THE IDSTAROO PIONEER
Publl»hed Every Saturday Morning at Idltarod, Alaska
Vo!. 7 CHARLES A. DERRY, Editor No. 49
AR3UCKLE & DERRY, Publishers
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ACCURACY IN NEWSPAPER WORK
The following extracts from a lecture delivered before the Uni
versity of Washington department of journalism by Herbert Hunt,
editor of the Tacoma News, will be of interest to laymen as well
as to the embryo journalists. It will also give some idea of the
constant effort to insure accuracy on the part of reputable news
papers: .
•inaccuracy has a potential cousinship with malicious untruth.
Each crossing of the line from fact to fiction dulls that line. Even
tually it is obliterated and forgotten. Adventures into fanciful
rtalms when writing for newspapers are dangerous adventures, to
be taken only when the matter in hand is of no value as news, aim
hurtful to no one. Bacon remarked that ‘a mixture of a lie doth
e\ er add | lcasiire/ But it is a pleasure which the news writei
must forego. The newspaper owes to the public the duty of ere
nt ing a correct public opinion. Any other course is venal, and not
to be considered by decent workers. It is regrettable to say that an
incorrect public opinion is too often created even by a truthful
presentation of facts.
“To say that newspapers are more honest and truthful end ac
curate than ever before is not an overstatement. But if the ten
demy of an earlier day was to color news reports for the benefit of
the money aristocracy, the present tendency is to appeal by cun
ningly-drawn paragraphs to the mobocraey. In the last twenty
years many editors have been boxing the compass like drunken
sailors in an effort to catch the ears of a class which they have
demagogically called the ‘common people.' Within the past year
a change has been noticed, common sense to some extent having
superseded demagogy. Contact with vital realities corrects our per
ceptions. and for a time we proceed along fair, restrained lines, giv
ing to radical and reactionary and to labor and capital the dues that
are their-. Agitation gives way to cogitations and a revamping
of spirit. With the passing, however, of the present financial de
pression we shall witness a new rising of demagogy and a renewal
of the well-known methods by which the masses are caught with
the honey-pots of false promise. This is no criticism whatever of
those newspapers which firmly believe that which they print and
advocate to be in concord with truth and community betterment.
It is directed solely at that element which to sober newspaper
makers is a transparent surrender of honesty to class popularity.
“One of the strongest arguments for the establishment of the
first American newspaper was that the printed word would silence
the split tongues of gossip and rumor. In the days before news
papers peopie depended upon letters and personal recitals for their
news, and mole hills became mountains in less than a half day’s
journey. Absurd exaggerations abounded, and these will not cre
ate a correct pul lie opinion. In this clay we have even a greater
menace than the gossips of two centuries ago in those newspapers
which, not content with making little or no effort to get at the
truth, deliberately publish allegations designed to produce an in
correct public opinion. While we are on the subject of early news
papers let us not forget one of the first was suppressed when its
initial issue was found to contain an inimical criticism of a time
honored religious creed. Flying in the face of convention is not
always safe. Convention may be right. The neologist is as often
ridiculed and condemned as followed, and you who are about to
enter newspaper activities well may remember, whenever you feel
a vital impetus to correct the religious beliefs of your subscribers
through the medium of an editorial, that it probably will be wise
to keep the matter a great secret between yourself and the ofiiee
cat. Thus the interests of accuracy often may well be conserved.
Men and women do not like to have their passionate intuitions
mussed up with printers’ ink. * * *
“Albert Johnson, congressman from the becond district of this
state, was, while reporting for a Washington city newspaper, sent
to cover a train robbery. He procured most of the facts from the
postal clerks on the robbed train. The following morning Johnson
was sent out to the town where the robbery had been committed
to gather additional details. When he reached there a crowd was
gathered about the village postoffice listening to the reading in his
newspaper of the robbery story. Sentence after sentence met with
the nodding approval of the crowd, though, Johnson confesses,
It was not unadorned with sensational imagery. All went '.veil
until the reader read: Tt was a bright, moonlight night.’ The
storm broke. Half the men in the crowd cried, ‘That’s a lie!
