Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1886-08-19
9ail9RE eagle
A RIVAL JOURNAL.

I'VE, progressive newspaper, and the every
body holding this opinion included very de
cidedly Mr.. Henry Petit himself Mr.
Petit was editor and proprietor of The
Hopeville Millennium Why he had chosen
this name for his paper no one knew exactly
though it was supposed, from tie incidental
remarks Of the editor, that it was prophetic,
IN modest way, of the state of things tc
which he would ultimately bring Hopeville
and such OF its population as were subscrib
ers for the paper and paid for 1t promptly.
Mr.. Petit was small in stature, sha OF
feature and loud OF voice. Journalistically,
ne was in perpetual rage, rage varying
IN its intensity from the spitefully sarcastic
to the bloodthirstilly feIocious There
seemed to be fantastic connection between
his degrees of aggressiveness and the styles
Of type used in his journal Thus,
when treating of a sub, ct comrara-
lively unimportant he contented him
self with the light musketry OF
solid nonpareil, the smallest type in his Of
flee. \ matter for more forcible denuncia-
ton required minion or BREWER to give it
proper weight; from this he sometimes
passed to bittsr invective and the larger
type yclept long primer, and be had been
known, after AMY trying to relieve his
outraged feelings through the medium Of
double loaded plea, bristling with eyclama-
ton points and distorted by italics, to set
all typographical precedent at defiance, and
lombard his readers with rhetorical and
naledictory cannon-balls, manufactured
from the largest, heaviest and blacklist ad-
vertising letters in his possession. He be-
heved thoroughly in aggressive journalism,
and he always had fight on his hands. He
disproved the old adage that 1T took two
to make quarrel" by maintaining a per-
petual dispute with the world at large with
out even requiring his adversary to say a
word or add a single spark to the fire Of
rage that kept the quarrel at boiling point
The Millennium was a power in Hopeville,
and Henry Petit enjoyed the proud
consciousness that be had shouldered him
self and his paper into the front rank by
sheer force of energy AMI display of that
tighting temperament which never fails
sooner or later, to win the respect of a
community. As the result, he was reaping
both famo and a good income from The
Millen IA. He could perhaps have got
along N re peacefully and quietly than he
did, had he chosen, but attrition with the
world seemed to be essential to his enjoy
ment OF life, and he was always denouncing
real or imaginary evils, and lamenting that
he could couch his lance in deadly assault
Mr.. Petit was entirely satisfied with
himself, and never took the trouble to in
quire into his neighhor's business 1t was
said of him that half the population Of the
town might be carried of by an epidemic,
and unless the death notices were sent to
The Millennium for publication at regular
rates, he would never know that there lad
been funeral He rather prided himself
on this self RECOMMENDATION, and declared that
he despised curiosity save when its induF
gence as necessary for the successful prose
cution of his business. In that case, he
added, it ceased to be curiosity in the true
and offensive sense Of the word
One day an event took place in Hope
vile, which, for the moment, literally
paralyze d the editor Of The Millennium with
astonishment Then he recovered his breath
and retired to his little Office to try and
realize the situation
\ man had actually come to Hopeville to
start another paper Mr. Petit at first
could hardly believe that such temerity
could pass UNPUBLISHED by the supernatural
powers that watch over the interests of
newspapers To think Of mana stranger,
al interioper-a fellow from, no one knew
where.-a-a-. 1t was OF no use Mr..
Pettit's breath had gone again and he could
only lean back in his chair and gasp his
amaxement at the new mans unparalleled
presumption
Meanwhile the new man went On quietly
with his preparations. He looked over tbs
ground, satisfied himself that Hopeville
needed his paper brought type and press
and other material to the house he had
rented, canvassed the town for subscribers
J,-a, ,ritt 4fcfa l&c
and published the first number of The
tice OF Henry Petit and The Millennium
than if neither had existed.
Contrary to Mr. Pettit's confident predic-
tons. the new paper was ably edited, newsy
and bright, and was received by the citi-
zens with as much favor as The Millennium
itself Mr.. Petit came across The indie
pendent in the homes OF his friends, in
stores. offices and places Of public resort.
and be scowled darkly. He would show
this rival editor that Hopeviile needed only
enc paper-Ths Millennium and that an at
tempt to establish another would be at tie
expense Of a continued and bitter strife SO
he went to his Office and wrote the follow
ing. which appeared in the next issue Of
The Millennium:
we have been asked whether the rumor
that there is another weekly paper IN Hope
vile is lased on fact w can not give a
positive answer, though We have noticed q
sicaly looking sheet pasted on bulletin
board outside a house on - street AS
this particular sheet is the only one we ever
saw, we presume il represents the whole
circulat on OF what our correspondent has
perhaps heard called weekly paper. 1t is
doubtful whether another issue Will appear, as
we understand the alleged editor has already
become disguised with the want OF success
that has attended his efforts 70 force his
dreary rubbish down the Threats Of the in
telligent citizens OF Eopevile
The Millennium was published every
THURSDAY and The Independent on Satur-
day Mr.. Petit watched eagerly FOR the
next issue OF his rival. aud as soon as he had
secured a copy, looked all over the paper
for a eply to his paragraph Not word
The independent came out brighter and
newsier than ever, with well-considered,
conservative editorial comments on the
leading topics of the day, particularly
those of local interest, but without the
slightest indication that it had ever heard
either of The Millenirm or its editor.
The next week Mr.. Petit tried it again
He published q paragraph il which be
limited mysteriously at a paper having APP
reared ia Hopeyille with the secret object
of poisoning tie minds OF the people against
all the most cherished institutions of the
town He even went 50 fur as 10 imply that
the editor had reasons Tor hiding himself
froin those whJ be / known him formerly as
the resident OF a iarge city some so miles
away, finishing his remarks with the
prophecy that II less than q month The