Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-07-25

busiest time and insist on unloading
a lot of gossip for an hour or more.
Six months ago a man entered the
office of city editor of a smull-town
newspaper and handed him n box Of
good cigars.
whats the idea?" asked the man
of many tasks.
"Oh, just little appreciation of the
help you gave us on our musicale" re-
piled the man.
1t is not recorded that the city editor
ever revived. He seldom gets any
thanks for his free publicity He
doesn't expect them.
That is about all the city editor of
daily in a small town has to do ex-
ccpt-and this exception, If he is new
to the task, proves his greatest bur-
den.
The editor knows without going
through it, that in all that mail there
may be one or two letters worth read
ing: others represent efforts to work
him and the paper he represents for
free advertising or pleading Tor
cause in which the sender is interested
but very few others.
Some one recently suggested that
drive against drives" would meet with
popular approval but a society for the
suppression of propaganda would meet
with the unanimous support of every
editor in the country. ..'
In America there seems to be a So
cicty for everything and another so
ciety to countcract everything. An or
ganiZation for a high protective tariff
will attempt to broadcast to the world,
through the editor, that unless a wall
is built about certain industries, they
are doomed for the scrap heap, thous-
ands of men will be thrown out OF
work and millions of capital will be
sunk without a trace.
The editor, after being bombarded
with these appeals for two or three
weeks, will about be convinced that
perhaps these industries should get
protection and that something should
be done to support them. He has al
most made up his mind to write some
thing about it when along come letters
from another organization that these
industries are overcapitalized, and
their dividends huge.
To enumerate the propaganda which
reaches the desk Of the average editor
would be an endless task. The public
little realizes the tremendous lot OF
bunk that is carried in the mails. Very
little of it gets into the columns of the
papers Some viii, of course, for even
the most hardened propaganda wrecker
will sometimes let an item pass. q.
Recently, a letter came to the desk
of city editor in peculiarly tinted
envelope, plain. The editor opened 1t
and started to read a very clever story.
1t carried on for two or three pages
and the editor was congratulating him
self on getting an unusually good fea-
ture. Then in the last paragraph and
ingenously phrased was boost for
nationally advertised product. That
editor watches for that tinted envelope
and it's never opened.
Only recently there were weeks Of
observance for quite few things. For
instance, there was "smile" week and
"be kind to animals" week. A few
years ago these would have been given
some publicity. But not this year.
Hundreds of papers didn't even carry
an item about them, although thous-
ands and thousands of letters were
sent out urging their observance. The
editors know their readers have been
fed up" on that kind Of stuff and
won't fall for it. SO, why print it?
Reads Through Envelope.
If an editor attempted to read care
fully all of the propaganda which came
to his desk, he would do nothing else,
the day would have to be heightened
and he'd have to forego eating and
sleeping.
He can tell, almost by looking at the
envelope, whether the letter contains