 His entry into journalism apparently came after a chance encounter in a hotel, where he joined in with some strangers as the fourth voice in a Gilbert & Sullivan quartet and was invited to write an article on musical appreciation for the "Evening Gazette" in Manchester.He then worked for six months as a "volunteer sub-editor" for the "Manchester Courier" before joining the "Manchester Guardian" as a sub-editor.He worked as a sub-editor between 1904 and 1907 before its editor, C.P.