The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-10-28

inmate h text. other battles had been
fought. other towns had been sacked
and a whole catalogue OF now kings
had startad In to reign. Despite these
~dtnioulttes the chroAlclers lahored on.
setting down In their best hand print
the happenings Of court and tented
and whether their information was
correct or not It 10 all the present day
world has to 60 BY.
Jehan Froissart early made up his
mind to become q chronicler and de-
vote his life to the pleasant task Of
recording the things that happened to
other people. As soon as he became
Old enough to begin his studies he
hunted all over the country to ind a
school where he could get a good.
thorough course Of chronicling. but
z professors all shook their heads.
can teach YOU to make a suit Of armor
that no hattle-ax a penetrate ex-
cept h battle-axes We can teach you
to make. No gentleman should soil
his fingers with ink, especially as ink
has not yet been invented"
Jehan's parents also expostulated.
Why chronicle" they urged. when
nobody can read? Why write books
when there are no Carnegie H.
braries?"
In truth. the task that Froissart had
When he heard that a couple of bar
ons over in the nex county had gone
to wal and were burning each others
castles. the only way he had to find out
what 1t was all about was to go him.
self and inquire. And as things of this
sort we're happening rather frequently
the chronicler was kept pretty much
on tho 20 all YER Europe all the time.
Whenever the neighbors Jaw Froissart
saddling his nag and stuffing the hol-
sters with vellum and sandwiches
they knew a story had broken some-
where. BY waiting patiently a few
years and mortgaging their posses
sions to buy an edition de luxe when
1t came out, those who could read
could learn what 1t was all about. The
public at large found it more con-
venient to wait q few centuries for
the advent OF the printing press and
the afternoon newspaper.
Froissart was thus the first war cor
respondent known to history. He re-
ported the battle Of Crecy with great
success some thirty years after it was
fought. So far as known he was sew
eral years late in reaching the scene Of
any Of the battles about which he has
written. but he would travel any dis
NoAtS0 w iINGt y d ouINltOT anu tdhc
his deposition. He heard of the mix
up between the English and the
French at Poitiers and hurried to the
field as fast as his nag could carry
him. but only the oldest inhabitants
could remember anything about 1t by
tho time he arrived. He wrote a very
good ccount OF It, however. and
spelled correctly the names of all
the slain. This feat. never has been
n In NveratnN lNHy - rA~HA~n ~&,>~~~~ 80
far as the writer knows.
Froissart was a regular visitor Mt
the courts Of Europe. where his
stories of carnage were regarded as
the best form of after dinner enter
tainment. He would take his trunk
and his manuscripts and make a long
stay. paying for his board with tales
Of the wars. Upon his departure it was
his custom to bestow a copy Of his
IN turn a gold cup. a pair of silver
spurs or some such token. This was
the only pay he ever received for his
writings. It was a common sight to
see the chronicler, on his return home
from such a visit. slipping along a
quiet street at nightfall with an arm
full OF goblets. crocheter slippers and
other royal bric-a-brac which he was
forced to part with to get a bait of
ooSS lOb III ouSu oCIc tlIe Vcs
wards OF literary labor in the four
tenth century, and vet without
Froissart the world would not today
know the color of the Black Princes
eyes and would be rs ignorant con-
corning other important details Of the
history Of that time. The spirit Of self
sa crifce which animated the chron-
icler should awake the emulation of
the reporters of today and still their
loud clamor for sordid cash. But prob
ably 1t won't. Just what a reporter
Of this would say it his city editor
offered him a birthday cup for his
story may only be guessed at. Yet
which Of our modern writer's will be
read 500 years hence? We do not
know. Which Of them will he known
to posterity through his manuscripts
preserved in the museum? Again we
pause for Z reply.
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