The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1920-07-08
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q UNCLE TED'S BEDTIME y
n STORIES .
0o0S000O0CG 9 @ 9
FROM FRAN BOY TO PRESIDENT
Warren G. Harding Was u Irregular
Boy.

"you know YOU promised to tell us
all about Senator Harding last week.
leased Jack as he tugged at his uhcie s
coat. -,
"That's true, Jack All right, III
tell YOU all | can but there are 50
many things to tell about Mr. Harding
that can't possibly tell them all to-
night. Now sit real quiet and don
ask too many questions.
warren G. Harding was born on HIS
vrandfathers farm not far from the
little village of Blooming Grove MOT
row county, Ohio, on the second DAY Oh
November, 1865. There were eight chill
dren IN the family and Senator HARD
ing was the oldest. His father, George
II Harding, was the village doctor IN
those DAYS and is still practicing medi-
cine in the city of Marion, Ohio, the
nresent home of the Senator. Inc
original Harding family come from
Scotland. and settled first in Connecti-
cut and later moved to Wyoming val
lev. Pennsylvania, where many vi
them fought in the Revolutionary war
Warren's mother, for he was warren
lack. lust as you are Jack today was
pboebe Dickerson, descended from the
Van Kinks. an old Holland Dutch FAM
,,v So Won see our next President mas
the strong blood of the Holland Dutch
on one side and the fearless, alert, ana
liber,y-loving Scotch blood on the
other.
"As Warren grew up on his grand
fathers farm he had to learn TO cut
down trees, chop wood, split raiis'
n,ant and hoe corn and all those things
that had to be done when to raise crops
meant reaising them between the roofs
and stumps of trees. Everything was
done by hand for there was no expeh-
s,ve farm machinery. Your father
knows, Jack. what hard work it was Ill
those days"
Didn't he ever play?" asked Ruth'
"You bet he did, Ruth. He was a
healthy, big boy and like all healthy
bovs he enjoyed the sports of the coun-
try and village. He loved the old SWIM
ming hole and no boy could dove dep
er or swim farther than Warren he
had a sunny disposition and was the
real leader of the gang of his school
mates. When he was sixteen he looked
like a man and had the strength OF
man and there was no older boy VINO
dared bully him. And he always pro-
tected the younger boys. Uu until he
was fourteen years old he went to the
village school, and then he entered the
Ohio Central College of Iberia. lie
graduated high in scholarship. 1t was
while there that he showed talent for
newspaper work, for he was made edi-
tor of the college paper. But the boys
in those days couldn't afford to go
right through college. He had to stop
for a time now and then to earn
enough money to go ahead and finish'
During these times he worked at many
Things He painted his neighbors
barns, cut corn, and drove team to
grade the roadbed Of railroad. He
taught school when he was seventeen
and played horn in the village brass
band.
"But after he had try at many
things he still longed to be news
paper man, and at odd times he work
ed in the little printing office. He
learned to set type by hand and later
run linotype machine, which is used
today In setting one line of newspaper
type at once. In fact he learned from
the ground up everything there was
to know about newspaper and to this
day he carried in his pocket luck
piece which is nothing more or less
than the old printers rule he USED
years ago when he was setting type.
"All OF Senator Hardings newspa
per ambitions were realized, for hi
finally became the owner and publish
er of the Marion, Ohio, Star Tit
Star is his pet. When Warren wa!
nineteen his father moved to Marion
where the Star was struggling dali!
paper In a town Of about four thou
sand people. Warren could think o
nothing else but that he wanted to owl
that paper. His father finally helped
him take 1t over and then FOLLOWED
months Of struggle and hard work t
keep It going. At times he had to d.
everything from setting the type Il
writing the news and printing the pa
per on press that had to be turne,
by hand. But that story is too lon
to tell tonight. The result OF his har,
work has been that the Star today 1
q big money-making plant and coul
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