Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1869-07-20
What an Independent Newspaper has toCon
ted with.

A sad catastrophe occurred near Bur.
lington last Friday. Two well.knova
citizens of that city went to Nalett's Bay
on fishing excursion. They went out
upon the lake with boatman, and after
fishing for some time with little success
they anchored their boat within six Or
eight rods of an island aud continued thei,
sport. Having no success in this new
place, they undertook to change their
position, and in raising the anchor they
overturned the boat and l.. i. Stanton |
and Prim the boatman, both expert swim
mcrs, were drowned, while the other man
4. S. Brick, being unable to swim, clung
to the boat and was rescued The Free
Press made an ext nded and kindly notice
of this sad affair, and as an honest public
Journal added this paragraph:
mir S anton was the only son Of
widowed mother, AMI leaves young
wife. lie had many finds who vii
join the mourners in sorrow over his w.
timely loss. There was bottle of viii.
key and a bottle of gin in the boat, and
Stanton and Prim had both been drink
ing, thougt Mr.. Brick believes that they
were not under the influence of liquor 10
any extent sufficient to account for the
disaster. But the sad fact remains, that
two expert swimmers one of them an ex.
periesced boatman, capsized and were
drowned. in still water, and within lOO
feet of the s'lore."
AS Mr.. Stanton was well-Snown res.
dent of Burlington, respected and well
connected, this giving of the whole facts
respecting his death, was an unpardoua.
Bile sin in the Free Press, as we may
Judge from the following article which
appeared in that paper Of Tuesday:
Have those who, within day or two,
have been finding Il good deal of fault be-
cause Il very sad and unpleasant circu"'
stance connected with recent sad dilas
ter was mentioned in these columns, ever
stopped to consider that public journal
has duties to the public, as well as 10
private citizens? Among these duties
we take 10 be that of giving truthful ,ac'
counts of whatever occurrences it under
takes to report, without omissions Of I'M
portant facts connected Herewith. II
might be very pleasant for conductor o.
a newspaper to emit all facts that can be
unpleasant to any body;-to suppress
steamboat and railroad disasters, becau'O
engineers and sup ,rintendents do not Ike
to have them talked about; to omit 10
lice and court reports, which are alVa.'
unpleasant to somebody; to avoid slIt'
sion to any matter in which blame is al
tached to any body; and never to SPEAK
OF any person except in terms Of praise
But what sort Of newspaper would
be, conducted on that plan? The real
ers of our paper expect and have right
TO expect. from the journal which under
takes to give them their news, accurate
unbiased and full information on all mat
tiers which arouse and stir the community
Again, it is especially the duty OF a
plblic journal to mention when it can the
cluses of disasters. The public has
right to the warning which
to be drawn from such mention,
and though it aay be favor to some 10
suppress it, the suppression may be auy
thing bat favor to many more.
Again it is the duty with a public
journal, to deal fairly, as far as may be-
by all classes ofmen. The Circumstance
or cause Of a calamity which it would
and would be expected to meu'
ton in the case of poor Irish"aO'
should not be held back in the case OF
man with Weather and more respectable
connections. 1t may be favor TO them