Charles Otho Montrose and the Melbourne " Argus."

Observer, Volume 9, Issue 559, 14 September 1889, Page 17

Charles Otho Montrose and the Melbourne " Argus."

Mr C. 0. Montrose, who some years ago was editor of the Observer, has in Melbourne i achieved the rare distinction of being " slated " j by theArgvs. Charlie Otho is now editor of The Farmers' Gazette, but it would seem that some time since he was employed on the Argus. At a recent meeting in the Temperance Hall, Melbourne, under the auspices of the Victorian Farmers' Association, some accusations were made against newspaper proprietors by a Mr McLean, which evoked the following pungent par from the Args : — "The late members of the firm of Wilson and Mackinnon had no interest whatever in any station property in either New South Wales or Queensland, and none of the present members of the firm are interested in any manner in station property. Although Mr McLean was thus corrected, he made no apology for the imputation into which he had been betrayed. According* to his own showing, he allowed himself to be misled by a statement prepared by a person named Montrose, ivho was once employed in the offi,ce of this journal (The Argus), but who was dismissed." The Melbourne Thunderer no doubt calculated that this would annihilate the "person named Montrose " ; but unless Charles Otho has lost a big slice of his former pugnacity, we opine that he would give those persons named Wilson and Mackinnon such a scarifying in the Farmers' Qazette as they are not likely to forget in a hurry. As it was lately reported here that Mr Montrose was dead, his many New Zealand friends will be glad to learn from the incident referred to above that he is very much alive and kicking 1 Possibly the Argus people may have oause to repent publishing their spiteful paragraph, as Mr Montrose has already got Table lallt to state that he was not dismissed by the proprietors of the Argus, but left the employ of that paper in the , usual course. i

People should be very careful how they word their invitations. The following style is not to be recommended: — "Dear Miss Smith,— Will you and your brother come to dinner with us to-mor-row evening, if^ou have nothing on ?"

At a whist party one evening, two players had some words over the play, and one remarked — " I wish I was playing opposite a gentleman." The other retorted : " Whether you are playing, sitting, or standing, you are the opposite of a gentleman 1 "