The Portland daily press., 1873-03-29
Arma Virumuue CanO.

Our State exchanges for the last few weeks
have presented some of the high-tonedest spec
linens OF the amenities of Journalism that
have ever diversified their usually placid col
umns. The Houlton Pioneer and Times are
hard at it, exchanging >''winged words" as
Homer calls them, with reckless lavishness.
The Times accuses a prominent Aroostook
politician of an attempt at GRIM con. waich
| met with virtuous and decided refusal from
the colored domestic to whom the rejected
addresses were paid; whereupon the editor
of the Times is promptly arrested on charge
of libel, and gives bail, the neighbors OF the
traduced turn out en- mGsse with a brass band
and march to his residence, where they are
received with emotion and oyster stew ana
things and a genuine love feast ensues. 1ne
Pioneer takes up the cudgels Justify III NC
half of the assailed party and speaks III al
agsressively derogatory manner OF the eaitor
of the Times, while that journal repeats its
charge. asseverates that it is right and has
not told all it knows either and proposes to
fight it out, while both opponents of public
sentiment bristle all over with letters and
afidavits pro and con from everybody male
and female who knows any thing about the
matter and from some who don't seem to
know much anyway. .-9l ....
Another lively case is at Belfast where the
Journal accuses the collector of the port with
having store from which he sells imported
mo.asses, whereupon the collector replies
through the PROGRESSIVE Age over his own
signature, intimating that the Journal man
wanted to marry we'll known young lady
| journalist and that she endowed him with
zone half pair of mittens." He
| further alleges that his antagonist is not
| good looking and gives some points Of phys-
| cal make up in which he thinks the editor
| is deficient viewed from an artistic stand
point. Now, just here, we protest that this
| is a question which should never have got
| into politics. And besides the collector is
not on tenable grounds, for everybody knows
| that Simpson is one of the handsomest bach
| elors in Maine, is in all points eligible and
that no young lady in possession OF an aver
age amount of good taste and sense would De
| likely to decline his matrimonial overtures.
The editor proposes to revenge TINS re-
Election upon his personal comeliness
bv publishing in the next issue of the
Journal full length portrait of the collector,
while in the last number the belligefent Off
cial is numerically riddled by plentiful
fight of those shafts of sarcasm for which
the Journal is famous. Both warriors make
free use of their Mother Goose lore and in
dulge without stint in rhythmical parodies
calculated to cast contempt upon the ene-
my.
Our leading sentiment in looking upon
these trays among the weeklies is one of
commiseration for the parties because they
can get at each other only once week. 1t
is painful to think of the internal commissions
which must result from bottling up their
wrath during the six days when they cannot
give it voice. If they could belabor each
other every morning how happy they would
be. We cannot close without a word of
counsel to our combative friends, which may
perhaps be most effectively stated in the
somewhat familiar words of good DR.. Watts,
which we feel the more justified in quot g
because poesy has been largely introduced
into one of the conflicts to which we have re-
ferred. 7|
u Let dogs delight to bark and bite, es
For tits their nature to,
Let bears and lions growl and fight
For God has made them SO;
But children you should never let
Your angry passions rise,
sod Your little han IL were never made
To tear each others eyes.