When the late plug-hatted, snow- whiskered Col. William D'Alton Mann published Town Topics 30, 40 years ago, he made a straightforward if unpleasant practice of "borrowing" large sums from individuals who did not want unkind things printed about themselves in the gossip sheet. Return of the money customarily was not made or expected, but the pompous colonel had a peculiar means of repayment at his command each Tuesday night when the magazine was being made up. On those nights he presided noisily over the editorial rooms,...
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