Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1856-05-15

We are free to confess that our local items
man bad NO right 10 say that the flow Was
"seceysly" caned TWAS, from The fellows
own account land he knows bsst) mere
" lore pat" After describing the '.ffisndly
relations that had existed betwesa him and
his assailant and how, in passing, he gave him
"a friendly salutation," he says:
" His reply to our salutation was an oath and a
denunciation, followed by blow on the head from
heavy bludgeon, which fslled us to the ground"
Now, surely our local reporter had no bust
ness to say that our contemporary was &C.
verely caned," when he was only felled to
the ground by a blow ON tho head from a
heavy bludgeon." Not bit Of it! Why,
there is no seuerity in blow which only
knocks man down. And besides. " blud-
geon is no cane ut all How can fellow be
cdned with bludgeon2 The thing i prepos-
ferrous. II our local reporter don't mind and
call things by their right names, well ship him
off to Matagordal
To prove still more conclusively that there
was no sepsrity in "a blow on the head with
heavy bludgeon which felled him to the
ground" he tells the public, in language, as
clear as mud, that g he was raised up, he
knosos not By WAom, covered soith blood from
tie 6low" Why, that is no proof that he was
severely canedl" It only just split little Of
his claret, and made him relish his dinner,
which he did latter cleansing the blood from
his person" And suppose the fellow did not
kno,o who raised him upP Why that is no
proof that he was stunned by seusrs blow
not at all 1t may have been only little fright,
that is all. But let us read our contemporaries
statement a little further, and see his philoso-
ply
He says
"To have properly retaliated even such blow
from powerful man given under such circum-
stances, he being in the hands of those who had
interfered, would have deprived us Of the plea Of
selfdefence, and subjected US to the charge Of
manslaughter, position in which We were not
disposed to place oursef"
Now let no man say that the two first lines
Of this quotation make any reference to the
severity ofthe bludgeoning, mot Gaming" for
it is not true that it was Gaming it,oas a
bludgeoning mark that although our non
discriminating local man called it Gaming"
and "seyere" one at that, when it was as
gentle as thunderbolt nor let any man say,
that more philosophical bearing Of insult and
injury was ever manifested by any man. in this
non-combatant community
And here we must say, that we think Major
Heiss acted most 6ludgsoningly to assail such
philososher in such mode, under such cir
cumstances.
Now it is true, that our contemporary had
no right to speak to gentleman that we
cannot deny--nor can we deny that Major
Hess had right to consider himself grossly
insulted by such "a friendly salutstion,' from
the fellow, but we do contend, in behalf Of our
philosophic contemporary, that Major Heiss
had no right to 60 beyond in has
face That response to his friendly salu-
tation," would of course have been borne with
equal philosophy, for our contemporary sub
stantially avows that he Uon't kin anybody,
(and we viii be surety that he never wilD un-
less he can have the benefit Of the "plea Of
self.defencelr And we are not quite sure he
would kill anybody under any circumstances
unless protected by the darkness Of a cloudy
and moonless night!
This is the last time we shall apologize for
our local editor. He must hereafter take care
of himself! #-l