Arkansas Crusaders

Navy Veterans Jack Coughlin, 32, and his brother Pete, 30, wanted to run a newspaper. And West Memphis, Ark. (pop. 8,000) seemed just the town. It was thriving, after its fashion. The county, run by a tight Democratic political machine, boasted curb-service marriage and a bustling divorce mill. West Memphis had no school, but plenty of gambling houses and brothels, some run by exiles from Boss E. H. Crump's domain across the Mississippi. Its weekly, the News, was down to its last 15 paid subscribers (plus 385 in arrears).

The curly-haired Coughlin brothers, who had worked as reporters while at college, were delighted to find a town with so much room for improvement. They bought the News two years ago for $20,000 and started crusading against gambling and quick divorces, and for schools. In the fall of 1946 they headed a veterans' group that came within a lance-tip of unhorsing the political boss, Judge Cy Bond. The rambunctious News became a semiweekly and circulation shot up to 3,000. It also caused four politicians to file $10,000 apiece in libel suits.

When Judge Bond won a $500 judgment the Coughlins paid it by selling 50-c- certificates for "one share in Cy Bond's reputation." They continued to print their charges and dared him to sue again. He didn't take the dare.

Last week, Sheriff Cecil Goodwin's suit came to trial. The Coughlins had accused him of winking at open gambling. The jury took only 35 minutes to decide in the Coughlins' favor.

Now the Coughlins think the worst is over. To match brother Jack's editorial victories, Business Manager Pete Coughlin has made the News a money-maker (they recently turned down $35,000 for it). They have also made many enemies, some of whom, they hear, have threatened to kill them. Scoffs Jack Coughlin: "Who'll do it? We're not afraid. None of our opponents have the guts to do it themselves and they're too stingy to hire anyone to do it."

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