The Indiana State sentinel., 1879-05-07
LITERATURE OF THE TROUBLE.

Some Points of the Newspaper Warfare
Which Lead to the Shooting.
AS mentioned In the Sentinel yesterday the
unpleasantness between Light and Harding
has covered a period of about two years. It
was lashed into fever heat, however, by the
publication in the Herald of March Is last of a
column and a half of fierce invective, attack
ing Alvah M. Smith for an unfavorable criti-
cism on Rardings management of the Herald.
The article was a wonderfully vigorous piece of
denunciation and was headed Hvenomous
Reptiles" Harding had seeming attempted to
exhaL st the list OF abusive epithets, and in
cluded Cal Light, Sol Hathaway and others in
his applicationsofthe lash. Light was pictured
as the incarnation OF everything that was
mean, contemplate and despicable. The
verbal castigation was merci,ess and scafhing,
and Smith, Light, Hathaway aud others were
accused OF having "pooled their issues and
formed combination to beslime Harding.
This brought out in the Democrat OF March
p, a series OF attacks on Harding from Smith,
hathaway and Light The following head
lines being asampie of the matter and meth
DDS employed: "Harding.' "The big journal
ist lashed into q frenzy of rage by degen-
crate member Of the Smith family" "Per-
sonal questions that the bully braggart will
do well to answer" "The Democrat turns
shining light on the dark places of the sala-
cious scoundrels life, and reproduces reply
to his slanderous attack on a poor blind
girl" "a trip to Hot Spring prescribed
as specific for the cure of his present all
ment." "sA bullyiand a braggart is inevitably
a poltroon1'Let the CALLED Jade vince"
"Something reliable about the relative circu-
lation Of the People and Herald for the benefit
of advertisers" 1.-The long-nosed dead-bsat
comes to the front with a batch of interrogsto-
| ries" Answer n fool according to his folly
Provsrb." Following Smiths article was
one penned by Sol Hathaway, in the
shape of interrogatories, headed, "A blear-
| eyed beast and a veteran dead beat" In this
article Harding is accused of being a petty
| thief former pauper, a blackmaier, dead
beat, and everything else'that Is vicious. The
same edition also contained numerous para
graphs referring to Harding 1.-The Leper of
| the Press" OF which the following is a sample:
"Leper OF the Press, is it not necessary for you
| to take two or three trips year to Hot Springs
| to keep your flesh from falling of your
| bonesf"
1t was expected at the time that Harding
wonld resent. the united onslaught by per-
sonal attack on Light, bat fortunately he was
restrained by wise eouusels Light and
Harding, however, continued TO refer to each
| in a scurrilous way, and on the day that Hard
/ ing started on his recent trip to Hot Springs
| the Democrat contained an innuendo that he
was responsible for his daughters shame and
death. and also charged thar Harding bad
| sneaked away 10 Hot Springs to avoid answer
| ing the charges against him. Previous to this,
however, Harding characterized Light as one
| who would sell anything he had, and IL he
didn'tit was because there was no market for
1t. In brief, as far as the Interchange of sour
rility between the two men, the honors were
| easy.