ry 19._

Have been spending the whole day in reading the Sunday papers.

I am never tired of reading and studying the American newspapers. The
whole character of the nation is there: Spirit of enterprise,
liveliness, childishness, inquisitiveness, deep interest in everything
that is human, fun and humor, indiscretion, love of gossip, brightness.

Speak of electric light, of phonographs and graphophones, if you like;
speak of those thousand and one inventions which have come out of the
American brain; but if you wish to mention the greatest and most
wonderful achievement of American activity, do not hesitate for a moment
to give the palm to American journalism; it is simply the _ne plus
ultra_.

You will find some people, even in America, who condemn its loud tone;
others who object to its meddling with private life; others, again, who
have something to say of its contempt for statements which are not in
perfect accordance with strict truth. I even believe that a French
writer, whom I do not wish to name, once said that very few statements
to be found in an American paper were to be relied upon--beyond the
date. People may say this and may say that about American journalism; I
confess that I like it, simply because it will supply you with
twelve--on Sundays with thirty--pages that are readable from the first
line to the last. Yes, from the first line to the last, including the
advertisements.

The American journalist may be a man of letters, but, above all, he must
possess a bright and graphic pen, and his services are not wanted if he
cannot write a racy article or paragraph out of the most trifling
incident. He must relate facts, if he can, but if he cannot, so much the
worse for the facts; he must be entertaining and turn out something that
is readable.

Suppose, for example, a reporter has to send to his paper the account of
a police-court proceeding. There is nothing more important to bring to
the office than the case of a servant girl who has robbed her mistress
of a pair of diamond earrings. The English reporter will bring to his
editor something in the following style:

Mary Jane So-and-So was yesterday charged before the magistrate with
stealing a pair of diamond earrings from her mistress. It appears
[always _it appears_, that is the formula] that, last Monday, as Mrs.
X. went to her room to dress for dinner, she missed a pair of diamond
earrings, which she usually kept in a little drawer in h