St Marys Academy - Chimes Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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lVhere Juniper meets F ilbert WIN PHILADELPHIA NEARLY EVERY- BODY READS THE BULLETIN is the much publicized slogan of what many consider Philadelphia's finest newspaper. Having decided to investigate the whys of this statement, we arranged for an interview with Mr. Richard Slocum, Secretary and General Manager of the Bulletin. We were received very cordially. Mr. Slocum, a very tall and impressive' gentleman, answered our inquiries completely and compre- hensively. We began with the following question: Jane and Pat: Mr. Slocum, many girls at St. Mary's are interested in journalism. Are there any jobs open to the high school graduate in that field? Mr. Slocum: Definitely, Pat and jane, a high school graduate fits very well into a newspaper office. One thing I would recommend to every girl is that she learn shorthand. One never knows how handy this may be in any job. Secretarial jobs are very important in the business world. The secretary is many times the brains behind the boss. A man needs someone to take care of all the little details for which he doesn't have time. Per- sonnel jobs are open to girls with high school training, especially to the girls with pleasant voices. Theirs is the job of selling the newspaper and of soliciting ads for it. You'd be surprised to hear that some of the girls with the most pleasant voices are the ones with the homely faces. Espe- cially now, that the draft is in force, we expect to have more women in our office. Naturally, all the men will be glad to have them back. Jane and Pat: Mr. Slocum, do you consider Journalism an overcrowded field? Mr. Slocum: My answer to that, girls, is very brief and to the point. I don't consider any field overcrowded if the candidate shows ability. There is always room for the person who is talented and has the ambition to do the work. Jane and Pat: What do you think of the School of journalism as compared to the English courses offered in Colleges? V Mr. Slocum: I would recommend the English Major from the college every time. A broader background is offered which is extremely impor- tant in any literary field. I would advise the aspir- PA1- HARTSOUGH, '51 JANE RAFFERTY, '51 ing journalist to take all the English' courses available as well as other courses that can be fitted in. jane and Pat: How does a paper gather all its news from the various cities and countries? Mr. Slocum: Let us glance over this latest edi- tion of our Bulletin. First of all, you see at the head of each news item the place where the article originatedg e.g., up in the left hand corner is a dispatch from Washington. In Washington we have stationed three men whose job it is to wire us of any new development. We have one man in Pittsburgh, another in Baltimore, and perhaps you have heard of our famous European correspondent, Morley Cassidy. We are also affiliated with several news syndicates, such as, The Associated Press and the United Press. These are large organizations that have reporters throughout the globe, and they sell us news. They also send us pictures such as you see here which can be readily identified by the small print underneath that says 'Wire Photo.' These are sent over the telegraph by a process similar to that of television. I know that your senior class will enjoy watching this process when they make their visit on january 31st. Jane and Pat: Could you let us in on some of the inside information on those popular comics, Mr. Slocum? Mr. Slocum: Having six children myself, I know just how popular those funnies are. Here's something you can boast about when you go home. Look at the comics for this coming Sunday while I illustrate my answer to your question. Comics, girls, are not created by the Bulletin. They are bought from syndicates such as King which is the largest. It would be too expensive a proposi- tion for a paper to deal personally with the artists. The designer of our most popular cartoons has a contract for 3150,000 a year. There are also men not under contract to any certain syndicate and these free-lancers try to sell their own drawings. We use many of them in our Fun Book. Tell your friends who have artistic or creative ability that it is a wonderful as well as a high-paying field.

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every one of you for it. -Another festive day in this month is May Day. The year wouldn't be complete without this happy frolicking on the lawn and I must say that I think you are all expert dancers. It is only at graduation time that I become truly sad. I regret to see the seniors leave, but don't you think for a moment that I lose contact with them. I'm always my busybody self, eavesdropping at every alumnae meeting to hear all about your col- lege life, your new positions or your own little Never forgef . . . families. The only disappointment comes when I check my roll book and find so many absent. You know you're not being fair to me, because I like to hear all the Current news, too. In closing now, I just want to remind you that I'm watching you all the time and it makes me very happy to be able to boast about you to the guardian angels of other schools. Remember, let me have my fun. Good-bye for now. By Guardian Angel 5x4Ocl, as told to VIRGINIA GILLIGAN, '51 THE W0 0DEN LAD Y FIRE CONSUMES PLEASURE LINER 'TA- DOUSAC' ON SAINT LAWRENCE! ELEVEN CI-IARRED BODIES FOUND. UNKNOWN NUMBERS INJUREDI BOAT COMPLETELY DESTROYED ! GN AUGUST 15, 1950, the newspapers all over the world Haunted these headlines. I wonder how many readers knew the ironic story behind those bare, cold facts-why the Tadousac came to such a tragic end in a bed of fire? Why she never completed her second voyage? Why she, the Tadousac, never saluted the Wooden Lady ? On August 13th, the new boat made her maiden voyage up the Saint Lawrence River. Among the spots of interest on the voyage was the statue on the coast by the village of Taclousac. Many years ago, a young French Catholic, stricken by a fatal disease, promised to erect a wooden statue to Mary Immaculate on the Saint Lawrence if she would obtain for him ten more years of life. The French- man, who was a skilled craftsman in his line, carved Our Lady and placed her high on the promontory which juts out into the bay of the great river at Tadousac just across from the wilds of Labrador. Mary did more than keep her half of the