Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1858-05-06
Graphic Account Of whipping
n CONGRESSMAN.

| ~'' AAihtou 1tOhlou AASipSi3 e'S~-SA
of tia Impending Crisis of the South, and
the hero of the fight with Burton Craige,
M. Z. from North Carolina, gives the N.
\. -!rsoune an account of his operation on
Craige, which is very entertaining. He
felt called upon to state the facts, as
Craige's friends had lied about the fight
excessively. He mentions that Craige
sstands fully six feet two inches in his
boots" which is a fact. Helper knew
Craige of old, and:
Up to about the period of my "Impend-
ing Crisis" "Craige and myself had al
ways been on good terms; but since then
he has, by underhand practices, been doing
everything in his power against me-man-
ufaeturing all sorts of vile personalities, and
then coward like, prevailing on some one
else to give publicity to his dirty work.
The account of the fight is so admirably
given that we copy the whole in full:
On Monday last, about the middle Of
the day. just after Congress had adjourned
to afford the members an opportunity to
attend the funeral of Col. Benton, l walk
ed up TO Craige's desk, and found him
writing. Accosting him in very decided
manner, inquired whether he had not
furnished the data on which Asa Biggs,
few days before, had made most wilfully
mean and malignant attack upon me in the
United States Senate. At first he denied
having done so, but afterward admitted, in
substance, that he was the guilty wretch:
and then il was that said to him the course
he and other Pro-Slavery demagogues were
pursuing toward me was very contemplate
and very cowardlyEwhich was, and is,
simply the truth. As 1 finished my re-
mark, Craige, who had been on his feet,
facing me, from the time l first addressed
him, made grab at my throat with his
left hand, and, making fist of his right
hand, drew it back, as if he intended to
strike mei but if-as it is very certa' such
was his design, I gave him no time to carry
it out; for according to the testimony of
one of his own witnesses, in the tenth part
of a second after he made the first demon
stration of violence, l struck him such
severe blow in the face that it caused him
to stagger backward, and think he would
have fallen to the floor, had it not been for
the protection his desk afforded him. |
then jerked him away from bis own desk,
and knocking him in the face with my
fists, backed him near the Speakers where,
just at a time when was giving him such
beating as he deserved we were both
seized by several members, and separated.
1 had already battered Craige's face so Sc
verely that it was bleeding, and he felt con-
strained to cry out for knife, which, how
ever, he did not get; and it doubtless well
for him that he didn't for | had weapons,
and would not have been slow to use them
if had drawn either a knife or a pistol
Of all the blows Craige aimed at me not
one took effect. Indeed, though generally
regarded as great bully he is very in
COMPETENT, awkward, easily y-handled pugi-
list.
In refutation of certain Pro-Slavery in
situations and halfway charges, will now
briefly state few plain facts: 1t is not
true that l made the assault on Craige;
Craige. himself was the assailant. 1t is not
true that sat down behind Craige, or that
l was behind him in any attitude whatever;
l stood up before him, and had, think oc
cupied at least five minutes in telling him
how mean he was, ere a single blow was
struck. At no time did ] sit down in the
hall. was alone when l went to the |
Capitol; l was neither accompanied, pre-
ceeded nor followed there by either friend
or acquaintance. l indulged in no threat
whatever, not having spoken from the time
l left the hotel until l accosted Craige, ex-
cept to ask an unknown gentleman at the
door ofthe hall, if that part of the House,
at that particular time, was open to stran
gers-and he said, ayes, certainly; walk
in" Except Craige, l saw in the House
no one with whom l was personally ac-
quainted. At the moment Craige grasped
at my throat, had my umbrella in one
hand and my gloves in the other, but, in
simultaneously dropping them both, l struck
him stunning blow on the right cheek,
and thus, on that occasion, completely frus-
trated his garroting propensity.
Three-quarters of an hour after the fight.
Keitt, young man from South Carolina,
who has recently grov-n into public notice,
and who made himself ridiculously busy in |
Craige's behalf, said it should be known
whether l had weapons or not; and so the {
having heard the law laid down, I
,ame up and asked me if was armed I
YES" | replied; and, at his request, I
handed him "Colt" and "Bowie," which,
however, he gave up to my order the next
morning.
Senator Hale and Judge Blair, two of
natures noblemen, neither of whom l had |
,ver the honor to meet before, voluntarily I
stepped forward and kindly acted as my
riends throughout the whole affair; and
,ut for their valuable services, for which l
,eg to tender them my unfeigned gratitude,
suppose the Border Ruffians of Washing
on would have fined me very heavily for
successfully defending myself against the
;iolence of an overgrown slave-driving gar
otter.
Craige made the assault, lost some bad
,lood, and got the whipping. l paid the
inc, $40; and, so far as this matter iscon-
erned, am perfectly satisfied. :
THE LEAvENwoRTH CoNsTITUTIoN.-If :