The Topeka state journal., 1903-12-19
NOT OUT OF KANSAS.

out of Kansas, the New York newspa-
pers and others which are accustomed
to going into Mysteries at some freak,
have missed a great opportunity. The
telegram bore an Indiana date line in
stead of being from Wichita or some
other place in Kansas. and therefore
the New York Sun and its esteemed
contemporaries entirely overlooked it.
The Society for the Exploitation of
Freaks in the east should see that it
does not happen again.
This Indiana story was contained in
a special dispatch from Franklin. Ind,
to the New York World. 1t was as fol-
lows:
"a mild sensation was caused here
yesterday when a prominent young
married couple issued cards announcing
that the stork would soon pay a visit to
their household.
TT has since been learned that the
young women of the society to which
the young wife belonged while in college
gave an entertainment a few days ago
for the benefit of the stork's cargo,
whatever that might be.
1.-THE announcement has been much
discussed in domestic circles and it has
been generally agreed it is not such a
bad practice, after ALL Other young
husbands of the city have announced
that when the proper time comes they
will follow suit"
If this had only happened at Har-
per. Kansas, where the six-weeks-old
baby last spring was reported to have
repeated over and over the wonderful
prophecy of "Three years of famine in
Kansas" which was published far and
wide by the eastern press, with appro-
pirate editorial comments there-if this
Indiana story had been located at Har-
per, or Wichita, or some other Kan
sas town, the eastern newspapers
would Immediately have notified their
| Kansas correspondents to see that the
announcement of the approach of the
stork had become universal custom
in Kansas, and there would have been
column after column of lead" edi-
torials commenting on the fact"
The Originality of Kansas would
have been called to the attention of the
world, and the east would have held.
its sides in laughing about it. 1t would
have received as much attention as did
the story a few weeks ago about the
women of Kansas rising en- masse and
turning all the men off the school
boards, because the men were alleged
to have passed a "law' that school
ma'ams should not be courted during
school terms. But because the story
story came from Indiana the east saw
nothing funny in it and Indiana missed
a lot of top-of-column advertising.
The New York Sun relieves itself OF
more alleged wit at the expense of
Kansas than any other publication
but it has a multitude of followers.
This same publication has for its
motto, ''If you see it in the Sun it's So"
yet the Sun finds out more things
about Kansas that are not so, in its
editorial columns. than it does more
things that are true.
Kansas is generally understood to be
the best advertised state in the union,
and Kansas appreciates the fact, but
it would be more appreciative if so
much of the advertising were not un-
true. The press of the east, or some OF
it, never misses an opportunity to ex-
plot some alleged idiosyncrasy from
Kansas, but usually the alleged lido
syncrasy has as little truth in 1t as the
story about the six-weeks-old Harper
babe and its dire prophecy-which
didn't come true, by the way. Unlike
the manufacturer of the brand of in
fant food, Kansas is advertised by heI
funny friends.