Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1895-09-19
FREELAND, SEPTEMBER 10, 1So

Wilkcsbarrc Record.

From the Wilkcsbarrc Record
The sensational ncwSmOngcr of llaZ-
Teton who telegraphed all over the coun
try the other day that secret organi
zaton of Sclavs had been formed for the
purpose of assassination deserves coat
of tar and feathers. No other county in
the United States has suffered more from
the fake correspondent than Luzcrne.
As a consequence, whenever a Luzerne
countian goes all over this broad land
he is confronted with lurid tales of crimes
which never took place and is compelled
to face running fire of criticism upon
the utter lawleSSnesS of the section in
which he lives. The pen of the fake
correspondent is responsible for all this.
His Unsuitable greed prompts him to
manufacture news when none can be
legitimately found, and his ready magi
nation cOnjures up tales of blood and
slaughter which thrill with horror those
who have no opportunity of knowing
they are wicked lies. In this way does
the pen of the pcnny-a-liner destroy the
reputation of the community in which he
lives, scare off outside investors and
cause capital to fight shy of Il county
which seems to outrival the western
mining camps in its utter disregard for
law and order.
The IIaZlcton fake writer has been
the worst offender in this respect. lie
seems to have absolutely no regard for
the truth. and would rather telegraph
deliberately concoctcd falschood than
make any effort to get at the facts.
His lurid tale of bloodthirsty band of
Sclavonic assassins whose trade is to
rob and murder is the latest product of
his perverted intellect. 1t is rather sur
prising that reputable journals should
print such stuff. But the city papers
do not care a picayune for the good
name of LuZernc county and if story
is plausbly written they will publish
it. They have little time in the rush
and hurry of the night to investigate
every tale that flashes over the wires
and so longs as story hangs pretty
well together and is not libcllouS on its
face it is allowed to 90 through.
But the people of Luzerne know the
utter falsity of these yarns, they know
that large proportion of the stories
telegraphcd to the metropolitan papers
from this vicinity have little or no fOun-
dation in fact and they are fully aware
that the fake correspondents of the low
er end of the county stop at nothing
short of absolute libel that will net them
few dollars every month.
The large foreign population in that
region furnishes fine field for the cXcr-
else of the fakir'S peculiar methods. He
knows that he can traducc these igno-
rant SclayS and Italians with impunity
for very few of them ever read an Eng
lish newspaper and, of course, never
see the many ScandalouS stories in which
they are made to figure.
This crime against an ignorant and
helpless class is bad enough in itself.
But the crime against the good name of
this county which fakirs commit almost
daily is infinitely worse. If the news
papers who employ these special cores
pondents" realized how frequently they
have been and are being buncocd with
fake news, they would no doubt take
steps to secure more reliable service.
They have been warned time and again
by the local papers in this county, but
they seem to be as gullbIc as ever.
The publication of such alleged news
not only Injuries the locality from which it
lSscnt, butt hurts the reputation of every
newspaper which prints it as we'll For
their own sake, as well as for the sake
OF the people of this much-maligncd
county, the metropolitan newspapers
ought to shut down on their fake cor
respondents