TIIE ALLIANCE HERALD, TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1920.
TOREK
Comment--and
Discomment
Country Journalism back in the
early eighties presents an interesting
study. Not that it isn't always In
teresting. Far from it. There isn't
another field of endeavor, not ex
cepting preaching or bootlegging,
that has more fascinating ang'es or
slants. The early eighties were par
ticularly interesting, though, for in
those day 8 publishing a newspaper
was a precarious occupation, and the
man who would oe called editor
sacrificed a great deal for the joy of
following his profession. Literature
has ever been a fickle mistress, and
country Journalism, a second cousin
of letters, is something of a Jade
herself.
This western territory product
some notable country journalists, in I
spite of the fact that the pickings
vere poorer here than in a good
many places. Any new count! y
where settlers were houisteaalr.g
was pretty sure to get tome sort of
a newspaper, for there were a lot of
legal notices to be printed, and they
paid cash in advance. Subscribers
might subscribe and year after year
get farther in arrears; advertisers
might be few and far between, but
the newspaper with the politics of
the administration might be expected
to survive somehow. The editor was
usually postmaster, and the salary
helped a lot.
the county was organised. He
fought the good fight for the locu
tion of the county seat and won, but
it was a vain struggle. The railrouJ
elected to go through llemlngforii,
and one fine day the town of Ntv.i
pareil moved over. Here's a deBcrlp
tion of the Grip office written by
Editor Heath when every prospect
was rosy. It shows, better than
anything else, the beginnings of the
publishing business. In those days
a man could buy a shirt-tail full of
, second hand type and a O. Washing
! ton or Army hand press for very lit
tle money, and stay at the game un
, til somebody killed him or he Just
'naturally starved to death. Heath
describes his printing office thus:
"
"A snyill frame building con
structed of native lumber, bj
'boarding up and down,' leaving
cracks an inch wide between the
I boards; door cut bias, of the same
! material, with a lock warranted to
.fit everybody's key; a window on
either side of the door, neatly ad
Justed in common western frames,
with three tenpeuny nails to each
sash as support. A planed board
with the word 'Grip painted upon
it, and nailed Just above the door, as
solid as a campaign lie, adorns the
front. The roof is covered with tar
paper, witn Taint nopes or smugics
1 some time in the future.
'Gene Heath, who was a contem
porary of Dill Nye and Bill Barlow,
one of whom, achieved fame and the
other notoriety, was the first man
to give Box Butte county a tasto of
genuine country Journalism. "Gene
threw his fortunes In with Nonpareil
before the railroad came through or
"You necessarily duck your head
in order to enter, when, an unas
suming sort of postoffice first meets
your gaze. The office is composed
of an empty tobacco box partitioned
off for letters, and a boot box nailed
to the wall answers for papers. A
rough table extending nearly across
the room, with a pair of number 10
split leather plow shoes incasing the
editor's feet, reared above it, next
attracts your attention. There Is
nothing attractive about the editor
excepting his feet, however, and your
eyes naturally revert from him and
wander to the opposite side of the
room where stands another rudely
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constructed table which answers for
an imposing stone. Dack farther,
deeper down In the den. is our devil,
homelier than the story of 'the three
bt are, qulepy holding down the old
stool and gathering up type with a
rapidity equaled by no other devil
on ettrth. This la the appearance of
our office today. A year from now
we will give our readers another
description."
Vnfortunate'.y, a year frcm tra.
time there was no Grip In Nonpareil,
so we can only guess what strides
the paper and Its editor might have
made. Trobably there wouldn't have
been any noticeable changes. The
devil would have been a year older
and possessed a few more freckles,
and the editor might have had a new
pair of shoes or trousers.
In order to live and grow In those
days, It was necessary for an editor
to be continually 8crarplng. If
thrre was no county seat fight, or
up election, he must "burn" his com
petitor, or the newspapers In neigh
boring towns. There wasn't much
news," anyway, and the people sort
of liked to rend mean and sarcastic
remarks about anything. 'Gene
Heath was good at invective, al
though he probably wouldn't have
called it that, lie seldom boasted
of his ability on the firing line, but
he didn't ne-d to. Ills readers had
an opportunity to see it every issue.
reference to where the D. & M. line
will run, and If the Herulngford pa
pers have said anything In reference
to tho matter that Is untrue we hope
they will retract."
