Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-10-16
JAY DEAN AND W. J. BRYAN:
THEIR START AT LINCOLN

dreamy periods on the Moline Dis
patch, is now soliciting subscribers
for the Denver Evening Times. Jay
was at one time a shining light in
the newspaper armament. After
leaving Moline he drifted to Lincoln,
Neb.. and Immediately took the bull by
the horns, .'Quo Vadis'' style. Lin
coin was then a town of 10000 inhabi-
tants and a good many of those in
habitants were brindle cows that
pastured peaceably in the liberal
acres of vacant property which a.
bounded the Nebraska capital. Jay
became weary of hearing cows bells
and got several of his fellow citizens
to join with him in movement To
boom the town. Jay was running the
Evening Democrat at the time, and
as the group of boomers daily trans
ferred large slices of the aforesaid
vacant property back and forth be-
tween them at fabulous prices that
increased with each transaction, Jay
would whoop it up in the Democrat
with headlines that fairly sizzled.
In less than five years after Jay got
his movement started Lincoln was a
city of $4,000 people.
1t was about this time that VIII
Bryan. a newly graduated lawyer
from the lower part of Illinois, went
out west looking for place to hang
out his shingle. He landed in Lin
coin and was instantly impressed with
the work Jay and his comrades were
doing, so he decided to try his luck
i'm Lincoln. Will Bryan was very
l. II, -,
his law Office, and went out" very
little because he could i'll afford a
sufficient wardrobe. He used to drop
around at the Democrat office nearly
every morning and read the eNchan-
GEES" for after locating at Lincoln
viii was not long in desiring to learn
all he could about the politics ana
people of all parts of the state. Jay
welcomed the young lawyer cordial
ly to his sanctum. Finally Jays part
ner, who did the exchanges, had to
go away for a couple of weeks, and
this left the exchange work on Jay.
The latter was welding the SCISSOR
with his wonted facility one morning
when VIII came in.
jay" said he. why can't you let
me take that exchange work off your
hands while he's away? You know |
read 'em anyhow"
Well" said Jay. Il wouldn't wan:
you, Billy, to do the work for moth
ing. How much will you take?"
III be glad to do it for s. week =
Jay put his o. X. on the proposition
Immediately and that was viii Bry-
ans start in the newspaper business.
Jays partner returned in due
time, but Will kept on welding the
scissors in the Democrat office a
couple of hours each morning and
drawing. unbeknown to anybody out
side of the office. the munificent sum
of a Y each Saturday night. But
even that amount was. a welcome All
dition to Wills eXchequer Mt the time,
for he had virtually no legal practice
and like Micawber was waiting for
something TO turn up-which 'some-
thing" seemed to Will Bryan long
way off.
jay and Will belonged to the same
secret society, and the editor of the
Democrat liked the young lawyer not
only for fraternal reasons but for his
own clean and upright personality.
Will never missed an opportunity to
appear as orator on local programs
and in fact created not few oppor-
| tunities himself. In the lodge that
he and jay belonged to, they had the
usual call at every meeting for 1.-The
good of the order and Will was ready
always to spring to his feet. The
lodge members enjoyed it hugely at
| first, for VIII really had way of stir
ring things up. and never failed to
say something entertaining. But af-
ter while it got kind of monotonous,
and the attendance at regular meet
ings began to dwindle. The officers
of the lodge could hardly get a quo
rum and got their heads together to
find a remedy. They held conclave
in the back room of store owne :
by one of the brethren, and decided
that a disagreeable duty must be per-
formed. So by drawing cuts COM
mittee was chosen to wait on Will at
his office and tell him candidly that
his oratorical entertainment, which
was very enjoyable while it came in
moderate homeopathic doses, had
grown so Plentiful of late as to
threaten the lodge with a lingering
but certain extinction. Jay as re
luctantly as any of them, if not more
so, found himself member of that
committee. They slowly climbed the
stairs of the young lawyers Office
and timidly pushed their way inside.
VIII sprang to his feet, greeted them
smilingly on the threshold and usher
ed them in. Then turning to them,
before the spokesman had time to
find his tongue, Will Bryan said:
Gentlemen, you don't need to say a
word. 1 know why you are here. You
would like to have me stop talking 80
much in the lodge. / don't blame you,
and promise you that you will have
no complaint on that point hereafter.
1 have been aware in my own mind
that / shouldn't talk so much, and