The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1866-05-08
DAN. RICE BEFORE THE RECON
STRUCTION COMMITTEE.
From the Washington Correspondence of the Com

sTRUCTIoN COMMITTEE
From the Washington Correspondence of the Com
/ mercial
The Committee on Reconstruction still per-
sists in suppressing the most important testimo-
my elected before it. Dan. Rice has recently
been a circus tour through the lately rebel
lious States, aud has had opportunities such as
are afforded to few for observing the condition
of the Southern people as to loyalty. His testi-
mony viii! be found to show the true feeling
that exists in the South when the thin crust of
pretended loyalty is melted away and true char
acter is revealed under the exhilarating infu-
ence Of a mesageri, when man stands in the
presence of the untamed forces Of nature, sepa-
rated therefrom only by the thin partition of
an iron cage MIR Rice being duly sworn, tessi
fed thus:
Q You have an unrrly animal, known as
pet mule, with your circus, have you not
A. have.
Q. What are the idiosyncracies of that beast !?
A. He is much given to kicking.
T. It is almost impossible to ride him, is it
not?
A. 1t is IgeneraIly offer s25 to any man
who will ride him round the ring.
O. On your late visit to the South, did you
receive any offers to ride that mule ?
A. did.
O. State what occurred on these occasions.
A. In Richmond, a discharged Confederate
soldier attempted to ride him, but vas imme-
diately thrown flat on his back 4
this
A. II said the mule was id Yankee cuss
Q. Did any others make the attempt?
A. Another of Lees veterans tried to ride
him, and succeeded.
n What did ho CIV
A. lie said, after he had dismounted, that if
he'd had regiment O. them ere cavalry he'd
have whipped Fitzpatrick all to smash; and that
in the next war against the Yankees he intend
ed to raise brigade of 'em.
Cross-examined by Mr. Stevens:
@ Is that he mule a she mule 2
y. It's he mule.
@ You have monkeys in your show, have
you not?
a. have.
O. Have you ever heard any disloyal remarks
in relation to those monkeys!
A. can't say that have
O. Have you ever heard anything said in
their presence?
a. A couple of young ladies were one day
standing in front Of the cage, and heard one
of them say it looked like Freedmen's Bureau.
O. How was this remark received
A. 1t created much laughter.
@ Were there any personal illusions made
ON that occasion?
A. Some one in the crowd said, pointing to
the ourang -outang, "That's Sumner"
O. Did that please the bystan nders
A. Very much.
@. Did you ever hear any observations about
the bears
A. heard it said once about eyed bear
that he looked like Ben Butler, and about a
| grizzly that it ought to be called Ben Wade.
O. Were the points of resemblance stated
| A. They were not. The observation was
made on the tout ensemble, with special refer
eDce perhaps, to the ocular deformity in the
case of the one-eyed animal.
| O Have you side shows with your circus?
| A. have.
Q. State if you have ever heard disloyal re-
marks in relation to them.
A. believe heard something of the kind
once about Daniel in the lions den.
O. State what it was.
A. A young lady asked me which was Daniel
and which was the lion.
@ What was you. reply!
A. told her it was easy to distinguish Dan
iel from the lion, as the former wore swallow
tail coat, and had a cotton umbrella under Bit
arm.
Q What did she say
! A. After looking into the cage, she said, very
| spitetully, that Daniel looked like mean Yam
kee, and she wished the lion would chaw bim mp
I (Of course this testimony was damaging te
the South, and showed US to be disloyal
Il, III