The Washington herald., 1911-02-05

or Lanigan's English flowed the taste.
or the more freely.
One night I.anigan happened to strolc
into the telegraph room of his newspaper.
where editors were nightly puzzled by
the queer names that came to them on
the old yellow "fimsy" sheets which the
Associated Press Of those primitive times
used to feed to its customers. From Lon
don would come dispatches about Erze-
roum, Tashkent. Samarcand. Peshawar,
and-others equally unpronounceable.
These places have since become house
hold words with telegraph editors. but
they were refreshingly new to them then.
Lanigan strolled by several of the desks
until he came to the night editors. where
despatch struck his eye. He picked UP
the fiimsy sheet and read it:
London, January 1.-The Ahkoond of
Swat is dead.
That was all. Not word as to who
the Ahkoond was. what he did, or had
done. or would do il he, could. There
was not word to tell where Swat was,
how it happened to be there. to whom it
belonged, or whether the death Of the
Ahkoond would cause its removal to an
other fiat, or even word to say Of what
the Ahkoond had died: or whether he was
a merchant prince. an ice man. or merely
common king or emperor.
Lanigan thought for a moment. 1t was
new one on him. He just made special
preparations for just such an emergency.
But where was Swat. and what was the
position Of the Ahkoond, or what rank? !?
With his voice choking with tears he
cried out:
'Oh. Heaven, help us. the great All
koond is dead this day and none so poor
supreme moment for the fountain pen.
Paper" he exclaimed. white paper
before the thought vanishesr'
And then and there, without as much
as scratching out a comma. he penned
his immortal ode. and placed the hereto
fore unknown Ahkoond on a solid and
substantial basis besides Hercules and
Perseus among the time-defying. iHde-
scribable, and uncomfortable constella-
was done in twenty minutes and has al
ready, lived almost again that long in
years. and is likely to be undying to
lovers of this class of verse.
Swat is the name of a valley and petty
state northeast of Afghanistan. 1t takes
its name from the River Swat-the So
astes of the incient Greek geographers-
an indirect tributary of the River kabul.
Ahkoond is the title of their ruler. The
old line of princes. which till a compara-
lively late time ruled in Swat claimed
descent from Alexander the Great
But George Laligan was more than
poet a satirist. and a live newspap per
man. He was also one of the best tele-
graph operators in America. He was
said to be the fastest SENDER in the
country. This wonderful versatility came
Pat for him during the great Chicago
fire. of which he wrote the most graph.
account in print. He had gone out On
the North Side. with other reporters, to
try to get some rational story Of the fire,
but was cut OF from communication with
his Office. 1t was clear that on that
night no fire story would rea..l, his news
paper by the regular channels. In his
wanderings about through the almost
flaming atmosphere Lanigan found an
abandoned telegraph ley IN a corner
drug store. and called TIE main osiice
Then for hours he sat at the key and
telegraphed the story nj his obse:va-
tions of the sights his eyes wsre resting
upon while he worked and the informa.
tion that was brought to him By willing
assistants. who volunteered to HELM him
once they understood tse. wondsrfui thing
5 Lnnisan later len chicass and dsed IN
tsHiiadelphia. His son tSecansss nSofeGe
0s the late Gec<9e NY Chtldf. who net
s.nly admired the lIder lIA1t9an kecatee
of the ssA6kocnd Of gN1st. ma Ngcnuss|
ef N oaplps g ses1r tt9se Avsy
lsx1f ~ koA - 81