The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1920-11-05

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sometimes longer for she was wear
Ing her last summer straw hat in
October this year.
The Hardings live In big green
mouse. with large white front porch
on Mount Vernon Avenue. a quiet
shady street here. 1t is a good street
but not in the most exclusive section
OF Marion, II town of thirty thous-
and could have an exclusive section.
/ There is nothing fancy about the
Harding home. inside or out. It Is
far less pretenious than those Of most
Marion merchants OF citizens OF sim
ila- standing. The Hardings 90 not
dress for dinner" nor have tea in
the afternoon. Harding likes waffles
4 for breakfast and a we'll done beefsteak
for dinner. There Is refinement at
their table, bat not "style" and no
stranger would ever be embarrassed by
a confusing army OF forks and spoons.
They live just like other Americans
Of moderate means. Mrs. Harding
looks after her potted plants and the
senator make frequent rounds Of in
spection after breakfast or lunch to
see that there are no loose boards on
the back yard walk or to examine the
screen door hinges that have been
sQueaking for several days.
One thing every visitor at Marion
discovers the first thing-the Hard.
ings are Just what they are, as Mrs.
Harding puts II.
/ Kindly And Humorous.
Hardings's closest friends have Of
ten expressed regret that the cam
paign photographs Of the candidate
showed rather stern visage. They
probably portray quite faithfully the
features Of Harding as he appears
IN the idst Of an earnest speech. But
shows far more : warmth sitting
around the dinner table while polit-
tcal troubles are left outside for the
moment. Then the genial, easy going,
good humored Harding holds sway.
Pushing back his chair little from
the table. he will light one Of his
favorite long rough stogies and look
reminiscent.
Warren. why don't you tell them
how you got fired from your first
newspaper job" Mrs. Harding will
say turning twinkling eye on her
guests.
i And Warren, rather reluctantly be-
gins by saying, ooh, they wouldn't
be interested In that"
Then he tells about his first Job
as a reporter on the old Marion Mir
ror, a zealously democratic paper.
Harding, just eighteen, wrote up
births, marriages, deaths, met all
trains, and did politics on the side.
His boss. busy in politics, was out
OF town good deal and let Warren
write the editorials warning him that
they must be fervently democratic
in tone.
! NYou know some of the best edi-
tor1alS / ever wrote were for that
democratic paper" Harding says.
But all the while he was an active
republican worker. though not old
enought to vote. He wore one of the
large Blaine campaign hats adopted
by republican partisans during that
campaign. He got away with it for
a while, but local democrats began
to complain to Harding's boss about
him allowing republican to get out
hie paper. Then Harding made his
| first political decision. It, was either
discard the Blaine hat or be fired He
was fired.
"a have been strong party man
ever since" Harding adds.
Start As Publisher.
Then you may hear Harding tell
how he had boy chum between them
borrowed $500 and bought the Mar
lon Star after the sheriff had taken
charge of the property. They printed
It one page at time on a small lob
press-and It was the first small
town daily in Ohio, Harding says.
But the partnership broke up when
| the telephone was introduced in Mar
ION. Harding, who had to get all the
advertising and collect news as we'll
wanted to put in telephone to save
time. His partner said 1t was a silly
IDEA. Harding ordered it in anyway
and the partner coming back to the
90 waS so~angrv that he demand.
=, ed dissolution of the partnership and
Ia isted on being put on salary
| ~ Dut him on the payroll at nine
dollars week." Harding said And
he was better off than 1 was then 4"
But the young publisher struggled
along, setting up his own type often.
writing all the news and soliciting
star grew to need a circulation man
ager Mrs. Harding droppedr her
housework and took the job. She
went down to the Star office every
!. day, kept the books Of all subscrib-
ers' collected for the paper, hired
the carriers and supervised the dis
II came out of the press.
| trioutlon or the paper from the time
Spanked The Offender.
In those days / knew every sub
scriber of the Star and / knew Just
now much he owed on his paper bill"
mad her troubles with the newsboys.
One day a youngster ran a small ell.
ectrfc wire around the press to the
MRS. Harding said one day She also
TACK where Mrs. Harding pulled out
the papers.
When she put her hand down to
lake out a bunch, she touched the
nve Wire and got shock.
She started on the trail of the Of
iendlng youngster who had given her
trouble before and, having obtained
ms mothers proxy after an alterca-
zion some weeks before, promptly
collared the young man and turned
MIN over her knee and spanked him.
few Sundays ago fifty former news
boys OF the Star. all now prosperous
4 young men scattered in many cities
came to Marion. They were gathered
on the front porch with Senator and
Mrs. Harding.
= Where is the boy Mrs. Harding
Spanked! Senator Harding asked
FIVE hands went up in the crowd.
That Is Mrs. Harding's way. She
| ID frank, outspoken and tha most