Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-06-08

DEED vOT1 MOE MBAT-
CALIFORNIA PRESS eAS1oOI.
ALTON MR D0sTONIANs-
A RUNAWAY sAIP.
SAN FRANclsco, June Z, 1870.
A NsvsAa Novel. III
With vengeance sWrIr be oyertakss bis foes
And strikes them down with fierce unsparing
Nor hms nor rink The onslaught can Withstand,
Till satiate Fury hold his weary hand,
The Homeric hero alluded to In this
quotation was ten years In exacting
complete vengeance on the Trojans for
the arrangement Of Helen, and John
F. Swift, in humble imitation, has been
nursing his wrath for the like space Of
time before taking revenge on the
Washoe bar and press. II the pen Is
mightier than the swordF proposition
which has not yet been demonstrated
to the satisfaction Of debating clubsV
literary retribution must be more
effective than a warlike one, and the
ex-Judge Of Nevada has repaid his
wrongs with q fuller measure of long
delayed requital than Menelaus ana
bis Grecian allies ever dreamed OF. II
Is the fashion nowadays to seize upon
public men, give them fictitious names
and incorporate them In a novel. An
ex-Premier of England bias done 1t IN
Lothair, Nj. Bowman Is doing 1t In his
clever Ten Ticks Of the Clock, and Mr.
Swift follows In a book which Is such
an amusing tumble Of fact, fiction and
satire, that the reader Is puzzled what
to mako of it. The title of this last
work Is Robert Greathouse-neither sug'
gestiye of the nature of the story MOI
the character of the hero. The people
who figure In the narrative are-with
two exceptions-local celebrities, SC
lightly disguised that the first lines
identify them with the originals: The
names Of the drdn,atis persona have a
suggestive Dickensy flavor and almost
express the peculiarities Of their bear.
ers. Cicero de Troth for G. E. De
Long; Napoleon B. Spelter for VIM
NJ. Stewart; General and Mrs. Chain
sot for General and Mrs. Mcdowell
Blanche Mower for Miss Lilly Hitch
cock while others, as Mark Twain,
General Williams and Captain Poole,
are introduced with their proper bap.
tismal titles. The locality Of the plo,
Is for the most part In Virginia.Ci City
and San Francisco, and the tale Is In
tended to illustrate the venality Of thu
| Washoe bar, the shoddyism Of Sar
Francisco society and the rascality o.
mining corporations ten years ago
The book Is written with an exagger
alton of satire that savors Of burlesque
and Is altogether too ,diffdsiye, but thu
interest Is sustained from the first Il
the last page, and the incidents are no
more improbable than the generality
of fctions. A recent English novels
thought he was perpetrating a remark
able Joke when he designated the two
preat. Universities, as Oxbridge ant
Camford, and Mr.. Swift appears to b
of the same opinion when he transpose'
the principal hotels into Occipolitar
and Cosmodental. These distortet
Iocalisnls are too frequent for goot
taste. having neither the merit Of Gu
phony nor disguise. As every n vii
read the work, and 1t Will become
weeks wonder here and a ten days tall
IN Nevada, Il Is only necessary to So!
that as q literary effort 1t Is not nearl!
equal to the same authors "Going y
Jericho, /" but as q full, complete ant
Christian measure Of revenge on al
| those who were instrumental In pro
curing the removal Of Mr.. Swift from
his position as Judge Of the United
States District Court, 1t Is an un
bounded success. go.
1It Is a speciality of Pacific coast lit
erature that all the heros are noble VII
lains, repentant scoundrels, or consci
entious gamblers. Bret Harte was tn
first Californian who invested uncon
yicted felony with a poetic halo. AL
Mark Twain's sympathies are witt
amusing little rascals who will violat'
| Sunday School precepts, and won't b,
good, moral boys; and Robert Great
House Is almost as notorious q murderc
ms the Missourian outlaw, Hilderbrand
| MANY people seem to think this Is
new lead In literature, but 1t Is onl.
nm old claim salted with pathos ant
revoked by master hands. Fielding
| Smollett and Bulwer notably inyeste'
their prominent characters with
strong flavor of wiokedness ; so dis
guised, however, that 1t only mad
| their nobler qualities more apparent
land the Claude Duval of the yellow
backed novel IL as good q hearted fel
low as ever lived, only driven t
thieying by the force Of circumstances
Now, In the process Of time, and tn
natural course Of events, some one els
will be writing California romance
and Nevada novels would 1t not be
pleasant change to have an immaculat
| old-fashioned hero, full Of love an,
gallantry, as honest as-I can't thin
OF q smile, honesty Is 80 scarce-an,
as frank as the Chinaman on Pacifi
street, who advertises Imported Ha
vana Cigars manufactured here" Sue
q novelty would be certain to attrac
attention, and present Pacific courtler
In a good, moral light, that would b
refreshing on account of Its charming
absurdity.
The Flrst Cslsred vstc.
The Fifteenth Amendment goes int
practical operation to-day, 50 far a
San Francisco is concerned, and colore'
citizens will have an opportunity Q
exercising their newly acquired right
by voting on the railroad subsidy ques
ton. The Southern Pacific has mad
such quiet but persistent efforts t
bring a majority to the polls, and tn
opposition Is 70 disunited that the mil
lion dollars Is almost certain to b
granted. An Illuminated musica
wagon, with a picture Of . wretchet
white man surrounded by seven starv
ing children, watching a burly China
man receiving a bagfIll Of dollars iron
a bloated railroad President, wen
round last night. As an artistic inspi
ration, 1t was not a success, and evel
the forlorn fife and melancholy drum
that sounded from behind the Gallo,
screen failed to raise the ghost of al
excitement. Anderson, who Is tn
colored peoples Moses, has.been usin,
his influence during the past week +
get them to vote solidly for the sub