Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-02-25
A LIBEL CASE.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES -B1NSTER.]
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2, The CLO1sTERs, BlNsTER, C~RUIvELAND,(
J Jan. Z, 49,.
SIR-I am instructed by my client, James
Petto, Esq, of Shire Lodge, Binster, to al
once commence action against you for the
scandalous and gratuitous libel on him con.
tanned in your publication, The Bolt, Of JAN.
(page 1911, and to demand that you furnish me
with the name of your solicitor by return OF
post, otherwise the writ will be served on you
personally. YOU obedient servant,
ROBERT G. RUPERT.
Mr.. Theodore Syne, Editor Of The Bolt.
Now, the above letter is really very well
printed-and, generally speaking, the art
of printing possesses no warmer admirer
than myself-but type does not convey
sentiment. You might accompany the
writing of a letter to the press by smash
ing an entire suit of furniture and the
underfootman, but cold print would give
no idea of the writer's earnestness. 1t is
exactly the same with typewriting. You
could never start love OF typewriting or
even keep it aglow. A Byron might hug
his typewriter, and she might conscien-
tiously tap every calescent word on paper
and indicate every kiss thus-X-but the
resulting billet doux would provoke nc
more love than a bailiff.
No, type is the cold storage of sentiment.
Take the above letter, for instance. 1t Is
written on a pure rag, untearable paper,
of small quarto size. 1t is a paper that
you cannot humbug, that aggressively
crackles as you turn the page. Every line
of the document, every formal letter, is
written to defy the criticism of the court,
and the determined signature, the Mr."
and, in fact, the whole epistle, breathes
n idea-'It's nc good wriggling, my
fine fellow; I'm going to smash you"
But the type does not tell you that.
However, Syne, the person most con-
cerned appreciated it all as he read and
tossed it across to his subeditor and told
him that he had better make inquiries.
The result was emetic in it's triteness. The
fraudulent company bankrupt who had
been written up" appeared in the copy
as j. Petto, and the sub in a fit Of clever
ness had elaborated the j. into James, in
tending to verify the alteration. This was
the one little matter that in the hurry Of
things he had omitted to do, and the omis-
sion had turned a justified comment OH a
scoundrel into a scorching libel on a per-
fectly different individual and one doubt
less that, according to his solicitor, had a
been born a mortal.
And so 1t turned out that "James"
should have read "John."
Syne's description to his subeditor of
what a unique lunatic asylum he would
have made had his brains only been dis
tributed really rose to eloquence. He then
used up u lot of tobacco and cogitated.
To say that the editor Of The Bolt was
frightened would have been to lie. He
had been too often "under fire" for that,
but to say that he was pleased would make
the mere lie fade into insignificance. He
was in a corrosive rage. The whole thing
was SO unnecessary, such a id silly
thing. Besides he could see ahead. His
solicitor would shrug his shoulders, enter
an appearance, and ''no apology had bet
ter be inserted" For the law, like an i'm
maculate man, has its little weaknesses,
and one Is to regard the fact that a man Is
a defendant in a breach of promise or libel
suit as prima facie evidence that he is a
monster and ought to be run through a
financial mangle. The judge revels in
such a case. The jury, too, consisting as
it does partly Of men who have escaped
the consequences of their sins and partly
of those who wonder whether they will,
acts as a Greek chorus to the judge in
taking it out of the hide of the defendant.
The whole thing is a happy evolution of
the infantile sport of pulling off bluebot-
ties legs with an absolute accretion of dig
nifty.
After the delivery Of the statement Of
claim would be the consultation with the
ingenious junior Taddle, who would build
an intricate sand castle of a defense round
the case, which in his turn he would like
to submit to Pussey, Q. G., who would
congratulate him, and the solicitor and
the client. A day before the trial, to the
establishment Of all, the sand castle would
get washed away, and 1t would all spell
pay, pay, with Syne as the active princi-
pal. He saw all this, and, as | have hint
ed, he did not like it.
The case dragged itself forward just as
he expected. and he was getting gradually
used to contemplating the inevitable with
out swearing.
Syne went to Binster before the assizes
at which he was to figure as defendant.
He put up at the Brush hotel under an
assumed name, smoked necessarily and
was soon hand in glove with the lady
clerk.
Soon he was in possession of the whole
history Of the county, the private life of
Binster generally and that Of the plain
tiff solicitor in particular. 1t did not
help him to any extent. He learned that
the solicitor was a highly esteemed indi-
vidual, and the one and only thing that
could be urged against him and that only
by very young ladies, was that he violent
~ opposed the engagement Of his daughter
to q London surgeon and was doing his
very best to make her agree to q marriage
with the Hon. Curly Darlington, who was
prepared to enter into the match for a con-
sideration. It further appeared that the
case Of Papa versus the most unflial girl
in the world" had assumed an acute stage,
and that papa, we'll backed by mamma,
looked all over q winner.
The bar parlor Of the Brush was fire.
quented by q very miscellaneous crowd Of
stuffed game, hunting crops, cups, ter
riers and youth of large liquid capacity.
ONE, when q more than usually offensive
and wholly superf1uous creation in the
form Of Rupert's managing clerk had
staggered out, the lady clerk Indignantly
remarked while preening herself: Drunk
en- little beastl Just fancyi He caught
sight Of my favorite paper, The Bolt. Said
TINT he and his governor were going to
give 1t beans and leered and said he won
derNd what the editor would give for what
he knew. Empty headed, drunken little
whippersnapper. and his master isa stony