Item

Beacon
April 16/1896
“Leaves from a Reporter’s Notebook”
A large audience gathered in Memorial Hall on Tuesday night last to listen to the lecture by R. E. Armstrong on the above subject. The chair was occupied by Rev. A. W. Mahon.
            The lecturer began by defining what a reporter was, at the same time giving an idea of what his manifold duties consisted of. The qualifications of the ideal reporter were considered the chief of which was “a nose for news.” The reporter, he said, was ever a seeker after truth. He wanted the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He instanced some prominent men in the world’s history who had been reporters in their early lives. The methods employed by the metropolitan newspapers with regard to the collection of news were touched upon briefly. Many of the reporters on the metropolitan press must of necessity be specialists in their particular lines and as an example he have an illustration of a shipwreck, showing how necessary it was to a truthful and intelligent description of such a thrilling incident that the marine reporter should be well versed in nautical lore. Though reporters seldom keep a memory record of events they are called upon to describe from day to day, yet there are instances that are never blotted from their memory. He gave some examples from his own reportorial experiences, among them his first murder case at Little River, Saint John; the conflagration in St. John in 1877; the excitement attendant upon the sending of a contingent of the N. B. volunteers of the North-West to suppress the Riel rebellion, introducing some patriotic references; the witnessing of a wreck in mid-ocean the scenes attendant upon a street riot in Limerick some years ago; a visit to Scotland, and the places made famous b Sir Walter Scott and the poet Burns; a mission over the Short Line when it was being constructed, following it up with scenes witnessed in a subsequent trip to the Pacific coast over the C.P.R. line, also some reminiscences of the old police court in St. John, when Humphrey Gilbert was magistrate and “Charlie” chandler was clerk. Dropping reportorial reminiscences he considered several other phases of his subject, among them some of the things that a reporter sees behind the scenes, the impressions that he forms of men’s character, etc. The “fresh” reporter was portrayed; the “scoop” was described; the methods employed in carrying news now-a-days by telegraph, telephone, bicycle, balloon, carrier pigeon, ocean grey-hound, and flying mail train were referred to briefly and a few predictions indulged in as to what future aid Science was to bring to bear upon the reporter’s work, by means of cathode rays, flying machines and other inventions yet in their infancy; a few moments were also spent in referring to the kind of people who give the reporter “that tired feeling.” The practiced joker came in for a brief share of the lecturer’s attention under this heading.
            In his concluding references he said:
            “The reporter is not bad, nor is he at all dangerous. He is not always going about, like a ravening wolf seeking whom he may devour. Use him right trust in him, and you will discover that he is as near as approach to a member of the angelic choir as can be found among the male sex on this terrestrial ball. What would the world do without the reporter? How dead and comfortless it would be if there were no reporters to furnish us with our daily repast of spicy news items! If it were not for the reporter’s untiring labors many a flower would be born to blush unseen, many a gem would remain forever unseen, many a budding genius would never blossom, many a hero would remain unglorified, many a victory of science, of religion, would never be recorded. No soldier fights more desperate battles than the reporter is often called upon to fight in his loved vocation. No storm was ever too severe to restrain him when duty calls, no risk too great. Many a time he braves death that the public might be enlightened and their thirst for knowledge appeased. The reporter stands ever ready with his pen and pencil to help the cause of the weak and oppressed, the widow and fatherless, to expose the wrong and defend the right. One minute he is weeping with those who weep, the next he is singing with those whose hearts are made glad. When a genius has been born, or a hero has arise, or a new star emerges into the literary firmament, the reporter is the first to introduce him to the world. All through life his helping hand is by his side, noting his achievements and triumphs.
And when at the brink of the grave, when death’s cold shadows hover around, and that great genius ends his life’s work, or that hero fulfills the mission which God had sent him on earth to perform, or that literary star consummates his labor, it is to the reporter, the world looks to indite him a fitting eulogy, to extol his virtues and achievements, and to draw a kindly veil over his vices. . . . The reporter has never been thoroughly understood, never appreciated for his true worth. The world has turned a cold shoulder upon him when it should have embraced him in a loving clasp. But some day the mists of the years will roll away; some day the veil will be lifted, some day the curtain of doubt will be drawn aside; some day the world will see him as he is; some day it will suddenly awake to a higher and grander and nobler conception of his character and his aims and will honor him. As the hero and benefactor that he is. Then will his martyrdom be over; men will let persecutions cease; then will his glorious sun arise to illumine the waste places; then will the morning stars sing together, the hills clap their hands with joy, and the whole earth, from pole to pole, from the frozen North to the equally frozen and dreary south, from Greenland’s icy mountains to India’s coral strand, unit in one grand overwhelming, overpowering paean of praise! And then! Well, then, we may prepare for the millennium.”
            Dr. N. G. Parker, in a very neat speech, moved a vote of thanks, which was seconded by M. N. Cockburn in a few happy remarks.