The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-03-31
Walt Mason in Nebraska State Journal.
1.-THE man who sold me that ami
IVY NAL" remarked William AL

h1HE man who sold me that ami
(0 mall remarked William AL
len White mournfully, as he
descended from his two-seated buggy in
front of the Gazette office, and viewed
with alarm the steed that had hauled him
painfully from his home, said that it
was a horse, but have my doubts"
The most distinguished writer in the
west leads the simple life at home in
"Empory,' plugging around town in Il
surrey without top; he probably took
the top off to give it to somebody he
! thought needed it worse than he did, just
as he would take off his coat or his shoes;
! there is nothing gaudy in his raiment,
nothing naughty or important in his bear
ing. The honors thrust upon Mr.. White
would cause most men to swell up to the
point of explosion; the highest and great
est in the land rejoice to see him at their
tables or at their spare bedrooms; it was
only the other evening that the President
of the United States so arranged his work
that he could spend an evening in heart
to heart conversation with "Old Bill
White" as the Kansas newspaper folk
affectionately term him. But the honors
he received do not in the least affect
the balance of this CHEEKY, unassuming
man, who knows everybody in Kansas
| by his front name and who went to school
with every man in the state who is be-
| tween 80 and 30 years of age.
1t is a pleasure to see Mr.. White in
| his office. He does his magazine work
| and book writing chiefly at his home,
and he presumably enjoys it; but he is
| happiest when wading through pile of
| exchanges or writing one of his inimit-
i able editorials on the piece Of junk that
was once typewriter; ne writes rapidly
and with remarkable energy and after
! producing an editorial he goes over it
very carefully with a fountain pen, load
ed with vehement violet ink and proceeds
| to make it undecipherable. His handwrit-
| ing is fierce-worse than Ed Howe's. and
| it is no uncommon thing in the Gazette
| office to see a linotype operator rending
and praying for speedy death when fac
| ing a slice of editorial copy. Mr.. Whites
spelling Is often as yellow as his hand
writing, but little thing like that doesn't
| count in view of the fact that everything
| he produces is worth putting in a scrap
| book. He never mas dull days. Every
| paragraph. from his pen-or typewriter
is alive, vigorous, presenting a new
thought. or an old thought in a new
way.
| He loves his Emporia Gazette and takes
pride in it, as he has reason to; few
! towns of the size of Emporia have dailies
| with linotype machines, perfecting presses
and a staff that wouldn't feel lost If
| dumped into a sanctum in Chicago. Mr..
| Whites right hand man is a woman
| Miss Laura French, who does more work
! in a day than two ordinary newspaper
| men, and does it well. 1t frequently hap
| pens when the "old man gets around In
| the morning, painting for the fray, de-
termined to write the whole paper for
| once he doesn't get a line written. For
| all the old timers in town, and all the
men who have grievances, and all the
boys and girls who have nothing to do,
begin to drop in to pass the time o. day,
and forget to go away again; and Mr..
| White whose patience is monumental,
and who, being sensitive himself. has q
| fine regard for the feelings of others,
never gives evidence, by so much as a
sigh, that he would like to be mauling his
| old cornshelling typewriter.
| 1t would offend Mr.. White If by any
| chance he should ever see this story if
much we're said about his benefactions,
| for If ever man did good by stealth"
! he is the one. There are a hundred
| stories in Emporia of nobly generous
| things he does to help struggling inst-
| tutions and individuals and to give young
! people a start In life. There never was
! more open handed man. and all his I'M
dertakings prosper and if he were am
| bilious to get rich he would find the road
! easy. The salaries he is offered sound
| like Arabian Night statistics to the aver
age newspaper man who has to figure
mighty close to meet his coal bills. Mr..
White was offered $1,000 a month to take
editorial charge of one of the greatest