On the Gentle Art
Of
t mrwT w W OAAOffVPT 1 la ntAP
I interviewed "for publication."
I T I . I
no presiueui is.
But In the day when he was
civil service commissioner, po
lice commissioner, lieutenant-colonel of
the Rough Riders, governor of the state he
was born In, and so on, he was generally
very approachable by the reporter, always
providing he wasn't too busy.
A reporter who went to see him one
day at police headquarters in New York
had a rather curious experience. Mr. Roose
velt was out when the reporter's card waa
sent in. It was nearly an hour before the
commlsloner returned. By that time a
score or more of persons were waiting.
Then a stir at the door made them all sit
up and take notice, and Roosevelt rushed
through the ante-room like a dark-brown
streak to the door of his office, scattering
hla visitors right and left, and shutting
the door behind him with a slam. The
reporter was the first caller and entitled
to precedence, but he preferred to wait, and
It was nearly another hour before he had
his audience.
The future president was cordial In his
greeting, and, after looking at his watch,
said he could give twenty minutes to the
Interview, but made It understood in short
order that he was a professional writer no
well as a public man.
"The subject you suggest is an Important
and Interesting one," said the commis
sioner, with his characteristic smile, "but
I haven't time, to think It all out now.
Besides, I may want to write about It my
self. What else have you in mind?"
Fortunately for him, the reporter had
other "talkable" topics to suggest, but his
spirits fell as he called them off in succes
sion, for the first half dozen' all appealed
to Mr. Roosevelt as too good to be spoiled
by being interviewed about them. Finally,
though, a suitable subject was agreed upon
and an hour, Instead of twenty minutes,
was given up to the interview.
Russel Sage has n?ver been a hard man
to interview when he wanted to let the
public know what he thinks about some
thing, but otherwise you m'.ght as well
seek information from a stone. In fact.
Mr. Sage will not be seen at all In such
an instance, and it is useless to try ti con
vince the clerk who pokes his head out
of the little barred window In the thin
partition that shuts in the capita'ist's of
fice. Sometimes .Mr. Sage has b:en known
to Invite an Interview by cau-ing the in
sertion of a little five or ten lino Item In'
the newspapers.
On one 'occasion such an Item was
printed saying that Sage was about to
lend his backing to a man who had hid a
spectacular, but not wholly successful ca
reer In the world of ra Ircad nuance. The
statement seemed so preposterous though,
that the reporters were not sent to Sage's
office. A corresponds nt of an out-of-town
paper, however, short of material for his
daily dispatches, went to Mr. Sage's of
fice, and, showing the little item to the
clerk at the window, waa admiLted with
out ceremony. Mr. Sage seemed p'eared,
and the correspondent got a creditable
"scoop" on all the New York papers. Page
didn't verify the item explicitly, bat what
he said amounted to the same thing.
"The man mentioned in the item," said
Mr. Sage, "is one of the brightest men now
before tho public, and I have learned more
from him than from almcst any cne I ever
met."
By the time he had finished, ths corre
spondent had material fcr a column and a
half dispatch, the accuracy of which wai
questioned at first by thi N?w Yo.-k paper.!,
but afterward confirmed with all ths dig
nity of display type. The result was that
the "man mentioned" was able to get on
ta his feet attain for a while.
Mr. Sage has always been more than
willing to talk about his horses, of which
he is very fond, and more than one re
porter, aniious to get his views on a cur
rent financial topic, his gained admittance
to his private office by asking for some
information about these pets. He is al
ways ready also to talk of the methods by
which success in life may be attained, and
when he does his talk Is always optimis
tic. He thinks the struggling young man of
today has just as good a chance to win as
the young man who started out early in
the last century, and Is full of atecdotes
and Incidents to prove that he Is right.
It is not of record, though, that any in
genious reporter ever got Mr. Sage to
talk on something he didn't Intend to by
questioning him about either horses or
success In life.
Of all the men big enough to be in
terviewed, Roscoe Conkling was one of
(he eaulest. Proud and haughty in his
bearing to most men of his own class,
he was generally accesslMe to newspaper
writers, and sometimes he would take a
reporter into his confidence In a way
that was startling. But It waa another
thing to get permission to print what hj
man with the hyperion curl had said.
As one young reporter to whom Mr.
Conkllug had devoted a long two hours
of the moft interesting talk, which threw
much illumination on current political
matters, rose to leave the office with bis
Interviewing
note book safely buttoned In his inside
pocket, Conkling smiled and said:
"Lt me look at your notes a moment,
my boy."
The book was produced, when Conkling
stuck it carefully In a pigeon hole.
"I didn't telLyou all this to have It
printed," ho said, "for that would never
do, but because I like you and because I
thought It would be a good thing for you
to know the Inside of some things. Know
Ing what you do now, you will understand
better how to treat certain topics yoa
are assigned to 'cover.' "
The reporter had to submit and the In
formation that had been given was of
much use to him afterward, as Conkling
said it might be.
Another reporter who didn't know Mr.
