Part 17 (2/2)

After this brief but delightful interview, you join an expectant mult.i.tude that has a.s.sembled on the lawn. Suddenly all eyes turn to the porch. Here stands Mr. Harding, gracious, dignified, serious.

Breathlessly each awaits his first utterance. With a well modulated voice he addresses the mult.i.tude as he would speak to a group of friends. Soon you are listening as though he were speaking only to you. With no tendency to bicker he discusses the problems of government in a manner that reveals his clearness of vision and pureness of soul. All too soon the address is ended and the crowd begins to scatter. As each wends his way, the remark that is most frequently heard is this: ”I like him and I'm sure we can trust him.”

Now that you have met him and heard him speak I am sure you will want to learn more about his life.

On November second, in the year the great Civil War closed, Mr.

Harding was born in Corsica, Ohio. How old, then, is he? Most of his boyhood days, however, were spent in Caledonia, Ohio, where his father was the village Doctor. In addition to practicing medicine he owned the Caledonian Argus, a typical village newspaper.

Since all boys of eleven must have at least a little spending money, Warren, as Mr. Harding was then called, found that setting type was his easiest way to earn pin money.

The first year Warren worked on the Argus, the circus came to town and brought Hi Henry's Band. Warren and another boy helped with unusual faithfulness and speed that day. They knew the paper had free tickets for the circus. Of course they would be given tickets. They planned what a glorious time they would have and, as long as the tickets did not cost anything, they could spend some of their hard earned money on side shows and ice cream. Noon came and no one had mentioned the circus tickets. The afternoon pa.s.sed slowly; two o'clock, no tickets; three o'clock, no tickets; four, five, six o'clock, and no mention of the circus. Two indignant boys held counsel. Then as night fell, they went to the editor and demanded two tickets as their right. The tickets were forthcoming and two pleased boys went to the circus.

Perhaps the glories of Hi Henry's Band aroused the citizens of Caledonia. At any rate a band of fifteen pieces was afterwards organized there. An old harness maker, who liked to have the boys play about his shop, was an expert on the valve trombone. He showed his frequent visitor, Warren Harding, how to play the instrument; then Warren learned the tenor horn and became a full-fledged member of the Caledonia Band. Only those of you who have lived in a small town can know how important the band is. It gives concerts in front of the court house or on the square. It plays at rallies, picnics, shows, and leads in parades. So when Warren Harding joined the Caledonia Band, he felt quite grown up and impressive, perhaps more so than when he was elected President.

Not until 1882 did Dr. Harding trade his farm and move to Marion. His son had by that time been graduated from the Ohio Central College.

Like many another young man of those days, he taught a term of school after leaving college. But he did not plan to remain a teacher. For a time he thought of the law as a profession, and also made some efforts to sell insurance. But his early knowledge of a printing office and the making of a newspaper influenced his tastes and desires.

His father had acquired an interest in the Marion Star, a struggling Republican paper in the county seat. Warren Harding became the editor.

He had held this office only two weeks when he went to Chicago to the Republican National Convention hoping to see James G. Blaine nominated for the Presidency. While he was in Chicago, his father sold the Star and so upon his return Warren Harding, a Republican, became a reporter on the Marion Mirror, the Democratic paper.

In those days, the admirers of James G. Blaine wore high, gray felt hats. Warren Harding wore his when he went about Marion gathering news for the Democratic paper. Soon this annoyed the editor of the Mirror and young Harding was told he must stop wearing his ”Blaine” hat. He refused, and so lost his job on the paper.

The night of election day, when Cleveland was elected President, Warren Harding and two old Caledonia friends decided to buy the Marion Star. That was the beginning of an owners.h.i.+p that has lasted ever since. There were plenty of hard days for the young editor but with prophetic insight he wrote and published in the Star:

”The Star is _not_ going to change hands but is both going to go and grow.”

Friends laugh and joke about the hard struggles of the Marion Star and the difficulties of the editor to make the paper go. They tell of times when Editor Harding didn't have money enough to pay the help.

Nevertheless, he made the paper both go and grow, and these hards.h.i.+ps only endeared him the more to the citizens of Marion. In the end he overcame all difficulties and his fellow citizens felt proud of his success.

Warren Harding had a strong sense of fairness and justice. When he had been editor but a short time, he wrote out his newspaper creed. Today, any reporter, who enters the service of the Marion Star, has given to him the following rules, which the President of our Country believes should be followed:

NEWSPAPER CREED

Remember there are two sides to every question. Get them both.

Be truthful. Get the facts.

Mistakes are inevitable, but strive for accuracy. I would rather have one story exactly right than a hundred half wrong.

Be decent, be fair, be generous.

Boost--don't knock.

There's good in everybody. Bring out the good in everybody and never needlessly hurt the feelings of anybody.

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