The Combative Pen of Charles Blackburn
A local assayer earns a reputation for sending anonymous, dynamite-fueled threats to anyone with whom he has a disagreement.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Charles F. Blackburn, an assayer and chemist, has finally gotten himself into trouble through his habit of sending abusive missives through the mails. When Mr. Blackburn has a grievance, he lets the person know by writing a letter or postcard, rarely signing them, but they are always characteristic. He wrote one to Frank B. Wiestling yesterday, and it contained such threats that Mr. Wiestling felt justified in calling upon Justice Neagle to place him under bonds to keep the peace. The letter reads: 'Frank R. Wiestling, City: Sir: Your letter of October 24 has just reached my hand. You are a liar. I will pay no assessments except on the stock bought of Mr. Sanders. If this don't suit you I hereby challenge you to meet me with powder and lead.' Mr. Blackburn has also carried on a one-sided correspondence with the Post-Intelligencer, containing threats to 'fire fifty pounds of dynamite under your rooms' and challenges to fight a duel. Mr. Blackburn is an ardent member of the People's party.
“If this don't suit you I hereby challenge you to meet me with powder and lead.”
Blackburn’s 'one-sided correspondence' reads like an early analog version of modern online harassment and political extremism. The transition from physical letters to today's digital harassment hasn't changed the underlying impulse of using aggressive language to express economic grievances.
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