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December, 1917 Oregon. I do not make this statement because of any desire to give credit to the Guard, and I take it that my purpose will not be misunderstood.

Both editorials and news stories were used in efforts to interest the reader in this fund. Editorials were used exclusively at first. Contributions came slowly. A little girl sent fifty pennies from Junction City. Her mother wrote a nice letter in which she stated that the little girl had been saving her pennies for a long, long time and had intended to buy a ring for her birthday, but that she had decided she would sooner give her pennies to the soldiers than to have a ring for herself. It was a story of sacrifice. It was a story that gripped the interest and moved the spirit of the reader. The subscriptions to the fund the following day almost equalled the total for the several preceding days. A jeweler read the story. He not only sent a contribution to the “Tobacco for the Soldiers” fund, but he packed a very pretty little ring in a dainty box and sent it to the little girl at Junction City. The story about the jeweler ’s action was also effective. More subscriptions came. From that time one feature story after another developed. These stories had human interest qualities to the extent that they were of value to the newspaper, independent of the object for which they were printed. Matter published in the support of various war activities which will not pass this test is poor publicity. It is better than none, but it does not put the power into the space that is needed.

The departments of the federal government are sending out bales of copy in connection with these various campaigns. Some of it is very good, but a very large part of it is of little value. This ready made material is necessary in so far as it sets forth the principal facts. These facts may be repeated two or three times with good effect, but to get the best results the news story, with local color that suggests action, is needed as a clincher.

Editorial writers have a tremendous power, but the man or woman who is writing news has an equal opportunity for patriotic service in careful preparation of the clinchers.

My birthday—the age limit should be first in all autobiographies—comes March 12. I was born in 1876, in Oregon. My paternal parent was in the army, and until I reached the tender age of 7, I attended the army school, and when I had learned all they could teach me I was sent to Astoria, where I finally struggled through the high school and learned the difference between “talls” and “flats” in the salmon canning business. In the summers I learned to stick type, umpire baseball games and ride on merry-go-rounds. For several years I was a carrier on the Morning Astorian, and had a route that stretched almost to Tongue Point. When Astoria was through with me, I went to Corvallis, where I worked in a store, and one day I sold a feather duster to a woman who wanted a linen duster and I lost my job. In 1894.