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Bennett, Arnold, 1867-1931

"The Card, a Story of Adventure in the Five Towns"

It simply was indifferent. It
failed to see the importance to such an immense district of having two
flourishing and mutually-opposing daily organs. The fundamental boy
difficulty remained ever present.
And it was the boy difficulty that Denry perseveringly and ingeniously
attacked, until at length the _Daily_ did indeed possess some sort
of a brigade of its own, and the bullying and slaughter in the streets
(so amusing to the inhabitants) grew a little less one-sided.
A week or more before the _Signal's_ anniversary day, Denry heard
that the _Signal_ was secretly afraid lest the _Daily's_
brigade might accomplish the marring of its gorgeous procession, and
that the _Signal_ was ready to do anything to smash the
_Daily's_ brigade. He laughed; he said he did not mind. About that
time hostilities were rather acute; blood was warming, and both papers,
in the excitation of rivalry, had partially lost the sense of what was
due to the dignity of great organs. By chance a tremendous local
football match--Knype _v_: Bursley--fell on the very Saturday of
the procession. The rival arrangements for the reporting of the match
were as tremendous as the match itself, and somehow the match seemed to
add keenness to the journalistic struggle, especially as the
_Daily_ favoured Bursley and the _Signal_ was therefore forced
to favour Knype.


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