bargain. The young French Catholic lived to give twenty years of his life to glorifying God. And so, through the years, the pleasure liners, plying the Saint Lawrence, have always stopped at the statue on the high rocks at Tadousac to pay homage to Mary, Queen of All.the Amer- icas -Queen from the barren wastes of Canada across the stretch of territory even to Guadalupe, MARY CATHERINE MIRALLES, '52 which covers plain and mountains, from North to South. Well, on that August 13th, four hundred pas- sengers-Catholic, Protestant and jew, waited with bated breath to see the magnificent display of ship lights, which were always focused upon the majes- tic statue, and to sing the poignant strains of the Ave Maria as they drifted past the Guardian of the old Saint Lawrence. But the passengers waited in vain. No lights were shown, no hymn was sung. The reason? The Captain of the Tadousac was a materialist, and did not want the newly christened ship to be behind schedule on her first voyage, so he stated he could not waste the time. After all, he scoffed, she's only a Wooden Lady. So, the proud little ship, with all her power, steamed up the Saint Lawrence and ignored the Wooden Lady. Then, as the Canadian twilight fell, the boat turned around to go back to Montreal. On the return voyage that night, a priest on the boat reproached the Captain with the question, Don't you know that besides four hundred people, you've disappointed the Mother of God? The Captain then condecended to allow the Ave Maria to be played, but not from any love of Mary. Later that night the Tadousac went into dry- dock and prepared for the voyage of August 15, 1950. But that voyage, as we'know, was never completed and the haughty vessel and its Captain never received another opportunity to salute and pay homage to Mary Immaculate, the Wooden Lady, Queen of land and sea. Thus, was verified the thought contained in that age-old prayer, There are none that can withstand her power.

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Jane and Pat: How about that all-important section of a paper, the Editorial, Mr. Slocum? Mr. Slocum: Every morning about ten o'clock a staff of ten men gathers in the conference room to consider world affairs and they decide what needs to be written about. They adjourn about 11:00 and each goes to his office and begins to write his opinion on the topic he has selected. This must be completed by three o'clock so that it may bet set up in print. Since the editorial is the writer's personal opinion, it need not be inspected by editors, assistant editors, etc. The material of other staff departments goes through extensive correct- ing and afterwards is sent to the printers or returned for a rewrite. Remember even experienced news columnists can make mistakes. jane and Pat: Do women hold important jobs on the paper? Mr. Slocum: Several women hold rather impor- tant offices. Most of them write columns. The editor of the woman's page is, of course, a woman. As you know, they write articles on fashions, foods and woman celebrities. Dorothy Dix is very familiar to all of you. The Bulletin also has sev- eral women critics. Most of the work on the women's page can be printed several days before- hand. jane and Pat: Does the Bulletin have any cer- tain system for answering its fan mail? Mr. Slocum: Well, about the only thing I can say to this is that the mail truck arrives every morning with stacks of mail. This is then sorted into different departments, e.g., questions on fashion go to the fashion editor. If there is mail for me, my secretary sorts it into the personal and impersonal-so you see the secretary again comes in very handy. If the mail is miscellaneous, we have a special department with files on just about everything and it is this section's work to respond with the brilliant answer the reader wants. In this way everyone is satisfied and we receive few letters of complaint. Jane and Pat: The Evening Bulletin has several competitors in Philadelphia. What do you think about this situation? Mr. Slocum: Personally, I consider it a good thing to have several papers published in a big city like Philadelphia. There is nothing to keep one on his toes like good competition. A paper 4 1 with several competitors will not turn out poorly constructed material. Of course, the Bulletin never does this, but I will be glad to see the day when we again have several evening papers in this city. jane and Pat: In your opinion, will there be several more papers in this City of Brotherly Love ? Mr. Slocum: Until the price of the necessary machinery comes down considerably there will be no more newspapers. A good printing press costs millions of dollars and it seems no one has that kind of money. There have been certain experi- ments by chemists, recently, which promise to do away with printing presses altogether and thus reduce the price to one-tenth of the original cost. When that becomes a reality, people will be more interested in sinking their funds into newspapers. jane and Pat: What do you consider the essen- tial qualities of a good newspaper? Mr. Slocum: The first requirement for a good publication is that it possesses complete objectiv- ity. It must report the news in a detached, almost disinterested manner. The reason that so many other papers have failed is that they have taken sides in issues, usually political. The Bulletin is a neutral newspaper and that is one reason it has survived where other papers have failed. Some publishers take a very active part in politics and even get themselves elected to legislatures. While I am not condemning this practice, I am stating that the Bulletin staff does not seek ofhce. Another important quality of a newspaper is integrity. A publication must deal honestly with the people, and not try to trick them with any dirty dealings. No one is fooled by dishonesty except the one who is dishonest. We completed arrangements for our senior tour, gathered together our belongings, heartily thanked Mr. Slocum, who had taken so much of his precious time for this interview and who had responded to our questions so warmly and com- pletely, and boarded the C bus for home. We chattered over every word he had spoken and discovered that with all of our remarks combined we had a store of knowledge that would interest each one of you. Now that you have read Mr. Slocum's keen replies, we feel sure that you'll understand why- In Philadelphia Nearly Every- body Reads the Bulletin.