The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-11-01
CHAPTER XVIII.

Ok1Ax AxAAs AsA1As
For forty.eisht hours longer the fact Of tho
defafcation was kept back: but then. IN view
Of the legal action urged By those who did not
accent the theory Of Northwick's death. IL had
to come out. and It broke all bounds In over
whelming foods Of publicity.
Day after day the papers were full Of tho
facts, ana it was weeks before the editorial
homilies ceased. From time to time fresh de-
tails and unexpected revelations. wise guesses
and shameless fakes. renewed the interest Of
the original fact. There were days whom there
was nothing about t. In the papers and then
days whom II broke out In vivid paragraphs and
whole lurid columns again. Il was not that
the fraud was singular In its features:
these were common to most Of tho de-
falcations. great and small. which were Of
daily fame In the newspapers. But the doubt
as to the mans fate. ana the enduring mys-
terry OF his whereabouts. II he were still alive.
were qualities that gave peculiar poignanoy
to Northwiok's case. Its results In the failure
Of people not directly involved. were greater
than could have been expected: and the sum
OF his populations mounted under investiga-
ton. It was all much worse than had been
imagined. and In most Of the editorial sermons
upon It the moral gravity Of the offence was
measured BY tho amounts stolen and indi-
rectly lost BY It There was great deal Of
mere establishment as usual. that the crime
should have been that Of . man whom no one
would have dreamed Of suspecting. and there
Was some sufficiently ridiculous oonsterna-
ton at tho presence Of such moral decay In
the very heart Of the commercial life Of Boston.
In tho Eo1,ts Pinney made his report Of the
affair tho work Of art which no boasted should
come from his hand. It.was really space
mans masterpiece: and It appealed to every
nerve in the readers body. with its sensations
repeated through manv columns. and con-
tinued from page to page with . recurrent
ef1orescence Of scare heads and catch lines.
In the ardor Of production all scruples and
reluctance became fused In q devotion to tho
interests Of tho Events and its readers With
every hour the painful Impressions OF his In
terview with Miss Northwick grew fainter. and
the desire to use It stronger. and he ended BY
sparing no color OF It But he compromised
with his sympathy for her BY deepening the
shadows in the behavior Of the man who
could bring all this sorrow upon those
dearest to him. He dwelt upon the uncon-
sciousness Of the family. the ignorance Of the
whole household. In which life, ran smoothly
on. while the head Of both vas . fugitive
from justice. II not tho victim Of q swift retri-
button. He worked In all the pathos which tho
facts were capable Of holding. and ct certain
points he enlarged the capacity OF tho facts.
He described with . good deal Of graphic
force the Northwick interior. Under his touch
tho hall expanded. the staircase widened and
curved. the carpets thickened. the servants
multiplied. the library into which "the tEeenfS
representative was politely ushered." was fur
1ished with all the appliances OF cultured
TASTE" Tho works Of tho standard authors in
costly bindings eraced its shelves: magnificent
paintings and groups Of statuary adorned its
walls and alcoves. The dress Of tho lady who
oourteously received the Eesnts' reporter. was
suitably enriched: her years were discounted
and her beauty approached to the patrtcian
cast. There was nothing mean about Pinney.
and while he was at 1t he lavished Q immortal
grandeur upon the Northwick place. outside as
we'll as inside. He impaired romantic con-
sequence to Hatboro itself: "A thriving New
England town. proud OF It's historic past and
rejoicing In its modern prosperity. with pop
ulation Of some five or six thousand souls,
among whose working men and women
modern ideas OF the most advanced character
had been realized in the well-known Peck 30
cial Union. with its cooperative Kitchen and It's
clientele Of Intelligent members and patrons"
People Of oil occupations became leading
residents in virtue OF taking Pinney into their
confidence, and "A Prominent Proletarian"
achieved the distinction OF a catch-line By
freely imparting the Impressions Of J. NJ
Northwick's character among the working
classes. "The Consensus Of Public Feeling"
In portraying which Pinney did not fail to ex-
plot the proprietary word he had seized.
formed the subject Of some dramatic para
graphs; and the whole formed . rich and At
setting for tho main facts Of Northwick's I'M
doubted fraud and flight and for the con-
lectures which Pinney INDUCED In concerning
his fate.
Pinney's masterpiece was. In hne, suoh ss no
could write only at that moment OF his evolu-
ton as man. and such as the Ebsnts could
publish only at that period Of it's development
as newspaper Tho report was dashy and
vulgar and INSCRIPTIONS. but It was not
brutal. except by accident, and not unkind ex-
cept through the necessities Of the case. But
1t was helplessly and thoroughly personal. and
1t was no more philosophical than monkish
chronicle Of the middle ages.
The Abstract addressed different class OF
readers, and aimed at different effect In its
treatment OF public affairs We look upon
newspapers as having sort OF composite
temperament. formed from tho temDeraments
Of al the different men employed on them:
but. ss matter Of fact they each express the
disposition and reflect the temperament OF one
controlling spirit which ell tho other DISPOSE
lions and tempersments yield to. This 10 so
much the case that tits hard to efface the in
nuence OF strong mind from the journal It
has shaped. even when 1t IL no longer ac-
ttxyalv nraeant In n GOOD MANY