The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-01
DRlFTER AMONG THE POPS.
ron SIX MONTHS HE LAMBIsTED
MONOPOLY AVID G0LDBUGa.

NehFty NNENN@" -
"yvhen I made my first break into Texas"
said Driftor. at was moro In the nature Of a
hsppy. go.lucky experiment than anything
else. wanted to see 'porterhouse steak on
the hoot,' 60 to speak, aud to rasslo around
with the ranchers and cowboys In that wonder
full country known to mo vaguely as the Pan
handle. ! was about rs far removed from be-
ing a Populist In my tendencies as I am from
being a Mugwump or n Goo Goo, but In n few
weeks was right in the thick Of the Pops pull
ing a laborinR oar for the sub-Treasury scheme,
he initiative and referendum. Governmental
lid to tho down.trodden farmer, connscation
~ railroads, and death TO goldbugs. especially
hose in 'beniehted Wall street and accursed
lombard street, London
MY Transformation from q dyed.in.thc-wool
Tnmmany Hall Democrat to a Populist of the
Tom Watson brand was brought about purely
W accident. l had been loafng around New
orleans with Mrs. Drifter about as long as l
rould afford to in order to crafty her desire
or a winter ~sojourn In the rose garden. palm.
eaf Tan and omelet souffi6 atmosphere Of the
Crescent City. Mrs. Drifter didn't know. but
! did, that tho head OF the Drifter family must
10 some h~ustling, even though we were In the
wet sunny South. A well.meaning friend,
prone to exaggerate my abilities, was travelling
through Texas as manager for Richard Mans
Held. Tho mana ying editor OF the daily news
paper In one Of the principal cities told him he
YES in search Of an all-around newspaper man
With an appetite for work Ny friend said:
Great Scott, l know the very man for you.
Cts Drifter. Hes loading In Now Orleans.
les done everything In the new spaper line
rom police court reports to washing rollers In
he press room. Take my tip and get him down
hero right away. Give him plenty Of work II
you want to keep him here
'srwenty-tour hours later I was in the mid. |
lie Of Texas, and that Texas editor cut out
about as largo a line OF work fer me as I could
liave asked for In order that I might 1.-Two up to
he reputation the shovman had given me as
IN ell-around newsr nper man. About the Art
crack OFT Of the box the editor suggested to me-:
"'Mr. Drifter. In your walk from the depot to
he hotel and from the hotel to this ofice you
must have noticed the spirit Of hustle and hustle
perva6es our community. l wish you
would dash OF half q column or so about the
t.rst Impressions formed by q Northern visi.
tor to this city. Imagine yourself for the mo-
nent q capitalist looking for Investment Say
about the nne hotels, the imposing
blocks the wide streets. the spirit of
and wtthal the general good order
You might ring In something
about the e1hilar ating draught of water you
obtained from the artesian well in front OF our
Al aho u . ~ oIICOkLA4 nuOub LII HCI-
.~opoitau character OF Our paper
In view OF the fact that during my brief stay
moro To let signs than anything else OF. CON
sequence along tbs wide and muddy thorough
ares, and That the artesian well water had lett
Il decidedly bad taste in my mouth, ] WIS COM
to do a good deal in the way of imagin.
Irg, to turn out the breezy half column of
wanted a column article on music and the drama
20 show, as he 7aid, that we are thoroughly in
ouch with the lighter affairs OF liza and, busy
lS we are, can AuOrd To devote some attention
% amusement.
.spar!ng you some Of the details, I may say
DOWN trick in recommending me TO the notics
special assignr ents, write side lights on
edit grapevine copy from The suburbs, and hold
myself in readiness for anything else that
me- no Opportunities for leading a life Of OK.
trayagsn zee The managing adass ng ed,fSr sh in The The
S sstsdI ' ne. !. Sss easy yn to " zee that the the a ling
xuich retails at Is cents q plate in middle
Texas, and hot tamaies at s cents q throw
porterhouse steaks OF which i heard 90 much
and saw SO little in the Lone Star State,
m~oney-harrsels. o.. it, so / heard@and I 'didn't
addine to hi store. % resigned immsdlsseiy
In Fort Worth were looking for e newspaper
man to get out an afternoon daily on the CO
tie little printing establishment. and made up
my mind 70 cast my lot with the STRUGGLING
That is where I 6ecame-outwardiy. at
least-a Texas Populist for ak months. q,
S oUr ss,, ! 6sd full IL, swing Il s. On he te news s.;s RSs Pa s,0 OF
port Of The Texas wing Of the Peoples Party Il
was necessary to have at least two editorials q
bines and the servile tools Of corporations In
and the White House. l had to
in order to show that no faint of
allegiance to either Of. the old parties fingered
u: aan %I GS@DS %a sot Out Or eq ped:Sot pS %idd teess iis.
Road organ, even II we didn't make q cent.
Conservative business men were 9 little BIT
TO divide up q weeks receipts between all
hands, there was not much left for Mrs. Drift
the PopuliStic organ in It's infancy. We had to
s =: pa %s1s inside Gl less B Sel1sF c elifisad a %a,;st to s g cow,
directed Mrs: prifter 70 look over The boiler
20 Of household recipes. She meant ali right.
out memories of chatting dish suppers In ~.
The column OF the factory.made Information for
iungry souls; She found an elaborate recipe
lsa 1'U well NOV . Se IN a sh ~hneh q di %sH and q s S9a
aims among other things q dash OF Madeira, the
older o6Is the 6efi ieS ThiI: recipe appeared In our
c-1 NooSsSA . - Wv "a sahio hil6hty
near driving me out Of the Populistic ranks, II |
not out OF Texas. One OF our Subscribers, who
Intended TO pay NJ, so he sail, as soon as he got
ais crops TO tho elevator. wrote me q letter de-
handing an immediate explanation He went
IN something after this fashion:
Down here at Abilene, where the grass Is
burned up and the streams are dry; where
wheat is IS cents a bushel and our wives and
have not had a new calico frock in
stx months, 1t is mighty pleasant reading that
ne Peoples Party organ gives us, lobSter q la
y ewburg and q dash OF rare old Madeira,
when we are glad to favor our beans with a
iittle piece Of pork tat, and consider ourselves
lucky to get corn pone. II Is evident To me
nat piutocratic influences are insidiously work
:nS TO overthrow our movement. Lobster a IA
EeTburs may do for the purse-proud denizens
~ Wa!l street, and In the handle Of the ma
ions Congress, but the down-trodden yeomen
" the Southwest need something stronger,
and a damn sight cheaper. TO ft them for their
'asiies against monopoly and lnissoyernment,
In order to get the paper out each day and
o keep the plant out of tho Sheriff's hands, I
laa once N a while to cater to what Tom Wat
IN would call corporate greed. But the
,iraight middle-of:the'road agitators could not
understand this. They were willing. of course.
% rayel on railway passes obtained. by tho
2aper in exchange for railway advertising, but
AEg lnztLfal shat \ hn,Il lannh...a tkA IkrA,-