Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-04-06
HE HAD HIS REVENGE

1.-The exploit OF Gen. Funston, when he
was the city editor of democratic news
paper in Arkansas in taking advantage of
the absence of the sordid proprietor and
editor to bring out a red-hot republican edt-
ton of the sheet, reminds me of a similar
dodge that was worked on the owner of a
paper In a 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.
ut was during the hottest period of
Bryan's first campaign that this man I'm
speaking of fell into the Oregon town. He
was just drifting about at the time waiting
for the tide to switch in his direction. He
had been holding down a responsible posi-
ton on a 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 county paper gave him
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 'em 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 a pretty stiff figure as the
least amount of wages he would accept for
performing the duties of managing editor
ana TO be the whole works-he had no ed1-
torfal assistance-and was prepared to have
the figure scaled down a bit. To his sur
prise, however, the proprietor agreed to his
terms without the slightest demur and the
1tlnerant newspaper man unShfpped his
corncob pipe and tobacco and went to
work. He was personally rampant sill
xerite and Bryan man, and the paper he
had attached himself to was just as RAM
PANTY republican, but he didn't let his
individual views stand in the way Of his
newspapers 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 he'd grind out republican copy
so herce and uncompromising that it SEEM
ed to have come straight from the head
quarters of the republican national COM
mittee He performed all of his duties in
hustling, satisfactory manner, and inside
of less than 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 six
teen hours work a day on the sheet, and,
like all good newspaper men, he took an
interest in his work.
His interest. however, wasn't quite so
acute when he found. upon applying TO the
proprietor for his first weeks wages that
the money wasn't forthcoming. The pro-
pr1etor explained that he had had a num-
Der of big notes to meet, that advertising
collections were slow, that all of his per-
sonal funds were exhausted on account of
illness In his family, that he surely would
have his new mans salary ready for him
inside of few days, and so on; and wound
up by handing three silver dollars to the
man who had already made his paper boom.
The new man took the three, for he needed
1T in his business for such little things as
laundry, SLAVES, smokes, and so on but he
wasn't elated any. He knew perfectly well
that the paper was prosperous and that
there was no good reason why he shouldn't
nave received his money. But he didn't
say anything, but went on working with a
slightly slackened vim, but perfect satfsfac-
tlon, until the next pay day came around
He got the same kind of story from
the proprietor on that occasion as he had
received when his first weeks wages were
Que. He kicked. and kicked hard but the
proprietor was pretty smooth conversa-
tionallst, and he succeeded, or thought he
succeeded, In partially soothing the news
paper man from Denver. by again letting
him have few metal dollars
don't exactly see this business how
ever, SAID the new man to the boss and
I've arrived at the determination that II
this a grleVe me very much to vacate
this community. Just you get me a through
pass pa down the line to San Francisco. and
II can my arrangement with you Off
MS proposition the boss deprecated
WIN Win great eloquence and the upshot of the
tan was that the new man was to wait
aWhhe longer for what was coming TO hin,
Inc man from Denver instituted a few little
private inquiries, and he found out that two
" three wandering newspaper men had been
handled pretty much the same wav nv tba
PROPRIETOR OF this sheet in the southern Ore
s9i to"h. 80 he was considerably delight
e ef h Mnen, IN the middle of the third week
Oh MS lncumbency, the boss told him that
ne was about to start for Portland for a
Ie" days visit, and that during his all
sehce the managing editor was to have
eo ..4l ana absolute control Of the paper
owners departure that the sore newsna nor
man from Denver lighted his fuse. First
as the actual representative of the Daner
fe setured transportation to San Francisco
iol hiihselI, ana then he went to work to
give mat Oregon county Jolt from which
II oldn recover for months
, ne ground out the direst Bryanite conv
e ei.a. ne could think of. In which he went
even further than the 80 democratic plat
FORM ana advocated every old thing that
the middle-of-the-road pops stood for: he
cnpped stuff from the most rabid of the
silver publications and had II set mn. he
socked 1t to the republican party both ends
from the middle. coming and going. not
only as concerned the national campaign.
put as related to the politics Of the county
and of the state; he Iambasted the local
and state politicians by name and address
and picked horrifying flaws in their per-
SOnal records.
Then he slapped at the head of the first
column of the editorial page a formal an
nouncement that the policy Of the paper
had been completely swift ched, and that
henceforth and forever it was last-ditch
Bryan outfit, first, last and all the time
Appended to this was a list of recantations
OF the so-caled political imbecilities' that
had marked the paper for number OF
years. Each paragraph Of this thing
opened with We recant,' and then II Went
on to be as groveling as the skill of a
mighty trenchant writer could make it,
Democratic citizens who had been hitherto
alluded to in terms of yelled sarcasm for
their political beliefs were lauded to the
skies in the edition, and the republican
| friends of the paper were touched I'D from
more points Of the compass than they had
! ever heard of before. Oh, that edition was
gem. all right, and 1 wouldn't take a
whole lot for the copy OF it I've got in the
bottom of my trunk.
1T made a colossal sensation, not only
| throughout the county. but over the entire
state, and wires of congratulation from
| democratic editors poured in. while the re-
| publican editors of the state telegraphed
I their strong belief that the owner of the