Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1880-08-12
rnE uBIQuIrOrs ApyERTIsER.

THE UBIQUITOUS ADVERTISER.
rHE procession Of "sandwieh men,"
the banners and transparencies, and
4 the various advertisements on wheels
are usually unobjectionable, and lend
additional actiyity aud, perhaps, inter-
est to the city streets as a sort OF every
day carnival. Bat many advertisers
have exceeded both taste aud discre-
ton, especially the proprietorsof quaok
Re medicines and patent soaps ) they have
ls. emblazoned the ridiculous names OF
their wares upon the loveliest spots,
and have invaded the most sacred pro-
cincts of Nature with their undesirable
ndtoriety. The oiiense given to all
sensible people by thair vandalism
counteracted any beneficial effect their
u advertisements might hive had, and
3 now. when there is scarcely proIni-
i5 nent clif or blun in freguented part
8 of tho country that IS nndelaeed by
them, they perceive the proEtlessness
Of the method. Fqrs 80
'aa One thing about The otherwise mon
strons business compelled some degrae
OF admiration. Itwas the ibiquity and
audacity Of the slgnspainter, who. In
many instances, must have imporiled
his life 70 accomplish his purpose
! When-last summer whfrling toward
the Pacific, We saw his handiwork high
up on the colossal escarpmeuts OF Echo
fOaHyoiff again on the soniber granite
cliffs Of Weber; further west on the
arid rocks Of the HumbOldt; even on
the foflorn wigwams OF the Piutes.
struggling over the fallow desert, and
continuously over the Sierras aud down
thcgolden valley Of the Sacramento
sign after sign high above the level,
and often in positions the manner OF
reaching which was inexplicable our
first impulse of Indignation was miti-
gated by q faint stirring of admiratiou
for the pluck and imppdence Of the one
indiyidual whose, name under most OF
tho inscriptions indicated how COM
g pleteiy be had done his work. b
'sH ga When we came back to Now York,
we sought him out and found him. He
was neither penitent nor apologetic. II
guess I've desecrated more Nature than
any other man IN the United Statss,''
hesaid, with cool defiance and twink
ir ling eye that told us he appreciated his
own audaeity, land what ofitp lguess
a pretty bit OF letterings heap nicer
than an ugly cock, and though Iuse the
word 'desecrate,' and whole crowd
of people and newspapers are blowing
atme, guess I've beaUtifed more or
less every city IN the United States
~ Pm gazetteer Of the United States;
not a town or village amt been into
and can paint S So (rnentioning the
name OF a patent medicinel standing
On MY head with my eyes shut. Often
do II with my eyes shut, too, especially
{ when they are tired and the suns
strong. I've walked six times up and
down the Hudson; painted on rocks
while standing up 10 my neck in water,
" and I've put up the name of Vitality
Btters' on Lookout Mountain. Seen q
good deal OF human nature, and had
many queer experiences in our business.
That was one at Lookout Mountain. I'd
slung myself no on face of rock. with
my brushes and pots, and was slap DASH
ing away, when spatl something hit
the rock, supposed may be it was a
IA stone rolling from above, when Spdt!
came another one, and SpGt! spdt! spat! {!
spati four more, Wen, I glanced at
the rock and saw lot OF little dents in
ii, like bullet marks; but / couldn't see
where they came from. iSpdti again
!, five more spatsl This was beginning TO
= d get lively, and stretched myself out to
make an investigation, aud away down
below saw mean old photographer
who took pictures of the fellows and
- their girls who came TO see the noun
tain He was standing in tina smoke OF
his own revolver, aud was loading it
again to pepper me Because was paint
ing a part Of the mountain that came
into the background OF his darned old
photographs, Well, dRbbed away as
fast as Il could; spdt six times more,
but I finished the sign. and then va
I moased. Didn't remonstrate with the
Y old man when got downp No, sir;
gon bet didn't, They shoot remarka-
blyswell in that country, and It was
y lncky0 for me me that L was just out of
20 the old man range. va 1u ae
- fie was evidently exhilerated by his
'e own recital, and, as he lighted a fresh
cigar, his eyes were sparkling aud his