The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-07-07
WARES FAMOUS DEWEY LINES

day, and the reference In the news to
his authorship of the verse on the
Dewey victory at the battle of Manila
Bay, recalls that the lines were writ
ten apparently by the merest chance.
An article in the Des Moines Tribune
tells the story of their production
1t appears that 1Ironquill' somehow
or other got mixed up in newspaper
deal at Fort Scott, Kan, one time, and
and during his brief career as an edi.
tor either acquired a nose for news
or else was born that way. After re-
moving to Topeka. where he resided
for many years, this faculty led him
to poke around the newspaper offices
a good deal, Notwithstanding he was
one of the busiest lawyers in Kansas.
He was especially alert during the
Spanish-American war, for he had
been a warrior himself, having served
with distinction In the conflict be-
tween the states. Seeming to sniff
the battle from afar, he trudged up
the stairs to the editorial rooms OF
the Topeka Daily Capital few min
utes before the receipt OF the story
OF Dewey's remarkable victory over
the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. The
news editor handed him the first bull
letin, giving promise OF big thriller
to come, and laughingly suggested
that he might dash off something
about it Without replying, except
TO give little grunt, Ironquill devour-
ed the bulletin and eagerly grabbed
for more. Soon the telegraph instru-
ment began to click off the real stuff.
and the news editor, absorbed in the
story, forgot all about his request to
the poet, for he figured that he had
a good enough story without any trim
mings.
In little while, however. Ironquill
came out and tossed on the desk lit
tie scrap of paper upon which was
written the now famous "Oh, Dewey
was the morning" Tremendous as
was the story in hand, the editor had
plenty OF time to take care of anything
Eugene Ware threw his way. This
Dewey verse looked mighty good to
him. Therefore he had it set in large
black type and enclosed in what is
known as box and played it up in
the center of the first page, where it
was surrounded by news of the battle
Well, that little Jingle went like a
prairie fire in the Kansas short grass
country.
Before the week was out it had
been reprinted all over the United
States, and before 1t stopped 1t had
girdled the earth Ironquill, there
fore, suddenly found that his fame had
been tremendously expanded He had.
Of course, written more pretentious
verse and had even published small
volume of poems, familiar enough to
everybody in Kansas, but little known
beyond the borders OF the Sunfower
state Though his poems run largely
to the humorous, THE Song of the
Washerwoman," the real foundation
of his reputation as a poet, and one
OF the Kansas classics, along with
ingalls, Opportunity and Sol Mil
ler's 'Paw-paws Is Ripe Is one of
deep pathos 1t touches upon the
question of religious faith and for a
long time following its publication
there ragged in Kansas controversy
almost as fierce as the debate two
years ago over the religious belief of
William H. Taft, Mr.. Ware being
warmly attacked by some as woefully
lacking in religious faith and as earn
estly defended by others.
The Dewey lines as they originally
appeared, minus the ornamental bor-
der around them. are as follows:
nEWEv