Sniping edit

I found these items which are not worthy of inserting into the article but which should be kept for background because it took me a while to track them down. This seems to be part of a (long-running?) feud between river editors on two different papers.

From the Republican edit

We find in an exchange the name of Mr. D. McO'Kelly. We presume Mr. McO'K is a safe man on a steamboat. . . . James McO'Durff is a deck-hand on an upper Mississippi boat, who recently got into a slight scrape with some lumbermen. J. O'D., with the Mc left out, represents another branch of the family down south in Dixie. He scribbles.[1]

From the Daily Appeal edit

A catfish, weighing 123 pounds, was caught on Monday at the mouth of the Hatchie river. The physiogomy of his catship is a facsimile of Dacus, the Reverend of the St. Louis, Republican. The head of the big fish will be forwarded to Dacus to-day. The resemblance is so great between the two that Bingham has taken pictures of the same. The resemblance is accounted for by Dacus being a gopher and fed principally upon catfish, which has made a deep impression not only of cranium, but his education.[2]

The white neck-clothed "gopher" and river itemizer of the St. Louis Republican, in Sunday's issue, attempted to be witty by making a comparison of names. The item was an abortion on phraseology and good grammar. Dacus' effort to be witty is as sacreligous as was his attempt to do the ministerial "robe." Dacus' distorted physiognomy and sanctimonious countenance writes him down, what he is—an "ass," O'D, or McD, will sing Old Hundred for the Reverened, [cq] and will yet make him happy.[2]

References edit