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Journalistic Brawl Revived WHEN JOHN F. Fitzpatrick assumed his new duties as secretary for Thomas Kearns in the spring of 1913 he was embarking upon a far bigger job than he could possibly have anticipated, but the large problems he was to deal with lay in the future. His immediate task was to demonstrate his competence in routine secretarial functions for which he had been employed. One of the first things noted was that the boss's desk was piled high with documents and correspondence. This seeming disorder appalled his orderly mind and clashed harshly with the habits he had formed in the railroad business. So one of his first acts, when Kearns was going to be out of the office for a few days, was to order some cabinets and file the contents of his desk. When an older and more experienced fellow-employe walked into the office and saw a bare desk he reacted with consternation and demanded to know what happened to all the papers. Fitzpatrick explained that he had filed them so he would know where they were. The older employe advised the new secretary to get the papers back on the desk before the ex-senator returned and warned: "If he gets back and discovers that something he wants is filed away where he can't find it, he will file you away." Fitzpatrick did not follow the well-intentioned advice. When Kearns returned he looked at the clean desk, grunted a few times, sat down and called for a particular paper. Fitzpatrick walked to one of the filing cabinets, pulled out the document and 279
