The Ordway new era., 1911-03-03
Untruthfv/ People

"All men are liars"-mure or less
ahd even women have been known. at
tinr>, To follow in their unholy foot
|st"ID-. We once knew girl-ihnus.
and~ uf miles from herc-who could
peat any man In town lying, aud the
tari ihat she belonged to u newspaper
stan did not in anywisc excuse her In
thr rlc> uf Him to whom lying lips
ar III abumination.
| Newspaper men are supposed to be
thr greatest OF all liars. but that is
not saying that they are so. On the
CONTRARY, newspaper men probaul,
maxi greater effort to be truthful
than any other class Of men. And
this is not on the grounds Of the
Rams Horns theory that 1T takes
four times us much grace to make
som" men decent rs IL does to make
saImt> ui Others either. Newspaper
men are liars. OF necessity. That Is
TO say, their environment tends To
make them so. Almost any sclf-rc-
spcrtIng newspaper man would tell II
lie and trust To being spared an hour
for repentance, rather than face an
Unreasonable public bearing the
awful crime OF not being able TO get
the details uf news that has not yet
Happened, into print.
Not hat he makes up some lie
o, no, that is not the way lie does IL.
He gets all possible information on
the matter in hand, sits down with
the ubtainablc facts arrayed before
him. aud with mind carefully
trained to the task, draws his cOnclu-
sion Of the probable result and writes
this conclusion as Il fact. Nine times
Dut Of ten he is right. But the tenth
time-what "A liar.
| II is because the newspaper man Is
So generally correct that his word is
Oftcn taken before that Of those who
are supposed to have more religion.
! We once knew an old iady-a very
piuuS old soul she was. toO-who
pit,cd the daily paper against the
praycr-mecting crowd. the deacon
aud even the preacher, for truthful
ness. 1t was on this wise: The new
minister was booked to arrive
| Wednesday and Il certain reporter
made a neat little item on that day
|s:ating that the Rev. So-and-so and
Family had arrived, only to learn n
little later that lie had been delayed
several days. Ovcrtaking the aIorc-
said old lady on the way To church the
following Sunday she remarked that
the new minister had not arrived
when expected. "lle came Wcdnes-
day, was the unhesitating reply. Il
saw it in the paper" Her companion
replied that nevertheless the folks who
went to praycr-mcciing said he bad
not arrived and that Deacon Jones
had received word from him that he
had been delayed" The worthy lady
evidently did not propose to accept
news from doubtful sources and re-
piled somewhat tartly. "Well, the
minister and his whole family may
have been too tired to 90 to prayer
meeting but he came Wednesday for
saw it in the paper" The reporter
was convnccdG:). In her heart she
envied the publisher his reputation for
veracity. And this is no newspaper
lie, either, but the solemn truth, SO
help us.
We once knew Il newspaper man t."
lie when it was unnecessary for him
to do 81, but temptation was laid in
his way, sad to say. by a minister of
the gospel. Some months ago min
ister and lecturer of national rcputa-
tiOn went from Oklahoma City to
Wichita where he was to be intro.
1uced to his audience by the editor
Of one of the daily papers. On their
way to the church where the minister
was to lecture, he remarked to the
editor that he thought the Oklahoma
Cityites could lie better than the
WichitaerI, to which the editor re-
piled, IL think can beat 'cm.' and
while introducing the preacher he
demonstrated his ability in that line;
at least, SO it occurred to the great
man for in greeting his audience he
related the conversation and added,
with a smile of one fully convinced,
"Well, mayb be he can
Some men lie for money. some for
public Office and some for other things
which their unrrgcncratc hearts de
sire. But the editor has none of these
motives. His lies. if such they be,
are always for the good Of the public.
He always lilies on the right side"
You never knew him to undcrcs
innate anything that was good or to