Don’t that fool paner know this is the dark of the moon?’ John
son's well-done story fell to fragments, and he scarcely dared let
his identity become known. Johnson’s story suffered from a mis
statement probably conveyed to him by an excitel postal clerk.
Witnesses often disagree. Exact coincidence in recital is rare,
whether the interrogator be attorney or reporter. Sources of news
are often tainted with fear, recklessness, malice, vanity, selfishness,
ignorance or some other vicious human attribute, and even the
sharpest precautions wall not always yield the truth. Misstate
ments through reportorial carelessness are scarcely forgivable, and
yet worse than that is the sin of reportorial vanity. Deliver us
from the reporter who delights in thrusting himself in front of his
story. Charmed as he is into a condition of non-perception by his
own well-rounded sentences, he submerges and often destroys facts
with beautiful rhetoric. But history is not made, nor substantial
circulation and influence, by rhapsodical carousals. Perfect accu
racy in newspaper-making is, of course, quite as impossible as per
fect frankness. A great engineer or architect, working with a
large force of assistants for many months, often finds that in spite
(if every care his product is not errorless. It should surprise no
one that a newspaper, created in a day, should betray some weak
nesses. How few there are, after all. And yet we who are behind
the scenes do not realize the number of them. We are reminded
of one or two now and then, while occasionally a libel suit may be
the troublesome nudge that spurs precaution. * * *
“An unpleasant phase of newspaper work is the fact that false
charges of inaccuracy often are made and sometimes sustained.
Perhaps the most frequent episodes of this nature come from poli
ticians. It has not been long since we had a very noted public
official who not infrequently changed his mind over night, and
the statement which he gave out at 4 p. m. might be denounced
in the short and ugly word of that period before the ink was dry
the following morning. It not infrequently happens that a poli
tician will make a sharp statement with a view of testing public
opinion. If he finds public opinion against his view be may con
demn as untruthful the reporter and newspaper that printed what
he actually said. There is another scaly individual who does not
think, when he gives sn interview, how it will look in type. A
seizure of cold feet overwhelms him when he sees his printed word,
and he seeks cover by denouncing the paper. It not infrequently
happens that public men are able to maneuver themselves into
public favor in spite of truthful accusations of evil-doing against
them, and at the cost of newspaper prestige. In recent years many
instances of this kind have been recorded. Some uplifters attrib
uted this to the belief that the papers are now given to misrepre
sentation, whereas in former days the press was more truthful.
One only has to read the papers of twenty-five or fifty or seventy
five years ago, in the light of established history, to prove the
idleness of such an allegation. Not in many years has a man
been editorially lied about so maliciously as Abraham Lincoln
was. Calumniation, specious reasoning and cold disregard of fact
are not now vital forces in newspaper political battling, but they
were fifty years ago. And in Washington’s time printers' ink was
employed with a villainy of purpose that would paralyze the pen
of a modern writer. * * * Perhaps the increased antipathies
between classes has had something to do with the occasional
diminishing belief in newspapers. A large share of the labor ele
ment refuses to read what it calls the ‘capitalistic press,’ prefer
ring to depend for its pabulum upon the notoriously one-sided So
cialistic papers. Many capitalists, no doubt, would like to have a
press just as one-sided for their particular enjoyment. Occasional
churchmen are found who will not heed the secular press, choos
ing not to risk their faith to the dispassionate paragraphs of a
non-sectarian editor. * * * It is doubtful if an editor ever
gains anything by attacking his successful contemporary. News
paper fights are of very little interest to the public. If it some
lay falls to your lot to be in charge of a successful newspaper
'hat is being sharply assailed by a small contemporary, let the rule
of the Indianapolis News be remembered. For many years that
great paper was attacked day after day by another evening paper
which was strugg ing to get a foothold. Nothing in that long and
almost hopeless effort to establish that newspaper was so bitterly
annoying to its managers as the dignified silence preserved by the
News. On only one or two occasions in some twenty-five years
did the News ever mention its envious and fault-finding neighbor,
and one of these occasions was when it went into the hands of a
receiver.”
