The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-11-18
A Question Of caste"

Was it in good taste for the Rock HUI Hcralt to
publish tn" many i'll things of the woman who came
50 near being sutfncatcd with gas ut the Charlotte no.
tel? The matters of which that paper spoke are mat
tiers which do not interest the public. and Is so often
sive to the reader. that she ard her sins should have
been covered with q mantle Of charity and allowed t"
pass in silence. Why uncover and expose to the gaze
Of the public the degrading facts?-PfcsS dn0 u
ner, NOcenl6eT4
TO which the Roch HUI Herald replied as
follows:
"rbe abbc,.iNe Press and Banner is respectfully
informed that the Herald is published to 'suit our
self. We think it in bad taste" for that paper To be
constantly advising its contemporaries what thcE
should say and what not. We respect the JFcSS arg
Tannerr otherwise and lament this proncness on It's
part"
We think our neighbor is too quick in tenn
rer. and too careless as to the meaning Of
words. In the paragraph which makes our
contemporary "fly all to flinders thcrcis not
one word of advice. We merely made II criti-
cis;n of a habit which is, VIC think, too COM
mon, and cited that particular case as an IN
stance. The same mail that brought the
Rock Hill Ucr0ld'S tart reply also brought &c
us the C~olumJia Register which contains the
following sentence in its report of the death
of a Young man who had been Killed by a
passing train:
ale was dcccntly cad. and is reported to have spent
the night in the nci.hborhood at SOME OF the mi'hy
negro houses
We know that there is not q maj in the
Register office who would wantonly give pain
to anybody, but more especially not to amy
: family who is at the time borne down IN sor'
row at the death Of a loved one, but II any
one can conceive Of a more cruel sentence at
more inappropriate ime he would bear OIL
the RAIN when a premium was offered FOR
that kind of liturature. The young man was
doubtless a suicide, and If so, the chances are
ninety-nine to one that he is OF respectable
and honorable %parentage. People who are
born and bred in the lower and more vulgar
walks Of life do not commit suicide. But M
matter if the man had been the vcriest doS
on the face of the earth, the feelings or bis
relatives in their grief might have been
spared, and his shame need not have been
published abroad. If he had brazcnly gone
on the streets of Columbia, after a night OF
wickedncss and shame, and pressed hlmself
into the crowded hotels next day, instead OF
killing himselfbecause Of remorse, the Register
would never nave limited at the fact that he
..slept in a negro house the previous night
In like manner the Charlotte Observer some
time ago in giving an account OF a fire Whlch
broke out in the city gave such an account or
description Of the character of the inmates
of the houses as was, in our opinion, not on
ly needless, but offensive to good taste anu
true Journalism. The newspaper is not called
upon to give a certificate of character to any
set Of people who arc so unfortunate as to lose
their houses by fire, unless pcrchancc thcf
character had something to do with the origin
of the fire. 1t has always been deemed i'll
manners to mention even the name OF an i'm
proper person in the presence Of ladies. II
this is so, then why should VIC be permitted to
write, print, and send to their households the
details, of which We would not speak?
We do not offer any brother editor any adj
vice. We merely give our opinion for what it
is worth. II the Rock Hill Herald chooses to
I'LL his paper with the filth and scum OF the
earth we shall not offer him advice, even
though we should remark upon the fact. AS
he publishes a paper to "suit himself we pre-
sumo even the subscribers Of the Herald
would have no right to do 9th crwisc than to
accept all that may be said in that paper.
''Say nothing but good of the dead, y is an Old
proverb which perhaps came dow to us fronl
the pagans, and is held in reference to-day by
all proper thinking people. she that IS with
out sin among you let him first cast a stone at
hcr'-the outcast-was said by our Great EN-
cmplar to those who assumed to be better than
their ncighbors, and who proposed to punish
them for their waywardncss.
Why violate the old and honorcd provcrb,
and why disregard the Christian. example:
Our Saviour never spoke i'll of the lowly or dc
graded, though he did say some bitter things
of the puritanical sinners, who said their pray
ers on the corners, and who were thankful thai
they were better than other people.