Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-01-06
copve4o4T cLINEOiNsT WASH.


| ticleS Helen was running.
Her typewriter broke down, and she
had to wait two hours for a man to
| fix it. Five o'clock found her still at
ner desk, struggling to think Of some
thing besides hash to tell about in the
column she was writing on How to
Make Attractive Leftover Luncheon
Dishes
"Oh. Miss Bradleyr' Mr.. Dunn came
into her room, his coat on and his hat
in his hand. Il forgot to tell you.
Don't be soft hearted and accept things
Just because you think the writer looks
punched and poor, the way you did
those fashion articles Siddons kicked
about. To go the stuff'S got to have
plenty of human interest, you know.
It's got to have personal appeal. Re
member that"
Then he looked at her flushed cheeks
and shining eyes in the bright circle
under the green drop light over her
desk
whats the matterT'' he said. for
moment the tone of the businesslike
editor giving place to that of sym
pathetic fellow worker. You're tired,
Miss Bradley. Shut up your desk and
go home. Tomorrow you'll be fresh.
and things viii go better. Jove." he
added, its shame to pile extra work
on your
"Oh. MI Dunn" said Helen. II don't
a bit mindl And I'm awfuliy glad to
do it for you. I'll try not to make
any dreadful blunders."
Helen smiled as they shook hands.
"Goodby," she said. Il hope you'll en-
Joy your trip"
Then as be went out of the room she
said to herself: Now. l must remem-
ber Human interest and personal ap-
peal" And she scrubbed the two
phrases down On a slip of paper and
pinned it to her calendar.
By the time John Dunn had been
away from the office a week Helen had
several times had recourse to the two
watchwords he had given her.
The task of passing on manuscripts
was always a hard one for Helen. she
knew a good article when she saw 1t,
as the Sunday editor had said; but, as
be had also limited, her sound business
sense was too often overcome by her
imagination.
If the copy she read was written
with a well worn typewriter ribbon, If
the paper seemed cheap or the ink
looked watered, Helen was always dis
posed in favor of the article.
al suppose" she said to herself more
than once, that a really good editor
like Mr.. Dunn. for instance-doesnit
pay bit of attention to anything but
the story itself"
And with the desire always before
her to discharge her added responsible
tiles in a way that would please the
absent editor Helen read the articles
submitted to her In her most profess
sionaI manner and submitted them all
to the rests of human interest and
personal appeal"
AS the week passed Helen found
that her desire to please the grave and
dignif1ed Sunday editor was not only a
desire TO do her work well. With some
annoyance she realized how much she
had grown to depend on his friendly
GOOD morning and Good night"
She called herself foolish. for she re-
nembered that from the time she had
had never shown her more than the
WAOtc AcdElCQ uC SuO nCu
every one who worked for him.
We'll" she said to herself one morn
ing as she looked into his empty room.
hes been gone just a week. ! don't |
know whether I'd rather have him |
come back or stay sway. Anyway, I'm
a silly goose"
She went resoluteIy back to her desk |
and sat down before the pile of let |
ters and manuscripts addressed to Mr.. |
Dunn"
Among them were a few letters for |
herself She put these aside and tao |
killed. the manuscript first. After
couple of hours reading she had two |
piles, one labeled Rejected" and one |
labeled Accepted" Between them |
was a long envelope.
I'm not sure about that one"
thought Helen. She reread the brief |
note accompanying the manuscript |
:. Please wire If you do not find ii |
available. L have a duplicate. and 1 |