Page:History of Oregon Newspapers.pdf/508

499 Jack Sheppard, at the Tammany clubroom (Joe Reilly's place) at 10 o'clock last evening.

The story continues chronologically in heavy style but much better than earlier stories:

The reporter followed up this story by interviewing the pedestrian the next day (Oregonian of July I1, 1871), a bit of unusual journalistic enterprise. The story is factually fair but lacking in the arts of the interviewer—too indirect and lacking in life, color, and individuality, isn't it:

"Jack Sheppard the Pedestrian.—We called around about 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon to see what was left of Jack Sheppard after his walk of 106 hours. We found that he was all right. He had just been roused up from a sleep of about eight hours, and he had got up and dressed to stir around a little. He was drowsy still and disposed to fall asleep again, if he but sat still a moment. His right ankle was considerably swollen. . . . It will require about ten days, he thinks, to get down to natural hours of sleep again and to feel all right. He lost during his walk between three and four pounds of flesh but aside from a somewhat haggard look, he appears but little the worse for his walk."

Horse-racing, boating, and billiards absorbed most of the sport space in the Oregonian of 1871. Most of the items are short and rather formless, with the usual strictly chronological order dominating. Here, for instance, is the account of a billiard tournament: (issue of March 8, 1871):

"The contest for the diamond ring offered by Messrs. Greene & Knott, of the Cosmopolitan Saloon, was conducted last evening by a game between Joshua Davies and M. W. Henderson, the two highest winners in the series of games played. Davies won by 83 points in 150, three-ball carom, and was therefore declared winner of the prize and champion of the tournament."

Here's what the Oregonian of 1871 did when it was really trying to play up something like a billiard tournament. The issue of April 29 contained the following:

"Two Games by Rudolphe and Dion—Dion Winner of Both Games—Surprising Skill of Mr. A. P. Rudolphe."

It does not take a newspaper worker to realize that the foregoing