The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-10-10
WHEN SMITH RAN THE BANNER

When Robert Emmett Smith became pro-
prie'tor, business manager, edttor-iu- chief
and literary director of the PIeasan5on
Banner. which proudly heralded the TACT
thar It was the official organ of Auas-
cosa county Texas" he had ambitions,
He bouglt The paper from Old Mdn
Gurioch- paying nI1 tlensIor SJ9 IN cd6ll
and q pronissory note for $500 due IN IL
IIl0Guhs The old man stufted the
nlGney into the deepest corner OF a deep
trousers pocket. apat into ne SaWdGS.-
flied box which did duty for a cusoid9f,
and said: You Ii ind the folks in Ata s.
eose easy 10 gIt ATOMS with y You an :
step on their corns, Give EN- pleaty or
local news and spell the names right The
sheriff is q candidate fOq Reelection and
is q tetc-loUs man. Jim Scruggs IS goin'
"a run 2g-u diTn an he Is q teJcholis IIllil
They S 10 kinds O iBaptis-S and 30 kinds o
Ateo.lO3lsts III trlis town Ioun nave 10
he heerful. Everybody has got a eye on
You Fhey expect you 70 write en- a
salutatory. Write her. Don't give en-
no. editorials but what is free trade edl-
torials. You want 10 be friendly with
the aeFst.lcS jsdge an Ehe deas trick clerk
They give out the county prtnt.u- Good
Robert Emmett Sin9th took stock. He
found ghat he owned four cases OF bour-
geotS type and a Ina OF advertising type
It vas all old Tue semlcolons had been
cut 10 make commas ana periods. Wnen
q pgo0f was taken it was Ilrd TO tell an
50 from an ~ or an sc from &c.
The type was sWeiled at the bottom, a
condition which printers know. by. d ri
badd name. There was Washington
SaTId press. q PRINTER who was sometimes
Sober and small boy who was learning
the trade. His Office boaSted two chairs
and a battered desk. There was q broken
couple of rusty ''chasas. some worn
wooden quoinS, a mallet and planer. q
water bucket and q tin dlpper with 4
small hole in the bottom made up the
furniture. There had been a nuzzle-
loading shotgun, ten gauge, and " iS'hinS
e pounds, but Gurl0ch had taken 1t away
With him. The office was a tWo-roomed
frame building on the edge of the Httle
leaked. Around it grew large live oak
rees, and near Il bubbIed cold, clear
spring. There was huge fireplace in the
front room. The foreman and printer
first edition had been set up although the
Elont5h was August, and blue flies
hUmmed against the window DaGles. lie
explained that it was necessary 10 set
he forms in front of the blaze and "sweA
head" the type so that thy would print
This was done and "a fair impression OBJ
tanned.
@ @ 8
The new editor wrote n = salutatory. It
was a column and half long. He told
his 900 subscribers that although q
stranger IN a strange laLS~ Ne was glad
to be IN their midst; he said that q tariff
tax was unconstitutional; ne whacked
the 'robber trusts" and tariff baronS'
of tia east; ne declared that the neck of
hel Worlktngm1n was beneath the iron
heels Of soulless corporations; II alluded
feel.ngly to THE crime of 49, he would
be found he asserted ever in the fore
front of the battle for human libeTlty and
the rights of man; ne had warm words
for the unlimited natural resources of
.Aaaseosa county; while admitting by in
ference that It's products mainly We're
"a2or-eaes heSs, aeoFns and nubb!As, NE
thought that a woSlen MIL 8 cotton mill
a4d a steel MIL would pay; he pointed
with prophetic forefnger to the time when
the smoke from Pleasantons factories
would darken the air and smell Ike in
now he said, in conclusion. having
come amongst you and cast in our lot
with yours, we ask You to walk hand in
hand with u.s.. We request your friend
neasly contemporaries Y1<o hurled their
baT'bed arrows of sarcasm at us sad
'heaped srtbald abuse upon US When we
were only associate editor of the Bandera
Ch.efCam. We say: Let slip the dogs of
war" Smith was young
The day afterWard ST Lerumons invaded
the sanctum. He walked in as if it be-
longed to him and, depositing the cus'-o-
mary ltbdtion of saliva in the sawdust
cusDidor. took seat on the desk. 81
Lemmon5 was the sheriff. ne v.s
heavily booted and spurred, and a Colts
revolver, single action, nickel plated, 10
ca1bre, five barrels loaded, the hammer
resting on the empty barrel, the trigger
tied back With q buckskin thong SO unat
the weapon could be fired merely by lift
ing the hammer WITH the thumb swung
far down uDon his right hip. Il see. :"
ne said chat you printed a piece about
Jim Scrugg@caIled him our popular fell
Ter citizen Jim Scrugss is a white lvered
coyote that wants to be sheriff. l kin
take a corneob an lightnin' bug of a
dark night an run him into the river an
drown him. You want to be keerful to
print only the names of good people of
this place" Then he stall1ed out. Smith
bought a shotgun.