eight in the morning
Williams was a small , lean , wiry man , with a black pointed beard and a glass eye which fixed you oddly with its black pupil . He was talkative , skipped about from duty to duty , wore most of the time a green shade pulled low over his forehead , and smoked a brown briar pipe . He had a fund of knowledge , piled up in metropolitan journalistic experience , but he was anchored here with a wife and three children , after sailing , no doubt , a chartless sea of troubles , and was glad to talk life and experiences after office hours with almost anybody . It took him from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon to gather what local news there was , and either write it or edit it . He seemed to have a number of correspondents who sent him weekly batches of news from surrounding points . The Associated Press furnished him with a few minor items by telegraph , and there was a `` patent insides , '' two pages of fiction , household hints , medicine ads . and what not , which saved him considerable time and stress .