The north Mississippi herald., 1920-11-12
HARDING ROSE FROM FARM TO
PRESIDENCY VIA FOURTH ESTATE
Typicay American Career of Struggling YouthThen Pros
perity-Dabbled E arly in Printers Ink

"The Star Publishing Company"
The company consisted of Warren
Harding and his chum, Jack Warwick.
Thus began Hardings career as a
publisher. For several years he liv-
ed a slaves life First the property
had to be paid for Harding ansack-
ed Marion for news and advertise
ments. When his writing was done
he Helped his partner set the tyre,
make up the paper, turned or fed the
creaky little press and got the carrier
boys out When this was finished the
partners turned to and distributed the
type for they had barely enough f
It for one days paper and had to have
it ready for the next day.
The Star when Harding took it wa
an insignificant little sheet in aou
ty seat of 4 1000 population. To II l-e
matters worse-apparenty y-I4aHd-
ing changed its politics from indie
pendent to Republican, though the
community was strongly Democratic ,
Day by day the people of Marion pre-
dicted early death for the Star, but it
continued to twinkle along, despite
attacks on it and its editor by the In
dependent, which at last began to
feel the touch of business competi-
ton.
Warren Harding smiles now over
the struggle of those days, but the
fact is that for long time after he
bought the Star he was never sure
he was confident, but never sure--
that the next morning would not find
him on the rocks and pounding to
pieces. He sold insurance on the
side, rasorted to al sorts of expedi-
ents to- meet the Saturday night pay
roll, worked all day and figured all
highland in the midst of his trou
bles decided that the paper must have
telephone in order to keep abreast
of the times. His partner baked at
this. Harding bought his partner
out and put him on the pay roll, thus
reducing the sum he himself was en-
titled to draw for his services.
The paper could not modernize its
ramshack,e equipment because the
purchase price, secured by a mort
gage, had to be paid in six months
from the time of the sheriff's auction.
At one stage the forms which held the
type of the Star were kept tight oy
plugs made of burned matches. There
was also an aftrnoon in which Hard |
ing met the editor of the bitter at
tacking Marion Independent on the
street and, shaking his fist under the
editors nose, said:
''I'm going to mop up the street
with you if you don't stop lying a.
bout me, and then I'll go over and
mop up your office with what re-
mains.
The provocation must have been
pretty fierce, for Harding has always
won his way by conciliation, not al
tercation.
Wins Towns Good Will
With his energy and courtesy
Harding won the good will of Marion
for the Star. For his part, Harding
devoted himself to booming the town.
He made good friends among the
business men. They turned adver-
tisng his way. And so, at last, and
thanks not little to Mrs Harding,
who went with her husband to the
office and worked at his side, the Star
arrived" and its editor became a
power in the community. Mrs.
Harding's father was Amos King,
leading business man Of Marion. He
strongly opposed her marriage to
Harding, which took place in 1891.
The Star had not yet come into its |
own, and King underestimated the
proprietor.
Mrs. Harding joined the workers
in the newspaper office. She did no
writing, but took up the management
of the circulation and the newsboys. |
Literally she saved the pennies, TAX
ing them home from day to day until
the collection was lnrge enough to be
banked. Mr.. Warwick, in his sketch
of his former partner, says:
II have seen w. G.. marching down !
to the bank with gallon of pennies |
in either hand. was always curious
to know how manv pennies made a
q lion. but ne, ar found out"
oenator Harding invariably attrih-
u.e, most of his success to his wi e
0u her constant attention to bus,
~8 details while the newspaper W 8
I'll e9in- its tooth Id.
~ }~rs Po't S.
Trababv Harding abl'tv to talk
on his feet is responsible for his e
trance into politics. At school he W 5
pride declaimer. In Marion he
early attended every meeting of the |
Republican county committee. He
made his first political speech in the
early nineties in the hamlet of Mar
tel, near Marion.