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[The New York Times attempts]

About This Item

  • Title: [The New York Times attempts]
  • Date: 23 June 1858
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: per.00724
  • Source: Brooklyn Daily Times, 23 June 1858: 2. Our transcription is based on a digital image of a microfilm scan of the original issue. Microfilm of original issue held at the University of Iowa Libraries. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the journalism, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Editorial note: This piece is unsigned, as was the case for most of Whitman's journalism. However, this editorial is part of a series of texts that deal with a coherent theme that has been identified by the Whitman Archive journalism team as likely authored by Whitman. This decision is based on a combination of historical and (auto)biographical accounts, similarity to contemporary Whitman writings, a history of scholarly attribution, extant clippings retained by Whitman, computational stylometric analysis, and, in some cases, manuscript evidence in Whitman’s hand.
  • Contributors to digital file: Joe Stouffer Kaylen Michaelis Tara Ballard Stephanie Blalock Karie Cobb
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "[The New York Times attempts]." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 16 July 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: per.00724.xml (TEI)
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☞ The New York Times attempts to prove hydrophobia a myth, and looks upon the dog pound with horror.1 The Times is said to possess a "medical editor"—is it possible that he never saw a genuine case of hydrophobia? If so he has been singularly unfortunate. The very sight of one case is enough to possess the beholder with a detestation and unutterable dread of all street curs forevermore afterwards. The Times' pity for the hydrophobic dogs is misplaced.

Notes:

1. The New-York Times was a leading daily newspaper, then published by Republican Henry Jarvis Raymond (1820–1869) but aiming for a neutral tone of reporting. Whitman contributed a number of writings to the paper. For more information, see also Walter Graffin, "New York Times," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998) and Susan Belasco, The New-York Times. [back]

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