BREWING INQUIRIES AND THE "BRUCE HERALD."

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 24, 24 December 1874, Page 6

BREWING INQUIRIES AND THE "BRUCE HERALD."

To the Editor of the Clutha Leader. Sia, — There is no duty so painful to a kindly -hearted gentleman ssihat of holding up the failings or shortcomings others for the lash of public censure or ridicule, but when the widow's mite and the (orphan's heritage are likely to be awa}lowed,up by remorseless apeculatprp, determined to make money, np matter at whose cost, by placing /before the public propositions not even disguised with the veil of commercial merit, ' then ,the mo^al courage required to umjgrt^ke .mipleasant duty is fully rewarded, froni tbe s sat,isfaction experienced of having prevented -the unwary from being entrapped, thus avoiding loss, distress, and disappointment in many households, where perhaps poverty would make itself painfully felt if the members thereof were led to invest their little money in any ill- devised joint-stock undertakings.

It was in this spirit I penned my letter entitled "jßrewing Inquiries" which appeared in the 'Otago Daily Times ' of 4.th December last, and in which I distinc ly proved ' that' the basis on which it was sought to establish the " Albion Brewing Company " ws,s glaringly unsound, and in support of this view I gave facts, figures, and deductions which I challenged the promoters and directors to prove incorrect, and although ample time has since transpired for them to take up my' challenge, they have held a discreet but ominious silence to prevent further discomfiture. I have been dragged into the foregoing explanation through my attention having been called to a paragraph' in the * Bruce Herald' of thel lth December, calculated to bring my nathe and business into undeserved ridicule. I allude to the lines fathered by that "Literary Scavenger" who is permitted to use tbe columns of the ' Bruce Herald ' as an " Intelligent Vag - rant," whose vapid lucubrations are never seasoned with wit, or possess average information to alleviate the nausea a perusal of them so generally induces.

Where the press is not wholly venal, it is only too glad to support any man who has the honesty, courage, and ability to successfully expose and denounce a. swindle, or, what is worse, a badly devised scheme recommended for public support, through a sham of respectability, consisting of a propectus with names attached thereto, the owners of which have helcl their repata--tion so lightly that no proper inquiries on their part have been thought necessary, even to ascertain the existence o^ future probable success. In Milton the press does not do the correct thing in this respect, but clumsily and irrelatively introduces a man's name and business, endeavoring by covert, ungenerous insinuations of an untruthful character, to cover both with injury and ridicule as a fitting reward for doing a public service. The foregoing is further proof of the fact that no class of persons in the' world has given their respective countries so much trouble to provide against as " Intelligent Vagrants,'.' and as hone are greater social pests than those of the journalistic order, it cannot be other than a matter of surprise that our especial " Intelligent Vagrant " has not Jong since found government patronage more in accordance with his true merits and calculated to keep within proper limits his powers and proclivities. Logic and reason alike prove that men of the intelligent vagrant class, taken at their best, only prostitute whatever talents they possess, and our Vagrant of the * Bruce Herald ' has shewn that he forms no exception to his class, but/ on the contrary is rather proud^of the distinction, but happily suety individuals usually overdo the mark and expose themselves in their true colors through the medium of their vanity or the satisfaction of some even less worthy incentives.

For instance, " Intelligent Vagrant " says in his paragraph " that the public are thirsting for information about the mode of producing the celebrated unfermented Devonshire Cider, of which I am the sole agent in the Colonies, and that if I afford this information it will enable nim to account and exh'bit his after symptoms, &c." This alleged demand on part of the public is simply a subterfuge, as they h ave already recorded their verdict in tavor of the unfermented cider by the immense and increasing demand for it throughout 3^ew. Zealand, therefore I look upon this request of "Intelligent Vagrant" as an artifice to procure from me " without fee or reward the particulars of one of the greatest and, most useful achievements of modern science, in order that he may live more at ease from the results of my brain than continue the precarious existence derivable from his own bankrupt stock of wit. I have clearly shown that our ' Bruce Herald ' «' Intelligent Vagrant "is mentally in a very sad way, and I would ask the impartial public, is'it reasonable that I, not being a medical man, should be called upon to account for any after symptoms which may trouble the " Intelligent Vagrant,'' resulting from his eating, drinking, doing anything else, when it is evident that bodily and mentally Ijte is, so very jfar igone. * '-<••.* < • For instance, under review, " Intelligent Vagrant's " little game has signally failed, and let me beg him henceforth to remember that the next best thing to drinking ; Unfermented jtievonshire Cider is " that honesty is the best policy," and to lose no time in repenting the past, and reforming for the future, never forgetting that sarcasm, as a two-edged sword, which, when wielded incompetently, always recoils with double force on the unworthy or unskilful, hand that deals with it.— l am,. &c.', ""*'" ,1 " Stpbhb^ Hutchison. The Unfermented Devonshire Cider Mwohai&t.