The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-08-06

story from the sealed lips of bronze
statue or shine in a gathering of kim
dred spirits with the biggest lawyers
and politicians of the state present.
HE always kept faith. y. the old poll
ticians had said. Not to save himself
from a scoop would Van ever break a
confidence. AS a result he held many
condolences and pulled off many
scoops" He was good judge of
men and motives and rarely made a
mistake, although he had to Judge
quickly and write his articles in a hur-
ry for daily newspaper. No time to
weigh or ponder or correct. He had
many friends and was always fair to
his enemies.
Van and Cy Leland never got on
very well together. They were both
too quick tempered, probably. Yet Cy
knew that Van never allowed his en-
and on one occasion when Cy came to
Topeka with an important piece of
news that he wanted presented clearly
to the public he gave it to Van; at
ing terms A reporter could ask for
no higher tribute than that.
Founded Copeland County"
Vandegrift, during his active career
| in the newspaper field coined many
of the best known phrases in the Kan
sas language. copeland county and
"shortgrass country are the most IA
vocabulary and they will live as long
as the state lives. 1t was Vandegrift
who nicknamed NJ. c. Kelly as "Mul-
berry Mike And M ]. Jordan.
Jordan" And H. B. Jones as High
BALI Jones. And Davis, a big fellow
with a pompous front and a shriveled
understan ding, as ben Davis" 1t
was Van who first used the expression,
''he has put on his blanket and left
70
tician who had bolted party or caucus
or agreement as a result of real or
fancied wrongs.
There is another side still to this
many sided newspaper man. He is
brusque and often impatient. When
| talking over the telephone he invaria-
| bly, lost patience with the central tele-
| phone girls and talked sharply to them
| and an hour later brought them flow
ers and laughingly told them to forget
that Mrs. Stanley, who always liked
Van, gave him many bouquets of beau
tiful flowers which he treasured very
| highly Women whom he hardly
knew asked him to write autographs
for them or obituaries of dead friends.
Some of these effusions Van wrote
are classics and it is a pity that he
never kept any clippings of the arti-
Giles he wrote in the old days.
Again, Van used to get mad at his
Il
and then buy them shoes and clothes
and do many little things for them
that reach a boys heart. His temper
was always getting him into trouble
and his good humor and wit lifted him
out again. He is a combination of
Kentucky colonel and a Scotch High
| lander and an Irishman. strange
mixture, but then Van is a. strange
| sat up all night and told stories to a
| company convulsed with laughter and
| the next day he would sit as taciturn
as an Indian chief at a council fire.
No matter how rushed he was with
| story Van always took pains with its
construction and prided himself on his
! English. He is fair judge of the dis
| tinction of words and their interpreta-
! ton. He wrote paragraphs and Sun
\ day articles for the Star as well as
politics for many years, writing always
on the theory that brevity was the soul
| of wit and he managed to compress
lot of philosophy and wit and advice in
these trite thrusts at men and things.
| When Reeder was nominated in the
| Sixth district for the steenth time in
the face of sure defeat, Van, who
thought they had him sure that time,
wrote in disgust: He fits the dish.''
Has Wonderful Memory.
+ There is probably no man living to-
/ day who can write from memory like
Van can of the political history of this
state during the past twenty years and
the men who made it. When ingalls,
died Van sat down and without con-
sulting any references or notes, wrote
a biography of the dead statesman OF
some 5000 words in length, and during
the week following his death. wrote
some fifty thousand words about him
in the shape of anecdotes and incidents
of his life Van knew ingalls, as well
as any man did, and knew more about
him than any man.
Van knows all the governors of Kan
sas further back than any one cares
to dispute with him. and all the con-
gressmel and United States senators
and could. if he would. write an inter-
esting book of their political affairs
Van worked ON a conservativ paper
but he never had the least inclination
to play to the galleries or be
sensational. 1t is his claim that
Il he never told a newspaper lie