Year: 1874

information. If they do not get it the
fault is not the poor news editors, who
prolongs his days Ia bor lar into the morn.
ing to receive and arrange driblets which
amount to nothing. nor is it the fault Of the
hard.wOrked compositor. who strains his
tired eyes over faint and manifold copy to
put in type telegraphic stuff. which is only
stuff and hardly worth the reading. The
fault is always at the other end Of the line
and lies with the men who should gather
news. The wise men who invented and
perfected the electromagnetic telegraph
never could have considered its present
prostitution. certainly 40: the gigantic
monopoly into which it has been sub.
merged.


The impatience of the present age. the
thirst for news, has led to the transmission
Of all sorts Of gossip on the wings Of light.
ming. The value of electricity as carriage
Of facts, market reports and real news is
incalculable. 1t is the receipt of the reverse
which il objected to. News by telegraph
has value: it is merchantable: it IS bought
and sold, and has q market; it must be
bought at wholesale by the press; but i:
can aot. as it comes, always be retailed
with profit. In marketing for other articles
the buyer pays his money and takes his
choice; in the news market the newspapers
must pay their money, and q good deal Of
it, but they have no choice.


For samples of nothings that have 20 be
paid for, We need not 20 far back on the
file. A dispatch from Atlanta tells the
world. "A mad dog bit horse on White.
hall street." The surprise at this is hardly
over when the Baltimore man says, MRS.
Price died from the effects of coal oil ex-
plosion." Poor Mrs. Price! but her case is
not solitary one of the kind. Then comes
the news from Philadelphia, "Barnum's rhi
noceros is dead" We always look for sly
advertisement where the great show mans
name is mentioned: but, perhaps the re-
porter really thought the rhinoceros q big
thing, and put it on the wire. From Detroit
comes the information that "The mail train
West run over cow" The cow il served
up for breakfast in every family in the coun-
try where a morning paper is taken. A
dispatch from Jonesboro will say Smiths
barn was burned last night, contents de-
stroyed. Sympathy is naturally felt for
Smith. but the public could wait for the
intelligence until the local Bugle comes in.
A later specimen comes from Albany. dated
November ). II is little story told by
Governor Dix, said to be laughable, about
come conversation he had with fishermen
concerning eels. The fish story is told in
i3l words and cost us O. 81. The joke is
certainly on Schneider, who had to pay for
1t. for no unbiased mind can dis
cover a nickle's worth Of fun in the
whole business. New York, the great head
centre OF news, sends long accounts Of
theatres. and verbatim reports Of compli.
mentary speeches made to actresses who
retire from the stage. and go to Philadel-
phia and play another engagement. Those
incidents are we'll enough. but the sun
would continue to rise and set. and the
stars remain as they are, if we waited until
the Republic and Times. or the Clipper
came in to tell US all about the sInusemeuts
of Gotham.


And so it goes. The writ-ualism of the
press agent continually shows that he often
does those things which he ought not to do,
a1d leaves undone those things which he
ought to do. giving the poor publisher
nothing, and making him pay dear for it.