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of Russia and his eldest son; twenty…one and a half lines;

and the other tells about the atrocious destruction of a

peasant child by its parents; forty lines; or one…fifth

of the total of the reading…matter contained in the paper。 



Consider what a fifth part of the reading…matter of an American

daily paper issued in a city of one hundred and seventy

thousand inhabitants amounts to! Think what a mass it is。 

Would any one suppose I could so snugly tuck away such a

mass in a chapter of this book that it would be difficult

to find it again in the reader lost his place? Surely not。 

I will translate that child…murder word for word;

to give the reader a realizing sense of what a fifth

part of the reading…matter of a Munich daily actually

is when it comes under measurement of the eye:



〃From Oberkreuzberg; January 21st; the DONAU ZEITUNG

receives a long account of a crime; which we shortened

as follows: In Rametuach; a village near Eppenschlag;

lived a young married couple with two children; one of which;

a boy aged five; was born three years before the marriage。 

For this reason; and also because a relative at Iggensbach

had bequeathed M400 (100) to the boy; the heartless

father considered him in the way; so the unnatural

parents determined to sacrifice him in the cruelest

possible manner。  They proceeded to starve him slowly

to death; meantime frightfully maltreating himas the

village people now make known; when it is too late。 

The boy was shut in a hole; and when people passed

by he cried; and implored them to give him bread。 

His long…continued tortures and deprivations destroyed

him at last; on the third of January。  The sudden (sic)

death of the child created suspicion; the more so as the

body was immediately clothed and laid upon the bier。 

Therefore the coroner gave notice; and an inquest was held

on the 6th。  What a pitiful spectacle was disclosed then!

The body was a complete skeleton。  The stomach and intestines

were utterly empty; they contained nothing whatsoever。 

The flesh on the corpse was not as thick as the back of

a knife; and incisions in it brought not one drop of blood。 

There was not a piece of sound skin the size of a dollar

on the whole body; wounds; scars; bruises; discolored

extravasated blood; everywhereeven on the soles of

the feet there were wounds。  The cruel parents asserted

that the boy had been so bad that they had been obliged

to use severe punishments; and that he finally fell over

a bench and broke his neck。  However; they were arrested

two weeks after the inquest and put in the prison at Deggendorf。〃



Yes; they were arrested 〃two weeks after the inquest。〃

What a home sound that has。  That kind of police briskness

rather more reminds me of my native land than German

journalism does。 



I think a German daily journal doesn't do any good to

speak of; but at the same time it doesn't do any harm。 

That is a very large merit; and should not be lightly

weighted nor lightly thought of。 



The German humorous papers are beautifully printed upon

fine paper; and the illustrations are finely drawn;

finely engraved; and are not vapidly funny; but deliciously so。 

So also; generally speaking; are the two or three terse

sentences which accompany the pictures。  I remember one

of these pictures: A most dilapidated tramp is ruefully

contemplating some coins which lie in his open palm。 

He says: 〃Well; begging is getting played out。  Only about

five marks (1。25) for the whole day; many an official

makes more!〃 And I call to mind a picture of a commercial

traveler who is about to unroll his samples:



MERCHANT (pettishly)。NO; don't。 I don't want to buy anything!



DRUMMER。If you please; I was only going to show you



MERCHANT。But I don't wish to see them!



DRUMMER (after a pause; pleadingly)。But do you you mind

letting ME look at them! I haven't seen them for three weeks!





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