Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1893-08-03
a SEATTLE LETTER.
II. S. KEENE WRITES TO HIS GRANT
COUNTY FRIENDS
20 ever thus since cbildhood's hour
I've seen my fondest hopes decay"

20 ever thus since cbidhoods hour
I've seen my fondest hopes decay
EDITOR HRRALD:-I am at last be-
ginning to lose all faith in human kind!
When, couple of weeks ago, / saw
how the HERALD had been so merciless-
ly slashing its correspondent, "Steno"
uttered to myself "At last revenge is
near" had always thought that
"Steno" was one who would shirk no
duty; knew him TO be we'll versed in
the law, and that he knew full we'll
there is no law in the statutes of Wis
consin against killing proof readers, so
naturally inferred that should soon
hear that he had performed his duty.
Yes, and then the thought came that
perhaps some kind friend would send
me photo of "Steno" with the bloody
scalp dangling from his belt, and l
would sit and gaze at it and whisper
to myself: "At last am avenged"
But instead of that, when the next
paper came, | saw that ''Steno" had
merely let the matter pass with mild
rebuke; then | felt sad. Talk of the
suffering caused by war, pestjlence and
famine; Of the horrors of the inquisI-
ton, &c, why they all sink into insig-
nificance in the mind Of the ordinary
newspaper writer when compared with
the sufferings inflicted by that terror of
terrors. the proof-reader. | sometimes
think that their only immunity lies in
the fact thai occasionally some of their
plumbers are so ludicrous as to make us
overlook some OF the many graver
offenses. Here on the Sound last spring
a correspondent wrote one of the local
papers that certain portion of one of
the islands would be utilized this year
for the raising of oats. The printer set
it up with ''c'' substituted for the ''o''
which, of course, the proof reader
overlooked, and the papers far and
near commented on the fact that 2
certain portion of certain island had
been set apart for raising "cats!' On
the other hand, look at the fate of a
poor Nebraska homesteader who, few
years ago, wrote up the riding for the
prize at the local fair in which the OBJ
iect of his affections was one of the
contestants. Instead. however, of
meeting her smiles Of appreciation, he
met the "big brother" with the heavy
boots. The result was that he not
only abandoned all thought of becoming
a correspondent, but he abandoned his
homestead as well, where his last meal
was taken standing, and all because
that fiendish proofreader had permitted
his article to go out with the word skirt
spelled with an "h."
Now while / am always willing to
own that my hand writing is so bad as
to barely escape being indictable, it
does not justify you in again subdivid-
ing the "0ld Dominion" as you did in
my last. and making it North Vir-
ginia, after West Virginia has been so
long established. Nor in mutilating
the name of a former HNRALD editor
by torturing the name of Jerome until
it comes out "Jervine. And so on TO
the end of the chapter. However, as
we are now enjoying that peace-on-
earth good will-to-men kind of weather
SHOWN nowhere else except on Puget
Sound while you are swelling in the
heat of a Wisconsin summer. | feel
somewhat mollihed, and may in time
forget the offense if never forgive it.
But even our Incompatible weather
fails to bring malloyed happiness for
everybody is singing the same song
with the sad refrain of Hard Times. y
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick
and the hope of the good time promised
with the change of administration is
held so long in allegiance that the public
stomach is becoming somewhat nau-
seated. "But Congress will convene
in extra session next month and
then" All, and what can Congress
do? Can Congress legislate wealth?
Can they legislate q restoration o. con-
tidence? There are perplexing ques-
tions 10 be met upon which the best
inteleots of the country are honestly
divided, the division for once conform
ing to ne marty lines, and il begins 10
look as though time and y few expert
ments viii be factors n the solution. Il
LOOKS rs though experienced statesman
ship is for One honestly batllod by
6nan cial problems SO easily solved by
/ the uneducated street corner politician,
who, while perhaps never having