Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1858-02-11

RIs, of Indiana, Mr.. Grow withdrew his OBJ
lection, in order to permit Gen. QCIrAAN to go
on. BY this time KEIrr, who seems to have
supposed that he had only to look ferociousy
at Northern man to wilt him-and who pre-
sumed, perhaps, upon the fact that he is a
more athletic man than the gentleman from
| Pennsyl sylvania--had crossed over to meet Mr.
Grow. AS the latter was about to pass, kEITT
| inquired in ruffianly tone, What did you
mean by that answer which You gave me just
now 2"
q" | meant precisely what said-that this
S free hall, and will object from whatever
part of it see fit" was Mr.. Grows reply, as
he looked his assaant in the face. The chiv-
alrous and gentlemanly South Carolinian re-
| turned to the charge, saying =" III show you
you id Black Republican puppy !" Mr.
GROW, still unexcited, " You may think
what you please, Mr.. KIErr but let me tell
you that no niggerdriver shall come up from
his plantation to crack his lash about my
ears y Well see about that" said Mr..
kIErT, as he caught Mr.. IGRow by the throat
Mr.. Grow threw his aSsaant'S hand off, and
Mr.. REUBEN DAVIS, also of Mississippi, who
had followed Mr. kEITT, evidently with the in
tention or of restraining him, interposed at once
| for peace.
This ended the difficulty for an instant but
almost Immediately kEITr broke from Mr. DA-
vIs and rushed upon Mr. Grow, seizing him
again by the throat, when the latter planted
blow under the ear Of L" the gentleman from
South Carolina" which sprawled him fairly
upon his face upon the floor. Mr.. KEIrr pick
ed himself up and after some Intellectual and
| random passes, left the hall andwas seen no more
until after the melee ended, except bysome friends
who sponged his bruises. | understand he is
under the impression that he stu6bed his t0e,
and so fell The mistake, certainly, is excuse
| able, for the blow which finally provoked
from Mr.. Grows long-suifering patience, was
so severe that he would hardly be expected to
have any clear recollection of the circum-
stances
These transactions, which take so much time
to relate, were the work of very few min
| utes, and all occurred on the Democratic side
of the House. When the blow was struck, a
dozen Southern men rushed towards the par
ties some doubtless to keep the peace, and 9th
ers to have a hand in the fight. BARKsDALE,
of Mississippi, MCQUEEN. of South Carolina,
CRAIGE, of North Carolina, and REUBEN DA-
Wis were prominent in the scrimmage. BarkS-
dale specifically states, and donbt not truly
that his only object was to separate the COM
batants. He and other opponents seized
upon Grow at once, as KEIrr was already
hOrs du eOmbat. To gentlemen on the other
side of the hall, it looked very much rs though
the gentleman from Pennsylvania was about
to be cut into mincemcat, and the Anti-Le-
compton men rushed over in a body to the res
cue Foremost came Mr.. Potter, of Wiscon-
sn very athletic, compact man, who bound
! pH inf a,,fn r( fI,n ;toI
ing right and left with tremendous vigor.-
! aShburne, of Illinois, and his brother, of
| Wisconsin, also Were prominent, and for min-
ute or two it seemed as though we were in a
Kilkenny fight on a magnificent scale. Barks-
dale had hold of Grow, when Potter struck
him severe blow. Supposing that he was hurt
ing that gentleman. Barksdale turning around
and Supposing it was Elhu Washburne who
! struck him, dropped Grow, and struck out at
that gentleman from Illinois CadwaIlader
Washburne perceiving the attack upon his
brother, also made dash at Mr. Barksdale,
and seized him by the hair, apparently for the
purpose of drawing him " into chancery," and
pummeling him to greater satisfaction. Hor-
ribie to relate, Mr. Barksdale's wig came off
I IN Callawader'S left hand-and his right fist
expanded itself with tremendous force against
the unreSsting air. This ludicrous incident
unquestionabIy did much to restoring good ma
ture subsequently its effect was height
ened little by the fact that in the excite
nent OF the occasion Barksdale restored his
wig wrong side foremost.
There seems to be very little method in the
struggle, and it was hard to tell who was in
for earnest, and who is trying to restore order.
The Speaker yelled and raped for order, with
out effect. The Sergeant stalked to the
scene OF battle, mace i'll hand, but his Ameri-
can eagle had no more effect than the Speak
er'S gavel Owen, LoyEJoY and LAMAR of
| OF Mississippi, were paving each other at one
point-each probably trying to persuade the
the other to be still. Mr. Morn the gray
haired Quaker representative from Ohio, was
seen going here and there in the crowd
DAVIS of Mississippi, got severe but acc-
dental blow from Mr.. Grow, and various
gentlemen sustained slight bruises and scratch
es. A Virginia representative, who thought
MONTGOMERY, of Pennsylvania, was about to
"pitch in" laid his hand upon his arm to re-
strain him, and was percmtOry ordered to de-
Sst or to be knocked down Mr.. CovoDE. of
Pennsylvania, caught up heavy stone ware
spttoon, with which to "brain" whoever
| might seem to deserve it, but unfortunately
did not succeed in getting far enough into the
excited crowd to find an appropriate subject
for his vengeance and all over the Hall every
body was excited for the time
Fortunately it did not last long, and no
weapons were openly displayed When order
was restored, several gentlemen were found to
present an excessively tumbled and dsordered
appearance, but their remained little else to re-
call the excitement. Gentlemen of opposite
parties crossed over to each other to explain
their pacific dispositions, and they got into
fight where their only purpose was to p,erem
a fight. Mutual explanations, and hearty