The New Orleans Democrat., 1876-07-14
SENSATIONAL.


lent Radical newspapers, are not the
most sensational and imaginative
papers In this country. We protest
against the popular fallacy that gives
them this credit. They do we'll, their
imagination and invention, their kuklux
stories are sometimes highly sensa-
tional but witbal, they fall far short of
the stories provided for the boys OF this
country by the Ledger, the New YORK
Weekly. and their followers.
These story papers started mildly
enough with the Indians-the Cooper
Indians. n tribe discovered some hfty
years ago byJ. Fenimore Cooper, rough
copies of the ancient Greek heroes ana
with the whisky, smallpox and naked
ness or our aborignes left out. For
some score OF years, these Indians
amused the boys Of America. White
Scouts. 'Black Scouts" Boy Scouts"
and scouts. Of every color, age, sex and
condition. fought these savages on the
heroic plains Of fiction, Staying them by
the myrlads until every Indian In this
country was slain and "thrice called up
again and slain"
The Indian tribes extinct, the roman
GERS went in for forged wills, steel safes,
bar.room fights, etc, winding up with
q tableau where everybody turned out
to he somebody else, and everybody else
to DO somebody else's father, and well.
something like that.
The boys soon grew tired OF these
quiet. tame. domestic stories, averaging
less than score of murders, suicides,
etc, to the book. They had, moreover.
become sensationally educated, and now
wanted their mental food we'll seasoned
and peppered hot.
The romancers were in terrible
plight, they had exhausted life and oil
its Incidents: there was nothing left to
write about, no possible new combine
ton or complication Of plot. In despair
they left this dull and sombre world.
and, mounted on the Pegasus, whisky,
scared into an ideal, unknown realm,
and created impossible supernatural
monsters. The New York Weekly led
of with n mysterious demon, white
Lightning, or the Skull Eater" sort
OF dwarf or devil, utterly unhuman In
form, and with an Unsuitable appetite
for skulls. Frank Leslie's Boys and Girls
echlufollowed With Hippogriff," a
sort of sea monster. a hybrid between a
cutie fish and kraik. And last,
comes the ledger, with the "Steam
Man of the Palms. q monstrous giant
Of iron, somewhat plagiarized after
Frankenstein. bowels of fire, breath oil
steam, that strides over the prairies as
IL he wore the famed seven league boots
and for fear lest the attention OF the
readers might waver, they bring In. In
the last number, n steam horse, no en-
gine. but regular steel trotter.
What Is to come next2 We are afraid
the romancers must stop here. Nc
mind can possibly stand such drain
on II as these stories must exact.
Very similar has been the history OF
the sensational Radical press. There
was u day when simple tales Of slaught
cred picanninies and cruoiiled old dark
les sufllced their Northern readers. But
soon, very soon, they grew tired OF these
thing fresh and invigorating, something
more thrilling and better seasoned. The
New York Republic, now deceased
tried to keep up with its patrons
grew hotter, and hotter, and hotter
until il reached white heat. worked
every outrage to its uttermost
discovered barrels Of picked negroes
kept boldly on until, like Hercules'a
the Western Ocean. it had to stop, thus
far and no further. Whisky. opium
could do nothing more. We hope th'
Radical. papers of to-day will heed th'
fate of their deceased brother. The
weather is hot, too hot altogether, tC
tamper thus with our imaginations. Lee
them beware of the fate of the New
York Republic. and do not deal in yer,
heavy sensations until the weathe
grows cooler. 1t is dangerous.
At the Parish Convention for the par