Prankster v. Governor

On the grounds of Missouri's Capitol at Jefferson City repose three old cannon from bygone wars. Every time that Ralph Coghlan, a ruddy, owlish man who breathes fire and snorts the editorial page of the famed St. Louis Post-Dispatch, thought about them it made him mad. He thought they belonged on the nation's scrap pile. But Missouri's earnest, toothy Governor Forrest C. Donnell said he could not prove that the State owned the cannon, therefore could not give them away. This made Ralph Coghlan even madder.

Last week he took matters into his own hands. While planting some locust trees in his garden he discussed the cannon with a tree surgeon, one Sidney Stearns. Ralph Coghlan said he was "very serious" about wanting those cannon on the scrap pile. Upshot: Arborist Stearns agreed to get a friend and remove the cannon; Editor Coghlan agreed to pay the expenses. Further upshot: when Stearns and. friend tried to uproot the cannon they were arrested. The case was suddenly complicated when police found a loaded revolver, a full can of gasoline and a sixth tire in Stearns's truck.

In its first account of the incident, the Post-Dispatch ran a kidding story, dubbed Stearns "the General," published his picture wiggling the "V-for-Victory" sign. Finally it had to admit Editor Coghlan's part in the prank. This moved Governor Donnell into action. He ordered Editor Coghlan arrested for larceny. Righteously the Governor said: "This is outrageous . . . filled with a spirit of anarchy and disrespect for law. . . . The law is going to be enforced, the Post-Dispatch notwithstanding."

It was not the first time that Ralph Coghlan's Irish temper had got him into the news. Three years ago he got so editorially inflamed about a raw acquittal in a St. Louis courtroom, he found himself, charged with contempt of court. This brought a 20-day jail sentence (later reversed). Few months later, when Franklin Roosevelt traded the 50 overage destroyers to Britain, Editor Coghlan ripped off an editorial titled Dictator Roosevelt Commits an Act of War, bought space in New York and Washington papers to advertise his views.

This time, caught in a college prank, and an unsuccessful one at that, Editor Coghlan was mum.

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