New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-10-22

pistols against tender and vulnerable portions
of his constitution, and compelled him to as
sumo attitudes and utter phrases OF obasement.
The readiness with which they extorted from
him the avOwa that he was mean cur
and that his parentagc was n little that way,
do not give us n high opinion Of the yalor Of
Bleds0es man, whatever We may think OF his
prudence. These avOwals appeared to eXtort
the reluctant approval of his enemies. for they
let him go unscathed. But the tolls were
thiCkening round them. After series OF
carousals, while riding through the woods at
night, a gang of bushwhackers opened fire
upon them, and that was the last of them.
They were found riddled with bullets, as
were their horses likewise, and Pye pines in
| double widowhOod
1t would he gratifying il we could here close
this sangunary rehearsal. Ii is not pleasant
| 10 wade about in gore in this manner But
we are impellcd to these recitatons by a sense
of duty, and a little murder, more or less, shall
| not daunt us. We have got to tell the story
of Witherspoon and King, and then we shall
have done. Except that they were denizens Of
La Grange, in Tennessee, and that they have
| killed ea0I other, we know nothing about them.
Why Witherspoon shot King through those
reconcile intestinal regions to which physicians
and corOners assign such difficult Latin Names
and why King, with dubbed pistol, beat upon
the sconce of Witherspoon till it resembled
confused plum pudding, and was no
longer the dome Of WitherspoOn's thought, ana
the palace of WitherspOon's soul, but mangled
squelch of gore, we know not The scribe VINO
informs us is cOstive of particulars, and this
aridity of information is not compensated for
by his ambitious rhetoric. They cherished
"grudge of some months growth in their
Blossoms" he says. "They met at bar-room,
land with that sinister leer upon each lip
that tells at once Of scorn, hate, and bloody
"passion, they asked each other to drink" Is
that the way they express these emotions IN
Tennessee 7 They did drink, aud then
got TO business, and finished each other
| off in such handsome style that nothing
is left to the bereaved community amid which
they dwet except to bury them and record the
history of the fight upon their grave-stones'
The matter of fact way in which these and
similar occurrences are recorded by the local
press seems TO evince that they are not re-
garded as at all exceptional or surprising oc-
currences. 1t appears to be considered the most
natural thing in the world for A. to shoot Il.
in case there is any ground Of difference be-
tween the vowel and the consonant. Resent
ments which, in other societies, would lead simply
to suspension of acquaintance, are in the South
made the occasion of desperate and bloody
collisions, which generally end in the destruc-
ton of one or both of the cOmbatants. The
Southern people have learned some salutary
lessons and have profted by them. When Will
they learn TO devolve the settlement OF their
differences upon the civil law, and put away
their pistols and bowie knives' They invite the
immigration of peaceful and industrious peO-
pie TO aid them in rebuilding the broken edlfice
of their prosperity. But how can they expect
the invited to come, if they themselves make,
or suffer the lawess and desperate classes to
make, of their land Gehenna-an abode OF
murder7 The correction of these appalling
evils is in the hands of the Southern people
| themselves. That old element of violence and
ferocity which WINS bred and nurtured by many
| generations of Slavery must be totally and
absolutely eliminated before the road OF
progress and prosperity will be clear before
them.