Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1885-06-11
A FEW SAMPLES.
SOME CURIOUS SPECIMENS OF THE
DRESS OF THOUGHTS"
Clippings from Western Newspapers-
Cables Marine Figure-De Quincy
The Reporter Note Book
Prom the London Post.
&c. J. NJ" in Brooklyn Eagle

"Style,' Lord Chesterfield has written. lis
the dress Of thought The future historian,
when he comes To- write about the nswspa-
pers, the novels aud the casual literary
work Of our day, As well "a the conversation
affected by certain class of our peop.e, will
certainly have something very interesting
to say aoout the different styles in which
writers and speakers were wont to express
themselves. Let me, in advance of his ar
rival. furnish I'm few peculiar samples of
written and spoSen language. Following
out, so 10 SPEAK, the metaphor OF Lord
Chesterfield. have called these examples
Thought in fancy dress"
The definitions of common things aud the
statement of ordinary occurrence, such as
we read and hear, would furnish material
for new dictionary. A clsr lyman was
accused OF plagiarism, whereupOn a western
paper describes il as "a case OF morbsdly re-
tentive memory reacting upon unu ual re-
captivity OF mind ami producing uncon-
scious assimilation Of ideas" A chronic liar
is one who is "inebriated with the exuber-
ance of his own verbosity." Or, he is
guilty Of not always handling the English
language with sufficient carefulness 10 meet
the demands of veracity'
Since science has criticised the drinking
habit. mo olerate drin king is called "tiking il
in true physiological quantity:" and when a
man is thirsty he is suffering from "polydip-
sia." A cyclone is called IAN escaped earth
quake laboring under temporary insanity
A certain young lady is "able TO sing hymns
like ten octave angel" man does not
register at hotel, but autographs while
a dramatic critic, describing "a certain act
ress in Galatel, says she is like 4 babe, that
opens its wide eyes for one moment ON the
world, and tlen leaves it with sigh; Ike a
flower that treathes its fragrance for a day
upon the earth of which il is not; like a
grand strain Of music that floats an throbs
at twilight, and sinks away into the dim
reaches oi which we dream, but in which
we cannot walk; too pure for the world, AMI
yet leaving behmd a memory, perfume,
harmony, tenterer sweeter, mo o-e exalting
A horse trou III a steady country comInu-
nifty is announced in this inof .nsive WY:
1.-TWO well-known animals will conteld for
LEGAL superiority ON Monday next al the Af
ricultural park" An independent nswspa-
per speaks of good old Democrats of the
brown jug AMI corncob stopper variety
willie George w. Gable describes New Or
leans "tumbling. believing surf If tire
meadoas energies and vast enterprises" A
negro accounts for the sun spots ON the
ground that the astronomical confiuxion Of
the 20 um c.soern am ramifisi by de exc.
nocshu. wave, and dat brings de earfs ak
IONS in effigy wid Venice. and dis 'caions
de ulterium sp is" De On incy, descr ibing
a selfish man, wrote thst ~ths luxurious
torpor Of self -induls .nce' had "ex,endel its
mists 10 the energy and clsarncss of his per-
ceptionS."
Many illustrations Of fancy irssssl z lg-
lish mi hit be drawn from the reporters nots
a arix af. rl-
paper. the taciturhity Of "a beetle browed,
mooiy vissagel, ani generally ill-smel.ng
Sicilian, with paws like a moikey AMI
mouth like a snapped steel trap who
proved not over prolific as a fountain head
But the smiling purchase of a banana brou ,ht
his commercial instinct so far to the front
as TO elicit half reluctant response to the
general advance upon his "taciturnity."
Young reporters-those that come 70 ths
office with collegiate education, and who
think themselves fit TO manage the paper
are often in ths habit of using fiowery lae-
guage. One young man of this kind is sail
TO have commenced city item thus: "ln
soft, adumbrant meshes # sievet ii yer
the sunbeams msltel through the
leaves and drp9ei in spangles Of
gold upon the brown AMI black moquettrie
shadows that led 10 tie ragged edge OF the
curt. where a fragile little fragment of hui
manity lay moaning" The managing edi-
tor cut this out, and the item, published,
read: "Henessy Mulcahey'S little boy, Pat.
fell into an open sewer and broke his nose
A Denver scribe thus write o. musical
entertainment in that city: Sweet strains
o. music foated out upon the < n lie breezs
of the quiet night with that enchanting mel
ody waich lifts the soul of man from the
-
pleasant anticipations of those sercI hic
pleasures in which the angels are won't to en-
gage" An Oswego local" in describing a
fire. said: The red flames dance in the
heavens, and flung their fiery arms about
like black funeral pail. until Sam Jones
got ON the roof and dashed them out with a
pail Of water
Here is a specimen from Eng.and, Icing
the prelude of an article pr. .mr0ses, pub
lished some months ago in The Lonion
Morning Post: "A patient. knee deep heron,
alone with the reeds in wide waste Of
water; a carrier pigeon, steering its path Of
glad tidings Of peace homewarl across the
empty sky; an eagle. beating in proud isola-
tion it, strong way upward u some des ,late
rock pinnacle, observed OF ali msn; lion,
listening alone TO the far off echoes OF the
startled wilderness; a solitary palm tree,
benling alone over its own shadow in the
dessert; sll these strike in different tones ths
same key Of sentiment "a tine single pale
tinted flame of the primrose burning close
to the dark mould, whence. in early sprng,
few signs of leafy summer have yet ventured
FORTH
Since the papers published full reports of
meetings. our political speakers do not fur
nish u. with much amusing material in this
line. A phrase of Dennis Kearney. the
Sand Lots orator, is worth producing In
speaking Of some rival he said he was lone
Of those free trade, free rum, free love,
God forsaken. blsckmailing, hatcnet-faced
cranks and profit mongering dudes, who
know as much about the labor question as q
hen does about heaven" And a New York
politician once remarked: Talk about
statesmen, there are more statesmen to the
square inch in the First ward than in any
other ward in the city. Why, if you'd take
one OF Sammy Tilden's old speeches and
plant il in crack ON the sidewalk you'd
wake up in the morning and find a tree
forty feet high, with a statesman sitting ON
every branch
prookIyn Times: There is time in every
persons life when he loses all interest in poll