-A
LABOR PROBLEM FROM TWO VIEWPOINTS
—
Never before has there been the desire on the part of men in
high official position to bring about a reconciliation of the differ
ences between capital and labor that there is at present. With
congressional and special commissions in session investigating the
railway troubles, and with many of the government bureaus tak
ing up the study of various subjects having a bearing on the eco
nomic situation, it is likely that the country generally will be
brought to look upon these problems in a dispassionate manner,
and to seek to bring about s better understanding.
Too many men break into print on the labor problem who
are entirely out of sympathy with the labor movement -who seek
to fasten upon the present and future generations a system in
which the laborer is to be a mere dependent of his employer.
This view is well exemplified by Judge Burke of Seattle, who in
a recent address in that city spoke in favor of the “open shop,"
and incidentally disclosed the fact that he was either ignorant of
the vital principles at stake in that issue, or else by his sophistries
attempted to mislead his hearers. Said he:
The principle of closed shop is clearly subversive of indi
vidual liberty. No body of men. however excellent their
character, and however high their aims, can be trusted in a
free country with the right to say to their fellow-men, ' i ou
cannot follow your lawful calling for the support of yourself
and your family, nor shall anyone employ you without our
permission.” That i« what the closed shop means. Under
such conditions the labor union becomes an intolerable tyr
anny and the rest ot the pe .; te octimie helpless :laves.
This chamber has long been on record against the princi
ples of the closed shop and in favor of the American princi
ple of the open shop. It is our belief that the great body of
Americans in labor unions are liberty-loving men and are n it
at heart in favor of the tyranny of the closed shop.
When confronted with a situation like that presented by
the longshoremen here today Americans will do what they
always have dene--they will insist upon the full protection of
the constitution and laws of their country and will promptly
take steps to secure it.
Contrasted to the above one-sided bunch of t\vad< le from a
man whose sympathies and lifework have ever been opposed to
the toiler and in favor of the “big interests." here is ; n extract
from an article by Stoughton Cooley, a writer on economic sub
jects for the Chicago Herald, who takes the broad and reasoning
view of the subject which is at least helpful in settling ccntrover
sies of such grave nature as those that arise between capital and
labor. Pay? Mr. Cor ley:
Since it is quite clear that not all employers have a keen
conception of justice, nor an overwhelming desire to observe
it, and since the individual employe has lost the opportunity
for self-employment, it has become necessary for him to join
hands with his fellow's in order to secure tolerable working
conditions. It is idle to argue the abstract question of indi
vidual rights. Labor is confronted with a practical question
and is handling it in the only w’ay it know's. Laboring men
and women will from the very necessity of the case have to
continue this course until statesmen see fit to act.
That labor leaders will eo too far in some of their conten
tions, that they may themselves be guilty of resorting to
extra-legal means for attaining their ends, and that there will
be dishonest men among them, is only to say that they are
human. There is this fact of encouragement, however: If
labor in its turn becomes unreasonable and tyrannical capita1
will always have it within its pow'er to join hands with labor
to secure 3 return to the natural order.
The great mistake that legitimate capitalists have made i.
in fightin? the organization of labor, while ignoring the or
ganization of monopoly, which preys upon both labor am!
capital. True, labor has made the same mistake; but it worl!
seem that the greater opportunities of the capitalist, and his
broader view, would have caused him to see the point first.
Necessity will compel both to recognize their common enemy,
privilege. Unionizing all labor wall give but temporary rrVi
to workingmen and women, as the extension of foreign trade
will for a time ease the stress of capital. Sooner or 1-Par the
two must come to an understanding of the real conditions
and ioin hands to secure the abolition of legal privilege, which
preys upon them both.