Conkling, but. had been assigned to inter
view him, asked political follower of the
great man for sn Introduction. The poli
tician acquiesced, and the two were pres
ently In "the presence," Then a curious
thing occurred. The politician, it appeared,
was not only a follower of Mr. Conkling,
but he stood in such personal awe of the
leader that he war able to say hardly a
word beyond the barest commonplaces,
much less to introduce the reporter. After
about five minutes of talk on the weather,
the politician terminated the Interview for
the time being, with a "Well, good day,
Mr. Conkling," and the two went away.
Later, however, the reporter's wits hav
ing returned to him, he went back to Conk
link and got the interview he wis arter.
Naturally the reporter or correspondent
personalty known to a public man as re
liable and capable rarely has any froublo
in getting to see tho public man, or in
finding out anything that is proper to
print. And naturally public men generally
often tell reporters and correspondents
many things that they do not want printed,
exactly as Conkling enlightened the young
reporter mentioned above. But it is not
surprising that public men are a little shy
of straugers.
Just after tho present speaker of the
bouso was made sure of his election to his
post, a newspaper man was sent from New
York to get some facts about a subject
then exciting general attention. The cor
respondent was unknown to Colonel Hen
derson, and, being sure that h would hesi
tate to talk to a stranger, took along sev
eral strong letters of introduction. The
colonel was found In the rotunda of the
hotel in Dubuque, which has been his
home for many years when he is not in
Washington. To him the correspondent
presented the letters, which Henderson read
through with great care before responding.
Then ho returned all the letters except
one.
"I don't mind those letters," he said,
"they mean nothing to me. But this one
is from a man I can't well refuse I wish
I had him here. He ought to be kicked.
But you come upstairs with me and I'll
talk, providing you don't say in your ar
ticle that you got your Information from
me.
So, 'inning over the action of his friend
who had mnde it virtually 1 npossible to
refuse to be Interviewed, the colonel led
the way to his rooms and there, puffing
away at their cigars, the speaker-diet and
the corespondent talked cut fully the topic
which the latter had traveled 1,300 miles
to Investigate.
L.ike the president, the speaker of the
house la rarely Interviewed, so far as the
public know, and Henderson was Just then
so nearly a rpeaker that the correspondent
vully understood his reasons for not being
quoted.
The late Abram S. Hewitt varied In his
treatment of Interviewers, and newspaper
men who knew him tell many anecdotes of
their meetings with him. One reporter who
went, a straneer, to ask him a lot of ques
tions on certain municipal matters, found
him sitting alcno in hla little office.
"I don't know you," said Mr. Hewitt,
briskly, not to say sharply, "and I don't
know how correctly you will print what I
may say, but I'm willing to talk with you
If you won't bring cut your note book. Note
bookj always make me nervous. No, I
don't want to see your copy alter it's writ
ten. Nobody'll believe it If you make mo
say ridiculous things, and, of course, you'll
never come to me again if you don't report
me accurately."
Then he talked rapidly and fully while
the reporter listened, without taking a note,
and wondering (he while whether he would
be able to remember all that waa said well
enough to write it out afterward.
Apparently he did. for Mr. Hewitt was
Interviewed repeatedly after that by the
reporter and he never complained that the
reports printed were inaccurate.
Phonograph Clock
The kaiser received from the Geneva In
ventor a phonograph clock that reminds
him of business engagements and other In
' tended stunts. If, for instance, he wants
to drive to the chancellor at 11 a. m. next
day, be Informs the phonograph clock,
moves the hand to 10:30 and at that min
ute, exactly, the phonograph shouts: "See
here, your majesty, It's about time to or
der the carriage for Buelow's." While
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This photograph shows again how Omahn's industries are prcgrcinluK right
along. These two boilers, which are the largest Iwilera ever constructed betweeu
the Mississippi and the Pacific coast, were made by the Omaha Holler Works (of
which concern John It. Lowrey Is the head). The length of sch of these enor
mous boilers Is 1ti feet 6 inches, the diameter of shell 10 feet 6 Inches, and the
total weight (14. 000 pounds, and were built and completed In the short spare of 10
weeks remarkably short time. The boilers were built for the Storx Brewing Co.
of this city, who had these made to replace two of their smaller boilers, which
were found not largo enough for their steadily Increasing business. It Is to the
credit of Storz Brewing Co. that they patronize homo Industry In placing their order
with a home concern, and shows plainly that our city and state is well able to
compete In any line of Industry a reason that everybody should patronize home Industries.
William breakfasts, the clock tolls him
half a dozen things he must not forget,
and If the eggs are bad, or the cutle.a
burned, he steps up to the clcck en) telli
the phonograph that "cco'i will gut h
walking papers unltss ."
Cook muBt report to the clcck Imino
diotely after meals and hear what hit
majesty thought of tho food s:t b f re him.
The kaiser thinks the phonograph clock a
wonderful success and baa ordered half
a dozen for the different ixilaces.
Bachelor's Reflections
A miser can't bear to think even of the .
money his coffin will ccst.
A man who can't think up a new way
once a week to make a woman believe he
loves her just as much as the day Jio
married her Is a failure as a hut'band.
