The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-18


the deficiencies of the present day would
| be supplied by the morrow
| Furthermore | am asked to tell all this
| in a thousand words or thereabouts, and
now have already used up half thou
sand words and have not yet begun.
Furthermore L am expected to do this
with the full knowledge, born of long ex-
perience. that tired managing editor
with spectacles on his nose and a blunt
blue pencil in his hand. will YEARLY read
what l write, and that il anything bright
and sparkling that I may perpetrate
should perchance escape his eagle eye. 1t
| will be mangled by the Intelligent COM
positor' and butchered by the astute
proofreader; that 1t will then be tucked
away in the big Jubilee edition, which
everybody will say lis great and will
lock it up in the bureau drawer to be
read at some other time, Which will never
come.
Well, things have changed since 1 be-
gan my career as reporter in Birming
ham, In those days-Just 26 years ago
reporters were much smarter than they
are now. The fact is they were the
smartest things about the shop except
the typesetters, who knew one thing for
certain, and that was that they at least
In this mundane sphere of evolution could
never be dispensed with. No machine
could ever be invented to supplant their
shining intelligence. Alas! And alackl
They knew not of the cunning Morgan
thaler, just then peering over the hori-
zon, like a mountain wolf licking his
chops and showing his teeth as he is
about to pounce upon the unsuspecting
flock.
But the reporter knew he was the "main
Wheel" he was not much hampered In
those days by city editors and managing
editors; all he needed was a chance; but
there was the rub.
1 used to wonder why these old remin-
iscents, previously referred to, were so
egotistical. but since 1 have been placed
in that role / believe the upper case "I'
and the lower case you belong to the
guild, so here goes. / will tell how a
young reporter got chance in Bir-
ming in the spring of the year 1887:
7 was very young reporter then, and
had come to Birmingham to work on The
Age--that was before the Herald was
born. / don't like to tell unpleasant
things, but within week after arrived
came nearer losing my job than 1 ever
came to losing job before or SINCE and
in my opinion it was through no fault
Of mine. Be that as 1t may, / was smart
enough to resign before | got fred"
And then the business manager wanted to
know--for he was not an unlSind man,
and that was in the golden age of rail-
road passes-where l wanted to go, offer
ing to give me transportation to any
point in the United States. My lighting
blood was beginning to assert itself. and
told him had come to Birmingham to
stay at least until I had convinced the
fraternity" that / had speaking ac-
quaintance with ordinary news items,
and knew something as to how to dish
them OUT to the public.
I went to Col. Rufus N. Rhodes, then
assisted by Col.l Rolfe Saunders, editor
Of the News-not the present News, but
an afternoon paper which was suspended
when Colonel Rhodes and others started
the morning Herald. Colonel Rhodes told
me he did not need a reporter. l then
applied to Mr.. George Cruikshank, now
editor Of the Ledger. but then editor of
the Chronicle, now deceased. and asked
him for job, and he said there was
nothing doing" There was no other daily
paper In town and told Mr.. CrukshanS
that i was going to work on the Chroni-
| Gle.
| He always was and still is good
hearted man; he could not see exactly
| how | was going to do it; but he was
busy reading proof and referred me to
Mr.. d. b. Grace. the business manager
Mr.. Grace said there was mot a sign"