St Marys Academy - Chimes Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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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.

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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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Rah IN MANY OF OUR present day sports, the color that accompanies the activity has come to be almost as important as the game itself. On the football field the school band and cheerleaders add to the support of the players, while on the basketball court the morale boosting rests solely in the hands of the cheerleader. Let me tell you some of the trials and triumphs that become the lot of a cheerleader. To start with, the cheerleader must be chosen. Since you are interested you begin to review the actions and the cheers in your mind until you finally put them into practice. You can hardly wait for the great day of the selection and when it arrives, you usually nnd yourself the sole com- petitor. Yes, you and you alone are there to repre- sent your class. Oh, well, you say, I made it, so what am I complaining about? Once chosen, the tedious job of urging your classmates to bring in cheers falls on your shoulders. At every opportunity the students can no doubt hear a voice raised above the others, Girls, did you bring in any cheers? If they could read the ah .V NANCY O,CONNOR, '51 questioner's mind, the thought could be seen, Oh well, I'll try again. Third in the line of supporting a team is mak- ing actions to the new cheers and going over the old stand-bys. On the day after the first practice the local drug stores do a booming busi- ness on rubbing alcohol. Strange, how easy it is to find new muscles. Finally the day of the first game arrives. You are starched and ironed within an inch of your life and are anxious to get out on the floor and show that you have been practicing. Then sud- denly, you stand and face the girls for the first time and the strangest feeling comes over you. You break out in goose bumps, your mind goes blank, your heart thumps like a drum, and your knees knock to such an extent that 'you feel you will never be able to walk again. But gradually that conglomerate mass of faces before you stops whirl- ing. You recognize your friends. Almost incred- ibly you hear your own voice announcing: Razzle dazzle sizzle zip-. The cheering squad is in action! THE 0LD BROWN MILL IT WAS EARLY SUMMER and we were riding through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania when I saw the old mill. It was weatherbeaten and worm-rotted to a sort of brownish gray. Its design was in the best Dutch tradition. Its long, brown, bare arms creaked com- plainingly as the gentle wind moved them. The mill was obviously kept only as a relic of the old days, for the clean, white house with green shut- ters belied the fact that a thing so old would still be used on that farm. Besides, there was a newer type of windmill up near the house. The scene was quiet and impressive, for it reminded one strongly of Holland, and the sun just rising gave the scene a picturesque touch. Situated on the bank of a clear, swift stream, the mill cast a long, queer-shaped shadow over the rippling water and shaded much of the bank. MARY Louise RITCHOTTE, '51 Down by the creek, kneeling in the shadow of the mill, were some women taking advantage of the cool, early morning to get their washing done. Dressed in the plain, gray dresses and white bon- nets of their sect, those Amish women had prob- ably never heard of a washing machine. They were doing the wash in the same manner as their grandmothers had done before them. Behind his mother, a boy stood watching the water and listening to her as she assigned him his chores. Probably he was wishing with all his heart that he could be fishing on this fine morning. The lad was barefoot, dressed in the Amish style of knickers and shirt, with his hair cut short. The farm itself was large and prosperous and the fields beyond the house were abundant with various crops. Fat cows contentedly chewed cuds in the shade of nearby trees.