Page:Elizabeth Jordan--Tales of the city room.djvu/46

 At the little desk in this room the boy presided with a dignity far beyond his years. He listened with polite interest to the almost endless tales of woe poured into his ears by the motley throng of men and women with whom he came in contact. He made copious notes of alleged "news tips" brought in by excited citizens, and saw to it that these notes did not obstruct the desk of the city editor. With unfailing courtesy he stood between the staff and the bores that besieged the citadel wherein they worked. With genuine sympathy he received the subjects of "The Searchlight's" various charity funds and turned them over to the person who had such matters in charge. It was Colonel Everson, one of the leading editorial writers, who dubbed him "Chesterfield, Jr.," and the name was so appropriate that the entire staff adopted it on the instant and rechristened the boy with a bottle of ginger-ale and appropriate accessories.

From the anteroom in which young Chesterfield sat, doors led to the respective rooms of the managing editor, the city editor, the Sunday editor, and the editor of the humorous