The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1891-09-19
MIR. WEBSTER EXCITED.


JOHN r. WEBSTER, who runs a paper
at Reidsville and who is a man in a hurry,
gives the gentleman who washes the roll
lers in this Office the very old devil this
week.
WEBSTER forgets that he should be a
gentleman, and says that we must discuss
the cigarette trust with him or stand be-
fore the people of North Carolina as
either a common coward or a common
liar.
This is all right in one way perhaps
but the fact that WEBSTER says it, makes
it anything but imperative.
This paper is not discussing private
affairs to any alarming extent, but it
wishes to remind COLONEL WEBSTER of
one OF two things and then we want him
to say if we are not right in this matter.
We proposed to discuss a concern
which COLONEL WEBSTER had said was
a trust. 1t may be or may not be. We
think not. But to the point.
Men in Durham and out of Durham
ihuOW LudG no uldu AL GllS tOTu "OIhS
more hours than this editor-and every
newspaper man in and out of the state
knows that we write more copy each day
than any two men in the state. We have
been unfortunate in sickness in the office
and have had no time for anything-but
that is only by the way.
However, we wrote Mr.. WEBSTER a
letter and he claims that he did not re-
ceive it. 1t was merely explaining to
him that we would like, in a friendly
way, to discuss the trust question. A
dozen newspaper men with whom we
have talked, including the editor of the
Oxford Day, Mr.. RAMSEY, of the Prog
ressiye Farmer and Mr.. KING, Of the
Atlanta Journal and others, will all bear
witness that we proposed to have the
talk, and all will bear witness that we
told them repeatedly that we were sim
cere in our proposition.
WEBSTER failing to receive the first
letter, as he claims, we wrote him the
following note, at the time the above
date appears:
DURHAM, N. c., June 10, 1891.
Col. JOHN R.WEBsTER, Reidsville, N. c.:
Mr. DEAR Mr.. WEBsTER-Upon my
return from Winston this morning | was
surprised to read in your paper the an
nouncement that you had failed to receive
my letter written some six days ago. In
that letter [ explained to you that I had
been called West. Business matters re-
n - mn NV ~roco~o ~ npooIo +I1 Oh &c
July, and | shall leave Durham in a very
few days, being absent perhaps until Au-
gust 1.
Immediately upon my return will be
pleased to make a date and discuss the
alleged Trust" proposition with you.
You know that time until my departure
must be devoted to my business here.
Respectfully,
AL FAIRBROTHER.
We went to Omaha and finished some
business; were On the sleeping car thir-
teen nights out of seventeen came home
and found sickness in the office and from
that day to this have not taken time to
write more. But the reason was plain
We wrote Mr.. WEBSTER. He never
paid the courtesy OF acknowledging the
letter; he has never written US a line. We
supposed that common courtesy would
have prompted him to acknowledge our
note to explain that he would be pleased
TO arrange matters; to say at least that
we must meet some where or some place.
He may have acknowledged the letter in
his paper, but THE GLOBE, not wanting
to give something for nothing, does not
exchange with the Weekly and we never
read it unless a special copy comes, as
there was this week. Intelligent people
will excuse US for not reading it. We
propose to insist, however, that when
Mr.. WEBSTER acknowledges our letter as
any gentleman would acknowledge a
letter, to attempt to fix a time and place
to talk on the alleged trust business.
We are willing for WEBSTER to say
that unless we go out and find his paper
where he claims TO have acknowledged
our letter, we are a common coward or
liar or jackass or horse thief or murderer
or anything else. But we shall also in
sist that he has failed to be courteous and
will leave it to him if he does not think
he should have written Us.
OF curse it witt be a funny thing to
discuss tobacco with a man who does not
know the difference between tobacco and
bacon-and especially combustible bacon,
but We said VIC would talk with him and
we meant it.
* CURIOUS z