Fathers and sons -- Fiction; Runaway wives -- Fiction; Sportswriters -- Fiction
Twice swung his chair around and faced Peter. "I've just cost the paper
$65,000 a year in advertising," he said cheerfully. "The Dubell Agency
was trying to bawl me out about that Sun Flower Oil story we had on the
front page this morning. Did you see it?"
"Well, I saw the headlines," said Peter untruthfully.
"I want you to read it. Weed did it. I told you I was going to make
something out of that young man. Let's see, what were we talking about?"
Peter almost said, "The Liberty Motor," but stopped himself in time. "We
were talking about Pat."
"Oh yes, I remember. I suppose, Neale, you and I could say without
egotism that we're important cogs here on the Bulletin. I suppose
sometimes it seems to us that we're vital cogs, but if you should die
tomorrow the Bulletin would come out just the same. I'd give you a good
obit but work would go on. Nobody is indispensable. Pat's got to get it
through his head that he's just part of an army."
"I think he has," said Peter, "but the trouble is he feels that he's got
a permanent assignment on kitchen police."
"But consider this, Neale. I didn't seduce Pat away from college and on
to the Bulletin. I did promise him a job and he's got it. He can't
expect to hang around here for a year or so and jump right in and write
lead stories. What is it you want me to do anyway?"
"Well, I thought maybe it would be a good thing to shift him over on
sports. He knows baseball and football and I'd like to have him come out
with me and do notes of the games and things like that. That would be
down his alley. That would interest him and I think he could do it."
"I don't think it's the best way. I think you're forgetting that general
news is the backbone of a paper. All the rest is tacked on. You're wrong
but I tell you what I'll do. I'm going to yield to your judgment. Go in
and tell Clark that I want Pat to report to him from now on. Go and send
Pat in. I want to have a talk with him."
Peter ran into Pat late that night in the Newspaper Club.
"Did Twice get hold of you?" he asked.
"He certainly did," said Pat. "He's decided to take me off general work
and put me on sports. His idea is to send me around with you to football
games and baseball and have me write notes. You know 'Diamond Chips' or
'Hot Off The Gridiron.'"
"Did he say anything else to you?"
"Yes, he asked me if I'd ever seen a Liberty Motor assembled and I said,
'No,' and he told me about it. Oh yes, and he said, 'When a reporter
goes out on a story there are four things he ought to remember--When!
Where! What! and Why!'"
"What's the matter with that?" Peter felt that Pat ought to show a
little more delight and gratitude at being fairly launched on his career
as a sporting writer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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