As the election returns from the outlying precinct? are sUwT
coming in. it is yet impossible to give the official decision cf the
voters of the territory on the delegateship. Super, the Deni' cra‘: -
candidate, still has a slight lead, and it may be that he is eb"teJ
But in the more remote regions, where no canvass was possible, if
is possible that the returns will show Wickers! am pluralities suffi
cient to insure the re-electicn of the delegate. At any rate it will
take the official count to determine the contest.
-♦
The Mexican situation is again extremely grave. With Vila’s
bandits in the ascendant in northern Mexico, and w'ith a force be
tween General Pershing’s force and the border, it would seem that
the problem confronting the administration is now more serious
than at any time since the disorders in Mexico began.
Ball Band Rubber Boots and Pacs [ j Ball Band Rubber Boots and Pacs ^_
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NEW STORY WHICH SUGGESTS
THAT JOAN OF ARC ESCAPED
France found herself in dire straits early
in the Fifteenth century. King Charles VI.,
surnamed “The Well Beloved,” had become
deranged, and Henry V. of England had
invaded the country, concluding the treaty
which was to make him king of France
upen the death of her mad king.
The rightful successor to the French
throne, the Dauphin Charles, was a youth
of 17 when this treaty was made. Two
years later, when his royal father died,
Henry of England came to claim the throne,
and his legions were masters of the country
north of the Loire, including Paris.
Now it happened that there dwelt in
France at this perilous time a little peasant
maid who could neither read nor write,
but who had imbibed health from the great
outdoors. She tended her father’s sheep
nd rode his horses to and from the water
ing places. She developed alleged powers
which in our days are called psychic or clair
oyant. Going into a trance state, it was
»aid, she saw visions and heard voices which
eld her that she was to be the virgin who,
according to current prophecy, was to de
iver France from its enemies. Her name
was Joan or Jeanne, and of her family
either d’Arc or Dare. When 17 she went
to Chimon, where the dauphin, Charles,
held his court.
Charles, who in his subservience to the
English had not had the courage to be
ert wiled king when his father died, was
persuaded to grant Joan of Arc’s wish to
bad his army. He ordered her a suit of
_rmrr, and when her visions told her of a
onsecrated sword which lay buried in a
ertaiu churchyard, that weapon was dug
p and placed in her hands. Then, at the
head of an army of 10,000 soldiers com
nnded by royal officers, all of whom re
arded her as a saint, she threw herself
upon the English, then besieging Orleans.
Her presence at the head of the French
army struck terror to the enemy, and
.bhin t; ree months she had Charles
r v ncii at Rheims. During the ceremony
; a in fi 11 armor, stood at his side.
Joan of Arc's promised work was now
lie. She begged to be a lowed to go
back to her native farm at Domremy, but
Iharles commended her to remain with his
Fie fe.red that her abtence woul 1
turn the tide of his fortunes. Joan thought
therwise. SI e told him that her voices
and visions gave her no further inspira
i n. only the warning that if she fought
i.ot: er battle she would be wounded and
I hat her army would be defeated. But
he had to obey the king’s command. Lead
ng her forces in an attack upon Paris
early in the following winter, she saw the
first part c-f her prophecy fulfilled. She
vas w’ounded, but recovered sufficiently
to bad her legions into Compeigne, then in
the hands of the English. She made an
unsuccessful sortie and the second part of
her prophecy came true, for her army was i
efeated. Taken prisoner, she was carried
to Beauvais.
The divine power which had protected
lean of Arc (heretofore now seemed to have
entire y deserted her. While attempting to
escape her prison by leaping from the dun
gecn wall she was recaptured and taken to
Rouen. The wise doctors then constituting
the University of Paris obtained from the
king of England letters patent to have her
ried for witchcraft. The university gave
i unanimous verdict that her acts were
k b liet.l. meriting punishment by fire, and
.hen tie sentence of death was read to
her publicly by the bishop of Beauvais he
e her the alternative of burning at the
ake or submitting to the church. Joan
hose the latter means of salvation, but
.he bloodthirsty bishop repented the loss
f an opportunity to view torture. He laid
trap for Joan by placing man’s apparel
n her cell. She put on the disguise in
the hope of escape, and the bishop seized
upon her act as evidence of a relapse into
unbe ief.
