Salt Lake Tribune | 1919-11-03 | Page 6 | Roorbacks

cal weapon is now wielded only by the heeler who refuses to keep abreast the times. Nevertheless, it may not be amiss to sound the good old warning, which has been sounded upon the occasion of every election .for the last half century: cen-tury: "Beware the roorback." The roorback is defined in the Standard Stand-ard dictionary as "A lie or fictitious report for political purposes, as before an election.'' It had its origin in a political Btory circulated in 1844 as an extract from a fictitious work, "Baron Roorback's Tour in the Western West-ern and Southern Stales." ROORBACKS. On the eve of another election the time has again arrived to direct attention atten-tion to tho imminence of a return of the roorback. The gentle art of sticking a dirk into a candidate's character whilst he is busily engaged in calculating calcu-lating hig prospects is a less popular form of assassination than formerly it wag, but there still remain among us numerous individuals who believo in the efficacy of the roorback. Today or tomorrow we may cipect to receive the surprising information that a man wo have known intimately for years Is a hors9 thief, a bootlegger or a shenp killer. Another whom we have regarded highly for many years is likoly to be painted for our bentit as a rnao who compels his wife to tnko in washing. A third, who has boon our neirt door neighbor for a loog while, probably will h: described to u as a vicious brute who beats his children and chokes his eat. The roorback is do rggpgetgf of per son. It cuts with cither edge. Happily Hap-pily Hi-it edge has been dulled by long and rough usage and the wounds in filched are much less severe than Ihey SJgd o b, 'I'll" roorback as a poliU-