The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-02-21
OKLAHOMA MUD THROWING.

atmosphere OF Oklahoma with slnlste
portent. The blue serene heaven i
smudged with tangled oaths and the dis
torted clouds drip with molten cussed
ness.
The Rev. Sam Small has plunged from
his vesture of ministerial dignity ,swipet
his soppy brow, beat his billowing ches
and is calling for gore, red, ruddy gore
the more CONCEALED the better.
He may get it, He may not. Th
war, which is now convulsing the terres
tial being of Oklahoma and making thu
circumambient air gasp like dummy
engine on an upgrade. is as interesting
as blind cat in molasses barrel.
Less than six weeks ago Rev. San
Small (may his tribe increase) journeyed
from Georgia to Oklahoma. His mind
was at peace with the world, and the
rest of the solar system, including Mars
His heart was warm and yearned to take
the whole human kind to itself ard
fondle it the human kind) with 20C
horse power affection.
He came to Oklahoma, gentle as a
country maiden in her first tin type,
with his head erect, but kindly, and
with his seamy hand raised against nc
man.
Sam Small, as he came out of the
magnoiialade zephrys of Georgia and
planted his feet in the rich red soil of
Oklahoma was all right.
| He moIa ona p,ictalyo Ho inci1 1opta q /.
ly started a newspaper in Oklahoma
City. 1t was good newspaper, and as
Sam Small looked upon it, it grew warm
upon his pride, and divers boasts of his
newspaper were incubated from the
process. But it was not long to be.
There is another daily Democratic
newspaper in Oklahoma City. This
newspaper is the Gazette. To Sam
Smalls utter surprise, the Gazette, humble
as it was, refused to be wiped out liz this
year of our Lord. 1t kicked like a mule
with hornet under his tail. 1t appear
ed daily with spurts of sarcasm and
spits of sulphur. But Sam Small had
expected that and his heart was still
warm to human kind.
But the attack from the Gazette was
not transitory. 1t had the lasting hor-
rors of tin can on dogs tail. 1t went
further. 1t soothingIy called Mr.. Small
"a politician without pie and a preacher
without piety." Small sec his teeth and
felt chilly. A day or two after, the
Gazette among other soft wads of juicy
mud, gently referred to Mr.. Small as a
''blear-eyed skunk with glue in his nos
trels." Still Samuel bore up.
A day later the Gazette mildly spoke
of the Reverend Small as the 'Hosanna
howier" and reverend rhinoceros"
and "a cross-eyed bear with sore feet"
Then Sam Small broke out. Under
the singing fire, he had been sweating
with courage that was superb for
man who did not have life-preserver
on. Then he sailed in, and the air in
the vicinity has been pulsating like a
South American ant-eater with sand
burr in its stomach, ever since. Sam let
loose on his adversaries.
He shot in one foul blast 'fools, pimps
and plunderers" at them. He called
them ''depraved bull heads" and 'sunre-
generate pole-cats."
Then the war began, and there has
been one sizzling, whistling, shivering,
weltering, iery-streaked chaos ever
since.
The Gazett lightly prances to the CEN
ter of the ring and swats Sam with this:
The wi!d-eyed freaks that operate the
smut mill only hurt themselves in their
scurrilCus and malicious attempts to in
Jure public officials whom they cannot
use.
Then Sam comes up from the corner
and lands heavily with this:
All their pretentions are fudge and fid-
dlesticks. What they call their honor
hepatic soreness and their courage is the
cowardly fashion they have of sluggine
cross.eyed men and cripples. What they
call their brains are only misfit worms
What they call their journalistic skill is
but brutality set up III bourgeois type.
They have the respect only of towards aud
their own coparteners in their plans of
plunder.
Up comes the Gazette again, stream
ing with blood, but ghastly defiant, and
swings on Oam ear:
He knew he lied when he said it. for the
only successes he has ever achieved since
be turned his back on the iDglorious career
Of successful drunkard, he makes in
bIackguarding and scandalizing public de-
cency In the name of religion and temper
ance at SO much per night. Nature vouch-
Safed him an easy running mouth and his
well-earned familiarity with barrnoms fur
nished him vocabulary of billingsgate
that affords him sufficient capital where
with to gull the people.
This proves a welt and six seconds are
counted before Sam gets his feet. But
he does and he plunges at his opponent
with a binding succession of vicious
uppercuts in this wise:
He's on to shams. He cohabits with |
them and brags of it. He knows chumps. |
He always voted with them in the legisla- |
ture. He is a man of Information and |
posterior fulluess. He is full of friendship |
and timber culture smiles. He could not /
be trusted in a sand pit. He owns the |
territory but don't register on the tax |
books He's a big thing but has never
been stolen: a thief couldn't afford to |
carry him off at his own valuation, He is /
modest, he knows the world can't turn
without his attention, but he only men |
tions this 10 a few friends, and other list
ners. He runs to Office aud tobacco Juice. |
His adversary smiles through blood |
and whips out this intimation that Sans |
paper will soon die.
Now for the valedictory. Slow music. |
please.
But the fight is still on aud promises
to continue. 1t is inappropriate to say |
who is ahead SO far, but from this dis |
tance, and allowing for the optical illu-
sions that the troubled atmosphere I
would tend to create, it looks like the /
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