An immense pile of wood was placed in
he middle of the market place at llouen.
'urrouncir.g the pyr* the Engli.h had a
c rdcn cf soldiers and ecclesiastics drawn
up at a distance sufficiently far to prevent
any of the populace from gaining a good
.Jew of the martyr at the stake. Accord
ing to the history which we studied a!
,ch:ci, the fair body of the sainted maid of
Orleans was consumed in these flames an 1
her a.hcs were thrown into the Seine.
B t many chr mclers say otherwise. In
d.eed, amcn^ some authorities there has
grown a belief that the English frustrated
:he purpose of the bishop of Beauvais by
loein ‘he circle f s; 1 iiers and church
] i. :o s-.cn a in twice from the pyre that
an effigy or sub_titute might be burned
and Joan allowed to escape. An eminent
rrench antiquarian. Gaston Saye. after a
profound study of all available records bear
■r:g upon the case, concluded that another
woman was substituted at the stake for
roan. His theory would account for the
"rertch king’, apparent ingratitude in mak
ing no attempt to rescue Jean, although
he owed her his crown. An ancient chron
icle cf the city cf Metz states that a woman
claiming tc be Jean of Arc appeared in Or
leans eight years after her supposed execu
tion and was recognized by her brothers.
Tehan and Pierre, as their supposedly dead
ister. Thousands cf people in Orlesn
recognised her as the missing Maid of Or
leans, and the local authorities discontinue
j the annual memorial service which had
regularly been hi 1' for the reDose of he
at 1 In'- 'hr
, treasury at that very time. eicht years aue.
her supposed burning, show that 210 livres
were presented to Joan of Arc during the
month of July, 1439, “for the good that she
did to the said town during the siege of
1429.” To those who have seen these rec !
ords it seems inconceivable that an im
poster could have thus deceived not only
the thousands who knew Joan’s face inti
mately, but could have fooled her own
brothers. There is also a record that Joan
of Are married Robert des Armoises, a
country gentleman, after her reappearance,
and a letter to the Duke of Orleans by
her brother, Pierre, thirteen years after her
alleged burning, speaks of her as still liv
ing. Indeed, court records dated 1476 con'
tain the testimony of a parish priest that
in 1472, forty years after her supposed exe
cution, Joan of Arc's family was entertain
ing her as their honored guest.
The question whether Joan of Arc was
burned at or rescued from the stake is
branded by Andrew Lang as “the most sur
prising and baffling of historical mysteries,”
and an old manuscript in the British Mu
seum refers to the crisis of her picturesque
career as follows:
“They burned her or another woman like
.er, ..i, „u.t>i |juim many persons are (and
.ave been) of different opinion.”—Cincin
nati Enquirer.
-A --—_
:anadians see redemption
IN SINGLE TAX PROPOSITION
The Canadian single-taxers held a suc
cessful convention in the Clifton hotel at
Niagara Falls, Ontario, last summer, and
having in view the enormous war expendi
ure, decided to urge upon the Dominion
arliament the justice and expediency of
ai.-ing extra revenue by a tax on the land
slues cf the Dominion. It was pointed out
.. the resolution that the national debt of
Canada already exceeds half a billion del
lars, and at the present rate of expenditure
• ill in all probability reach one billion dol
lars at the close of the war.
This prodigious debt, and also the pen
ion fund for disabled soldiers and their
endents, would necessitate an enormous
crease in Canada’s national revenue. It
i- declared no material increase in rev
r.re could be derived through customs du_
ss without seriously increasing the cost cf
i ng, crippl'ng trade, and adding greatly
the burden cf the Canadian people,
e land values of Canada were, the
.ligates held, a national resource. It was
--timated that a tax of 1 per cent on land
alues in Canada would produce an addi
ional revenue of approximately $80,000,
00 i er annum, with a maximum of equity
ml certainty, and might be collected
hreugh existing municipal organizations
vith a minimum of expense.
