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Show BIIIlK r A f " 'i K Scattering; of Old Crowd. B What becomes of the old news- Hj paperman? Years ago when indivhlu- H allty counted for more In newspaper H work than it does today, when tlio K personal equation was the chief factor B in newsgathorlng and Its presentation, H there sprang up u crop of geniuses V whose names are linked with series H of achievements that are still living B 'traditions in the profession. If the H departed spirits of the old newspaper- B men could hold a convention today H it would be unanimously agreed that H the old crowd was far suporior to tho H now; that the formerly celebrated H reporter had deteriorated Into a youth- H ful butcher who cares less for fact K than for fiction, and more for tho Hj spectacular than artistic. It would H be agreed, further, that the exclusive H stories pulled in tho old days were B planned with greater ingenuity and B accomplished with more consummate K skill than tho would-be scoops of H today. B Recalling the memory of expori- H ences which bind the old guard to- H gether some one would no doubt tell Wm about Gene Palmer who used to bo B city editor of the old Herald. As H a reporter in Chicago ho planted his B sitter in a bosVs chair, and was low- B ered down an air shaft to a point K opposite a ventilator near the coiling B of the grand jury room in which tho M caso of Luotgort, tho murdering butch- HS er, was being discussed. The prooeed- M tags of tho grand jury session made BB a thrilling "beat" for his paper. Pal- BS . mer is now th confidential agent BS of the Walkers ecid has the say-so BS about who shall and who shall not BK pay rent In their skyscraper. Joel BS Priest, whose record Is brilliant with Bm achievements along the line of exclu- Bff slve stories was graduated from the BS old Herald to become industrial agont B for the Oregon Short Line, in which BM position he once met IS. II. Harriman BS m common ground and almost called IB him "EC." Mike Cunningham, an- BX . other old-time star, is in Boise as BM editorial specialist for (he Statesman; k Dick Cannon, another old Herald BM 'ar, is in a high newspaper post at Bm Portland; A. L. Philips, for years on BS the Tribune, is reporting in Los Ange- BS . les; Frank Sefrit, another Tribune BS old-timer, has found employment in BS the northwest in newspaper k, BS -Ike Russell, whose woik for years Bjf attracted attention on the DtJeret BS ( News, is doing good work on the BS . New York Times; A. G. Mackenzie, BS for years identified with several pa- H . pars .in Salt Lake, is holding a rc- B sponsible position with the Commer cial club here. Gene Traughber, long connected with the Tribune, Is still making a hit as a reporter there; Fred Bagby, whoso service ranges over a long period, is still engaged In reportorlal work, being on tho Herald-Republican. One of the oldost reporters in point of service still in the harness is Robert J. Jessup of the News. Russell Lowry, one of the youngest of the old school, is assistant assis-tant cashier of a big bank in San Francisco; Frank Spraguo Js farming In Virginia and so on. Tho demand for brains Is quite as strong in nowspapor work as it over was and other linos of activity aro recruiting mon from the newspaper profession who almost invariably miiko good. The Lure of tho Sleuth. No fair-minded man will disagree with the assertion made by the Des-eret Des-eret News that "the police department depart-ment under its present head has done as well as anybody reasonably can oxpoct." Certainly. That has been a general understanding since B. S. G. Grant took hold of police affairs. And jio ono will gainsay it now. "Under "Un-der its present head," was the safest qualification that could bo made. In tho first year of the Grant re-glmo re-glmo Salt Lake was pretty thoroughly cloaned tip. The job of purification undertaken by Grant was completed complet-ed by tho timo ho was expected to make his annual report. He recounted recount-ed the work that had been accomplished accom-plished tinder his direction, pointed to the cleansed city as an example of civic rehabilitation and gave sleuths a vacation Avhlch they have been on-joying on-joying ever since. The city having been cleaned to the satisfaction of the chief, and ho being the one person per-son to please, it remained for private pri-vate sleuths to carry on the work which, peculiarly