Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1895-07-18
RIVAL EDITORS.

editor and proprietor, 4" appeared in all the
glory Of secondhand type-nine was third
hand-and grade Of paper somewhat re-
sembling real "news"-mine did not re-
semble 1t at all.
Rowe was good looking, bright, active,
we'll educated young fellow, with whom l
should certainly have been friendly under
different circumstances, but this was now
quite impossible.
One publication day sat down early to
do up the customary batch of "scathing
exposures and "unanswerable arraign-
ments'' of The Spy when Bud Haskins,
my editorial assistant, composition, job
printer, mailing clerk and man of all work,
came in beaming with joy.
"Got some good news for you, Mr.. War
ren!' said he grinning. 'Cording to
the way 1t looks now, there won't be no
Spy this week-p'r'aps not next week
p'r'aps nevcrP'
Glow thatr' inquired, much pleased.
Groves sick abed--fever or sunthin
He can't do a stroke Of work, n that fell
low Mckay he has with him amt of no
great use. No Spy this week, tell you"
For moment, mean as the emotion
| or two, he would lose the ground he had
| gained and probably would have to give
| up altogether. Then / should be left with
the whole field to myself. Yes, actually
| felt glad.
"I'm going out for a few minutes,
Bud" called to Haskins.
! My reception at The Spy office was chill
ing. As entered the dingy, pine boarded
room Mckay, big, stupid looking man,
stared and then sidled toward a mallet on
| the imposing stone. HNa
II want to see Mr.. Rowe" said I.
He's in bed up stairs" growled Nc
Kay, lifting the mallct
On camp bed in the attic lay Rowe,
| flushed breathing with difficulty and roll
ing his head irritably about the coarse pill
low. He seemed a combative person. 1t
| took some little time to convince him that
my intentions were friendly, but when he
became assured of this he met me with the
manifest frankness.
"You're a good fellow, Warren, he ex-
claimed, Selling my hand. "Ive been
fool''-
"No moro than l."
"Well, then, we've been pair of fools.
If ever come out of this, we'll be pair
| of friends instead butt He broke off
with a groan.
"Come, come" said I, "you aren't 60
ing to die You'll be we'll in u week or
| two.'
| Il know that, but the paper-the paper!
l can't do solitary thing, and Mckay
alone won't get tho matter up in week.
"Right enough. Now let's see how we
can manage it, can do your part of the
composition today and finish up my own
tonight If we're both day late, it won't
make much difference I'll begin setting
| at once. "
Hurrying down stairs to escape Rowes
| thanks, came upon q spectacle which
| cook my breath away Standing at a case,
sleeves rolled up and thoroughly at home,
clicking tho type into his stick at great
rate, was Bud Haskins.
"Hello!" said he, looking around,
"how's your editor, publisher, n propi'tor
| today? Fin him pretty comf't'ble?"
| ''How on earth did you get here?" de-
manded I.
'same way you did. Got to thinkin-
that's all. :"
In u few moments was scribbling away
on an improviscd desk by the bedside al
most as fast as Bud was setting the type
| below. Scratch, scratch-think an instant
scratch, scratch again--think once more
and so on until pile Of copy" had &C.
cumulated. This was the beginning:
A FATAL FALSEHOOD.
| Our by no means courteous and not in the
least esteemed contemporary, The Spy. which
is ut once disgrace to American journalism,
| u libel upon the name of newspaper and O
fntv pttx al,
! still scornfully suffered to drag out an exist
cnce noxious to others and Of no value to
| itself, etc.
Rowe listened without saying word
At the end he quietly remarked:
"That a powerful article, Warren
''Well now, see how this one strikes
you" And began reading again:
DESPICABLE DECEPTION.
We had hitherto supposed that the utmost
imaginable depths Of reckless, shameless. hon
orsess constituencies mendacity had long age
been reached by that sheet unknown to fame
but intimately acquainted with infamy under
the name of The Herald.
Rowe bounced up in bed.
DO you mean to say you're going tc
abuse yourself like thatY' said he,
81 mean to say that such q savage arti
Gle us mine has got to be replied to Il little
more sayagely if possible. I"
Rowe by this time had taken the humol
of the situation into his fevered brain. He
replied family:
~ think you d better call yourself 'falsi
fer first and save up the ignoramus' for
use later on. Toward the last you might
work in some reference to your general re
scmblance to a donkey, if you don't
mind.
''Mindp Why, it's the very point
want. I'll say that the only thing in
which don't resemble donkey Is my ut
ter incapacity for any useful employment. 4"
Suppose you attack me again?' sug
gested Rowe when the article was finished
There should be at least two sharp lead
CTS in each paper. You might mention the
probability Of my being ridden out Of town
on Il rail because the citizens can't stand
my continual lying any longer"
Aided by Rowe's suggestions, wrote
until I had matter enough for four col
umns, two for each paper. There were
pair Of outrageously abusive leaders fol
The Herald, a pair Of outrageously abusive
leaders for The Spy, besides two strings Of
satirical verses whish CHANGED to ham.
ner out
Bud Haskins and Mckay, working first
at one office, then at the other, got the
precious stuff into type, and then, with
my assistance, made up The Herald and
ran off the edition that night. Next morn,
ing our united forces did the same thing
for The Spy.
All this was ten years ago. Calabash
City ia beginning to taunt Chicago with
the certainty Of being second to her in
population, wealth and resources by A. d.
1906 at the latest. The Spy-Herald Is one
Of the leading journals of the west.
Rowe and might call ourselves rich
men, though we never do. We have al.
ways been the best Of friends. -Tit- Bits.