National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-08-24

sad one, and for the credit Of journalism
should be reformed. If some remedy is
not soon found for this growing evil of ex-
aggeration, our news journals will soon be
read for the sole purpose Of seeing what
prodigious lies Madame Rumor can origi-
nate. The present condition of affairs il
largely due to the carelessness and incom-
potency Of telegrsphic correspondents
of the press. The large majority Of those
now employed. both by general press asso-
Citations and as "specials" Of leading me-
tropolitan journals. appear 10 be greatly de-
ficient in judgment and discretion. Ten to
one if they are offered choice between an
item of importantigeneral intelligence and q
rumor Of the most improbable character,
but capable of being inflated by q fertile
imagination into first class sens alton, the
latter would be accepted in preference,
though 1t might be entirely local in point OF
interest if true. But the tendency to in
fate everything, to make the greatest pos
sible elbow" Of every little occurrence, is
perhaps tho most baneful Feature of our
present news gathering. It almost always
happens that these exaggerations are sup.
plemented within day or two by tele-
grams from the same identical correspon-
dents brazenly ridiculing their own eanards
Of the day previous, a. though the public
did not know that both originated in the
same brain, and that the first was frequently
sent to provoke the contradiction which
Immediately followed.
Let US recall few Of the events of the
last half year. First we had the 'ice
gorges." Column followed column Of
kilograms describing the wonderful, fright.
full and destructive nature and character of
these mountains of ice, and we were kept
on the ragged edge of racking suspense and
impending destruction for weeks until we
were as morally certain as we could be, If
we believed anything at ALL that half Of
Pennsylvania and large portion of New
Yo.k, including houses, bridges, railways,
timber, lumber, sow mills, etc., etc., to the
ex 'ent of untold millions In value, were
to be carried out to sea, and at the same
time hundreds if not thousands of lives
were to be sacrificed. Indeed, the bulle
tins from the georges" became of the most
painful character and distressing frequency.
Day after day and hour after hour were
fixed as the probable time for the gorges to
move and carry cut the ''press" programme
of destruction to property and life. But
some how they failed to come to time and
obstinately refused to be hurried up by ex-
plosions Of tro-glycerine, or other com
bustibles. In short, as all will remember,
the melting and evaporatIve weather came,
accompanied by warm and gentle rains,
and wore away the gorges gradually, and
finally, they passed away with very little
If any more than the ordinary amount of
damage. The specials" who visited the
georges" and wrote them up so very gor-
geously were proud of the sensational
achievement and have never had the de-
cency to apologize to their readers and the
public for the scare they gave them
Next to this, if our memory serves US
right, was the riotous miners strike in the
of Mahanoy city, and al
though the mines affected did not produce
more than one-fourth of the aggregate an.
thracite yield, the correspondents insisted
that local famine" was imminent, that
the riots endangered the peace of the en-
tire country, and compelled the Governor
of Pennsylvania to send troops to the scenes
Of disturbance, where, strange to say, they
were never able to find any very large
number of riotous people at all. But up
on the first offer of the companies to give
the men employment at the going rates
they closed in with it and went to work
with will. Since that period there has
been no extraordinary difficulty in the coal
regions. Whisky fights and resultant
deaths from violence are of almost weekly
occurrence there at all seasons of the year.
1t is now apparent to most of US that the
terrible riots, and coal famine, and civil war
and all that were chiefly newspaper senss.
tons.
While this trouble was going on. and
the Beecher-T ilton trial was pro- bssing,
the backward spring was pitched into by
the unemployed scribblers for another sen.
sation. The blame was charged upon a
combination of the comets tail which had
just brushed past us, with the transit of
Venus and the occultation of Jupiter. This
terrible conspiracy demanded the attention
Of the wisest of our correspondents. They
were nothing 10th to try their pens upon q
new subject, and they dipped into this
with zest worthy of q nobler cause.
They found damaging frosts in every peach
orchard in the country, and hail stones of
the size of hens eggs were lying around
loose, while both spring and winter
wheat were killed entirely in numerous To-
calities. Cotton vas reported doubtful,
and possibly killed crop. The result
was, that all the markets were "bulled"
in an extrsvsgant manner until q few specu-
Iators had been enriched, and then we
heard no more until after the wheat har-
vest, and the summer rains and floods came
on and threatened deluge.
What do we now sect Peaches were
never more abundant within the memory
Of mankind. Car loads are daily thrown
into the rivers. Other fruits, which were
by these veracious correspon-
dents to haYe'been ruined, promises yield
Of unrivalled plenty. Cotton, which was
irozen to death by the spring frosts Is
most beautiful crop. And SO on to the end
Of the chapter. The representations of
.hese journalists have been at fault through
out. The last rains causing a rise in the
rivers were exaggerated BY the press cor
into unprecedented rain-falls
throughout the entire country, and the
western and southwestern valleys were all
10 overflow, as in the days of Noah, with
foundations such as had never before been
'een or imagined. These correspondents
seemed to forget that the Signal Service
was furnishing the press with reliable
1aily bulletins of the state of the rivers,
from which we could see how little conf
ience was to be placed in the press reports.
And, now even this deluge has passed
away, with only single crevasse, and
without any very especial damage. Some
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