The conference agreed to form a Cana
an committee of the taxation of land
alues, of which W. M. Southam of the Ot
awa Citizen was elected president.
-A
"AKING PREPARATIONS
FOR BUILDING NEW CITIES
A Paris dispatch says that France is mak
r.g extensive preparations for the rec n
struction of almost 3,000 towns and village
n nortf ern France destroyed by the Her
■"ns. An exposition is being held, at
hich great building and contracting cor
nrations are presenting models of new
"wns which they will undertake to erect
n a given number of days for a fixed sum.
^ rtsble three-room houses are shown
>hich cen be erected by four men in six
h"urs. One company offers to construct a
dla'e composed of a communal hall, post
fve houses, ten farms, two dormitories, for
ffice, church, covered market, ten shelters,
men and women, at a cost of $20,260. Large
frrench cities untouched by the war are
bidding for the honor of acting as “god
mother” to the stricken towns.
-♦
AND ROTS QUICKLY
“I am thinking of touring in South Africa
next season,” remarked the comedian.
“Take my advice and don’t,” replied the
T'lHn. “An ostrich e-e weighs from two
to three pounds.”—Tit-Bits.
Professiona 1
Michigan, 1881 Atelkt, ISIS
Kentucky, 1881
George Woodruff Albrecht
COUNSELOR AND LAWYER
IDITAROD, ALASKA
The Pioneer Attorney of Iditarod
E. M. STANTON
Attorney at Law
Office: Corner Willow and Second Ste.
Iditarod Pioneer Building
CHAS. E. TAYLOR
Attorney at Law
BANK BLOCK
First Avenue IdiUred
DR. MOORE
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
DRUG STORE
DR. H. E. AURINGER
Physician and Surgeon
Office: Flat City Hospital, Flat City
Consultation Hours in Forenoons and by
Appointment
FLAT DRUG STORE
DR. E. T\ MAUN,
Chiropractor and Masseur
Diseases Cured Without Drugs
Chronic Cases a Specialty
Office: Goid 5t„ Flat
Best of Everything
ALL THE TIME AT THE
Arcade Cafe
FLAT CITY
Open Dav and Niff hi
FINE WATCH REPAIRING
NUGGET JEWELRY TO ORDER
J. L. SALE, Flat City
PI ATARH^ bi? anl5 smail, printed on
Fbncntvliij paper, cardboard or cloth,
on short notice, at Iditarod Pioneer office.
Big Stocks of Fresh Goods
Everything for the Miner and
Prospector
MAX SIMEL TRADER
Stores at Cripple City and Mouth of Toletol
OPEN DAY AND NIGHT
DISCOVERY
CAFE
FLAT CITY HOHBACK A DURAND
Bet. the Grand and Bagoy’i Bari
THE BEST ALL THE TIME
WE ARE HERE TO STAY
NOTICE
Notice is hereby givon that the under
signed has been appointed agent in Iditarod
for H. H. Porter, and that he will collect
and receipt for all bills due him.
GUY G. GERAGHTY.
-♦—
Job Printing at The Pioneer office.
FINNEGAN & CAMERON
FLAT CITY
Agency for Edison Diamond Disc Phonographs and Records
TOBACCO CIGARS STATIONERY
CONFECTIONERY AND BILLIARDS
C. R. Cameron Jas. F. Finnegan
"Vn'L'u Chinaware
Handsome Dinner Sets, 50 or 100 Pieces
Rich American Cut Glass
Large and Small Pieces
DAINTY THINGS IN HAND-PAINTED CHINA
CAKE PLATES CELERY BOATS OLIVE DISHES
BON BONS
Tea Cups and Saucers, Creamers and Sugars—Something to Make Tea
Taste Good and Coffee Taste Better
MgM AHON
General Merchandise
fl 4 r cn y
VilTinr-‘ITT "" II mm . . . -