The Madisonian. (Virginia City, Mont.) 1873-1915, 1896-02-01
HIS RECORD
Is UNSHV0RY
SERVED TWO YEARS. IN THE
PEN.'
At Joliet And Thea Acted ON The AH.
vice of Horace Greeiey-Why watch
Dogs Are Mum erous in heridan-A
Sw eetScented Individual

in last week issue of the Monitor a
person with the ~pseudonym. "Old
Timer INDUCES in an attack on the
MADISONIAN and its Sheridan CORE
spOndent in such a vigorous style that
One hardly knows how to reply to it.
True, it is wholly unworthy of notice,
com ing as it does from a person who
served two years in the Joliet peniten-
tiary Tor hog-stealing, and whose rcpu-
tation there is decidedly u~nsayory: but
rtne matter has become 50 notorious
that my friends are urging me to say
something. There isn't much to be
said. The writer dislikes me personal
}y: | do not know why, unless it is be-
cause | have never felt it incumbent on
me- to associate with men of his stripe.
Here, where he is known, people give
little heed to his sayings and doings-
they only lock their barns tighter and
nnmuzzle the dog when his form is seen
prowling around the premises.
The person attacks my leading arti-
Gle, in which I tried to explain to my
frie nds the reason why l had accepted
Uhe position Of correspondent for the
MADISONIAN. In that article the
reader will recall a few attempts at
numor. My efforts were feeble, I ad-
init, but not so vague as to lead any in
telligent person to suppose them any
thing more than the result Of an unus-
nal exuberance of spirits. My propo-
sition to ''write up the mortgages"
was, l thought, an inspiration worthy
of Mark Twain; and to have it taken
seriously, ever by a hog-thief, is humil-
iating in the extreme. promise never
10 do it again.
He knows a little Latin, too. But l
nave heard that in prison one meets
man y h~alf-educated men, and then the
phrase, ''cum grano Sails is quite
common among liars. In fact the ex-
preston was manufactured for that
class of people.
1t is evident from the composition of
the article under criticism that the
writer has had some little experience
with the scissors and in the use of the
paste pot. His ~allusion to "blue pen
cils' shows that. For a time | even
suspected the Monitor man himself,
but could see no reason why he should
%squander SO much energy on an unof-
Tending correspondent.
BY the way, this despoiler of pig
pens says owned up to being ignorant.
My dear sir, never believe a man when
he tells you that. You ran the great
est peril of your life. You were with
in a little of being wrong when you ex-
ercised the muscles of your esophagus
On that statement.
Now, just to show you that you made
an ass of yourself when you wrote
your little piece, l am going to tell
you something: You write vigorously,
and if you had interpreted properly
the old proverb, ''The pen is mightier
than the sword" you might have be-
come a good writer. There is every
element of perfection in your letter to
the Monitor but those of grammatical
accuracy and rhetorical finish. To re-
turn good for evil, l am going to point
out the most glaring of our errors, in
order that you may not be betrayed in
20 similar mistakes in the future.
IA paper published in an adjoining
county, has always been able to have a
good correspondent located at this
point?" The word located" is unnec-
essary. Save your pencils. "To fairly
represent would sound better were it
TO read "fairly to represent" The
best writer's seldom place a word be-
tween the infnitive and it's sign. 'For
shen we would not have been afflicted
Usage requires Should instead of
would" in the foregoing. This is a
difficult point and should bs studied
:xealously. "This must be u %scandalous
sts~a" All wrong; We speak Of a