Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1909-07-22

L. 4
Wichita Eagle: For many year
the Cincinnati Enquirer has BEEF
pointed to by many people as one o
the most reliable papers in the Unite'
States. 1.-THE purpOrted news pub
lished in the last column on the firs
page Of that paper July 10 is a sam
pie Of the reliable news which the En-
Quirer furnishes the public then very
little credence can be given to tn,
rest of the articles printed. en-
Under the head ''Tornadoes'' is al
article with st. Louis date line II
which It is stated that the storm Of
July IL had wrecked business houses
mills and elevators at Abilene, Kan
In the head is printed: "xenia. Kan.
is a mass OF tangled wire" In the
same story Is printed the statement
that twenty-ohe feet Of water sur
rounds the lowlands around Topeka
and that the people in North Topeka
are moving out.
The most absurd statement Is that
twenty persons in various parts OF
Kansas and Illinois had been killed
by the storm. The reference to I'LL
nois may be correct and It may be as
far from the truth as is the reference
to Kansas. t.s
II the Enquirer desires to hold the
good opinion Of people who have had
faith in IT for years It will tie a
can to the correspondent at St. Louis
and to other correspondents It may
have who are no more reliable tnan
the cheerful. off-hand liar who sends
it news from st. Louis concerning
Kansas. The managing editor might
also examine the telegraph editor on
geography and find why he places
Xenia, ILL.,, in Kansas.
Abilene was not wrecked by a
cyclone. A storm did visit the town,
but the damage done was so slight
that 1t was not considered worth q
story of more than few lines In any
Of the papers in the state or by the
Associated Press. Every dispatch
from Abilene told exactly what hap
pened, trees blown down, a few
buildings damaged, no one hurt. Not
q single person. in this state was kill
ed by the storm which was but local.
In fact, thousands and hundreds OF
thousands Of people did not know
there had heen storm at Abilene on
the date mentioned.
But the most idlotic statement
made in the dispatch printed in the
Enquirer and which probably emanat-
ed from the smoke-clouded brain OF
the unpublished prevaricator at st.
Louis was that twenty-one feet OF
water covered the lowlands about To-
peka and the people Of North Topeka
we're moving out. AS North Topeka
is about the lowest place in that Sec
ton of the country except the river
bottom, 1t is most likely the people OF
North Topeka would be moving out
IL "twenty-one feet of water covered
the lowlands."
Every house in the town would be
submerged If anything like such con-
ditions prevailed and the flood
would be much more disastrous than
any ever recorded in the entire counr
try. It would be almost as serious
as II the Ohio river reached q stage
where the water would flood the
business office Of the Enquirer.
1t Is reports like the one printed
in the Enquirer which have caused q
great deal more damage to this state
than all the floods and wind storms
the state has ever known. Such stor-
les are libelous and papers which
print them show that other news they
print Is not reliable.
Eastern papers have come to be-
lieve that II a storm occurs In the
West 1t Of necessity visited Kansas.
They print all such articles sent to
them and embelish the articles with
false headlines.
AS a matter of fact there has not
been storm in Kansas this year nor
In any year in the history Of the
state which proved as disastrous to
life and property as did the storm
in northern Ohio several months ago.
1t might show a little more enter
prise on the part Of the Enquirer II
It would get Its news concerning
Kansas from correspondents in this
Itate, Getting Kansas news from st.
Louis is like getting New England
news from London; It Is Just a. like
y to be real news.