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xxxiv in operation not more than a fortnight before there came rumbles of disapproval and doubt, almost altogether from newspapers published south of Mason and Dixon's Line.

One of the early editorials, entitled "Sam Weller and Mr. Snodgrass," presented Uncle Sam, "eight months after Germany went to war with us, and we severed relations with Germany as the first move in our sixty days' stern foremost drift into, not going to, war," as the boastful Mr. Snodgrass, still taking off his coat and announcing in a loud voice what he was about to do. This drew from the mayor of Abilene, Texas, the following letter to The Star-Telegram, of Fort Worth, Texas, which was publishing the Roosevelt articles:

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram promptly published Mayor Kirby's letter, under the caption "The Retort Courteous," adding the following:

The Editor-in-Chief presents his compliments to the Mayor of Abilene and begs to say that should he conclude personally to conduct a tar and feather expedition in our direction, he will experience no great difficulty in locating the