Daily Kennebec journal., 1910-04-29


chestra checking up the expenses.
Il am glad to be here for several
reasons. Now that you may have for
gotten what you paid for it. am will
ing tc meet the gentlemen who bought
my merchandise. sold you an assort-
mcnt of capital letters and job lot
of Chicago vernacular. and you
thought you were getting new brand
OF humor. Very often 1 would weak
en- when it came time to sign the
vouchers. Then I would read some of
the other syndicate stuff AMI take
courage.
Every man who has not tried 1t
thinks that he can edit newspaper,
write comic opera and manage
Motel. | still believe that l know lot
about the hotel business.
When I went to Chicago to help
Victor F. Lawson uplift community
that did not want to be uplifted. no.
ticed every day. in going to the roof
garden, a large and well-lighted apart
ment in which a number of nobby gen.
tlemen were seated at rolltop desks
talking about circulation. Most of
them we're smoking and the more they
smoked. the more enthusiastic they
became about the circulation. l 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 top
coats and dog skin gloves and saunter
over to the Auditorium hotel.
I'm those days if a young man from
out in the corn belt came
to the office and applied for job he |
was asked If he had attended a first |
class Western college If he replied |
yes and could produce a 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 week If he could
prove absolutely that he had not at
lehded any college he was assigned to
ne business department at $40 a week.
learned upon investigation that
lad made mistake in taking up the
literary end Of the game so | resolved
10 go in for advertising. Therefore
became an author and playwright.
After 10 years in the rarefied attnos-
phere of dramatic art as practiced to-
/
feel that | am peculiarly qualified to
discuss American newspapers l can
proceed with safety because if | savl
anything uncomplimentary, ] have a
scrap book to prove that they began it.
Everybody wants to help the editor |
MOL as regards cheaper Wood-pulp or
,eeihnE iowa the pay roll, but with sug-
'estlohs Tor hlllng up the paper. Most
'eopIe sun believe that every newspaper
MIST hustle every night to get enough
opy to separate the advertisements. Be
hs past st-graGuate I know that YOU are
ofhpe'led to throw columns and columns |
u stun on the tloor Very often, in |
lahc'ng over Il long tariff editorial
'o'der wh:tt was thrown on the floor. |
lo"eVer. am not here to upset any tra-
ltionS-nerely to offer few helpful
iGts
In the first place the city newspaperl
L today as compared with the Indiona
e"Sraper of the 70's is tame, inverte-
rate. colorIess and apologetic. The
rSt newspaper with which I was asso-
la'ed came out every Thursday from ID
oonl over hardware store. The fires
CIVIL War were still smoldering. In
lanaS chief occupation was politics
'eariy every man was voting as he shot,
hd some OF therr d good deal oftener. |
'ur once equipment consisted of a
washington handpress, a foot power Job |
reSS. perennial towel and few fonts |
| tNpe-moSt italics. All, but we had
n editor. Those were the palmy DAYS
Journalism, of which we hear so much
present No taint Of commercialism,
~ SuDStrEieDcp IN tho in |
because there wasn't any counting
nom) no cog wheels or card indexes
IMPLY majestic figurehead Of an editor
no was animated by high and patrio-
e resolve to promote manslaughter as
ften as possible When he opened up
n man. the mans only escape was TO
ak outside uf our circulation, which
G could do in about 10 minutes |
III you hear man raving about the
'ldcn age of American journalism when
lch editor exercised an individual influ- |
ice and led the way through the dark
'sS with a flaming torch above his head
let 1t go at that. Don't take the trouble
examine the files of that wonderful
'riod or you may be discouraged over
,lir present efforts. l plead for a return
those heroic days when every edito-
al was trumpet blast and every par
graph was a firecracker.
I'VE used to go to press at o'clock
nd by o'clock the whole population
ould be on the streets waiting for the
'unds of assault and battery The old
me editor the one we all read about
ho stamped his individuality on every
sue of his paper and didn't bother
bout the prcsswork. do you remember
nat he called man If he didn't care
uch for him. He didn't call him a mol
'coddle or an insurgent or malefac.
'r or an undesirable. He said that the
IAN was a poltroon. a heli-hound, pusi-
Inimous liar. an unmitigated horse thief |
Jackal. marplot. a caitiff. a reptile. a
iper. a cur and Il whep. Here are a lot |
+ valuable and expressive words that
he gradually being eliminated from our
ocabulary because the editors of TODAY
leeped in commercialism, have abandon
d the methods of Wilbur f. Storey and
ccepted the leadership of Edward w.
,ok.