Smyrna times., 1872-12-25
Newspaper Notoriety.

1nere is an American ass, calling hlmSelt |
Sergeant Bates, who has just been pedestrian
izing about England bearing aloft the Star I
Spangled Banner What, as a reasonable being, 4
he did it for, we don't know. What possible {
good could come of such travelling exhibit
tion surpasseS our comprehension. 1t is not
stated that the sergeant took up cOntribu-
tiOn-that would have been a proceeding too
sensible to be in keeping with such farce
No; the Sergeant simply wanted to make
show of himself, and to prove that the Amerl-
can flag could be carried from Lands End to
John O'GrOats without personal injury to the
bearer-a truth, We venture to suggest, stand
ing in 10 need of demonstration, and of no
value whatever when demonstrated. Bates has
been tOddling about in this mountebank way
for several months and having reached Lon |
don and taken up his residence at the Lang
ham HOTEL has written such foolish letter
to the Daily NelcS that upon reading it we
should have blushed for our country if we
had not long ago lost the power of bushing at
all. The propensity of donkeys to write to
newspapers is one with which, for our sins, we
are intoleral ly well acquainted. Nine hundred
and nlnety-nine absurd people address us every
day, to our exceeding great botheratlon, and
| with no good result except to diminish the
annual Post Office deficit; but nobody ever
sent us a more aughaby absurd letter than the
Sergeant to the NeI1S
There is in this letter, however, one state
ment which is encouraging, given though it
may be in language OF exasperatlng elegance
and beauty. =" Medical men have informed
"me," writes the bold Bates, that an injury
which received in my chest during the late
war will before many years send me marching
over the gloomy trails leading to the thOrny
jungles of the condemned, or along the bright
ways leading to the fowery kingdom of beau
tiful and indestructible world, in the flower
strewn valleys Of which lie the enclmpments of
the FOrgiveni" God bless the medical men
for this opiniOnl Thanks for the consolatOry
diagnosis Whether Bates is to 90 to the
thorny jungles" or 'the fower-strewn valleys
is none Of our business. He must settle tina
matter with the proper authorities. Th'
point which we consider important is, that tht
Sergeant may go soon to a place in whicl
he will not be able to write any more letters 0
II this kind, for want of newspapers to which the
~ can be written. TO he sure, he seems to b
!. exceently we'll qualified in respect of style t
n set up as a spirit-rapper, hut the only way i
i which he could annoy us then would b
70 through the medium of the spiritual newspa
n pers which we never read. We beg leave t
: say Good bye!" to the ScarSeant little
n advance.
~ Bates seems to be exceedingly grateful thu
II he was not mobbed while journeying with tn
q banner, and he thanks all England for NJ
e, tearing him in pieces, with gush which
r perfectly thrilling He says: I" / thank tn
Pm thousands of Englishmen, English womeI
in and English children whom | have met IL
nv their generous, unreserved, warm hearte
al greetings, at the roadside, in the valleys al
he on the hills, in every city, town, and village
nd Poor Bates the people evidently thougl
Je him insane, and did pitifully treat him a
ut cordingly. Perhaps they were not wron
10 We too would not be hard npon the Batese
lv and the Great American Travellers, and Il
NV George Francis Trains, and others like the
vas itching for nOtoriety. We must say, hO
NV ever, that they return evil for good, aud a
re- rather hard upon u.s. They invade our ofiC
rim they insist upon talking to us, though we b
nj them, sometimes with lamentaby strong c
; presSions, to betake themselves elSewhsI
bo They send US thousands Of letters, which
,is. do violence to our natural courtesy by consg
nd ing unread to the waste basket. They are
the well-known in a prnting-Othce as the de
,el' himself, and they are hereby, one and g
md idiots, lunatics, mOnOmaniacs, j eremy Diddle
,ne sharpers, informed that We do not love them
,aw distraction. We do not consider a natural be
cad fool to be worthy of serious attention until
,t;I gets into Congress. Then, as his letters
,es brought to us at the expense of the Uni
aid States of America we feel patriOticaly bou
Dor to read them, and sometimes even to publ
NOT them. In the good time coming, we exp
mo Representatives to become wiser, in VIII
No case they will write no letters to the ne
as papers at al; ; and after that, we shall exp
; 90 the Millennium in about iortnight-N.
III Tribune