A Frontier Editor Tells a Political Rival to Sink His Soul in the Columbia
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reprints a rival editor’s furious attack on Hon. M. W. Miles, a Waterville politician accused of writing to the editor’s ex-wife—and the insults get very personal.
One of the most persistent revilers of the Post-Intelligencer is the Waterville Times. In order that the people may judge of its title to respect for its opinions, we republish the following from its issue of May 14:
“Hon. M. W. Miles writes east to our divorced wife for information concerning our character and reputation. His answer will be anxiously looked for by our enemies. Rouse, Miles, you miserable skunk, have manhood to publish it. If you refuse to, we will publish the letter you wrote and the reply you received in full so that the people of Douglas county may fully understand what a low down, pusillanimous, diabolical ass you are. Such practices are only indulged in by men of your calibre—men who are totally depraved, and wholly devoid of brains and ability—a mean, sneaking cur, whom all honest men have long ago ceased to respect. Miles, you miserable British Columbia marriage fiend, cheat the devil out of a job, and sink your hellish soul in the deep waters of the Columbia.”
“Miles, you miserable British Columbia marriage fiend, cheat the devil out of a job, and sink your hellish soul in the deep waters of the Columbia.”
Frontier newspapers were openly partisan, and personal feuds spilled into print with a ferocity that modern social media rarely matches. The Post-Intelligencer’s decision to reprint the attack shows how editors used rivalries to entertain readers and settle scores. The Waterville Times’s language—calling a politician a “marriage fiend”—would today be a defamation suit waiting to happen.
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