The New York herald., 1922-01-08


raillery, allaying while it hurts. curing
while il cuts. When Mr. Mitchell
swings his satirical pen some faker.
some coxcomb, some charlatan soon
learns he is up against the business end
of a bee.
but Mr.. Mitchell Is nor like the
Ozark fiddler who plays all his tunes on
one string He is no writer of one note.
With Swift he can pick crow. With
Addison lie can roar as gently as any
sucking dove. lie can soothe and he
can scar. and whether he sears or
soothes his writings bear the hallmark
OF literature. He has the polish that
comes from intellectual elbow grease
lie is always classic and yet is master
of the two fisted phrase of the street
But above all he has the element of
surprise. A litterateur he is, but a news
paper man always. He has done every
thing on a newspaper but pi the type
| and water the ink. He has written
everything but vers libre. and may the
muses. forsake him if he ever writes
| that!
"Has Run Literary Gamut."
''In fiction he has written short
stories with the weirdness of Poe, the
humanity of o. Henry. He has run the
literary gamut from editorials that coo
and editorials that sizzle, from analyses
/ of the crank definitions of the mug
wump,' calculations of the Einstein
| theory and explanations OF what the
tariff ought to be but isn't, to frolic-
some articles on What Is Dodunk?'
Gould Mark Twain Fend Off Comet
with a Boat Hook? Can Politician
Evolute on a Peanut?' How Should En-
gagged Couples Act at a Circus?' and DO
the Angels Play Football in Heaven.
! And he has written them all to the
sportive strain of:
"'We may be happy yet.
You bet
"Mr. Mitchell is man of books, but
! he is no recluse. no fossil. no old fogy.
| He puts himself on no pedestal. He
stands amcng the crowd and gets new
ideas. new notions and reacts to the
pathos and solemnity of mans prob
lens. But in his reactions he Is never
intoxicated With the fumes of enthusi-
| asm. His head may be among the stars
but his feet are always on the earth.
| Cromwell insisted on being painted with
| a wart upon his nose. That's Mr.. Mitch
ell. He will not be blind to the obvious.
| He has no illusions about hard facts.
| He may not shout for the best possible
thing under the sun, but he stands for
| the best possible thing under the sun
under the circumstances. He takes the
world as 1t is, and bad as it is he knows
! it could be worse. He takes people as
he finds them and has no obstreperous
zeal to improve on the handiwork OF
the Almighty. He knows that revolu-
ton may palliate and change, but that
| evolution alone cures. Hence it is that
| N sunshine and storm, in darkness and
light and in the dun of defeat Mr..
| Mitchell stands up and sings:
"'We may be happy yet.
You betn ="
The Ameners and their guests went to
their feet when Mr.. Mitchell, obviously
moved, arose to reply to the speeches OF
appreciation. He thanked the Brethren
warmly. saying that they were greater
artists than Kreisler at playing upon the
heart strings and that he thrilled at the
wonderful tribute they had paid to him
Newspaper Profession His Life.
"The newspaper profession has beer
my life Mr. Mitchell went on. Mos
of us have strayed into this profession
to grow gray and in some cases bale
headed. Many of us art stanch advo
Gates of old school journalism and arr
liable to be the enemies of the mor'
advanced journalism. There are man,
changes of person and processes every
| where in the newspaper profession. ON
thing is constant. the code of newspape
honor It's independence and the willing
| ness to sink incomes into the profession
for the sake of professional respect ant
| news conscience"
Mr.. Mitchell went on to say that thu
newspaper mans existence was one o
persistence. and that the newspaper maj
who attacked the politicians of old TO
graft in the days of the construction o
the Pyramids and the ones who mad
the phrase "The Man of Destiny" 70