Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-06-10

his head. and. of course, the next idea TO
take possession was Office. Being a young
man of promise he was placed at the re-
formatory, to await something better. He
said to a friend Saturday that he was
bound to go away for d few days. He
would have to pack a valise anyway, and
it would not be much more trouble TO pack
a trunk.
In looking over some ancient newspaper
clippings yesterday Topics unearthed one
that recalled a tragic death in Kansas
nearly twenty years ago. The victim was
General Hiram c.. Bull. who was trampled
10 death by a pet elk on his farm in Os-
borne county. on October u. 1879. and the
same fate overlook two of his farm hands
who essayed to go to his rescue. Along
in the early EOS General Bull acquired a
great deal of fame through a lecture or ad-
dress entitled Ways and Means with
which he campaigned over Northwestern
Kansas. He was at once heralded as a
new and great orator. his people sent him
TO the legislature. and fine things were
expected of him in Kansas politics. But
for some u~naccountable reason he failed
to develop and by and by IL began to
be whispered around that his great lecture
on Ways and Means had been prepared
by another person and that he was some
thing of an oratorical impostor. Finally
II became known to a few that its real au-
thor was Mr.. Noble L. Prentis. the well
known Kansas newspaper man. Lines were
not falling in unusually pleasant places
for Mr.. Prentis at that time. and he eked
out his meager newspaper salary by lect-
uring. One day he informed Del Valentine.
who was then a young assistant in the
same Topeka newspaper office, that he had
prepared what he considered the best lect-
ura ever coming from his pen. and men
toned that its title would be ways and
Means" Valentine waited for the deliv-
cry of the lecture at some of Mr.. Prentis'
engagements. but it never appeared, and
so one day he inquired of the author what
had become of it. II got hard up and sold
it to General Bull for sl0," was the
gloomy reply.
People not in position to know have very
little idea of the extent to which men who
wish to shine in public seek the aid of tai
ented workers in the field Of literature.
We have before us a letter written by a
well known Kansas doctor to Tom Nc
Neal in which the man of medicine solicits
the services of McNeal in the preparation
of a response to a toast to be delivered
at a medical association meeting. We also
"a before us a letter from a Kansas
mother who wants a poem written for the
use of her daughter at Decoration day ex-
e~rcises. and she naively adds the follow
ing postscript: please write 1t so that it
will sound as If it was original" A Kan
sas man who rose to high official place
unblushingly placed his own name at the
of a series of splendid articles
which appeared in the old Kansas Maya
zine, and yet it is pretty generally known
that they were written by a chaplain at
Riley. Undoubtedly some of the best
public ~utterances of many of the Kansas
were prepared by their private
but this does not seem so cold
blooded as going out into the market and
a speech as one would a pound of
Topics knows a man who has
acquired great local fame as an after din
ner speaker at grand lodge banquets. and
yet every one of his speeches was written
by a Central Kansas newspaper man. He
once got himself heartily laughed at by
reason of his Borrowed glory. He had
been assigned the duty of delivering the
welcoming speech to a certain lodge as
and his newspaper friend had pre-
pared a fine one for him. BY reason of an
he got there late. however, and
,ound the welcoming address had been
made by someone else. lust before the
cup was emptied. and the breaking of
foredoomed a reluctant breaking up
If the festivities, there was loud clamor
or a speech from this gentleman. Pos
IDLY the wine had clouded his sense of the
lroprieties. but at any rate he rose and
iolemnly delivered his well committed ad-
of welcome. There are a hundred
newspaper men in Kansas who hold the
equations of as many alleged political
social orators in the hollow OF their
lands, and If the boys should happen to
row reminiscent the result would be SIM
)Iy hooking