A rather more amusing experience was of the overrunning of a newspaper office by the wild Irishry. The organ in question had a somewhat chequered career during the ten months that it existed. At one period--for even as long as a month--it was understood to pay its expenses; but when it failed to pay its expenses, no one else paid them; hence in time it came to be looked upon as a rather unsound property. The original editor, a man of ability and culture, declined to be dictated to in some delicate political question by the proprietor, and took his departure without going through the empty formality--it was, after all, only a point of etiquette--of asking for the salary that was due to him. For some weeks the paper was run--if something that scarcely crawled could be said to be run--without an editor; then a red-headed Irishman of the Namgay Doola type appeared--like a meteor surrounded by a nimbus of brogue--in the editor's room. His name was O'Keegan, but lest this name might be puzzling to the English nation, he weakly gave in to their prejudices and simplified it into O'Geogheghoiran. He was a Master of Arts of the Royal University in Ireland, and a winner of gold medals for Greek composition, as well as philosophy. He said he had passed at one time at the head of the list of Indian Civil Service candidates, but was rejected by the doctor on account of his weak lungs. When I met him his lungs had apparently overcome whatever weakness they may once have had. He had a colloquial acquaintance with Sanscrit, and he had also been one of the best billiard markers in all Limerick.
I fancy he knew something about every science and art, except the art and science of editing a daily newspaper on which the payment of salaries was intermittent. In the course of a week a man from Galway had taken the vacant and slightly injured chair of the sub-editor, a man from Waterford said he had been appointed chief of the reporting staff, a man from Tipperary said he was the new art editor and musical critic, and a man from Kilkenny said he had been invited by his friend Mr. O'Geogheghoiran to "do the reviews." I have the best of reasons for knowing that he fancied "doing the reviews" meant going into the park upon military field-days, and reporting thereupon.