enough, other folks didn't think so all-fired complete. The Social Service commission finally fi-nally sents Its report on civic rottenness rotten-ness to the chief, aWirnTRnrm-ChTB--rounds of the press, the 6hi$f veplh fl and the incident was closed, when, all of a sudden Peeping Tom looked beneath be-neath the raised curtain of a room-inghouse room-inghouse window and was unutterably shocked at what he considered gross Immorality. Then the whole thing was blown wide open again. Out of this latest affair comes a scandal in ., which Detective Hugh Glenn is involved. in-volved. He Is charged with helping lo spirit away a man whom the county coun-ty authorities wanted very badly. It Is said that Glenn went to this man and told him to get out of town until tho affair had "blown over." Somehow Some-how that warning has a familiar ring. Jn the celebrated McWhlrter scandal It was made the piece do resistance. re-sistance. When It came there was a scattering of crooks not all of whom were reconvened later. Glenn was mixed up in a nasty scandal in tho old Liberal days and later was refused a reinstatement In the police department. depart-ment. Since he was hired by Grant there has been a constant complaint against him. He has been whitewashed whitewash-ed so often that he oozes lime from ovory pore. Not ltcmly to Die. Jack Weaver left the hospital alive this week, through no fault of his own. Ho know he would leavo tho placo where he was engaged in a critical tussle with ' typhoid-pneumonia, but he wasn't quite certain wither ho would emerge afoot or in a box. He came mighty near not coming out alive. At the crucial stage In his Illness the hospital attaches at-taches did not expect him to pull through and ho was removed to a room from whence, ho learned afterward, after-ward, very few persons ever roturn. Tho room Is used for those about to ontor tho valley of tho shadow and whon an undertaker Is not callod for a patient who has had a short tenure of tho room the precedents of tho institution are shattered. "I could hear the lapping of the waves and could see old Sharon beckoning," beck-oning," said Weaver upon his return, "but, to tell you the truth, I wasn't ready to die." There waa a wreck at Indianapolis ten years ago in whjch fifteen persons per-sons wore killed and three score badly bad-ly smashed up. Among the latter was an old Irishman who ranked as an expressman in the little city wharo he lived. Ho was cartfd to the hos pltal In a bakory wagon and his caso soemod so hopelos that more attention atten-tion was paid" by nurses and physicians physi-cians to those luckless creatures who might bo saved. "'A-aurgeon, making tho rounds of the victims as they reached the hospital,' looked the old fellow over, felt his-jUse, shook his head and said: : r "lie hasn't one olutnce in a million." mil-lion." Up to that mohlent the Irishman had been In a semi-conscious condi tion, but the words of tho surgoon awoko him. . I "I'll take that ono chance," salxl tho old fellow. He is a hopeless cripple, crip-ple, on a life pension, but ho stljl HveJ. Weaver has written a bale of good stuff and If he could cash in on it, he I would have -a pot of money. Ho evidently evi-dently likes the writing game so well I that he has no ambition to leavo it 1 just now, for when he was invited to dio ho turned the invitation down with thanks. Incidentally, there is a little nurse up at the hospital to whom Weaver owes his, life. Ills preference when tho invitation to die came to him had nothing to do with the matter. Ho merely did not want to die, and tho nurse helped him get what he want-od. want-od. I To License Crilks. That's an amusing bill which 'has been prepared by Lieutenant Qovewnor ' O'llara of Illinois, which contains among Its clauses a provision pat all dramatic critics must bo licenced. Tho samo bill provides that any nfsvs-pnpor nfsvs-pnpor man ongagod In his profession in a city of more than 100,00 persons per-sons must pass an examination to prove his fltnoss. A State Board of Journalists under this bill will bo created to take charo of examinations and licenses. Not only dramatic critics, who aro specifically mentioned, but every man employed on the editorial staff of a newspaper will bo compelled to apply for a license li-cense like a chauffeur or adog. For grave offenses like blackmailing and violation of confldonce the licenses will bo revoked. |