Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-05-11
Mr.. CRAlG'S DISASTROUS GUESS



In November. 1886, The Tribune
published an innocent, thong h
crisp and instructive, letter from a
correspondent IN Virginia. which
has had the fortune of provoking
a lively controversy in that state,
and Of adding materially to the
burdens OF General Malone and az
least one OF his lieuienants. The
letter in question concisely speci.
fed some of the causes which led
to the brilliant victory which the
Virginia Republicans had just won,
and we bad no more idea than bad
the writer OF it that General Ma.
hone would make it an "isgueo for
the next two years. The turmoil
was at first confined within the
Generals bosom, bat with the pub.
LEGATION Of his famous secret circu.
lar last winter it burst those mar
row bounds, and the world was in
formed that the letter had been
written 10y II. &. Parsons at the
Fifth Avenne Hotel, and at the in
stigatiOn Of Mr.. Blaine. The Tri.
June even then failed to cOmpre.
bend the magnitude Of the crisis,
and merely cODtented itself With
explaining that Mr.. Parsons did
not write or suggest word Of the
letter, that Mr.. Blaine had no more
to do with it than General Malone
himself, and that the Fifth Avenue
Hotel did not come within several
hundred miles Of being the scene Of
it's inspiration or composition.
There we were perfectly willing
to drop the matter and consider the
incident closed but now appears
one w. Il. Craig in the columns of
the Valley VUginidR with a long
communication, from which we
gather that it was he who told
General Malone that the letter was
written by Mr.. Parsons at the Fifth
Avenue Hotel and at Mr.. Blaine's
instigation, and that he has lately
sent The Tribune requests for space
in which to explain how he hap
pened to make such an atrOciOusly
bad guess-rpquests to which no
attention whatsoever was paid. AS
suming, for the sake of argument,
that The Tribune did actually re-
ceive and omit to acknowledge
these requests, we fail to see Just
how the world in general or Mr..
Craig in particular was aggrleved
thereby. We feel more or less
sympathy with him, to be sure; for
when General Malone discovered
how be had been imposed on he
doubtless gave Mr.. Craig an ex.
ceedingly uncomfortable quarter Of
an hour, ending with the advice
that he shOnld make a public ex.
PLANTATION, and lose no time about
it. But it was a family affair, and
the General ought TO have been
magnanimOus enough to place the
columns OF one of his domestic
journals at his unfortunate friends
disposal. Mr.. Craig had digged a
pit and fallen into it, and it was
preposterOus to send all the way
from Virginia to us to help him out.
Charity begins at home, and, be-
sides, delays are dangerous in such
cases. The truth of this latter re-
Election appears in the fact that
General Malone has lately gained
the courage to repeat his assertion
about Mr.. Parsons and Mr. Blaine
and the Fifth Avenue Hotel, and is
now subjected to the trying altern-
alive of accepting Mr.. Parsons's
nomination of Senator Sherman for
umpire or of putting a slight upon
his own candidate for the Presi-
dency.
We don't mind saying IN conclu-
SION that we did receive Mr.. Craig's
letters and filed them tenderly
away for obituary reference, under
the strong impression that he was
Just about the sort OF calf to hang
If we gave him rOpel
pnOuph.