The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-12-06
WITH ITS OWN PETARD.

The Examiner was MOIST with It's OWL
petard yesterday morning in most awk-
ward but highly entertaining way. 1t I'M
dertook with characteristic impudence to
shift its established reputation as Monarch
of the Takers to other shoulders with the
result of fastening that reputation all the
more firmly upon its own. In an editorial
article entitled 1.-The Airship Nuisance,
which opens with the appropriate comics
sion that "Fake journalism has good
deal to answer for" the Monarch OF the
Takers presumes to take THE CALL to task
for publishing the news upon the subject
of the airship. 1t charges THE CALL with
a prolonged attempt to humbug the
community" and describes those who
have testified to having seen the strange
lights and other indicia OF an aerial tray
eler as practical jokers or unbalanced
enthusiasts. 1t derides the whole sub
ject as "silly craze. "
While engaging in this sort OF drlvei
editorially the Examiner locally delivered
itself over to an already exploded airshlp
fake of the rankest kind, devoting2 page
or more to the congenial labor OF giving 1t
the appearance of truth. In the headlines
and body of the article it describes the
Twin Peaks continuance as flying, and IN
halfpage Illustration depicts it and the
man who it states few in ii. That the
Twin Peaks airship was a clumsy fraud II
only required daylight to discover, and
the fact that it was such was known
about town at least twelve hours before
the Examiner went to press. In fact 1t
was just such fake as led many people to
believe it to be of that newspapers own
devising. 1t is evident that in this as IN
several other more or less important re-
spects the right hand of the Monarch
kroweth not what its left hand doeth.
By happy coincidence THE CALL was
enabled to supply yesterday another apt
example of the duplicity of Mr.. Hearst's
organs in the matter of news. The New
York Journal of last Sunday devoted an
entire page to the California airship CIV
ing large cut of the vessel passing over
Sacramento, with long descriptive arti-
Gle under such headlines as "a Working
Airship Seen on the Pacific Coast" and
the like. The body of the Journal article
contained the statements of many wit
nesses to the phenomenon. with the re-
peated assurance that they were persons
of unimpeachable credibility and good
repute The article was evidently sent
to the Journal from the Examiner office in
San Francis and our ''deadly parallel
proved that it was written at the very time
when the local faker was casting all sorts
of ridicule upon the idea of an existing
airship, and was asserting that alleged
observations thereof were had in sus-
picious proximity TO breweries, and were
made by those who had been viewing the
heavens Through a glass darkly," so to
speak.
THE CALL has carefully abstained from
the expression of any opinion regarding
the existence or non-existence of an air-
ship, and intends to continue so to do
while the subject remains in its present
condition of doubt. 1t desires to submit.
however, the following proposition to
candid minds. If in its airship stories the
New York Journal was INDUCING in an
unwonted approach to the facts, has not
the Examiner been willfully keeping itself
at quite a distance away from them? 1t
may be remarked incidentally that there
is nothing unusual in this, for the reason
that the Monarch of the Takers could not
such without being watchful to have the
width of the continent between itself and
the truth.
Without in any way deciding whether
the stories of the airship are true or false,
let the i'm partial reader consider the rela-
ton of Mr.. Hearst's two newspapers
toward it, by the light of each other. The
Journal of last Sunday declares that "a sue
cessful airship has been built" The En-
Gminer of yesterday asserts that sit has
been manifest for weeks that the whole
airship story is pure myth" The
Journal repeats that 1.-THE testimony con-
corning it seems to be unimp eachable. +"
The Examiner insists that its alleged OBJ
servers are practical iokers or un-
balanced enthusiasts" The Journal re-
iterates that the truth of the story sis
testified to by so many reputable citizens
that there seems to be no reason to ques-
ton its accuracy" The Examiner assever-
ates that any paper which publishes such
persistent falsebood" is attempting to
''infect its readers with silly craze"
What do the public think of this exhi-
bition of deliberate double-deai1ng on the
part Of the two newspapers whose owner
is Mr.. Hearst2 What do people who be-
lieve in truth and decency the country
over think of Mr.. Hearst anyway From
the above revelation of his right to the
title of Monarch of the FaKers," it must
be evident that he has missed his voca-
ton, and that instead of posing as a
Journalist in two cities he ought to be
engaged in making grimaces, singing
ballads, shutting cards, or selling gew-
gaws in the side-show of circus or the
byways of country fair. AS King of the
Gypsies and Monarch of the Takers Mr..
Hearst Is an immense success.
cnuTu AMERTnhN TRaDp