"We hnve rocelved volume 1 num
ber II of tho Earth Lodge Champion',
published in this county. It looks
like an old sweat-pad of a freighting
harness. We don't liko to bo rude
on short acquaintance, but that is
about the way It looks to us."
"Nonpareil is the largest town in
the Box Mutte country. Now dispute
that, you long-earned, limber legged
liars from six miles north, and we.
will drive you to the wall."
"It is becoming pretty apparent
t.iat the goody-goody wallowers 1n
rlRhteousncss up on the sandhill will
lio a little at times."
"We are plensed to sny the rtox
Hutte Country Rustler, printed la
this place, is meeting with good suc
cess, and we think (were it not for
Its politics, which are democratic)
that It will be a power In this new
country. Gleaner. Kats, the thing
that runs tho Hustler Is no democrat.
Democrats wash their feet."
Jenkins and his best klrl were
motoring a considerable distance to
see one of the last round cup ties,
and the margin of time was very
snort.
With about twelve miles to to, t
bade defiance to all police trap
and. turning to the girl of hit heart.
ec!almed: "We're Rolng at flftr
miles an hour. Are you brartv
A e
The girl, as she swallowed ft quia
tlty of dust( replied with emoting;
"Yes, dear; I'm full of grit!"
don Tit-Bits.
For Sale Nine room hoMSV
Best part of town. Modem. Priced
right and good terms. See Nebraska
Land Company. tf
$2.50 a year and worth moro
Heath's hereditary enemy was, of
course, the editor of the Hemlngford
Gleaner, Joseph Hare. Hemlngford
was a contender for the county seat
and the railroad. Having only the
files of the Grip, it's a trifle hard
to estimate Hare's ability, but Heath
always referred to him as "Gentle
Joseph." He also had another nat
ural enemy In Editor Burlew of the
Rustler. We'll have to give you
some samples of the way newspapers
warfare was conducted thirty-five
years ago. Here's one from 'Gene
Heath:
"Hare and Coates (Gentle Joe's
partner) are financially Interested In
building a town at Hemlngford. Each
has claims there on which a greater
portion of the ill-favored town Is
built. It is very natural that they
should show the brightest side of
their railroad prospects. It Is also
natural for those two particular In
dividuals to lie about the matter
from pure cussedness, but with Bur
lew of the Rustler, It Is different.
Burlew is a man who is Influenced
more or less by those above him in
intelligence, and is a tool for the
balance of the town. It were better
had Burlew been bnocked in the head
when young and the nourishment
upon which he has subsisted so long
been saved."
Gentle Joseph wasn't allowing
anyone to walk over him. Here's a
sample of his invective: "We admire
the grit and enthusiasm of the Grip
editor in sounding his B. & M. horn,
for we very well known that he
knows that he won't have much
longer to sound it. All we have to
say Is, 'Give that calf more rope.' To
which Heath made reply: "And the
Grip editor very well knows that the
chump' who attracts flies into the
Gleaner office very well knows that
Nonpareil's , present railroad pros
pects are flattering lneed. The
Gleaner editor knows a great deal,
in fact we have often noticed gentle
Joseph picking his nose and mak
ing pills."
in oraer mat our readers will
know what Invective really Is, we'll
put in a few samples, taken at ran
dom from the Grip:
"The printer In the Gleaner of
fice complains that gentle Joseph
eats up the paste."
"The idiotic correspondent of the
tuaaron jjemocrat, the wild ass of
me prairie, is still at large."
"Mr. Jackson, the efficient clerk In
Bowen's store, has turnips growing
vn nis ciaun bigger than gentle
josepn s hopes of a railroad."
"All kinds of rumors are received
during the past two or three days in
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