Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1901-10-18
HE HAD HIS REVENGE

dodge that was worked on the owner OF
paper in stable town in southern Ore
gon by a man who is now way up in the
newspaper business in San Francisco" said
one OF the Pacific coast correspondents.
1T was during the hottest period OF
Bryan's first campaign that this man I'm
speaking of fell into the Oregon town, lie
was Just drifting about at the time waiting
ior the tide to switch in his direction. He
had been holding down responsible posi-
ton on Denver newspaper for a number OF
years, but change OF proprietors and
policy threw him out, and so he struck out
farther west for an opening. He got it in
this town in southern Oregon. The pro
prietor OF the country paper gave nm
billet as soon as he presented himself and
asked for it, The proprietor wanted a man
TO attend to the editorial section OF the
paper; to cover local and state and ma
tional politics, and write authoritatively
about EN- all; to take care OF the ex-
changes, handle the miscellany, see to the
making up and assume general direction,
in fact, OF every department OF the paper
except the local, which the proprietor at
tended to himself The Denver newspaper
man named pretty stiff figure as the
least amount of wages he would accept for
performing the duties OF managing edit
or and to be the whole works-he had no
editorial assistance-.and was prepared to
have the figure scaled down bit. To his sur
prise, however, the proprietor agreed to his
terms without the slightest demur, and the
itinerant newspaper man unshipled his
corncob pipe and tobacco and went to
work. He was personally a rampant sill
verite and Bryan man, and the paper he
had attached himself to was just as nam
PANTY republican, but he didn't let his
individual views stand in the way OF his
newspaper prosperity, but wrote the
screechingest kind of republican stuff for
the editorial page under his charge, The
boss would pick out subjects for him to
tackle and ned grind out republican copy
so fierce and uncompromising that II
seemed to have come straight from the
headquarters of the republican national
committee. He performed all of his duties
in hustling, satisfactory manner, and in
side of less than a week the folks in the
county and in the. state had begun to talk
about the way the paper had picked up and
the snap and ginger that had been put into
it. The new managing editor put in about
10 hours work day, and, like all good news
paper men, took an interest in his work.
His interest, however, wasn't quite sc
acute when he found, upon applying to the
proprietor for his first weeks wages, that
the money wasn't Forthcoming. The pro
prietor explained that he had had a mum
Der OF big notes to meet, that advertising
collections were slow, that all OF his per
sonal funds had been exhausted on account
of illness in his family, that he surely would
have his new mans salary ready for hin
inside of few days, and so on; and wounC
up by handing three silver dollars to thu
man who had already made his paper boom
The new man took the three, for he needed
it in his business for such little things a
laundry, shaves, smokes, and so on, but HI
wasn't elated any. He knew perfectly wei
that the paper was prosperous and tina
there was no good reason why he shouldn'
have received his money. But he didn'
say anything, but went on working with
slightly slackened vim, but perfect satisfac
ton until the next pay day came around.
"He got the same kind of story from
the proprietor on that occasion as he hat
received when his first weeks wages wer
due He kicked and kicked hard, but tn
proprietor was a pretty smooth converse
tionalst, and he succeeded, or thought h
succeeded, in partially soothing the news
paper man from Denver, but again lett'n
him Nhave few metal dollars.
81 don't exactly see this business, how
ever said the new man to the boss, ant
| I've arrived at the determination that
wouldn't grieve me very much to vacat
this community. just you get me throug
pass down the line to San Francisco, AM
I'll call my arrangement with you off
This proposition the boss deprecate
with great eloquence, and the upshot of tn
! talk was that the new man was to wal
awhile longer for what was coming to hin
| The man from Denver instituted few littl
! private inquiries, and he found out that tw
or three wandering newspaper men had bee
handled pretty much the same way by tn
proprietor Of this sheet in the southern Ore
gon town. So he was considerably delight
ed when, in the middle Of the third wee
of his incumbency, the boss told him tina
he was about to start for Portland for
few days visit, and that during his al
sence the managing editor was to hav
complete and absolute control of the paper
1T was on the second day after the owl
er's departure that the sore newspaper ma
from Denver lighted his fuse. First, as tn
actual representative of the paper, he 81
! cured transportation to San Francisco 70
] - l. l.. a -.
that Oregon county jolt from which
didn't recover for months.
He ground out the direst Bryan cop
that he could think of, in which he wen
even farther than the 90 democratic pla
form and advocated every old thing that tn
middle-of-the-road pops stood for;
clipped stuff from the most rabid of the 81
yer publications and had it set up; h
socked it to the republican party both end
from the middle, coming and going, nc
only as concerned the national campaign
but as related to politics Of the county an
of the state; he lambasted the local an
state politicians by names and addresses an
picked flaws in their personal records.
"Then he slapped at the head OF the frs
column of the editorial page formal al
nouncement that the policy of the pape
had been completely switched, and tina
henceforth and forever it was last-ditc
Bryan outfit. first, last and all the TIM
at was a colossal sensation, not onl
throughout the county, but over the entil
state, and wires of congratulation frol
democratic editors poured in, while the n
publican editors of the state telegraphe
their strong belief that the owner OF tn
paper should Immediately be put unde
restraint for insanity. The owner cam
hustling down from Portland on the fir,
train he could get, having received sever;
hundred frenzied kilograms from his friend
but his managing editor had departed fc
San Francisco on the ten p. m. expires
He left note to the owner, in which b
said that he might, in the course of TIM
have learned TO be good republican, b,
that he couldn't see his way clear to doin
so on a weekly income Of three dollars. II
inclosed a bill for services rendered, whic
it is safe to say, hasn't yet been liquidate,
His scheme may not have been strict
ethical, but I've heard that it taught Oh