Totally agree, you beat me to the line. but here we are talking about a seriously bent newspaper, except for maybe one columnist and the cartoonist.
stump had more than the ability required to make the correct decision upon the arrival of the - "pungent smell", - and to set himself up and deliver a good auto, "under normal circumstances."
It may have something to do with the company he had been keeping until recently before moving to the western contract?