The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-10-24

I &GS=A-a=Gk-A - 49, ~ sSlkna2b
Hondo Murphy blew in this morn
ing with chest fun of information
which he proceeded to unload upon
H h5 has hdnch s6PmR eaTha n he
has read or heard is preying on his
mind and he seems fully satisfied that
the world is full Of serious mistakes
Whatever is, is not always right"
said Hondo. carefully kicking a 10
cent dictionary out of the way and
planting his feet in its place. THE
buddhist and the irretrievable optimist
Notwithstanding, there are some seri-
Gus mistakes made as the result OF
environment. For instance, we have
in our midst, highly respectable gen.
tleman who thinks himself a purVeyor
of news; his ability to conduct a de-
partment store is undenied; IL is his
forte. He might have been another
Mungumery Wart or Searsrobukenco
had he taken the right road in his
early youth.
''in my chee-ildhood, I labored at
times in a southern sawmill. And
we'll do I remember a character I met
while thus employed. A backwoods
native, large, handsome man with
beautiful brown eyes and classic fea-
lures partially covered with silky whis-
kers, dropped in one day with two
jugs Of moonshine whisky. It was OF
his own manufacture, and he guaran-
teed it to get results. That man, had
he been captured in early youth and
worlds wonder. His voice! Since
then 1 have heard some OF the greatest
bass singers that ever trOd the oper-
attic stage, and not one of them had
voice that would compare with the
natural, unframed voice Of that native,
When he said: Thirty cents quart
dollar a gallon the sound started
from far underground and boiled up
His voice was worth a million dollars
yet he was selling moonshine booze
at 80 cents a quartz As he padded
away in his pirogue, after selling his
entire stock, he warbled. 'Gitalong-
home, Cindy,' in q voice that would
have made Gourmet green with envy
Thirty cents a quartz Ye gods. what a
waste of natural talenti-Cartoonists
and photographers who would shine in
a bayfield, are not uncommon: IN fact.
they are too blamed numerous. Pon-
ticians whose natural vocation is
second STORY work we have with us al
ways. but the saddest thing Of all Is to
see one who is by nature a ten-cent
store prince. toiling in the busy marts
of news and politics"
For years and years and years and
years, the Kansas rural editor has en-
joyed the reputation OF writing the
most candid and open-faced news
items in the world. Now comes the
editor of a little paper in upper New
York state with an obituary which
bat. and combat it with such men as
demands of the Kansas editor either
render OF the belt:
sam Tobden is dead. Some days
ago he was stricken with blood pOis-
oning from bite in the neck inflicted
while fighting with his wife when he
was drunk and she intoxicated. Drs.
Gridle of Eureka and Butts of Clary-
vile were in attendance. but despite
their utmost efforts the poison spread
until as a last resort they used the
knife. The operation was Of no avail,
however, and now he amt here any
more.
sam was an unique character. Only
once in a generation is a community
pestered with such a human viper.
He was the unsolved conundrum,
What is he good forg His only vir-
tue was the persistence of his wicked
ness, his only excellence the stability
of his independence. Booze fighter,
liar. wife-beater, chicken thief, egg
stealer. profane and vile Of speech to
the point OF nausea, he was the trade
mark of sin, tine sentiment emblem OF
vice. with no crime but work beyond
his capacity. He was even worse.
But he has gone hence and IT is
never our inclination to kick man
when he is down; yet at death his pro-
verbal luck was with him. He goes
below just as the whitening frosts
and chilling winds are ushering in
long and tedious season for the good
who are left. AS was often the case
when in life and in jail. he'll keep
warm and comfortable at others eN-
penSe, fellows we'll so long, SAM
and so long as it is long, good luck"
The Morning Gourd should favor re-
submission; a return OF the gin mills
would open a new field for the depart
ment store by making ii possible to
offer glass of beer for IL coupons. ,
new subscribers and SO cents to cover
the cost of packing and delivery.
The cheapest way of obtaining
reputation for wisdom. Is TO keep
quiet and let the other guy do all tho
talking: he can't help feeling that you
are q wise cook after you have soaked
up all the information he has to inn
part.
Hep