The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1866-05-12
Letter from Canada West.
NEss-PUTTNa DOWN WELLS.

PERSONAL EXPLANATION-THE OIL Bust
NEss-PUTTNG DOWN WELLS.
PETRoLIA, C. W., May 6, 1866.
To the Editor Of tie Press: e.
It is SO long since have written word for
of the quill, and scarcely know how, to COM
mence, but as Boutwell, paper has informed
its readers that am excluded from the Press
because of the untruthfulness of my commu-
nications, I have felt inclined to send you this,
which will be a practical contradiction of the
statements of that veracious sheet. g q 2 III
Perhaps no better opportunity than the
present viii occur to give single example il
Illustrative of the ethical standard of the jour-
nal referred to-the Bothsoel Newsletter.
Over four weeks ago that paper made long
extracts from communication Gimme in the
Press, and followed it by nearly two columns
OF editorial comments. Although the commu-
nication from which the extracts were made
contained not word Of a personal character,
but treated exclusively of the oil interests of
Canada, the editor could not close his COM
ments without INDUCING in gross personal
attack upon your correspondent-an attack
which would not allude to in your columns
had not been informed that certain interest
ed parties in your State have courteously cop
led from it into their own journals. In the
attack referred to the Boutwell, paper calls my
real name, and goes on to give my political
antecedents, aud then states that I went to
Boutwell, and tried to crowd myselfinto bus
mess firm in that place, claiming that my
connection with the press of Maine would be
OF great interest to the business of the firm.
and that when my offer was declined 1 went
to Petrolia, boughtive acres of land at high
fgure-double its real value-returneG to
Portland, and by connection with an unscru-
pulous operator succeeded in organizing
company to whom sold the land for double
the amount 1 had agreed to pay for il, thus
by swindle lining my own pockets and then
says that such is the fellow who is writing let
tiers from Canada to put the people of Maine
on their guard against impositionI
The gentlemanly editor OF the Petrolia Sen
tinel, seeing this base personal attack, had the
courtesy to call my attention to it, and 1 i'm
mediately, under date of April 18th, wrote
brief letter to the Boutwell, editor, copying
the Objectionable paragraph in his editorial,
and in few statements containing no word
possibly offensive, showed the utter falsity
and injustice Of his attack, reques ting him to
publish as an act OF common courtesy to a
stranger whom he had (no doubt inadvertent-
ly) grossly misrepresented and maligned.
This communication, to which signed nv
full name, enclosed in note to Joel Per
ham, Esq, of the firm of Perham & knight
at Boutwell,, saying to Mr.. Perham that, as 1
was personally unacquainted with the editor
of the Newsletter and knew not his address
(that paper believe is not printed in Both
well) and had no copy of the paper before me
from which to learn his address, would thank
him to hand it into the Office with a request
for its publication, and l enclosed a Canada
bank note for one dollar to pay for a dozen
copies of the paper containing the commune
cation, to be sent to me by the mail. The OF:
fee price of the papers and the postage would
be seventy-two cents. ad -" .i- e
A few days passed and note from Mr.. Per-
ham Informed me that he had complied with
my request by leaving the documents &C. at
the office of the Ne,os-Letter, with the editors
clerk. htJ ~-+
II is now going on four weeks, and although
the NeEs-Letter has been regularly issued,
and although there are regular semi-daily
mails between that place and this, distant
from each other by rail emily seventy-6ye
miles, my communication has not appeared.
and no mention has been made of it. though
the editor has as yet retained the doltarl I
leave the reader to judge of the ethical stan.