Blue-grass blade., 1894-05-20
Editor Hodges Not Drunk, but
Ratified.

ss~AAiSNs
The following is from the Observer O
May 5th:
Should the preachers of the Gospel o
peace persist In calling the attention Of tn,
world to the candidacy of Col Breckinridg,
from the pulpit some goddess heather lik,
Charley Moore who happens to have no Sc
cret grievance to crafty, will take il int
MS head to initiate the great historian Plu
tarcn, ana write a comparative history o.
Breckinridge and DAVID, and ask the ques
fion at the close, why do the Christians per
xia S,st N sin singing the psalms Of David before
to ask their individual forgiveness"
An appreciative stranger who reads
that would naturally think that Editor
Hodges OF the Observer was something
OF fool or was drunk. But he was
neither He is cultivated and educat
ed gentleman of good principles
though a moral coward-and the expla.
nation of the evident phenomenon in
the edltorialette which l have quoted
from him is that he is ratified"
This is state of mind into which ev-
cry editor is liable occasionally to fall
1t is the result of overstraining of the
brain, and is nothing more or less than
temporary imbecility, which an editor
has to expose in himself because his pa
per has to appear periodically regardless
OF his fitness to edit it.
Those are all good dictionary words
and they are joined in one long sentence
with apparent recognition of the rules
of syntax. but you may read and re-read
them and you tail to get any clear idea,
from the simple fact that the editor did
not have clearly before his own
mind what he wanted to say.
That popularity characterizes every-
thing said in the Observer of that date.
Immediately following this squib is a
long editorial about me, in which he
tries to explain how sorry he is that he
so badly frightened me by threatenin e
in joke, to kill me-
He says BRO. Moore then became
very much alarmed and got away so
quickly that his friend Editor Hodges
himself could not explain that he was
jesting."
While l am known not to be a fight
ing man the absurdity of a statement
like this is patent to anybody that
knows anything about us.
He is considerably older and consider
ably smaller than am, and he has been
a dry goods merchant and an editor, and
1 have lately been working on the farm
cutting and saving big logs of hard
knotty wood, and splitting them with
maui and wedge. think l could pick
him up and carry him across the street
and set him down, without hurting him,
on the opposite side, in spite Of any,
thing he might do to prevent me, and if
he does not think l can l will undertake
the job anyday that he will name and
meet me for that DurDose
Col. Hodges apologized to me, in the
presence OF my son, entirely at his own
instance, and in perfectly gentlemanly
manner, and on this account / went to
Judge Jewell and made arrangement not
to appear against Col. Hodges. But not
only IN his interviews with the reporters,
but here IN his own paper, does he fail
to make any allusion to the apology
which he made me; but, while posing as
a high toned Christian and full of ex-
preston of religion reverence he appar-
emily wants to get the reputation Of be-
ing holy terror.
II he had just the candor and magma
nimity, or even the simple justice to tell
the plain facts about it, everybody, in
Guiding myself, would have been will
ing to forgive and forget what every
body now thinks was an improperly in
him
Col. Hodges is inconsistent, and his
inconsistency sticks out everywhere. He
complains of my being an infidel and
blasPhemer and seems to be doing all
that he can to get that fact emphasized
before the public.
While he calls me Brother" in his ed
ltorial about me, and says repeatedly
that he is my friend, his illusions to
me as an infdel and atheist and bias
phemer are evidently intended to iniure
ME and do injure more than the more
open and more honest enmity of little |
Matthews the Campbellite Prohibition |
preacher. 1t Injuries me by making
Christian people stop taking my paper
without paying me for it.
Col. Hodges paper in which all this
piety appears has the advertisement and |
local notices of the race course, and the
main advertisement that has ever been
IN his paper was that of the distillery of
F. H. Taylor
There is no race horse man or distill-
er In Kentucky that would be fool
enough to try to get his advertisement
in my paper, though the circulation of
the Blade is probably ten times larger
than that of the Observer. They simply
know that they can't do it. But worse
than all this, Editor Hodges paper is
hlled with apologies for Billy Breckin-
ridge, and the common enquiry is what
is the job that Hodges expects to get to
pay for all this boosting of Billy.
While Hodges is a Christian, almost
IS aggressive as Billy, the women of the
country have printed their reputation
If him in the same way that they have
If Billy; while, infidel that am, nobody ,,
has seen anything that any woman has
aid blasting me, and this issue of this !
PAPER shows that they regard me as their
riend !
Editor Hodges feels that he has ex-
'osed himself in his advocacy of Breck-
nridge and he feels that people see it,
nd he does not sleep we'll under it. and
le has that tired feeling" and his ef-
orts to parry the attack of Rev. !. B.
ones reminds ME of what snake does !
nth his tail when you have your heel !
rmly on his head
There is only one way that Editor y
lodges can recover himself, and that is
imply to acknowledge that he is wrong, {
nd back out and grease" and take
-esh start
As it is now, the women and Rev.
ones and l all have him OIL the hip and z
, maintain an inylOrious defensive is
u that he can do
If Billy is elected he may get his
lum, but he and everybody else will ::
now that 1t is the price of his man II