Norwich bulletin., 1919-12-10
--Is1, :
 ASSOCIATE. PAYS TRIBUTE TO SKIPPER soUTHWoRTfi'

a "a An associate of Louis R. South worth on the New York World wrote the accompanying tribute to Skipper Southworti1 ti1,' 7. which was published in The World Sunday:
 l MT. Southworth began his newspap- 1 CT career as telegraph editor of The l Norwich Bulletin from 1882 to 1SS6. He
 had retired from newspaper work a few years ago and died Sunday, Dec. l, at his home. Arnold's Inn farm,
 South Woodstock.
 Theodore Ennis Murray of the
 World staff writes as follows:
 Skipper Southworth is dead. | All that was mortal of Louis Rhodes Southworth, for twenty five
 years the ship news reporter of The l World, was last Wednesday laid to rest on a knoll in a little country cemetery in Woodstock, Conn.,, not
 far from where he was born. For years the readers Of The World had been regaled with tales of the i sea. written in anonymity, often hur- lriedly, under the stress of press time From the "Skipper's" pen came true
 stories of those who went down to 1 the sea in ships,
 Skipper Southworth numbered his 1 friends in newspaperdom by the hun ! dreds. He was personally known te at least nine tenths of the ship off ] cers coming into the port of New York. He himself was unique. The very oddities of his personality en- deared him to all who knew him. H. was a paradox. Rarely smiling, hs had a keen sense of humor. Measured in speech and of deliberation in actior he was peculiarly individualistic. H. knew men and had deep quality >o personal analysis. In the twenty fiv, years that he was The Worlds shil
 news reporter he met most of th'
 worth while personages who cross ant recross the Atlantic.
 While keen for news as news, tn the quaint and the picturesque, whicl
 he wove into the sea yarns which fo Iyears were featured in The Sunda, World. Tn the understanding of th sea and it's men he ranked. with Barr,
 and Connolly. . i Perhaps more anecodtes are relate of the Skipper" than Of any man il the newspaper profession. His dail : life seemed anecdotal And none nor
 than he relished the tales that wer : told by him., As type of characte he almost defied analysis. He wa the absolute ultimate of ph1egmatic , ism. To him facts were just facts an nothing more. They had fixed relativ values and he determined them. 1T It has been said of the Skipper
 that had he seen the Brooklyn Bridg , falling into the river he, in his ac , customed monotone would have re , ported thus over the phone:
 "This-is- -Southworth South w-o-r-t-h. I-have just seen tn
 | prid doo dr-O1 inf n 11o- ixrn l i f-think it is -a-good- story"
 | Many are the anecdotes told { the skipper Perhaps one of the bes 7 had to do with his attempt to inter ] view the elder J. P. Morgan on th
 llater's return from one of his triT .j to Europe.
 j, Morgan was busy, manifest1y s : Other reporters noted the fact an = discreetly refrained from approachin 6 him. Not so Southworth. Duty wa
 lduty. He had prepared a form { : fquestions and he bearded the finar = lcial lion. After answering one or tW a Iquestions, MT. Morgan let go wit v Language more forceful than elegant. Fl Not fast, MT. Morgan sal . Southworth. remember you al h speaking for publication"
 The sincerity and inEenuousness {
 the TGTIldIk OFcICtIlc IhOl SdH dSCl
 bility.
 .1 Well. I'll be damned" said Mo fgan. "Southworth, I'll give you fi1 t minutes"
 e Another story illustrating the sul
 tie humor of the Skipper" is tol y A report came into the Ship NeR i. Bureau that two incoming liners hs e narrowly escaped collision while con e ing through the Narrows.
 IT 'fWhy ships biscuit could ha' r been tossed from one to the othf s remarked one of Southworth's fello 5: craftsmen. You had better ask u q captain about it when you board u 5. ship at her dock"
 :, On his return to the Bureau Soutl ''tt worth said:
 .t There must be some mistake iss that story. I saw the captain of u ' - and he told me that it could n a be true, because there was not a shir
 biscuit on board"
 Not the least of the Shippers" a
 complishments was that of speeci
 maker. He was droll. As an afte s dinner talker he was always in d n Irarld. He possessed the subt L- furnor of Simeon Ford. with the di e tion and command of language of l. Depew. For years he was. toas r, master at the annual dinners of Il n Ship News Reporters Associaati, ,t banquets At dinners given on boa a the great new steamships when tn ,. came into New York harbor on the
 maiden trips. the Skipper W;