The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1902-12-10
he SPOILED HIS STORY.
Miss uides Zeal for Truth was This he
pOrter's HUN.

pOrter's HUN.
Newspaper reporters are sometimes
thrown against strange experiences
in getting the news that other folk
comfortably read next morning. But,
believing himself In fair way to OBJ
tain narrative which no other news
writer Is aware Of. the reporter Is Will
ing to go sleepless and foodless and
TO undergo all kinds Of perils In order
that by all means he may get his piece
ct exclusive ness.
Such a man was Ezra Hemming.
who worked on a western paper-one
of the kind which would now be de-
nominated as ''yellow"-and frequent
ly thrilled his town with startling sto.
ries Of fact. Hemming had reputa-
tion for alertness which was second
to none. and as he had a large circle
of friends who made It their business
to inform him upon privately known
affairs. he was seldom at the short end
of an Exclusive" story. One day John
Boyd. who was sheriff OF the county.
captured n horse thief who was badly
wanted by community In the into
rior of the state. The deputy from the
county, the officials OF which we're af-
ter the thief came down to the metro
polls, and In his Goa, ersation with
Boyd intimated that there would be
Iynch'r g when he got home with the
prisoner. foyd told Hemmlng of the
threatening aspect Of thiLgs. and the
reporter lad a long talk with the dep
| uty. To his dismay. he learned that the
| prisoner would not reach the rural
community which wanted to do bust.
ness with him until 245 in the morn.
| ing, an hour which precluded the pos.
| siLility of a good story. Hemminy waE
a man of resources. though, and rs
there seemed to be little question OF
| t..a details OF the coming event, he
went 70 the Office ani wrote three
| column account of the lynching men.
tloniny the names OF prominent t!S'
zens present and adding flourishes and
ornamentations. To stretch out 70 i'm.
posing length. he caused one man,
whom he was prudent enough to desig-
and make all appeal in behalf Of the
| Culprit.
Despite the prayer Of Hisgins0n's
tenjerhearted advocate. however,,
Hemming wrote, 'thc farmers who
had suffered from Ills depredatitns In.
sisted on wreaking their vengeance"
AM he went on In this strain for sew.
eral pages. making the intercession
strong point.
He explained To Crawford. the city
editor. that there was no doubt OF the
thing coming out just as he had writ.
"Yes" or mo" from the station when
his train reached the town. for he
planned to accompany the deputy.
At three o'clock in the morning
Crawford received this jubilant bul.
letin:
big thing. Five hundred people
Mile or more of rope. Now headed for
tall sycamore tree"
And just as the foreman was send
ing to the press room the page with
Hemming's glorious exclusive story
came this announcement:
~ al oh, thcy ie hVt Boih6 W w
It."
Hemming came back looking like a
madman. For two days he roved
around, stopping at odd times to butt
his head against something hard. At
last he was induced by Crawford to
explain.
when we got there" he said, 1T
was sure thing. They had 1t all ready,
and took Higginson away from the
deputy with q yell. Then I sent my
first bulletin. They rushed him to the
sycamore and were just going to swing
him up when It occurred to me that
It would spoil the story II somebody
didn't rise up and make an appeal for
mercy for the thief. I waited, hoping
for the usual intercession, till the dan.
ger line, and then. as nobody else
showed a sign Of talking for him
jumped up on something and started
In on It myself. just wanted to make
the facts fit my story had written, SO
l made the speech I had attributed to
the unknown. At first they didn't want
J to listen, but soon they quieted, and
poured 1t in, thinking all the time
how lucky I was to have written the
thing. jumped down then and
stepped aside to let the regular pro.
gram go on. As | did so somebody
yelled: BY thunder, he's right And
another voice declared: 1T would dis
grace the town, boys!' And third
called: Let's take him back to jail!
And before | knew it that lot OF
chumps had turned tail and rushed my
thief-my private horse thief my own
man-for whom / had spread myself
over three columns, back to the town
and to Jail, where they left him and
dispersed.
That" said Hemming. sadly. "is
why | want somebody to break my
head in. Would you mind kicking me