The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1922-11-23


managers efforts to build up sub
cription lists in the rural districts,
md personal sketches of local celebri.
lies had proved potent in this en-
deavor. Mos tot the subjects that had
fallen TO Harwood's lot had been of
familiar type-country lawyers who
sat in the Legislature, or county
chairmen. or judges of county courts.
As the Sunday Courier" eschewed
! politics. the series was not restricted
10 Democrats, but included men of
| all faiths Il was Harwoods habit to
spend a day In the towns he visited,
gathering local color and collecting
| anecdotal matter.
: While this employment cut deeply
, Into his LoLrs at the law office. he
/ reasoned that there was a conpen-
satng advantage in the knowledge
/ he gained on these excursions Of the
men Of both political faiths.
Before the train stopped at Fraser
vile he saw from the car window the
name "Bassett" written large on a
| towering elevator-a fact which he
noted carefully as Offering a sugges-
ton for the Introductory line of his
sketch. AS he left the station and
struck of toward the heart of the
town. he was aware that Basset was
a name that appealed to the eye fire.
quently. The Basset Block and Bas-
setts banl- spoke not merely for a
materiel prosperity. rare among the
/ local statesmen he had described IN
the Courier" but, Judging from the
| prominence Of the name In Fraser
Vile nomenclature. he assumed that
/ It had long been established In the
community. Harwood had not pre-
viously faced q second generation in
/ his pursuit OF Hoosier celebrities, and
/ he breathed a sign of relief at tho
/ prospect OF a variation on the thread
/ bare scenario Of early hardship. the
little red schoolhouse, patient indus.
/ try. and the Iaborious attainment OF
meagre political honors-which had
begun to bore him.
HarwOod sought first the editor Of
/ the Fraser County Democrat" who
was also the "Courier's" Fraserville
/ correspondent. FraservtIle boosted
/ two other newspapers, the Republic
an" which onset the Democrat" po-
Htically. and the News" an indie
pendent afternoon daily whose func-
ton was to encourage strife between
its weekly contemporaries and boom
the commercial interest Of the town
The editor OF the Democrat" was an
extremely stout person. who sprawled
at ease in a battered swivel chair.
with his slippered feet thrown across
q desk Uttered with newspapers, clip
pings. letters, and manuscript. A file
hook was suspended on the wall over
his shoulder. and on this it was his
habit TO impale. by a remarkable
twist OF body and arm. gems for his
hebdomadal journal. He wrote on a
pad held In his ample lap. the paste
brush was within easy reach, and
once planted on his throne the edi-
tor was established for the day. A
consular report. folded In half was
thrust under the editors right thigh,
easily accessible in ferOcious moments
when he INDUCED himself in the fell
city Of Strengthening the reaches with
which the place swarmed. He gave
Dan a limp fat hand. and cleared a
chair OF exchanges with one foot,
which he thereupon laborlously re-
stored to its accustomed place on the
desk.
so you're from the Courier Well
sir, you may tell your managing edi
tor for me that If he doesn't print
more Of my stuff he can get some
body else on the job here"
Dan soothed Mr.. Pettit's feelings az
best he could; he confessed that his
own best work was mercilessly cut.
and that. after all. the editors of city
newspapers were poor judges Of the
essential character of news. When
Pettit's good humor had been re
stored. Dan preached the nature Of
his errand As he mentioned Morton
Bassett's name the huge editors face
crew blank for a moment: then no
was shaken with mirth that passed
from faint Quivers until his whole
frame was convulsed. His rickety
chair trenbled and ratified Ominously
II was noiseless laughter so far as
any vocal manifestations were con
cerned: but It shook the gigantic edi
tor as though ne were & mold Of jelly.
He closed his eyes, but otherwise his
fat face was expressiOnless.
Coin to write Mort up. are you?
Well, by gum! I've been readin'
those pieces In the Courier. Your
work? Good writin'; mighty inter.
estin' readin', as old Uncle Horace
Greeley used to say. 1 guess you car
~ the whitewash brush along with
you in your pilgrimages. You GER
tainly did give Bill Ragsdale a clean
bill O. health. That must have tickled
the folks in Tecumseh County. Know
Ragsdale? I've set with Bill in the
lower house three sessions, and I come
pretty near KNOWN him. l don't say
that Bill is crooked: but suspect that
II Bits moral nature could be dug
out and exposed TO view it would be
spiral like a bedspring; just about
It's All awful load on the Republican
party in this State. having to carry
Bill Ragsdale. o LordP'
He pursed his fat lips. and his eyes
took on q PARKWAY expression, as
though some profound utterance had
diverted his thoughts to remote
realms of reverie $50 you're goin to
write Mort up: well. my God!'
The editors Gargantuan girth trem.
bled again. The spectacle he present.
ed as he shook thus with tnexplicable
mirth was so funny that Harwood
gTfnned: whereupon Petit ruiz I'd one
Of his great hands across his three
days growth Of beard, evoking a