Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1852-12-16
The Duel y Without Seconds.
BY A MEMBER 6F THE 1BGIsIArq RE.

The Legislative of Arkansas hel,
session shortly after the organiza
ton of the State Government. Eve
rything, ofcour$e, was in a condition
of haIf:chaotic trapsitip on Tht
"loaves and fishes" Of office had no
yet been fully divided, ana monopoly
was knocking npfsily at the dopr o
the "public crib clamorqusly TO bt
admitted. Intense was the fu ry o
partisans within the house, an d a:
fierce the excitement raging in the
community without. The members
mostly went to their plades armed tc
the teeth, and, besides the choice
weapons worn in their bosom$, or
protruding from their pockets, each
kept an ample supply Of revolving
pistols in the writing desk before him
There we're munitions Of war en- ough
in the hall to haHe answered. the pur-
poses Of a small army.
Every evening after a&journrn nent,
there was a general firing off and re-
loading, in order Ito have their 1T pols'
of death in prime condition for the
emergencies OF The morrow. / was
frequently startled from sleep at the
hour Of midnight, by the roar Of in
cessant explosions, heard at different
points IN the city. Many legislators
also during the dhy would be out
practising to learn the difficult art OF
cuttings a tape string at ten PAGES, or
of driving the gen tire out Of silver
quarter at twelve. They used as
their pistol-galIery a little grove Of
pine trees, Immediately on the south
bank Of the Arkansas rNes, and not
more than fifty yards from the State
House, where eyery report was fear
fully audible; aid admonished certain
independent members of the doom
they might expect, provided their
votes were not east in favor Of the
banksl The Derringer-pis stol a n d
bowie-knife governed. Power resi- |
ded in gunpowler. and popularity
lowered round the points of naked
daggers.
Among the most agitating meas
ures, calling intp exercise the wisdom
of the Western sacages, was tho insti- :
tuition Of the Real Estate Bank. Its
establishment vas strongly and stea-
dily, but intellectually opposed by q
slender minority All the wea lthiest
men in the State, all tn he leading leg
islatorS took shares Of its capital
stock; and John Wilson, speaker OF
the lower house, was elected Presi-
dent. As this person was one OF the
chief actors ia the tragedy soon to
be recorded, brief designation Of his
character and appearance becomes
necessary.
Every public manin the backwoods
has a s06riqudt, bestowed on account
of some real Or fancied peepliarity,
by the whimsi ical humors of his con-
stituents. Speaker Wilson v as call
ed "Horse Ears from his pos ossessing
anaccident neverbefore heard of in the
natural history Of his species When
excited by any violent emotion, his
ears worked Iup and down hexibly,
like those of la horse. A man Of or
binary looks nothing in his features
OF countenanpe denoted the despera-
do, save strange wild twinkling ex-
preston of his infantile gray eyes,
always in nj lotion with cold, keen
glanoes, as if watching out for some
s secret enemy He had fought half
dozen dIels with uniform success,
and had been engaged in several more
off.hand affrays, in> none of which he
had received even a scar. Hence, as
may well be supposed, his pr Owess IN
spired almost universal fear; and few
were the dedd shots to be found in
Arkansas whb B would voluntarily seek
a Quarrel with 'Eold Horse Ears. AS
70 the rest, he was the owner of a
large cotton Farm, rich and innuen,
tial. honest, liberal, and courteous in
his m anners: exceedingly amiahle in
his domestierelations, beloved by his
family and adore ed by hs slaves.
Such are often the inconsistencies OF
human nature, which seems utterly
incapable Of producing tlnalloyed
types of either good pr eVil-angels
or devilsl
During the session previously spe-