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Page 15
At the office of the cigarette company he learned that the making of
the pictures was in the hands of the Knapp Lithographic Company. The
following luncheon hour, Edward sought the offices of the company, and
explained his idea to Mr. Joseph P. Knapp, now the president of the
American Lithograph Company.
"I'll give you ten dollars apiece if you will write me a
one-hundred-word biography of one hundred famous Americans," was Mr.
Knapp's instant reply. "Send me a list, and group them, as, for
instance: presidents and vice-presidents, famous soldiers, actors,
authors, etc."
"And thus," says Mr. Knapp, as he tells the tale today, "I gave Edward
Bok his first literary commission, and started him off on his literary
career."
And it is true.
But Edward soon found the Lithograph Company calling for "copy," and,
write as he might, he could not supply the biographies fast enough.
He, at last, completed the first hundred, and so instantaneous was
their success that Mr. Knapp called for a second hundred, and then for
a third. Finding that one hand was not equal to the task, Edward
offered his brother five dollars for each biography; he made the same
offer to one or two journalists whom he knew and whose accuracy he
could trust; and he was speedily convinced that merely to edit
biographies written by others, at one-half the price paid to him, was
more profitable than to write himself.
So with five journalists working at top speed to supply the hungry
lithograph presses, Mr. Knapp was likewise responsible for Edward Bok's
first adventure as an editor. It was commercial, if you will, but it
was a commercial editing that had a distinct educational value to a
large public.
The important point is that Edward Bok was being led more and more to
writing and to editorship.
CHAPTER IV
A PRESIDENTIAL FRIEND AND A BOSTON PILGRIMAGE
Edward Bok had not been office boy long before he realized that if he
learned shorthand he would stand a better chance for advancement. So
he joined the Young Men's Christian Association in Brooklyn, and
entered the class in stenography. But as this class met only twice a
week, Edward, impatient to learn the art of "pothooks" as quickly as
possible, supplemented this instruction by a course given on two other
evenings at moderate cost by a Brooklyn business college. As the
system taught in both classes was the same, more rapid progress was
possible, and the two teachers were constantly surprised that he
acquired the art so much more quickly than the other students.
Before many weeks Edward could "stenograph" fairly well, and as the
typewriter had not then come into its own, he was ready to put his
knowledge to practical use.
An opportunity offered itself when the city editor of the _Brooklyn
Eagle_ asked him to report two speeches at a New England Society
dinner. The speakers were to be President Hayes, General Grant,
General Sherman, Mr. Evarts, and General Sheridan. Edward was to
report what General Grant and the President said, and was instructed to
give the President's speech verbatim.
At the close of the dinner, the reporters came in and Edward was seated
directly in front of the President. In those days when a public dinner
included several kinds of wine, it was the custom to serve the
reporters with wine, and as the glasses were placed before Edward's
plate he realized that he had to make a decision then and there. He
had, of course, constantly seen wine on his father's table, as is the
European custom, but the boy had never tasted it. He decided he would
not begin then, when he needed a clear head. So, in order to get more
room for his notebook, he asked the waiter to remove the glasses.
It was the first time he bad ever attempted to report a public address.
General Grant's remarks were few, as usual, and as he spoke slowly, he
gave the young reporter no trouble. But alas for his stenographic
knowledge, when President Hayes began to speak! Edward worked hard,
but the President was too rapid for him; he did not get the speech, and
he noticed that the reporters for the other papers fared no better.
Nothing daunted, however, after the speechmaking, Edward resolutely
sought the President, and as the latter turned to him, he told him his
plight, explained it was his first important "assignment," and asked if
he could possibly be given a copy of the speech so that he could "beat"
the other papers.
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