Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-11-03

life OF MIR. Joseph Cooper. editor. Do
not overlook the fact that he was de-
prived of the right to publish the n
great piece OF news produced In Cor
NTH and by Corinth some years prior
to the prodigious doings of this day in
April: At that time, you may remem-
Der, he got very drunk because he
could not print the news" On the
present occasion he imbibed freely be-
cause he could print it. When you
stop TO consider that the Co:inth
Courier was made up largely Of plate
matter" and standing ads" and that
Joseph vas aided in the collection of
sparse local news items by a young
ster who could spell beautifully but
had no idea when to do it, you may
in a sense appreciate the magnitude
of the task that confronted him. All
In day came three of II most
startling stories Corinth had ever
known. So all-absorbing were these
items that a disastrous runaway on
Main street was completely overlooked
by the bibulous scribe and his panic
stricken assistant, with the result that
MIR. Peters, who had an arm broken
in the tumble from his wagon, ordered
his paper stopped because no mention
was made of the item" What was
the sense. said he. of having your arm
broken in the most thrilling runaway
of the year If the fool reporters didn't
put 1T in the paper? And he was
right. What was the sense?
First of all. Joseph had the Hon.
Horace Blagden's wonderful gift to the
was enough to bring out all that was
In him for n day. Just as he was
comfortably well under way on the
job-and long before his first drink of
the day--came those staggering de-
velopments at the court house. Before
he could turn round, it seemed to him.
the cry went up that Adam Carr. the
celebrated detective, had been foully
assassinated. From that time on
Joseph did nothing but urn around;
he fairly whirled. The cub reporter
ran up and down stairs SO often that
II got to be a habit with him, n he
couldn't stop. Two amiable and re-
the composing room. came to the res
cue. They went out n gathered up
the stray ends of the news. put them
together, n set type SO rapidly and
at such length that Joseph never
quite recovered from his surprise and
qualification. They lifted" d with
discrimination n substituted live
reading matter" they chopped out"
columns of paid locals with a prodi-
gality that cost Joseph as much as $50
in trade" they got. the news and
they printed the ews they trans
the Courier into a sickening
mass of typographical errors-for no
was there to read proof on them
but they turned out a "scarehead"
Journal that Corinth never quite got
over talking about.
After it was all over, they drew
their pay-a staggering lot Of m
they had set, by the way-and proceed
ed to get luxuriously tight" landing
in gaol before midnight. Which pro-
duced another sensation for the cub
reported the next day. It was the
cub reporters practice to make long
visits In the town hall daily, between
trains, because 1t was cool there in
the summer time and warm in the
winter. Generally you could catch
h leading editorial in the Courier
on this memorable day var not writ
ten by Mr.. Cooper. 1t was in the
shape Of a proclamation. and it was
written and signed by Horace Blag-
den in his private room al the bank.
It crowded out the magnificent edi-
Cooper to reflect. in an anticipatory
sort OF way, the boundless gratitude
OF h people who were to be benefited
by the princely gift of Mr.. Blagden,
exclusive mention Of which may be
found in another column of this
ISSUE"
This signed statement Of Horace
Blagden was more remarkable tina
anything that had W appeared in
the Courier. It may be set forth here
in few words, although it covered
more than an entire column OF the
newspaper.
The father of Chetwynd Blagden
took means of announcing to the
world that he held Eric Midthorne abb
solutely blameless!
Moreover. he went on to say that he
considered the taking off OF his son, to
be the act Of a just, all-wise Provi-
dence, whose ways, though strange
and and a iEscru atapI bring pain no. only to
declared, in no half-hearted terms,
that he would stand at his unhappy
nephew's side during the trial thai
was to come, not as prosecutor but
as defender, n that through him, the
father. the spirit Of Chetwynd Blag-
n of the self-accused. It was his
prayer that the case might be brought
to trial without delay. and that JUS
ttce might be appeased in the speedy
acQuittal Of my beloved nephew.
Eric Midthorne.s
The name q Adam Carr was not
mentioned.
In another column, however, ap-
peared tho news Of Mr.. Cars illness.
The q great feature Of the story was
miestng. however. for the simple season
that It did not come to light.
Mary Midthorne prevailed. She was
q the Fayson cottage e the polite
tho news. e he was disappointed to
learn that there had been no ~assassina-
ton, he was careful to conceal the
tact. In truth. he admitted cheoffully
that he va blamed glad Of It." they
were 20 hard pressed for time and room
NNSW - tAA C0NsAaAa Al1oMA 49, n.A-k