Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1902-08-21

come" he said. Il have the stuff
ready for him, and want to get it of
my hands"
Harding was most affably received.
The full details and complete plans
were furnished him, together with the
architects sketch Of the proposed mil
and photograph Of the senator for
illustrative purposes.
AS he rose to go. with his bundle of
documents and well filed notebook in
hand, he said: "By the way, senator,
wasn't your name recently connected
with some sort of a little story-er-
scandal, l suppose straitlaced people
would call it? 1t would add spice to
AN otherwise bald and uninteresting
narrative if you'd let me ring that in.
Don't you think SOP
The senator sat at his desk and
looked at his interlocutor aghast,
young man." he Numbered, put
misrepresentation
'Oh, no." said Harding; 'the Star
wants these papers" which was GER
tainly the truth, 'and as for the other
business, why. you may be deacon
from Deaconville for what know. All
sorts of things go into the papers"
The senator had risen and was COM
ing toward him as he retreated. You
tell Mr.. Belts for me-" he roared, "that
if he don't fire you I'll save him the
trouble by wringing your neck for
your
Then Tom Harding had an inspira-
ton. 'See here, senator" he said,
you're mad now. Oh, yes, you are.
1 can see it, though you dissemble it so
beautifully. "I'll go"-the senator was
coming uncomfortably near just then
"but I'll be back in about half an hour,
when you've had time to cool down."
What the senator said when the card
Of the genuine Star reporter was car
ried up to him just twenty minutes lat
er has become legend and story in that
hotel.
The bellboys gathered in a delighted
Gordon to hear him swear as he sent
the message that If that idiot ever
came back there again or sent anybody
else from the paper he'd kill him.
men to interview the senator, who APP
peared to them to be Economically pos
sessed. Failing to get even glimpse
Of him, though they could hear the
sound of his unutterable roarings down
the corridor, they not unnaturally gath
cred the mpression-indeed the impress
sion was abroad pretty generally then
that the senator had been wined and
dined rather too extensively, and as
Belts who would have saved them that
| browning folly, was absent they limited
as much in the next mornings issue OF
the paper.
1t was on this same morning that the
Record brought out a complete Illus
trated history of Senator Morgan's
cotton mill deal and taking little
biography and interview with the SEN
| atOr himself.
! The cotton mill meant salvation to
the overboOmed little southern town,
| and the Records scoop in giving the
! first full and authoritative account OF
it's location did several things. 1t gave
the Record a standing long coveted and
worked for. 1t gave Tom Harding a
secure position on the Record staff and
incidentally placed him where he felt
able to marry.
Nobody but Tom Harding and Tom
Harding's wife knows just how the
scoop came about = well, no one but
Senator Morgan, perhaps. for he. being
related, as you remember, to Tom
Harding's wifes mother, sent the briue
for a wedding present very pretty
diamond star and note. in which he
made much jOcular use of the word,
suggesting, among other things, that
he believed she was certainly getting
''star" husband.