St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-02-04
EARLY DAYS IN DAKOTA.
The Kind of Outfit Needed to Run NeWs-
paper in Deadwood.

C.AhIT LA I'm CSF>oiS
The Kind of Outfit Needed to Run a News
paper in Deadwood.
It was along in the '70s some time,
soon after the late Barney Caulield
left Chicago and settled at Deadwood,
that he purchased q newspaper outht
for the latter place. 1t happened like
this: A young man named Blakely,
who had picked through the shell and
been successfully Matched from an
Eastern college a year or two before,
came out to Deadwood, then the
toughest mining camp in the country.
He was somewhat acquainted with
Caulfeld, his father being an old friend
OF Barney. When young Blakely had
escaped from the college, dragging his
diploma behind him, he had, in his own
words, embraced the profession OF
journalism. He looked around Dead
wood a little and decided he saw a
great opening for newspaper, not
outstanding there were already five
dailies in the field. Fearing another
man was going to get ahead of him in
the enterprise, ne wished to instruct a
friend in Chicago who was printer to
select an outfit for him, but had for
gotten his address. Caultield was i'll
Chicago on short business trip, so he
wrote him to this effect: ''Have de-
cided to put in red-hot independent
paper here and rip the jack-leg lawyers
and guerrilla politicians both ways.
Please see Clifford for me and tell him
to 60 ahead and select seven-column
outfit about as | told him before l
came out. Will come on myself in a
few days" "
A week later he arrived in Chicago
and Immediately hunted up Barney,
finding hin. in the office of a friend.
''Did you get my letter." he anxious
ly inquired.
yes
"Did you see Clifford?'
':No, not yet
"Ah, couldn't find him?'
SWELL the fact is l haven't looked.
l suppose I caught your idea, did | not
your intention is to start a red-hot
paper at Deadwood and 90 right in and
make it personal and interesting?"
Eyes, that's it..
''If you find the mayor doesn't deal
straight game of faro at his place
you'll give him Hail Columbia, eh?''
81 shall anyhow-the keeper of
gambling house is not a fit man for
mayor.
Eyes, 1 took it that was the style of
paper you were going to run. / Sc
lected an outfit for you myself"
"You? I didn't know you knew any,
thing about the printing business.
81 don't know any thing about the
printing business, but 1 know pile
about Deadwood,' replied Barney, as
he got up and went into another room.
A moment later he returned with
double-barreled shotgun and two big
revolvers and carefully laid them on
the desk.
There, young man." said Barney,
''there is the outfit you need to run
that kind of paper in Deadwood!
You'll find they're the best made and
all creased up good and heavily loaded.
Go out somewhere and practice with
'em! Of course you may require a lit
tie type and may be press, but any
body can pick them out for you; you'll
find the shotgun and the two hip cam
non will be the biggest part of your
necessary plant, and you want to get
so Won can shoot 'em STRAIGHT without
stopping to aim!'
The young journalist never went
back to Deadwood, and has since en-
braced the profession of clerk in dry
goods store.-F. Il. Carruth, IN CHI
cago Tribune.