The Country Editor

He wouldn't take the paper,
For it didn't suit him quite;
If it would change its politics
Some future time he might.
But one day when a fever
Left Jim a-lying cold,
That little country weekly
The sweetest story told^___
Of Jim, the noble citizen,
Of Jim, an honest man,
Of Jim, the kindest husband^___
'Twas thus the story ran.
And when the lonely widow
Came in one day to see
How much would be some extras
He gave a dozen free.

Joe Sponge was there in business,
Not half a block away.
He bought no advertising^___
He said it didn't pay,
His letterhead used daily
Bore cuts of axle grease,
And dust came through the wind
And settled down in peace.
When others boosted business
By boosting for the town,
When others spent their money
Joe never would come down;
They couldn't get a nickel
Of him to make things go,
He sat around and waited
To catch the overflow,
But one day Joe was busy
A figuring intent,
On how to make some money
And yet not spend a cent,
When Gabriel's horn blew loudly
And Joe he heard its call,
And passed from earth forever
O'er the dividing wall.
That editor got busy
And wrote a column "ad"
Of how Joe Sponge, the merchant,
Had made the town so sad,
But some way as he wrote it,
No tears came to his eyes,
For something seemed to whisper,
"He wouldn't advertise."
And when he spoke of sorrow
A whisper come^___"How few
There are who care, Dear Writer,
Except myself and you."
And when he spoke of kindness
To some poor mortal done,
A whisper louder than the rest
Said, "Can you name just one?"
Though it was an irksome duty,
Yet boldly on he wrote,
And though the words were sad, he felt
No choking in his throat.
And when his readers read it
With eyes free from all tears,
One statement's true they all agreed,
"He lived here twenty years."

Tall is the man that dwells above
The mists of hate and scorn,
That sees the sun beyond the cloud,
The rose, before the thorn.
He speaks the kindlier word for all,
The living and the dead,
Works hard each day, misunderstood,
Continues straight ahead,
Discriminating, fearless, firm
When evils override,
He is the strength of every town
The Nation's safest guide.

^__Ed Blair.