The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1910-05-12
''HELPING THE EDITOR"
Is AIDES THEME

George sAde was a speaker at the
joint banquet in New York recently of
the Associated Press and the American
Newspaper Publishers Association,
delivering brief address on Help
ing the Editor" Mr.. Ade said.
"Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen:
''The A. p. is great institution.
Around a newspaper Office we always
felt easy in our minds if we knew
that the A. P. was on the job. My
out of town assignment was usually
given to me in 3the following words /:
'Send in a good. story the A. p. will
cover the facts.e
~ respect the A. P. because it has
nothing to do with the Sunday sup
plement. The "A. p. never sent in
heavy editorial at 10 pm. and mark
ed il must. 1t never ordered pictures
to 90 with the stuff and il never came
around the next day to inquire why
it had not been played up. The A, 7.
bears the same relationship to the
modern newspaper that that solid busi-
ness man does to the modern American
family. 1t stands in the background,
provides the wherewithal, keeps out of
the spotlight, tates all the blame of
and gets mighty little glory. Respect
ed but not featured on the front page.
When there is grand jubilee, father
and the A. p. are behind the potted
palms with the orchesta checking up
the expenses.
81 am glad to be here for several
reasons. Now that you may have
forgotten what you paid for it, | am
willing to meet the gentlemen who
bought. my merchandise, ! sold you
an assortment of capital letters and
bad lot of Chicago vernacular, and
you thuoght you were getting a new
brand of humor. Very often | would
weaken when it came time TO sign the
vouchers. Then | would read some OF
the other syndicate stuff and take
courage.
Every man who has not tried il
thinks he can edit newspaper, write
comic opera and manage a hotel.
still believe that ! know a lot about
the hotel business.
"When | went to Chicago to help
Victor +. Lawson uplift Il community
that did not want to be uplifted, ! not.
iced. every day, in going to the roof
garden, large and we'll lighted apart.
ment in which a number of nobby gen.
tlemen were seated at roll-top desks
talking about circulation. Most OF
them were smoking and the more they
smoked, the more enthusiastic they
became about7the circulation. learn
ed that these aristocrats of our pro.
fession were what is known as the
business end of the paper. About the
time we began to diagram the daily
murder they would put on their tor
coats and dog-skin coats and sauntei
over to the Auditorium Hotel. In
those days If a young man from some
where out in the corn-belt came to the
Office and applied for a job he was
asked if he had attended a first class
western college. If he replied yes
and could produce letter from the
professor of English showing that he
had written articles for the college
paper. he was put into the editorial
department at SIS a week. If he
could prove absolutely that he had moi
attended any college, he was assigned
to the business department at &0
week.
ii learned upon investigation that
| had made mistake in taking up the
literary end of the game 80 ! resolved
to 90 in for advertising. Therefore
| became an author and playwright.
After ten years in the raretied at
mosphere of dramatic art rs prac-
tised today at two dollars a seat
or fom dollars on the sidewalk, ! feel
that am-reculiarly qualified to discuss
American news papers. | can proceed
with safety because if say anything
uncomplimentary, have scrapb0ok to
prove that they began It,,
Everybody wants to help the editor
Not as regards cheaper .woodpulp or
keeping down the payroll, but with
suggestions for filling up the paper.
Most people still believe that every
newspaper must hustle every night to
get enough copy to separate the adver-
tisements. Being a post graduate |,
know that you are compelled to throw
columns and columns of stuff on the
floor. Very often, in glanclng over
a long tariff editorial, | wonder what
was thrown on the floor, however, /
am not here to upset any traditions
merely to offer a few helpful hints.
'In the first place the city news
paper of today as compared with the
Indiana newspaper Of the seventies
is tame, invertebrate, colorless ana
apologetic. The first newspaper with
which | was associated came out every
Thursday from a room above the hard
ware store. The fires of civil war
were still smouldering. lndlana's