Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1886-07-29

giving currency TO such fearless, earn
est truths ms | make use Of.
am also the man who says brave
things in the columns of the papers
when the editor hi-Nself does not dare
to say them beo1ps he Is afraid he
will be killed. But what racks Veritas
tho bold and freeP Docs he finch or
quail? Not finch; not quail.
Boldly he filings aside his base fears,
and with bitter vituperation he assails
those he dislikes, and attacks with re-
sounding blows his own personal en-
emies, fearlessly signing his name,
Veritas. to the article, so that those
who yearn to kill him may know just
who he is.
What would the world do without
Ncritasp In the hands Of n horde Of
journalists who have nothing TO do but
attend to their business, left with no
ANONYMOUS friend to whom they can
fly when momentous occasions arise,
when the sound advice and better
Judgment Of an outside friend is need
cd, their condition would indeed be n
pitiable one. But he will never desert
us. He is ever at hand, prompt 10 say,
over his nom dc plume, what he might
hesitate to say under his own name,
for fear that he might go home with a
battle of Gettysburg under each eye
and nose like volcanic eruption.
He cheerfully attacks every thing and
every body, and then goes away till
the fight, the funeral and the libel suit
are over. Then he returns and assails
the grim monster Wrong. He pro-
poses improvements, and the following
week bitter reply comes from Tax
Payer Pro Bono Publico, the retired
pc-card-monteist, says: "Let us
have the proposed Improvement re-
gardless OF cost" Then the cynical
U. l.. Sec (who is really the janitor at
the blind asylum) grumbles about use
less expense, and finally draws out
from the tecming brain of Constant
Reader long, 1abby essay, written
on rcd-rulcd leaves, cut out Of an old
meat-market ledger, written cconom-
ically on both sides with light blue ink
made of bluing and cold tea. This cs-
say introduces, under the most trying
circumstances, such crude yet original
literary gems as:
wad some power the glftIe gle us, etc.
lie also says:
The wee sma' hours ayant the twnl,
and farther on
Breathes there man with soul so dead
who never TO himself hath said, etc.
His essay is not so much the vehicle of
thought as IL is the accommodation
train for fragments Of his old school
declamations to ride on.
But to Veritas we owe much. / say
n ..-LuN \ N.1 IL rtt,sx
about, for am l not old Vcritas him
self? Haven't | been writing things
for the papers ever since papers we're
publishedS Am l not the man who
for years has been stranger TO fear?
Have not again and again called the
Congressman, the capitalist, the
clergyman, the voter and the philan-
thropist every thing / could lay my
tongue to. and then fought mosquitoes
in the deep rccesses Of the swamp
while the editor renamed at the office
and took the credit for writing what l
had given him for nothing? Has not
many paper built up a name and a
libel suit upon what | have written,
and vet i am almost unknown When
people ask, Who is Veritas and where
does he live? no one seems to know.
He is up seven flights of stairs, in hot
room that smells of old clothes and
neglected thoughts. Far from the
"madding throng." as Congressman
Reader has so truly said. sit alone,
with no personal property but an over
worked costume, strong love for
truth and a shawl-strap full Of sug-
gestions to the oycr-estimated man
who edits the paper.
So battle on, with only the meager
and flea-bitten reward OF seeing my
name in print canon" as Constant
Reader would say. All have to fork
over to postcrity is my good name,
which beg leave to sign here. -
"PeritaS," IN Chicago Net0s.