The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1899-10-18
THE ENTERPRISE OF sS -
- "a - SHORTY MILLER
A short etoryette Il regular feature Of tn
DAILY snd WEEKLY JOURNAL.

half lie, and there's none 40 useful in
the newspaper business. II you don
mind my telling you something under
the seal Of professional secrecy, III let
you into the part Rupertsburg, Nebras-
ks., that hustling little metropolis Of the
Middle West, took in the late war with
Spain, and how the Daily Cyclone got
the biggest scoop Of its career. It was
matter Of a half.lie, gentlemen, and
that same half-lie made the greatest oc.
casion in the history OF the town, gave
the mayor and city council a trip tc
Omaha, and:enabled US TO score one on
our back-number contemporary, the
Daily BlizzBrd.
at il scandelous fact that the town
Of Rupertsburg had never done any
thing for the war but pay for revenue
stamps. We hadn't sent any company
either West or East; we hadn't ever
have a celebration the time Cervera wal
knocked out. The Daily Cyclone had
done all il could 10 awaken interest, bu
the town didn't enthuse bit. Well
when the volunteers began 10 come
back, and Pittsburg and San Francisco
and Denver had their big celebrations
we began 10 wish that we had been 8
little more patriotic. So you can se'
how felt when the news came over tn,
wire from Frisco that Sergeant Johr
Davis, Of the Eighteenth artillery, haC
Just arrived back on sick leave and sale
that his home was in Rupcrtsburg. Thii
same John Davis had swan the Pasil
river under fire and rescued his captain
and had all sorts Of recommendation
for bravery. I saw the story in II a
once, and put Shorty Miller on II
Gentlemen, you ought 10 know Shorty
Miller. He il the kind Of reporter
that gets right down 10 the bottom Of :
story, rips III insides ont, and shows ul
the facts TO the full light Of Heaven.
Shorty sails straight down 10 the mayor
"Now the mayor Of Rupertsburg wa
dying 10 take u iaunt at the expense o
the commonwealth. These trips are 1
perquisite Of the office down our way
But the graft was played ont; we hac
the latest ideas for everything from
street.sweeping 10 railroad franchises
locked up in the hall Of records, and th,
mayor had been limiting TO us that II w
IuI Nl.a tt.Na ~ 9l.ss. - .I IAu ~
we'd find some way Of giving him rur
ont OF town.
"Shorty finds the mayor and show
him the scheme in all its beauty. 'lt'i
trip for you aud the town council sayi
he and the biggest time the city eyel
had, and Wen carry il like a streak
All we want is good strong interview
from you on the subject and a scoop OF
the Blizzard Now what do you thinl
ought 10 be done in this case2'
"The mayor, catching on at once, sa
down aud laid il out Hat. lie said tina
it was the greatest chance the town eyel
had TO show its patriotism and To dc
h'HhI w lh' hlFNllkhlHh'h NlAleNl wiz
had made the name Of Rupertsburl
known ia the iarthest wilds Of the New
Empire. lie said that no expens,
should be spared in making this ~
ovation worthy of the coming metropolis
Of the Inland Empire. lie laid It or
thick and what he didn't say shortl,
made him say when he wrote il up.
"But who is this Dayis?' says th,
mayor, when he was done.
Blamed II know says shorty, 'bu
that makes no difference
Then he went down Ia the office ant
we fixed up the great War Souvenir Edi
tion. But we couldn't 10 save MS, iino
which one Of the Davis tribes the her,
belonged 10. In our diggings Dayise'
are thicker than Smiths. We held th,
forms for two hours while the Who'll,
force chased every Davis in town, bui
not one of them could prove claim oI
show mp a photograph. We were al
ready for that. We got out an old cut
Of somebody or other, fooled out th,
whiskers, put in blouse instead of d
boiled shirt aud ran il, with border o
American flags, in the middle Of tn,
front page. We had four columns
double.leaded and scare heads from the
jOh-room and sold out before nightfall
The Blizzard was nowhere, as usual.
"By noon half the girls in town were
in love with that picture. Next night
the town council rushed through mo-
tion TO send the mayor aud committee
OF three with power TO add to It's mum.
bers, 10 welcome Sergeant Davis at
Omaha. ltpassed a-whooping, because
every blame alderman knew that il he
voted against II he lost his chance Of be-
ing added Then they made AN appro-
priation Ia cover expenses aud sent a
telegram 10 san Francisco asking Ser.
geant Davis when he would reach
Omaha, The answer came back next
day, Friday, was all il said.
"Gentlemen, the activity OF the next
three days WAS an example OF wha, tho
lively little center OF Rupertsburg, Ne
hraska, can do when il gets started.
There hadn't been such decorations
seen since the state Editorial Associ-
alton had lis convention there Every
Davis family in the burg was out hust.
ling subscriptions and hoping 10 claim
the star attraction for a strawberry