Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1852-12-16
FAYETTEVILLE, TENN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER l6, 1885,

with warm blood from Anthony
black blazing 6 eyes, The clatter o.
the knives, thrusting and tending off
and sharply ringing against each 9th
er, was hld@ous to hear, and alone
broke the aHpalling silence that reign
ed throughd dut the hall.
At length, both foes, maddened al
the prolonged obstinacy Of the strug-
gle, and blinded by the gore from the
red gashes about their eyes, lost all
caution, co3lness and equanimity.-
Each one, more intent on taking the
life Of his enemy than in guarding
his own exefted every nerve and mus
Gle with a t Fuculent fury that struck
the verEbeI Iolders with icy fear. Both
were soon very severely wounded m
different parts Of the body; but still
there c pme 40 pause in the combat,
till An nthonk, striking heavy over
handed blow, cut his adversary arm
half off at the wrist! Wilson chang
ed his bowie knife to his left hand,
and for an instant, ran several steps
backwards, as if to decline any fur
ther co ontest He then stopped, and
smiling more frightfully than ever
a fearless, internal look-again rush
ed forward. PreViously, at this cri-
sis, VII en- ceE tain victory was within
his grh hsp, Anthony committed the
folly of hinging his knife at the 9th
er's bosom, which, missing its aim,
fell vi th a lohd ringing noise on the
floor, more than thirty feet Distant
The error decided the tremendous
combat. Anthony vas entirely dis
armed, at the mercy Of the tiger
man. Wilson darted upon him with
a hoafse cry of anger and hellish joy
-thdge he stood, motionless as a
rock bowerles IS TO resist, and yet too
brA i've to Az. One sharp thrust rip
ped open the victims bowels, and he
caught them, as they were falling, in
his hands. Another stroke, directed
at the neck, severed the main artery,
and t he blood sporting out with q
gurgling noi$e, sprinkled the robes,
and even thd faces of some members
who sat near est to the horrid scene
Th e last a et of the tragedy was
closed, and the curtain Of death drop
ped d II the CORY stage. Anthony,
withd ut g{oan or sigh, fell in his
place corps e, and Wilson, fainting
from the loss of blood, sunk doWn be-
side him.
i Up to this moment, although sixty
legislators we're in their seats, and
more than d hundred lookers-on in
the lobby, bnd jeweled beyies of
bright eyed Indies in the gallery, still
no one, save those raging madmen
had moved; pc sound had disturbed
the whisperl4ss silence, but the clang-
or bf their conyulsive steel. But
then, as both tumbled on the floor,
like Jumps Of lead, a single, ,wild,wail>
ing, heart shIvering shrek as if some
o+hL. ,,o,,I v,hros ,,.,rt;nor rsith ;tc NOR
tai clay ,arosb the crowd Of females,
and all was again still; but whether
that deep crF of an orphaned spirit
was uttered by the maiden of poor
Anthony's bosom, who had hoped to-
morrow to be his bride, or by the
beautiful little daughter Of Wilson,
or by some plying stranger, could
ne ever be ase4rtained.
Wilson reSovered, and is yet alive;
and there is scarcely an inch square
OH his face that does not show its
sdar, as a m mbmento of the matchless
combat. He was expelled from the
house, baildd by mercifal Judge,
brought to trial, and acquitted.
There whs never a jury yet in the
b bhckwootS that would convict a per
s bn for Staying another in fair fight.
r or the desberado is the baelS-woods'
b ero, whom all men acorshiP.