It makes a thoughtful man feel pretty bad
to think (bit if he had all th? money ho
has spent for drlnVs in rM life he could
afford to smoke Imported clgarB.
A man Is so appreciative cf his virtue
that when he Is economizing and buys a
two-for-a-quarter cigar Instead cf a fifteen-cent
straight, he regards himself as
a hero.
It's the man who kicks like blazes against
his wife paying (2 a month more to get n
good maid that calls anybody pretty mean
who doesn't tip the waiter where hj gets
his lunch a quarter a day. New York
Press.
His Busy Date
Adam waa naming the animals. Tho
pterodactyl slipper5 into the line and came
forward ssin.
"Here!" exclaimed Adam, "didn't I name
you onco?"
"Yes, sir," answered the pterodactyl, "I
merely wished to ask you how to pro
nounce my name."
"Go look in the dictionary." replied
Adam, "I'm busy enough telling the Smiths,
Smllhea and Smythes how to spell their
names without being bothered by you."
Judge.
Michigan Wrestling Bear
While blazing a trail to a homestead In
Elm river district, Houghton vounty, Mich
igan, Charles Buchanan and Elmer Demary
encountered a bear. The meeting nearly
ended fatally for Demary. He bad no
weapon, no he fled, with the bear close at
bis heels for a quarter of a mile. Tho
brute caught him at the bottom of a hill
and was about to devour him when Bu
chanan answering Demary's shouts, ran up
and belabored the bear with an ax. The
bear left his victim unconscious, with a
broken arm and a severely lacerated shoul
der. Buchanan, after furnishing his com
panion medical aid, overtook the bear and
shot him with a rifle.
"Balkan Question"
(Countlnued From Fourth Page.)
rlsor of Turk 8 and sings Utile songs care
fully calculated to embitter even the most
stolid souls.
The care-free spirit of the Macedonian
is beautifully expressed by hla simple
method of inciting the Turks to commit
atrocities, in order to attract the attention
of the outside world. This charming little
bit of state craft Is not rare. It explains
tuauy things among others why a Mace
donian brigand may be expected to keep
his word If he promises a captured traveler
tbut bis ear shall be cut off If ransom Is
not ready at a certain time. A person who
Is ready at all hours of the day or night
to proxoke the Turk into massacrelng his
friends. Is not likely to hesitate unduly
about a stranger's ear.
Everybody Uvea In Ut past. Tho Balkans
were the portals Into Kurops of all tho
strange tribes of early time. Ths traces
of the Daclans, the Marcomannt, the Quadi,
the Goths, the Huns, all are to be foujd
In survival in the Balkans. It Is as It
all those irrupting tribes and races hal
left their Hot Hum and Jetsam there, to re
main unchanged lu those undetectable
mountains.
Their songs are songs of the Czar Slr.:eon
and tho Czar Boris snd the C;nr DuHhan,
who ruled more than 1.000 years ago, when
there was no such a thing as a csar lu
Russia.
Throughout the Balkans today the fav
orite dance Is the kolo, which Is nothing
more or less than the ancient Roman dance
of Horo, without a change. Bagpipers go
around everywhere and everywhere tho
Inhabitants are prone to drop their work
suddenly and dance and sing as If every
one cf thohe queer vtllvgea were a stag
villa pre and all the peasants were ballet.
The laud has been described by one trav
eler as a land that still lives in tho days,
of the Troubadours.
The Montenegrin, If he la truly patriotic
still wears his little rc fee with a black
band. It has been worn by Montenegrins
for more than bIx centurion lit memory of
the killing by the Turks of the last of tho
great Serb Czars in 1881. The loyal Monte
negrin declares that the rap shall he worn
until a terrible revenge has boon wreaked
on tho Turk.
The Bosnian is another old one. Al
though tho Hungarian railroads beat at
tils door with goods, ho still ploughs with
a wooded plough. His ox-cart Is made of
wood alone, without a bit of metal In It.
The harness of his horses is of rope.
The little Bosnian horse Is still tho
loading means of transport. Instead of
a saddle, a wooden thing that looks like
table upside down. Is .tied to the beast
with ropes and the loud Is tied to the table
legs with simple disregard of beauty or
the Pner feelings of the horse.
Building a Bridge
(Continued From Fifth Page.)
the draw spans. They will be capable of
raising the ends and turning the spans ,
90 degrees in two and one-half minutes
under ordinary conditions. The motors aro
to. be placed In little operating houses
above the roadway aud directly over tho
pivot piers. In what are known as tho
"towers" of the bridge. Ball bearings will .
be used throughout, and the mechanism la
of the most api roved and efficient pattern
for the transmission of. power and tho
safe manipulation of the draws.
EEK7
do VOtl SI
Ar vnn eunnnse ' dla
7 into that bulk coffee
DCiorc you vuy m
come in sealed, air
tight packages; no
chance for handling,
or dirt or thinga.to
get in.
'Clam, Fresh a4 Fraarmal
m
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ILson
EoSSoo
