The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-05-26
A DAY and A NIGHT WITH
THE FIRST DISTRICT EDITORS

~H~ AkAS & - w. Ha~
his rod and Jay House gasped and
started back like the Israelites of old
expecting to see ceaSeless flow of
water across the plain. He entered
the tile factory and babbled like a
little child about the magic proper
ties of a certain welding machine
there.
Brown County Farm Lands.
The drive by auto from Horton to
Hiawatha was a delight. The dews of
heaven never spread a benediction
upon a fairer farming land than this.
And Charlie Browne knew every man,
woman and child along the way. Yes,
and passenger stuck his head out of
a coach on a Grand Island passenger
train at a crossing and Charlie knew
him, too, and waved at him, and the
man answered him.
When God made the heavens and
the earth He must have smiled when
His miracle hands passed over that
portion of the earth that men now call
| Brown county. The waters sing their
little song in the hollows, the wheat
| and corn make a treasure house of the
lowlands and the alfalfa is the glory Of
the hills. To get a title deed to any
| of this land the wouldbe purchas ser
must pay from $500 to $500 per acre for
his bargain.
Hiawatha entertained the editors in
| a big and modern hall and set flowers
| on the table of the presiding officer.
| They have three miles of paving in
Ewing Herbert's town and broad
streets and many handsome houses.
The afternoon meeting was informal.
! A few speeches were made. Three
picked men of the editors wrestled with
Charlie Brown like Jacob of old wrCs-
| tied with the angel to try to keep the
subject of the cost system in the back
ground. But they struggled in vain.
The drive over Hiawatha in autos af
ter the meeting we'll worth while.
The town is typical of the best that
Kansas has to offer for her share of
the eternal argument that the big city
is not the best place to breed and keep
| men. Peace and prosperity seem to
have come to Hiawatha to abide there
evermOre.
Ewing Herbert's Front Porch.
At the close of the day certain
! favored ones of the visiting editors sat
| on the front porch of the Herbert
home and talked about shams and
ships and sealing wax and cabbages
and kings.
Much has been said for and against
the architecture of the front porch of
porch or verandah, or portico, or
whatever Herbert calls it. AS regards
| its lines and distances or Ionic and
| Doric proportions the writer does not
| pretend to say but it surely is most
| comfortable porch upon which to cit
on summers day. 1t is wide and deep
and high. 1t is a cross between Il
| rough stone wall and a smooth marble
| resting place. 1t is different from other
porches and better than most porches
| And the masters hospitality becomes
/ it well.
The Night Session.
| The night session was held at the
| Moreland hotel. A country supper was
served. Herbert acted as POSTMASTER
and there are not three better than he
! in this role in the U. S. A
f, Will Beck of the Holton Recorder
told why he staid in the country He
also told why the different ramifica-
| tions of the Herbert, Beck and Mac
Laughin families did not rule the en-
tire First district with a rod of iron
1t is this way and thusly: Herbert
| owns the Brown County World. His
nephew Drew mclaughlin, runs the
| Sabetha Herald. Another nephew,
! Charlie Browne, runs the Horton
Headlight. Beck, a nephew by marriage
! is one of the owners of the Holton
Recorder. These four, all related by
| blood or marriage, edit four of the best
| country weeklies in the world Looks
| like a great conn bina ton. But it's not.
For, as Will Beck sa nd, the family can
not agree on politics. OF these four
papers, two are generally arrayed on
one side against the other two. And
the balance of power in the First dis
trict is thus maintained on an even
! keel.
| And VIII Beck told why ne Sta1d IN
/ the country, and Kansas is the gamer
| thereby.
! Drew MacLaughlin's speech about
| the relations between the newspaper
| man and the banker was worth the
! price of admission to a Ziegfried
| (maybe it's Siegfried) opera at So the
head. The young Sabetha editor mixed
| implicitly and shrewdness and SINGER
| ity and humor all together, and so
| well, that it was hard to tell when, il
| ever, he was going to declare war on +!
| the men who keep stacks of money in |
steel vaults for newspaper men to Dor !
| row on security thrice approved
| Then Came Jay House.
| Then came Jay E. House., the To- i
| peka paragrapher, and blossomed out !
! in a night into a Chautauqua orator. !
| The POSTMASTER gave him a fine in |
| PRODUCTION, such one as a man might !
| work in vain for years to secure, and |
| the editors added to it a noisy well |
| come. House rose to the occasion like !
the price of wheat in a dry year. Hiss