NEW YORK TO CHICAGO 



before signing it " Q." wanted my firm answer whether 

 I would go with him. It wanted considering, for I 

 was beginning to augment a steady income in New 

 York with the various papers I have spoken about in 

 a previous chapter; in fact, I was due to go off to 

 Newport for the big tennis tournament two days 

 afterwards. Nevertheless, there was the prospect of 

 seeing Chicago and gaining more insight into American 

 life ; terms were fixed all round. On the Saturday, 

 thirty-six hours after his arrival, the whole thing was 

 ratified. With true American spirit the first assign- 

 ment was fixed up for that afternoon. The Tribune 

 had a working arrangement with an evening paper in 

 New York, and the temporary working was to be that | 

 the articles were to be published by the two papers as * ' 

 simultaneously as possible, considering the times each 

 went to press. It did the thing very well, this New 

 York paper : a big automobile was always at our 

 disposition, with two members of the sporting staff of 

 the evening paper. 



The first idea, I think, had been that, in view of 

 Queensberry's inexperience in writing, he should give 

 his ideas, and these could be worked up by one of 

 the sporting sub-editors, but it was obvious to his 

 intelligence that he would be saying things in the 

 paper not at all his own diction, whereas by me doing;' 

 it it would be in regular English style. Not only that, 

 but I had known him well, and always had the trick of 

 putting myself in another's place, using phrases, etc., 

 which were customary to the man who was supposed 

 to be speaking. 



The first afternoon we went out to Papke's training 

 quarters. Papke was to fight " Sailor " Burke the 

 following week. Before five o'clock I had turned out 

 a column of what was happening in Papke's camp ; it 



322 



