The Sun.
London, England, 1869-10-18 00:00:00

ADVER77SING DODGE..

The art of advertising is better understood on the
other than on this side of the Atlantic. We freely
and gratefully acknowledge that for a straightfor-
ward advertisement there is no place like London ;
but for artful dodges, clever as Londoners are, they
have not approached to the sublime height of the
citizens of the great Republic. Not long ago we
told how one made an cffer for the outside of a
pulpit to show sweet things in baby-jumpers; an-
other proposed to supply prayer-books for an Epis-
copal congregation gratis, but the horrified minister
discovered that on every alternate page there was
a flaring advertisement. Those who are so little
inclined to respect even the sanctity of the church
are not likely to be baulked by any merely national
considerations, and the finest instance of this was
lately furnished on the field of Gettysburg. Upon
that battle turned the issue of the war. We do not
mean to say that the issue could have been other
than it was, but tracing the strife from Fort Sumter
to the surrender at the Appomottox Court House,
it was the great turning point in the chain of events.
The idea appears to have suggested itself of tracing
out the spots made memorable during those celebrated
three days, by the leaders and commanders in the
action. Whether this originated from the pro-
prietors of the ground, whereon there are some ex-
cellent mineral springs, or was quick as thought
seized on by them, we know not ; at any rate, it
was skilfully turned into a grand advertisement to
direct attention to the site of a new watering-place.
When we compare English efforts against such an
achievement as this their poverty is manifest. The
question, " W ho's GRIFFITHS?" when constantly pre-
sented, may excite a curiosity which might be stimu-
lated by the answer, " The Safe Man," all in large
round letters in chalk, as if the perplexing inquiry
had emanated from the juvenile mind—and it is not
without merit, while we presume it pays, or it would
not ornament so many old boards and walls.

" Dangerous illness of the Emperor of the FRENCH I"
"Buy 18-carat Gold Chains." "The Harvard Boat
Race." " Use Parr's Life Pills !" Such as these are
innocent little dodges to catch the wandering eye
but compare them with what Saratoga proposes :
"If any four of the Oxford crew will come over and row
a match with four selected from the Harvards, the village
of Saratoga will, through its President, Mr. John ll. White,
present to the winners a medal of the value of $5,000, or a
service of silver of that amount, or coin, if they prefer it ;
the race to take place either a few days before or after, or
even during, the racing meeting, at their option, and the
expenses of passage to and fro, both for the Oxfords and
Harvards, and their hotel bills and carriage rides, will also
be paid by the executive cemmittee of the Racing Associa-

tion at Saratoga."
it is naively asserted that there is a beautifulsheet of
water, 8 miles long by 21 broad, around which a mil-
lion of people could find good standing room and see
without inconvenience. The offer of Saratoga has
a very liberal look, but when analyzed it is like the
hospitality of the hotel-keeper who invites the PRE-
SIDENT to occupy a suite of apartments. If the Oxford
crew accept a challenge to row at Saratoga, it will
bring the million required to line the lake, and the
harvest Saratoga would reap for that year would
be considerably more than the hundred-fold yielded
by the most prolific of grain during a genial season.
Hotel-keepers consider the best use to which a Presi-
dent can be put is to draw a full house, and General
GRANT is for them a good President; his reputation
as a General materially aiding the dignity of his
station, while he rather enjoys moving about the
country during the summer. The PRESIDENT,
therefore, is a grand advertisement, and has been
freely used as such by men in other lines—hatters,
tailors, tobacconists. It is true that the QUEEN is
not without value in this way to her subjects. Ame-
ricans are often surprised in walking through Lon-
don to notice the nature of the articles supplied to
her MAJESTY. A stranger would suppose that the
QUEEN smoked, wore the most remarkable and un-
feminine garments, and hunted and shot over her
dominions. While on this subject we may state
that the best proof proprietors of newspapers can
give of their faith in this medium is in their own
lavish use of it, publishers and newspaper proprie-
tors being the greatest of advertisers. Paris has
its novelties, of which one is a transparency brightly
illuminated in a house on a boulevard. From dusk
till midnight the advertisement is set forth in a
window on sea-green ground, and a company has
been formed to manage these transparencies.—
Anglo- America n limes.

RECOVERY OF COL. MCKIE'S CHlLD.—Elizabeth
Barry, the woman who carried off Colonel Ilickie's
child from Maidenead on Friday week, was arrested at
Liverpool yesterday. it appears that the child has been
well treated.

LITERARY.—The American Grocer, a semi-
monthly ournal of twenty pages, published on the Ist
and 15th of each month, has just been issued in New
York.—The Crescent (New Orleans) newspaper establish-
ment, including a four-cylinder Hoe press, has been pur-
chased by the Republican.—Mr. John Swinton, for ten or
twelve years one of the editors of the New York Times,
the conductor of its noted "Minor Topics" column, and
the trusted personal friend of Governor Raymond, has just
resigned his position on that journal. Mr. John Bigelow
resigned his position as managiug editor of the New York
Times on Wednesday, Sept. 29, and it is rumoured that
Mr. Frederick Hudson, formerly of the Herald, will bo his
successor. The reasons are not given, but general regret
is expressed that Mr. Bigelow should have taken such a
step.
OBlTuAßY.—George F. Patten, of Bath, senior
member of the well-known shipping firm of George F. and
John Patten, died on Sunday evening, Sept. 26, aged 82.—
Charles Colburn, clerk of the State Senate, Massachusetts,
from 1830 to 1842, from 1814 to 1850, aud from 1853 to
1851, died at Nebraska ( by, Nov., September 12, at the
age of about 70.—Died at New York, Sept. 21, Rev. Dr.
William Walton, aged 50, Professor of Hebrew in the
General Theological Seminary, and son of the late Rear-
Admiral Walton, of the British Navy. —Gideon M. Davison,
who started the first newspaper at Saratoga in 1818, died
at that place on Thursday, Sept. 30.