cars repaired by their men. All such sources are fertile with
stories. Many a rich man's automobile crashes into a culvert or a
telegraph pole and nobody knows of it but the mechanic in the repair
shop. Many a prominent club-man indulges in orgies of revelry and
dissipation of which none knows but the caterer and a few chosen,
non-committal friends. Many a society leader plans receptions and
dinners of which the florist learns before the friends who are to be
invited. And by skilfully encouraging the friendship of these tradesmen,
a shrewd reporter can obtain exclusive facts about prominent persons who
cannot understand, when they see their names in the morning paper, how
the information was made public. These "dark runs" justify diligent
attention. They produce news, and valuable is the reporter who can
include successfully a number of such sources in his daily rounds.

=59. Value of Wide Acquaintance.=--Attention may be directed, too, to
the need of deliberately cultivating friendships and acquaintances, not
only on these "dark runs," but wherever one goes--both on and off duty.
In the stores, along the street, on the cars, at the club, the alert
reporter gathers many an important news item. The merchant, the cabman,
the preacher, the barkeeper, the patrolman, the thug, the club-man, the
porter, all make valuable acquaintances, as they are able often to give
one stories or clues to the solution of problems that are all but
invaluable to the paper. And such facts as they present are given solely
because of their interest in the reporter. One should guard zealously,
however, against betraying the confidence of such friends. The reporter
must distinguish the difference between publishing a story gained from a
stranger by dint of shrewd interviewing, and printing the same story
obtained from a fellow club-man more or less confidentially over the
cigars and coffee. The stranger's information the reporter must publish.
No newspaper man has a right to suppress news obtained while on duty or
to accept the confidence of anyone, if by such confidence he is
precluded the right to publish certain facts. The publication or
non-publication of such news is a matter for the city editor's decision
alone. But a story obtained confidentially from a friend at the club or
in the home of a neighbor may not be used except with the express
permission of those persons. Many a man has seen himself and his paper
scooped because he was too honor