Milford chronicle., 1920-07-23
HARDINGS zoo LBS. OF TYPE


thaL you said it was another story
about his newspaper, and some day
ycu would tell US all atCut it"
Yes, Jack" answered his uncle
"the story of how Senator Harding
started in the newspaper business is
one of the most interesting stories |
know. Call Ruth out here IN the
yarG-it's too hot in the house-and
III tell you all can about what one
boy did with two hundred pounds of
type"
Were all ready" called Ruth.
'When Warren Harding" BEGAN
Uncle Ted, was eighteen years Of
age, his family moved to Marion. o
where his father still continues the
practice of medicine. Warren had
just enough touch of newspaper work
on his college paper to give him an
ambition to become a Journalist He
finally got job in the Office Of a lit
tie Democratic weekly the Marion
Mirror, where he did everything from
setting type and turning the press to
scrubblng floors. There We're two
other papers in Marion at that time.
one a well run and going paper Ian
Independent weekly and the other a
small weekly that had taken the
name of The Star which was taken
over by the sheriff on November 25,
1884, because the owner was broke
and unable to pay his bills. Warren's
boss, the publisher of he Democratic
paper, was afraid that the Star would
be sold to someone who would make
it a real paper to the injury of the
Independent. But the owners
laughed at such a possibility, which
made the Democratic publisher ang-
ry. So he told Warren to 90 to the
Court House and bid on the paper.
saying to the astonished Warren, who
had no idea that he could own a pa
per and little money, You go ahead
and it will work out all right So it
was on Wednesday, November 25.
1884, that young Harding started his
career as a newspaper publisher. 1t
was no easy road that he and his
chum had to travel There were
many bills to be paid and all they
really had to start with was 200
pounds of type. 1t was young Hard
ing who hustled for the news and adj
vertising while his chum set the pa
per.
"The Star commenced to grow so
fast that the men who ran the Inde- |
pendent no longer laughed at War |
rem and his chum but commenced to 1
fight them in every way possible. No /
matter how bad things went and no
matter how many bills there were to
meet when there was little or no
money in sight, Warren smiled, bit
his lip and worked harder than ever.
He finally decided that to help he
paper grow as it should they should
have a telephone. His partner did
not agree and thought it an unneces-
sary expense. But Warren would not
agree and the telephone stayed, with
the result that he bought out his
chum and placed him on the payroll
thereby becoming the sole owner of
the paper With this added expense
he soon realized that the original pur-
chase price of the paper had to be
met within six months from the day
he bid for the Star at the court
house. There was no use thinking of
getting new machinery or type. When
the type broke he kept it in a box
to be sold for what little he could
get as junk.
''It was a long struggle, kiddies,
until finally the Star came out of all ]
financial troubles, the last bills were
paid and Warren G. Harding found
that he not onlynreally owned the pa I
per but that it was a success. He j
felt so good about it that he wrote {
an editorial in which he told of the ]
through which he had {
gone. I
"At times the men who ran the In
dependent became so bitter toward
the Star and its success, which had I
hurt their business, that they attack ]
ed Warren personally, but the future I
Senator and President of the United
States kept his head above water and {
refused to be drawn into a nasty {
fight 1t got so bad though {
that once Warren met one of the pro- I
prietors of the weekly Independent on I
the street he told him that if he didn't s
stop his campaign of personal abuse
he would lick the dickens out of l
him. That seemed to be enough, for [
the Independent publisher saw that t
young Harding meant what he said. I
Fourteen years after Harding and t
his chum had purchased the five col {
QUINN daily a full leased telegraphic I
service was put in that brought the f
news of the world on the instant to c
the very doors of Marion, Ohio Today
the Star has the latest type electric I
presses, eight linotype machines, a l
force of more than fifty people and is
one of the most powerful papers in
the great State of Ohio.
"Jack, this story should make you, d
as well as every other boy in the
country, stop and realize what hard c
work and faith will accomplish. War
rem C. Harding, as a boy started on
his nerve, bought out his partner be- Y
cause they disagreed over a tele-
phone, put the partner on his pay
roll, and kept smiling and working
every minute with the result that to- Y
day he controls a plant that every
year brings in a sum equal to that of a
iaily papers in cities twice the size
1f Marion. Besides this he has help O
I'd his city to grow, held Office two S
.erms as State Senator in Ohio, was l.
elected Lieutenant Governor of the a
State and then United States Senator
md today he is the candidate of the Il
party for the greatest and a
highest position with which the peo- b
Die of the United States can honor
And next NOvem- d
)er he will be elected in order that I
he United States may return to c
Government under the Constitution
instead of a Government by one Z
man."