The New Press Style
Some of the newspapers of our day have adopted a new way of relating horrible accidents and pathetic events, which is quite effective as well as concise. Here are some examples:
“That was a bitter joke of the man in New Jersey who put a quantity of jalap in some beer his friend was about to drink. The funeral was very generally attended.”
“A man in New Hampshire, the other day, ate fifteen dozen raw oysters on a wager. The silver trimmings on his coffin cost twelve dollars and thirty-five cents.”
“John Smith, in Nebraska, said he could handle a rattlesnake the same as a snake-charmer. The churlishness of the undertaker in demanding pay in advance delayed the funeral four days.”
“A circus-rider, in Texas, tried to turn three somersaults on horseback, the other day. The manager sent back to New Orleans for another somersault man.”
“Few men would attempt to dry dampened gunpowder in a kitchen stove. A man in Canada did. His afflicted family would be glad of any information as to his whereabouts.”
“In Massachusetts, the other day, a man thought he could cross the track in advance of a locomotive. The services at the grave were very impressive.”
“A man warned his wife in New Orleans not to light the fire with kerosene. She didn’t heed the warning. Her clothes fitted his second wife remarkably well.”
The Leavenworth Weekly Times, Leavenworth KS. July 14, 1870. Page 6. (c) Transcribed by Darren McMannis for the Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies, Inc.
