The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1922-11-29
The Casting Out
Of Jimmy Myers
WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.



sewer fights than most newspaper Of
iicas have, and while it hardly may
be. said that we strive to please. still
IN tse main we try to get on with the
Ieople, and tell them as much truth
a.. they are entitled to for ten cents
a week. Naturally, we do our best to
GET up sprlghtly paper, and in that
eha Myers boy had our idea exactly.
Sc. was Industrious: more than that,
Dr. tried with all his might to exer-
else his best Judgment, and no one
eslild say that he was careless; yer
everyone around the office admitted
chat he was uniuchy.
We took him FROM the college III Ia,
edge oi town. He had been running
ss,s college paper for year, and "ner
se merchants around town fa'rl
xpll; and, since he was equinHcd u
S,r as education went. he seemed Ia b.
o likely sort of a boy for reporter ana
al, rrtising solicitor.
One Of the first things that Happened
a. him was a mistake in an itela a"'..'
me opcra house. lie said this; Il -"
sfteate had taken Il lien on Il. N'!l
be meant was lease. and aS he q"
sac item from IL man who didn't kh0"
al,c difference. and as the hoy stuck
10 il that the inam had s,,iu iivI, is.'u
not lease. we did not charge t.!a, ~ /"
aim. 4 few days later he wrote Tor
town photographer paid local cgia-
rising some one who was go'n" Hh"'N'
she county peddling picture frames
aud taking orders for enlarged PIE
lures. That was not 50 bad, bdt II
surned out that the pedd.cr Tds u
woman. and she came with Il raWhH"
and campcd in the Office for tw" days
waiting for Jimmy. while he came IN
and out of the back door. stuck HI
copy on the hook by stealth. and tray
sied only in the alleys Ia get MS news.
one could hardly say that lac was Il"
ELAINE for that either as tho p.,G,o1
rapher who paid for the item d'tu'
say the peddler was Il woman. and ti'
boy was not Il ciairvoyaut
one dull day he wrote piece about
a gang who played poker NJ niSnt in
Red Martins room. Jimmy saiu lac
wasn't afraid of Red Martin, and he
wasn't. The item was popular caOcG.L
srd led To reid on the place, which
disclosed our best advertiser sitting
In the game. TO suppress his nam"
meant our shame before the town; to
print it meant his-at our expense. 1t
1as embarrassing. but il wasn't ex-
actly the boys faust. L was just
one of those unfortunate circumstances
ihat come w in life. However, the
advertiser aforesaid began to hate the
BOY.
He must nave been used ia injustice
all his life, for there was vertical
line between his eyes that marked
,erouble. The line deepened as he went
further and further into the newspaper
buiness; for. generally speaking, per
son who is uniucky has less to fear
nsndling dynamite than he has writ
ing local items on a country paper.
A few days after the raid on the
poker room Jimmy, who had acquired
a particularly legible hand, wrote !:
1.-THE hem of her skirt was trimmed
with pink crushed roses" and he was
10 no way to blame for the fact that
khe printer accidentally put an "h" for
*" in skirt. though the woman's
husband chased Jimmy into u culvert
snder Main street and kept him there
Most of the afternoon. while the cheer
Sng crowd informed the injured hus-
band whenever Jimmy tried to get out
Of either end of his prison.
The printer that made the mistake
Sought Jimmy new suit of clothes,
we managed to print an apology that
cooled the husbands wrath, and for
cen days. or perhaps two weeks, the
Boys life was one round of JOY.
Everything was done promptly. accu-
gately and with remarkable intelli-
sence. lie whistled al his work and
stacked up more copy than the print
srs could set up in type.
lie told us in confidence that he
aever felt festive and gay that some
ching didn't happen. He was not In
che building that evening when the
paper went To press, but after it was
printed and the carriers had left the
sifice he came in singing: "She's My
Sw eetheart, I'm Her Beau" and sal
down to read the paper.
Suddenly the smile on his face with
cred as with frost, and he handed the
Haper across the table To the book
Nerper, who read this item:
Died-Mrs Lillian Gilsey.
Prepare for The hot weather, IN,
good woman. There Is only one way
now; get gasoline stove of Hurley
4 Co.. and you need not fear any fu
ture heat
And n wasn't Jimmy's fault. Tho
foreman had merely misplaced head
ane. but that explanation did not sat
sfy the bereayed family.
Jimmy was beginning to acquire d
reputation as joker. People refused
GO believe that such things just hap