Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-06-06

OF
| Full many flower is born to blush unseen,
| And waste its fragrance on the desert air.
The world is full of genius. 1t is
to be found in all sorts Of obscure, I'M
looked for places. 1t is plant that is
indigenous alike to city or village-to
country or metropolis-go where you
will or when you will, close observation
will cause you to wonder at the luxui-
anee, the profuseness and exuberanee
Of this human endowment.
Nature has been very lavish in this
gift much of it has been bestowed
upon sterile objects indeed there has
been a large quantity of the raw ma
terial wasted. Who can tell how
many authors, artists, inventors, states
men, philosophers, great lawyers, doc
tors, ministers and editors, are now
earning a living backing boots, selling
whiskey or engaged in the delicate and
refined business of propagating the
genus equine? We can only guess at
them by the occasional scintillations
they throw out. Once in a while one
of this class strikes a lead that carries
him up out of the obscurity in which
he was born and nurtured, but by far
the vast majority-live unknown, I'M
honored, and die unmourned. There
are those who ridicule this class,
and inappreci alive of their genius
call them "Smart Alccs," Now we
depricate such manifest disrespect
and incivility: 1t is not fair, it is not
generous, because man makes his
living peddlins patent medicine orfancy
soap, to say that his opinions of law
| or medicine are not entitled to equal
weight with that of the man who has
grown gray in the study and practice
of law or the Materia Medica.
Pope was a cynic in this matter
or he woald never have written
| " A little learning is a dangerous thing,
| Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.
To say that man is self-complacent,
garrilous, hypercritical, egotistical. lc
quacious, babbling, gasconading, vap-
oring, Wanting, Boosting, Dragging,
staggering ass, just because he knows
more law, medicine, philosophy, states
manship and theology, than all the
lawyers, doctors, politicians and min
listers in the land, is uncharitable and
unkind. We have long since given W
the idea that we know anything about
the newspaper business, we admit
that it cost us a struggle, but we have
overcome the delusion, and are honest
enough to acknowledge it. But there
are editors in the country who actually
believe that they know more about
editing a newspaper than the " Smart
| Alecs " do; for such editors there i,
no hope, and they will most likely &C
down to their graves with the fond
hallucination that other people could
not run their paper better than they
could.
How we wish we could get one o.
those fellows to start a paper in Grand
Rapids. Wouldn't We enjoy seeing
the starch taken out of him! He
might feel himself secure in his know
ledge and experience-he might think
that lifetime devoted to the s. art
preventative" warranted him in run
ming this paper according to his own
judgment. But the time would come
when he would weaken. A few odor-
Gus blasts from the "critic" CD who
curries horses, or 'sstands" the noble
male equine, or the man who peddles
paten medicine, or some other of this
numerous class, consciously dcnomin-
ated "Smart Alecs;' would take the
conceit out of him, and place him on
level with the rest of US.
MISERY loves company" they say.
o, how we would enjoy the demolish-
ment of some other editor. 1t would
be feast-a delicious. grateful repast
to us. In our early experience in
Journalism we used to talk back; we
have said sharp, rancorous things to
the genus 'Smart Alec" but we don't
do it now; we are crushed, humbled,
overpowered, our guns are spiked, our
batteries silenced; but it is refreshing
to remember how we used to fire hot
shot into them before they got the bet
ter of us. We recall distinctly how we
annihilated one fellow by saying that
he and all other Smart Alecss' were
Puppies who though on idiotisnl' dark brink
Because they've heads dare fancy tney ear
think.
We would not dare say that now, but
we would give some other fellow oul
weeks liver if he would do il.