An amateur editor.
--The witty editor of the Nashville Patriot recently solicited a friend — an amateur editor — to supply the printers with copy during his (the editor's) temporary absence from the office. The success of the arrangement is thus related:Finding there was no call for copy at the end of half an hour, Cobbwebb found the editorial business dryer than the sort he had been used to, and went cut to get a drink. When a man of Cobbwebb's temperament and natural tendency to thirst deliberately goes out to get a drink, he seldom thinks it worth his while to return to the post of duty until he has taken several. Consequently when Cobbwebb got back to the office he wore a veil of invisible gauze over his eyes, his legs were as limber as a log-chain, and, to tell the truth, he couldn't tell an inkstand from a soup-kettle, nor a pair of scissors from a saw-horse. In the midst of this state of things, there was a demand for copy. Cobbwebb aroused himself to meet the demand. The printer placed the scissors and a copy of a Cincinnati paper in his hand. ‘"Here, "’ said Cobbwebb, ‘"hic-here's some poetry; when you (hic) get that set up, come (hic) back and get some--(hic)--some more."’--Cobbwebb's poetry was as follows:
Description of property.
‘ On Central avenue.
Square 16, Lots 27 and 28.
Square 12, Lot 67 feet front.
On Western avenue.
Square 10, Lots 4 to 17, inclusive.
Square 11, Lots 1 to 11.
Square 14, Lot 2.
On Dayton street.
Square 16, Lots 9 and 22.
Square 8, Lots 7 to 22, inclusive.
Square 7, Lots 7 to 22.
’
When we returned at one o'clock we found Cobbwebb seated in the coal-scuttle engaged in a dreamy attempt to clip a piece of copy out of the brim of his hat with the tongs.