torney General
had done their work, he deliberately turned the pistol on himself. He
placed it at his right temple and fired, dropping dead in his tracks."

"Wait a minute; wait!" cries the editor-in-chief. "Don't say another
word."

Turning to the night editor he says, "It will be necessary to change the
first page. A new head will have to be run, and the leading story will
have to tell of the murder of the Attorney General. This news is
national. I think I had better go to the press room and do this work
myself. The press will start in twenty minutes, if you give me the word
'Go ahead!'"

"Go ahead," is the laconic reply.

Down the winding staircase that leads to the composing room, and then to
the basement where the presses are located, the chief runs. He sets
about his work with a calmness and speed that is remarkable. The first
page is put on the composing table and the form opened. The head lines
are removed and the copy that the editor is turning out a dozen words at
a time on a page, are instantly set up and put in place.

In eight minutes the form is keyed up and the stereotypers have it in
their hands. Three minutes later the pressman has the stereotype plate.
A minute later the press is in motion.

With the first half dozen copies of the edition wet from the press, the
editor rushes back to his office.

In his absence there has been nothing startling reported. He breathes a
sigh of relief and sinks exhausted into his chair.

At a score of desks men are writing special portions of the news. One is
telling of the startling murders, another of the unusual accidents that
have claimed a dozen prominent men as victims.

The strange story of the hanging of an Ex-Justice of the Supreme Court
Judge is being written by one of the sporting reporters; the
assassination of six Senators is the theme of another special writer.
Every one is busy.

The chance that always comes to the young reporter is at hand. He is
entrusted with the important work of writing the story of the deaths of
five railroad magnates. His face is a study. It is scarlet and beads of
perspiration run down his cheeks.

Even the copy-boys are alive to the fact that a night of unusual import
is passing, and they carry copy without being called. A boy stands at
the side of every reporter and runs with the pages to the desks where
the copy readers scan it and write the head lines; it is not a night
when copy is carefully read and "cut." Everyt