A Hot Circulation War

"Running a newspaper out in Oklahoma ain't the wild and wooly sort of a thing people here in Chicago might think it is," he said to a Chicago Tribune reporter as he pulled up another chair to rest his feet on. "I've been running the Weekly Noose since the day after 'the strip' was opened," he continued. "Living off public printing, done nicely, and running a real estáte and insurance business on the side. "But speakirg of circulation," he went on, "reminds me of an epoch in the history of the Noose. As I have intimated, the public printing is the thing, I might say it is the life of journalism in many Oklahoma communities. The public printing consists chiefly of the notices of publication of settlers in making proof in support of claims. They are given out by the register of the land office. Well, they changed registers on me when thingi were going along smoothly, and a little, narrow-chested down-Easterner got the job. One of the first things he did was to switch the printing around. There were two other papers which used to divide the business of our section with me, but when thls little pi&knosed reformer got into the office he gave the whole thing to one paper. II was not long till the Noose began te feel the effect of thls despoliation. Well, the Noose and our esteemed contemporary who was also left out in th cold, trained editorial broadsides on that register till I almost lost confldence iu the power of the press. Finally he gave evidence he was hit by printing a reply in the contemporary which was getting all the patronage. Before doing it, he hired a couple ot sneaks to go and work on the Noose, and the other lonesome cont'jniporary It was a politica] trick he had brought out from the East. He said in his reply the reason why he did not give any advertising to the Noose and our othei contemporary was because the circulation of these two would not justify him in doing It. Then followed affldavits from these two sneaks. The wall-eyed sneak who had worked fot We, setting type and running the press lor three weeks, made an affidavit that the circulation of the Noose was sixtyBeven copies by actual count, free list and exchanges included." "Was it the truth?" asked one of his auditors. "Well, supposing it was," he said, pulling his feet off the extra chair, and there was a gleam in his eye that caused his auditors to straighten up and draw their chaira closer. "That ain't the point," he went on. "While'I was oiling my gun the coroner came in grinning, and I knew I wa3 too late. "Your esteemed contemporary," he Bays, "ha3 already referred that chicken-breasted register to me for an inquest as to cause." "Well, I haven't had any trouble with registers since, and, as I said, the Noose is doing nicely with public printing. But I feit cut up over that affair for a while. You see our esteemed contemporary didn't have as good a case against that register as I did by eight copies."