Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-02

the M ior portion OF her time In the
print S,lop, her duties seeming to be
varied. She is indispensable, a genuine
helpnste. an important factor in Sher-
wood Andersons fHtur~.
TIL, work about n small town print
skop is heavy the interruptions endless.
The small town editor, unlike the scity
/ cditcr, Is absolutely unprotected He
must b. affable. hall fellow we'll met
With everybody, all things to all men.
He needs a wife like Sherwood Ander-
sons wife--a trained business woman.
IN efficient and tactiful business partner
capable Of taking charge of office affairs
in his absence.
! Sherwood Anderson is no politician
and apparently has few political views
! Perhaps 1t Is safer and more expedient
for the owner and editor of both
Democratic and Republican paper. Is
| sued every week from the selfsame
ONCE, 10 maintain neutral attitude.
/ All political editorials and articles are
contributed by partisan leaders Of the
Two opposing parties.
Opposed to Obituaries.
Sherwood Anderson Is shy on obitu-
aries. he Is more than sh" He Is
! actively anC openly averSs to them
/ unless they are brief II WAS a knock
out blow to some of us when he an
nounced right out in print that m was
interested In news of the living ana not
OF the dead and that long ci wn -ollt
eulogistic obituaries would have 10 be
piaeonholed until he could get around
! To them He has no intention of all
| lowing them to crowd OUT OF his col
umns accounts OF timely occurrences
which seem TO him OF livelisr i'm
portance
Nov. We simply dote on obituaries
! here In Our Town and in Our County.
! And the more space they take up IN
| the paper the more We dote. And the
mesner the dead people were when
| they were living the more we euoSiiZe
| them Yes. il was knockout blow,
/ a shame To deprive us thus arrogant
/ ~ of our dear obituaries allowing us
only space enough for a few prosy sta
tistics concerning the departed.
knockout blow!
Once I vas writer OF obituaries.
| / wrote one obituary which covered the
whole front page of the News and
/ Of the Democrat and overnoweo ONTO
| the back pages. And everybody iust
| loved 1t. and ali the people In our
| town wanted me to write their obitu
aries was a. much In demand as
! the undertaken. Since Sherwood An
| derson issued his manifesto. ! f"el e.
actly like Othello My occupations
gone.
Averse to Poetry.
/ Sherwood Anderson is also averSe to
poetry-~at least, the southwestern Vr-
/ ainia variety From the beginning OF
/ his incumbency he has made /. per
/ factly plain that his nr,nishSp IL
| newspaper ONCE, not clearing house
| for rural rhymesters.
| Sherwood Anderson maintains no ed
/ itofisI staff. no force of trained repor-
/ torial writer's. Except for an OCCASION
| al contributed article and political COM
/ nlunications. he seems TO b. the whole
| thing so far as editorial and reportorial
work In concerned. OF course, he has
/ his news gathercrs who tHSe care oil
| thu Personals. but even these fire.
ouently show signs of the distinctive
| Anderson touch.
The amount CT work ne gets through
with Is astonishing He attends all the
/ BIZ speakines. big public celebrations
and school exhibitions. all trials both
/ In the Circuit Court and the Mayors
I ofice. all Kiwanis and Rotary meetings
and banauets. He browses around IN
! our clerks office. our treasurer's office.
our factories He visits our Govern
/
and our State Hospital for the Insane
! He motors around all over Our County
| attending cattle and poultry shows.
agricultural exhibits and other big
| country meets. making friends with the
/ people, securing copy for his paper and
/ incidentlv enjoying q share OF our
| famed Virginia ham and fried chicken.
| He goes to Troutdale for week ends
| and every now and then slips away to
/ Washington or New York. And no
matter where he goes he makes story
Of it, an excellent story.
| He Is a many-sided character~--a sort
| Of composite of Sherwood Anderson,
| Buck Fever. Hannah Stoots. Bess8 Wish
| of Roanoke: the Black Cat OF Chilhowic
| and Mrs Colonel Homing- Pigeon,
Not Like n Reporter.
! Sherwood Anderson has nothing of
/ the air on the manner or the method
Of the professional reporter His note
book is little In evidence. II at all. He
| Is spectator among spectators. an
auditor among auditors an observer
among observers and remarkably keen
| observer. too.
| He ia great on accounts Of fights and
arrests and disturbances with MOON
/ sinners and bootieagers. He displays an
especial deftness in presenting such AZ
/ fairs. giving to his stories a humorous
| twist which Is distinctly fascinating
| Yet underneath this lightness there Is
vague compasslon-that human SYM
| pa nv for the criminal.
Sherwood Anderson Is an expert In
the art OF minPiing hunor and pathos
"a rare gift Who does not remember
laughing and crying at one and the
same time over his story OF Nelly the
printship cat? Poor little Nelly. gray
and innocent and loving, shut out by
accident from her warm printshop
home on Christmas Evel Located al
last hy those who loved her and sought
her hundreds Of yards away. from home,
cared for tenderly. but too late, by new
found friends Poor Nelly, dying 80
pitifuily nj double pneumonia! We
laughed over Nelly. we cried over Neilv,
such was Sherwood Anderson's art In
telling about her.
Has Rasish Loyalty.
Dotnnt factor In cementlng the
! bond between Sherwood Anderson ann
Our Town Ii his almost childish loyalty
10 us He is more loyal tn us than we
are to ourselves. He does not hesitate
to call attention To our civic shortcom-
tnps and defects. and 10 suggest rem
edies. but II any unfairness IL shown us
by an outsider. either an individual. an
organizati q newspaper, another Town
or another section. he is quick To take
IN the eudeeis In our defense.
Sherwood Anderson Is as SINGER" ana
honest as II IL possible to b" In an
lnsincere end dishonest world. Ihefc
Is no pretense about him. He has
ers titude and appreciation, thos" rare
and unusual qualities. He never fails
to express pleasure In the smallest gift
or favor bestowed upon him. Moreover
hr seems inca pable of moral cowardi"e.
lie In at ell times considerate OF the
rights OF Others and the feelings OF
others, Except obituary writer's ana
poetsl And. o, Yes! After dinner
speakefsD
Sherwood Anderson Ia generous In
both q material and moral sense, He