The north Mississippi herald., 1920-11-12

w dTTeIl NdludlIel I1dIulllS was e
lected president of the United States
on his ffty-ffth birthday. In him
the nation will have once more a chief
executive whose career can be de-
scribed as "typically American"
The story of his struggling boyhood,
of his days on the farm and at the
printers case, of his fight for the
life of a country newspaper, of his
ultimate business and political sue
cess has often been tod, but it is the
sort of story that always bears re-
telling.
He was born on Nov, 2, 1865-six
War-on his grandfather's farm,
where his father then lived, outside
the village of Blooming Grove, Nor
row County, Ohio. He was the old
est of eight children. The father,
DR.. George A. Harding, village ply
sician. came of Scotch ancestors, who
settled in Connecticut and then NOV
ed on to Wyoming Valley, Pa. The
mother, Phoebe Dickerson, came
from a Holland Dutch family, the
Van Kinks.
DR.. Harding had lived in two
room log house he had built with his
own hands in pioneer days. He had
little means and to piece out his in
come as a physician farmed it on a
small scale. So young Warren was
aistllctly farm boy. Woodland
6U all around him. little by little
the clearing of it enlarged the area of
the farm land. Every child did his
share. Warren Harding learned to
fell trees, chop wood, split rails, plant
and hoe corn. In the winter he had
his chores to do before and after
school. He grew up big and strong
If body and sunny of disposition.
From College to Printers Case
At the age of ID he entered Ohio
Central College-really Of academy
grade-at iberia At intervals he
stopped in order to earn money to go
on, and all his vacations were devot-
ed to earning money. He cut corn,
painted barn, drove team for a
gang grading the roadbed of the To-
ledo & Ohio Central Railway and
taught a district school. One sum-
mer he raised 18 bushels of wheat on
half an acre of ground which his
father gave him. He played slide
trombone in the iberia brass band.
but that was a labor of love.
But, most important of all to him,
he learned to set type in tiny print
ing office and came under the spell of
printers ink. He still carries as his
,uck piece the printers rule he used
when sticking type. AS editor of
the college paper he showed aptitude
for journalism. When he was 19
years old his family removed TO
Marion, in the adjoining county.
There he got job in the office of
small Democratic weekly, the Marion
Mirror. Just before this he had been
reading law, selling insurance and
teaching school, But from the
moment he went to Marion he was de-
termined to be a newspaper man.
For the owner of the Mirror he did
everything from scrubbing out the
Office and setting type to writing edi-
torials and hustling advertisements
and subscriptions.
Although the paper was Democrat
ic his Republicanism was unf1lnchlng.
The embarrassment of this situation
became acute when he not only join
ed the Blaine Club, but insisted on
wearing a Blaine hat to work. 1t has
often been said that Harding was
fired for this, but that is not true.
He was too valuable to his employer.
Net only did he know the mechanics
of trade, but he had a pleasant way
of writing pieces about births, we'd
dings and other local events that
pleased the public and made friends
for the Mirror.
There was a little daily called the
Star which had been started by
former peanut vendor. 1t went un~
der the sheriff's hammer Harding's
employer, owner of the Democratic
Mirror. had advised the owner of the
other Democratic paper, the indie
pendent, to buy the Star and junk it,
else it might arise to plague the In
dependent This the owner of the
Independent refused to do. Nettled
bv the rejection of his advice, the
owner of the Mirror called in Herd
ing and tod him to go over 10 t.o
courthouse and buy the Star.
"Ive nothing to buv t with" sand
Harding.
"You 20 over and do what l tell
YOU and it will work out all right
said the boss.
Buying the Marion "Star"
On the following day, Nov. 26,
1884, this announcement appeared IN
the Star;