The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-09-22
FRIpAY, sEPTEMBER q, 1865.

CLEVELAND LEADER COMPANY.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER %, 1865.
How the Cleveland Herald struck Oil.
A few days ago we quoted from the
New York Independent ave line contempt
uous notice of little pamphlet written
BY one of the editors of the Herald, en-
titled-uPetroleum and Petroleum Wells.
What Petroleum is, where it is found, and
what it is used for; where to sink Petro.
leum Wells and how to sink them; with
Aoomplete description of the Oil Regions
of West VirginisY Pennsylvania, Ken
lucky and Ohio, by j. A. b. Bone"R)
To this We added few remarks by way Of
pleasantly, repelling with becoming indig-
nation the insinus!iOn that the work of g
OlevelAnd editor was of no scceunt &c.
This little one-horse work, owing to its
oily CANNON style, had a very weakly run,
in fact its suthor bored dry well, as we'll
As his readers, in issuing it. It's humbug-
ging character was transparent from the
fact that the writer was known to have re-
ceived bribes in the shape Of several hun
dred dollars worth of oil stock, in consid-
Grafton of devoling the columns of his
paper and the pages Of his book to putting
and lying up several particular wells, for
the purpose Of enabling the companies,
(whether real or bogus we cannot tell,)
owning them, to dispose of their stock TO
the credulous. ---
These facts we were aware of at the
time, but knowing that ]. A. h. B. had an
itching to be considered an author, and
that he made 8 ridiculous failure several
years sgo in issuing book of what he
called poetry, which fell still born, we took
pity on him and did not expose him. For
our good nature and smisbility, however,
and especially for defending him in our
way sgainst the very curt and contsmptu-
GUS notice of the Independent, the migrate
full oily author has been repsying US by
making some spasmodic attempts to write
down tho LHApHn, by charging it with
taking editorials bodily from the Chicago
and New York papers and passing them
for its own-whieh charge he knew was
false. To cap the climax, the foolish fell
low, TO prove his assertion, had the stu
pidity to copy both series of articles side
BY side, thus giving the lie to his own
statement and demonstrating that the LEA
DER articles were our own, though, to be
sure, we were indebted for their main facts
to other papers.
Now it is very true we obtain facts, and
at times ideas by residing our exchanges,
which we embody in our editorials. So
has the Herald done hundreds of times
We have known that profound and owlish
sheet to take articles bodily from the
LEADER, write them over and publish
than, which We were perfectly willing it
should do. We reeollect that at the time
Of the Trent outrage" the Herald took
an original article of ours, in which we
proved by the case of the steamer Caro-
lint" that Captain Wilkes was justified in
boarding the Trent wrote it over and
passed 1t of for sn article of its own. It
was only few days ago when the LEADER
published fall account by telegraph Of
the srrest of DR.. Dorsey, that the Herald
took our report, re-wrote it, and published
it as editorialI It did not have sufficient
enterprise to obtain telegraphic report of
the affair, and as there was no Columbus
mail that day, and consequently no COl,1nu.
bus papers s0ere received, it resorted TO che
pitiful shift referred to. The Plain Dealer,
on the other hand, had the manliness to
copy our report and give credit. We toe
it good-nsturedly, and were willing that
the Herald should have, in the absence of
q go-ahesdstiveRes on its own part,
what crumbs might fall from the LEADER
news table; but, we ask, is it grateful on
the part of the editors of that sheet to make
such Quixotic attempt to pitch into the
LEADER, after having received such kind
ness from us?
To conclude, if we have injured the
feelings of the author of the unknown
" Book of Poems and of Petroleum and
Petroleum Wells, &C." by quoting the
criticism of the independent we, most
humbly beg his pardon, and will make
G'nende by suggesting to him that in his
next edition of the, latter work, (f he
should ever issue another,) he add to that
portion In which he describes the mode Of
boring wells and forming oil companies, a
paragraph on the necessity of subsidizing
editors of newspapers, and authors of work
on Petroleum, in order to have Petroleum
Well weI tied up.