The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-10-20

os,,.. Nos. Is aud "a Fourteenth street

YESTERDAY, one hundred years ago,
c.rooalI,s surrendered to the allied
,mrr,.an and French forces, and our
iaI.otnI,nce was achieved. The news
.eptb by last horses to the Continental
Cooress then sitting at Philadelphia and
4. .s,I to have been cried by the city
,,,el at half an hour after midnight on
N. ggI. The people LETT their beds us
.,.n a, they heard it, and the more en-
,bp.ta.tic embraced each other as they met
IN ,hr streets, And yet no local record
u.,raic in the newspapers OF the scenes
o,j Incidents attending the receipt OF the
new. anl not very much space was de-
,,,J to the news itself. They were poor
.,ck. the newspaper men in those days,
rn,y had not the least idea how to carry
n, fine business. The PtnnJyiranid Jour
,,fof the 18th OF October, 1881, in its iirst
issue after the receipt OF the news, referred
nthe great event in the following fashion:
PHILADELPHIA OCt' st'
Eary on Monday an express arrived
here with the great and important news Of
GornwaIis surrender, with his whole army,
nm The 18th Of October, a day which wilt
Ls ever memorable in the annals OF Amer
IL, The particulars Of this great event are
waited Tor with anxious Joy by every friend
to the liberty and independence OF the
United states,
Following this were extracts from two
Letters written in the field, and bearing
date October IL and 10 respectively, and
printed in that order, the first detailing the
ankins oi the Cbaron, one OF the British
Ur.hiIs, and two smaller vessels; telling
how closely the allies had invested the
enemys works ut York, and expressing a
hryent hope that when the writer next
took pen in hand he should detail the news
Of ,Dc surrender while the second, in half
dozen lines, tells of the shameful murder
Of Col. >cammell, Of New Hampshire, once
Wahington's chief-oi.stahT, who was shot
in the back by British dragoon, after be-
ins taken prisoner while making recon-
noisancc, The entire report and letters
did not take up more than half u column,
even in the coarsest type Of the day, and
they were followed, without break or mark
Of any kind, by the announcement OF the
election Of four or five now unknown peo-
pie to local offices, and few paragraphs OF
about equal importance,
When the great war OF the rebellion
comes to be written up by the historians
Of the future they will not find the news
dishcd up in that way. Their trouble will
te what the French call m "embarras du
richessc,' They will get an oyer-surfeit
in regard to every collision between the
pickels and every raid on suffers tent.
They will almost wish that the newspapers
Oiour lay had been suppressed during the
war and they will wonder how the govern
ment ever carried out movement when
they read the advance telegNms and specu-
htions Of the press in regard to all the
movements that were actually made. Our
old friend, Mr.. Woodward used to say that
the newspapers during the war would
rather lose battle than paragraph, and
he Bit the nail pretty nearly on the head.
They certainly did hazard the success OF
Unr armies on more than one occasion by
their premature disclosures. But then
there were compensAtions. Through
their paid emissaries they dis
closed good deal Of what was
g6ng on on the other side. Perhaps
the account Of advantages and disadvan'
ngcs was about balanced Mt the end. AT
all events We got through the war in spite
Of the newspapers in the rear and the
enemy in front. OF this important fact the
historian Of the future will never cease to
make prominent mention. lie will print 1t
in italics, and he will probably express the
opinion that the weak and struggling col.
Ones Of the Revolution could never have
succeeded against both the newspapers and
the British, even with the help Of the
French The secret Of Washington's sue
cesat Yorktown was that he fooled Clinton
in New York in regard to his intentions
when lie suddenly left off investing that
city and proceeded south to look up Corn
Nalli' Oh the Virginia peninsula lie had
iVogtcat advantages in making this move
ment. First there were very few news
papers printed, and, second, those that
were printed were of no account This
%Gonc ithc providenccs Of the Revolu-
ton that lal never been pointed out as
yet and We now as mn enterprising news
paper call the attention OF the coming his.
tonan to the stress that should be laid on
this happy circumstance