Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-02-06
FIGHTIkG AT THE CAPITOL.
A Reporter and Legislator are As
saulted.

A Reporter and Legislator are As.
saulted.
Two fights occurred in the Hall of Rep.
resentatives yesterday. The first was be-
tween Comptroller Blackburn and Repre-
senator Brown, of Franklin county. Our
readers will remember that Mr.. Brown
introduced resolution in the House on
Thursday, providing for the appointment
Of committee of three to examine into
alleged misapplication of some of the
money belonging to the Agricultural Col
lege by the Secretary of State and Comp
troller, and report as to the truth or falsity
of the charge. Yesterday Mr.. Blackburn
entered the Hall and seing Mr.. Brown sit
ting at his desk, asked him for the au-
thority of stating what he did in the reso-
luton. Mr.. Brown did not reply, where
upon Mr.. Blackburn struck him a blow
on the head. They were separated, how
ever, before any serious damage was done
to either party.
This little fsticuff" took place about
o'clock. In about forty minutes another
fracas occurred between the reporter of the
Press and Times, and Mr., eagle, repre-
sentative.
The reporter was at his desk taking his
reportorial material from the drawer, when
Mr.. eagle stepped up 10 the desk, and,
without saying anything, or giving the re-
porter sufficient time to defend himself,
struck him in the face, knocking him
down, and then walked of. He was fol-
lowed by the reporter, with chair in his
hands, and when he reached him dealt him
a heavy blow on the head with the chair
He afterwards threw paper weight at his
combatant, striking him on the head, and
glancing of, without doing much damage
They were also separated by some of the
members.
This difficulty was caused by the follow
ing paragraph which appeared in the
Press and Times of yesterday in an article
written by the Legislative reporter:
''The reporter Of this paper must candid
| ly admit that the speeches of the gentle
man who claims the exclusive honor Of
fitting against him is altogether too pro-
found in his arguments; the depths Of his
logic cannot be reached, and it is too much
TO expect that a simple minded person,
with no extra claims 10 erudition, could
ever follow him into his labyriuths of
logic. The thing can't be done. That's a
fact. The reporter of this paper hstters
himself with the conviction that he I'M
derstands s good, square, solid, chunky,
English sentence of ordinary dimen-
sions as we'll as anybody; but when the
expert, rhetorical legerdemain of some
super.elegant elocutionist is exhibited 10
the peculisr feat of converging about
fifty different parts of fifty different SEN
Nences on one point, and then jumbling
them together, like the CUTS of pig that
had died of the collie, he fails He is not
adventurous enough to attempt the task of
unraveling; because, if he did unravel,
which would be hardly possible, he'd End
nothing but CUTS still. This would be
proftless to him, for he claims to have
them in his own right already.
These little disturbances amongst the
Radical brethren created great deal Of
excitement and were circulated through
out the city soon after they took place. All
we have to say..is layd on Macduff.
As finale to the little unpleasantness,
Mr.. Brown, the Representative who was
assaulted by Comptroller Blackburn, upon
The assembling of the House, offered the
following preamble and resolutions, which
we're adopted:
Whereas, George W. Blackburn, Comp
troller of the State of Tennessee, did, on
the morning of February 5, 1869, enter the
hall Of the House of Representatives of
this State, and did, then and there, ap
proach member of the House represent
ing the county of Franklin in this State;
and did, without notice, strike the said
representative, so representing the county
of Franklin, for, as is alleged, words spoken
in debate the previous day upon tbs floor
of the House, in his legislative capacity,
contrary to the constitution of this State,
as expressed in sections II, IS and IA of
article |. ; therefore,
Be it resolved by the House Of Repre-
sentatives of the State of Tennessee, That
a committee of three be, and they are
hereby appointed to examine into said
charge, and report to this House the steps
necessary, if any, to be taken looking to
the punishment of the said George w.