 A short interregnum followed, during which ownership was transferred to J.W. Skaggs. Skaggs continued to push Alexander's Democratic Party / states' rights agenda during his short five weeks at the helm. The poor economics of the weekly paper were unchanged, however, and Skaggs immediately moved to unload his newly acquired white elephant, cutting his losses and avoiding the stigma of financial failure for himself and the conservative political movement by giving away the paper outright to two men who worked for him as printers, William Thompson and William Victor. According to Thompson's later recollection, Skaggs sweetened the transfer of ownership by tossing in two bundles of paper and two cords of firewood for the new owners.
