Litchfield enquirer., 1876-09-07
WASHINGTON, CoxN., Sept. 4, 1876

WASHINGTON, CoNN., Oepl. 4, 1o'o' Editor of Enquirer:
 1 DEAR SrB:-The following article, sur-. prising to many of us, appeared Ill your issue of August 31st:
 Washington sent up a very lively par ty of young people to this place, Monday night. They started, we hear. Tn coal cart drawn by four horses. One of the animals gave out, and they came in with three, arriving at about Il p. m. From that time till near two, there was mighty little sleep in the Mansion house. The shouting, bell ringing, and other untime- ly racket exceeded anything we have of- ten known, and nothing short of the ho- tel book could convince us, the next day, that such party could ever have orlgl- hated Tn old Judea. i- i l Now, Mir. Editor. I know these four teen young people intimately. and l re- mark, in the first place, that their charac- ter and standing where they are known, is such that if they did so far forget their breeding and the manner of their whole previous lives, as to deserve the severe castigation you have administered, still it was an outrage to bring them for a first offence. thus into public notice in the columns of newspaper. No demand of duty to the public or to them required that they shonld be held up thus to pub lie odium. Let something be pardoned to youthful blood, and let reproof be ad- ministered in private. either by yourself directly, or through your humble servant who loves to administer 1t. @
 But. in the second place, the young people thus assailed deny explicitly and emphatically the truth of the above arti- cle. They say your accusation is false in these particulars:
 They did not start in a coat cart. It was clean and comfortable wagon that you need not to be ashamed to ride in.
 They did not start with four horses. One of the animals did not give out. They did not stay till two o'clock.
 There was, by them, absolutely nO shouting.
 There was absolutely mo ringing of bells by them.
 There Was no racket, timely or un- timely.
 They did nothing unworthy of ladies or gentlemen.
 Finally, you need not blush to know that they came from Judea; unless with shanao that yon ha~o % aooGilad tl,ona.
 Their representation IS this {: They left Judea at p. m., with three horses in- stead of four as they intended. They reached Litchfeld at II o'clock, two hours later than they expected. They sang and danced in the parlor of theiMan- sion House, as becomes ladies and gen. tlemen and not otherwise. They ate their supper with lively talk and laughter, as becomes ladies and gentlemen, and not otteraOise. They started for home at 1 o'clock. Reviewing their conduct, with your article before them, they unanimous ly. and with keen sense of injury, deny its truth.
 Now. MT. Editor, as have said, I know them all we'll; know them to be truthful: know many of them to possess as keen sense of propriety as you and have. Either you were dreaming, or you } have attributed to my young friends the } untimely racket made by some one else.
 :. s.. F. W. G. P. .S.-And now comes letter from , Mir. Campbell, who was in charge of the Mansion House that night and who de. clares that the party came and went in q . very quiet and orderly manner; that they made no noise except by singing and dancing in the parlor, and that the ob jectionable racket was made by other per . sons with whom the Washington party 3 had no connection. t1
 MORAL: An editor should be very sure of his facts before he accuses young peo : pie of good characters and manners, oi 3 conduct unbecoming ladies and gentle. , men, and sends the charge abroad on the wings of the Litchfeld Enquirer.
 W. G. Before referring to the statements oi 7 fact in the foregoing. we feel compelled to protest against the tone of the letter. Bismark wouldn't address the court oi ] Pumpernickel in quite so arrogant way and we must remind our old friend and preceptor that, though residing tempora- rily in Washington. we are no longer sub- jsct to his jurisdiction, but citizen of the independent republic which adjoins his territory on the northeast. We also take peculiar pride and pleasure in the exercise of our prerogative as editorial tything man of this latter place, and shall ! never surrender any share therein to any adjoining potentate, however willing and competent he may be.
 , Assuming jurisdiction of the case in question, therefore. as coming strictly within our limits, we take great pride in exercising our authority justly; and our last weeks item certainly seems to have done the Washington party serious inius- tice. Had they been the authors of the disturbance that occurred at the hotel, we hold that our notice would have been most richly deserved, however high their stand ing in their own community. We further aver that we went to what seemed the best sources of information within our reach, and that we had every reason to believe, at the time of our former writing. that our statement was a correct one. It now turns out that the disorderly conduct which very naturally gave character to
 
 the whole affair with those who lodged at the Mansion House was made just after the Washington party left, by some of our own young men. The mistake we made is one that we sincerely regret, but for which we cannot consider ourselves to any extraordinary extent. reprehensi- ble.-ED. ENo.