The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1898-04-28


Newspaper reperteys ere someeimGs
thrown against strange experiences n
getting the news that other people COM
tortably read next morning. But b.
ieving himself In . fair way 70 OBJ
sain q narrative which no other news
writer ID aware Of. the reporter 10 will
ing to 60 sleepless and foodless and to
undergo all kinds Of peril In order
that by all means he may get his piece
Of exclusive news.
Such man was Ezra Hemming. who
worked on q western paper-one Of
the kind which would now be demon.
mated as "yellow"-and frequently
thrilled his town with startling stories
of fact. Hemming had reputation for
Rlertness which was second to none, and
rs he had large circle OF friends who
made 1t their business to inform him
upon privately known affairs. he was
seldom at the "short end" Of an exclu-
sive story. One day John Boyd, who
was the sheriff of the county. captured
horse thief who was badly wanted by
q community in the interior of the
state. The deputy from the county the
the officials Of which were after the
thief came down TO the metropolis. and
In his conversation with Boyd init.
mated that there would be lynching
when he got home with his prisoner.
Boyd told Hemming Of the threatening
aspect Of things. and the reporter had
n long talk with the deputy. To his dis
may, he learned that the prisoner
would not reach the rural community
which wanted to do business with him
until 2:45 in the morning. an hour
which precluded the possibility Of q
good story. Hemming was q man Of
resources. though. and as there seemed
to be little question Of the details Of
the coming event. he went to the Office
and wrote q three-column account Of
the lynching. mentioning the names Of
prominent citizens present and addinR
dourishes and ornamentations. To
stretch out TO imposing length he
caused one man, whom he was prudent
enough to designate a. unknown" to
mount box and make On appeal In be-
half Of the culprit.
"Despite the prayer Of Higginson's
lender-hearted advocate, however,"
Hemming wrote. "the farmers who had
suffered fror, his, depredations insist
ed on wrcnking vengeance" And he
went on in TINT strain for several pages,
making the intercession strong point.
He explained to Crawford. the city
editor, that there was no doubt Of the
hing coming out Just ~ he had writ
len 1t, but to be sure, he would wire
Yes" or "No" from the station when
NE train reached the town. for be
planned to accompany the deputy.
At three o'clock in the morning Craw- /
'ord received this iubilant bulletin:
"Big thing. Five hundred people.
Nile or more Of rope. Now headed for
tall sycamore tree"
And Just as the foreman was send
ng 10 the pressroom the page with
glorious exclusive story.
,amc this announcement:
"It's all OF. They're not going 70 do
t"
I Hemuing came back looking like Z
mailman. For two days he roved
'round. stopping at odd times to butt
Ills head against something hard. At
ast he was induced by Crawford to
'xplain.
"When we got there" he said. 1T
vas sure thing. They had It oil ready,
md took Higginson away from the dep
lty with yell. Then I sent my bull
etin. They rushed him 70 The syca.
more and were tust about 70 swing
Tim up when Il occurred 70 me that IL
would spoil the story II somebody
lidnt rise up and make on appeal for
mercy for the thief. I waited. hoping
or the usual intercession. till the dan
,er line, and then. % nobody else
howed q sign Of talking for him.
umped up on something and started in
N II myself. I'just wanted 70 make the
acts ft the story I had written, 90 I |
made the speech I had attributed 70
he unknown. At first they didn't want
o listen. but pretty soon they quieted,
nd I poured 1t in. thinking all tho |
ime how lucky was to have written
he thing. Il Jumped down then and
topped aside to let the regular pro-
,ramme 60 on. As did 80 somebody !
elled: BY thunder, he's rightv And |
onther voice declared. IT would dis
race the town. boysr. And third
allied: Let's take him back to jeil!'
md before I knew II that lot Of chumps
ad turned tail and rushed my thief,
ny private horse THE, my own man.
or whom ! had spread myself over
hree columns, back to the town and to
be Jail. where they left him and dis
'ersed. v, u ,hsrsQ57g, Hla sa5
'That," said Hemming, sadly. els
7hy want somebody to break my head
o. Would you mind kicking me all
he afternoon II I ply; you for your
Chicago Record.
IfF al.I