has labored in so
many widely strewn vineyards that he
cant remember the names of some OF
! them.
The runty man with the big spec
tacles looked just ABOUT as unhappy as
a new reporter usually looks when he's
sitting around city room waiting for
| his first assignment.
I'd tell you the name Of the city
editor only I'm going to call him a
crouch and a crab, and so l won't be
personal He was a fine city editor all
proper enough, but he had one awful
soreness on the world and everybody
in it, including himself. He was Just
an old-fashioned two-handed city edi-
tor with a kick in each hand, that's
all; so let it go at that.
The Chronicle had a pretty big city
staff then, as it always has had. The
city editor called the reporters up In
turn and dished out their assign
ments. lie had a growl for each OF
EN- about the stuff they had in the
paper that morning. The stuff was
inadequate, idlotic, incomplete or some
thing-that city editor had a wallop
for each of them as they lounged up
to his desk; and one man, who had
been beat on an inconsequentiaI fea-
ture of the previous days sizeable
story by one of the other papers, got a
sure-enough jolting from the grabbed
city editor. But the jolted one only
grinned We were all used to the
old man and his rawlings didn't scar
very deeply.
The little new man with the large
spectacles took it all In with mouth
agape. He sat in his corner and
tlwiddled his nervous hands in his
shabby sack coat pocket and waited
for his assignment. His turn came
when all of the other men had been
provided with stunts. Then the city
editor looked up with his customary
glare from his horribly heaped up desk
and glanced over at the new man.
Kippering-er- Kappering-Kfp-
sing-oh, yes, Kipling-Kipling right
isn't it. the city editor rowled at the
new man.
Yes, Kiplings right, said the new
man, getting to his feet and walking
over to the city editors desk
Know anything abaut crooked TN
ancial stuff? the city editor asked the
new man.
"A Bit briefly replied the new
man, But maybe don't know much
about the American kind
Well, you can pick it up, can't
you?' demanded the city editor, ag-
gressively. This is America, you know.
It's not-er-Australia, or Samoa, Or.
where is it they tell me you've been
working on the papers?'
In India, replied the runty man.
who didn't seem to have much of a
gift for CAB. But he smiled rather an
engaging smile over the almost comic
Of the city editor.
oh, India, hey?' grauched the ely
editor India. HUH What kind OF
newspapers have they got in India?
Pretty rotten, l suppose?
Oh, they're not so bad replied the
new man. Different from the news
papers here, OF course. But not so
rotten bad, really
HUH commented the CITY editor
Well, see here, Kippering-I mean
klpling-how the deuce did you get a
name like MATHEMATICS me think of
herring, you know, and the city editor
grlnned sardonically at his witticism.
or near-Witticism! see here, Kipling.
there's a fake mining concern doing
DISTINGUISHING punk mining stock,
that is-down at this address, and he
handed the scrubbed address to the
new man. 'Trot down there and have
a talk with ,le manager of the fake
Feel him out. See what he
has to say We're going to uncover
him, Not yet maybe, but when we've
got him cinched, Size him up. Get
his idea Look him over, Then re-
port back to me-
THE new man nodded.
ErJwhats your full name?' in
quired the city editor, producing the
little book in which he inscribed the
names of the always coming and going
reporters.
Rudyard Kipling,' said the new
man
'Rud-Rud-what? asked the city
editor.
" 'Rudyard: R-u-d-y-a-r-d, Rudyard.'