The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-07-26
A BARBARIC BARBECUE.
TIE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN an
apnYEs OF CHRIST CH0RcH.

ngp pporrrToaI CAMPAIGN IN iaS
eROYEs OF CHRIST cHoRcH'
poxv.n and mackey on the wa"
Eree Speech, Free "hSA'S
Free Fight.
nh. time for roasting oxen Is come, and tne
voIce of the spouter Is hea I'd 10 the lano. Inc
season of barbecues ls upon us, and the QUIZ
combe of the politician is awaking the echoes
of the sea Island groves, not unmingled WIFI
the music of the flying brickbat, the WINE oi
the argumentative club aud the crack Oh Tue
persuasive pistol. The demagogues are going
about like roaring lion seeking whom tney
may proselyte, aud yesterday they Invaded the
peaceful parish Of Christ Church. The grea1
apostle of the occasion was, as usual, MT. Y.
C. Bowen, who is making sort of triumphal
progress through the strongholds OF Radical
ism in Charleston County, and is every
where adding dusky thousands TO MS po'ti'
cal following. he has already come ana seen;
and CONQUERED Johns Island, "Jeems
Island. and a dozen other places where tne
nh;,osonhers of the rice.delds most do con-
oreeste. and yesterday he captured Christ
Church. Mr.. Bowen, however, was not des-
tined on this occasion to have everything MS
own way, nor was 1t an altogether bloodless
victory, that he achieved. His ancient enc
mics, the Mackey faction, were present IN iull
force, and by some prearranged plan the
Bowenltes and Mackeyites occupied alternate
" the dismounted spring cart tilted against
live-oak tree which formed the impromptu
platform. The Bowen cohorts reached the
parish by an early boat from Charleston, and
proceeding to the place Of meeting euphonl-
ously known as the Four-mile Post Church,
Smithville, tossed the first hat into the ring, &c
to speak, by electing 9. F. North chairman
and 7. Osborn secretary, and eleVating Cyrus
Gaillard to the speakers stand. There was
then crowd of six or seven hundred negroes
upon the ground, which increased In the
course Of the day 10 over thousand. There'
was not darkey at work In the cotton heids
for miles around, and there was hardly an
.auntien ors'mauma" in the parish who was
not at the meeting. To describe the croWo
would be tssk Of no small difficulty, Dut
doubtless If DR.. Livingstone ever gets away
from Africa and writes his long promised BOOK
a leaf from his notes of UjljI or Ugogo will do
as well. Prominent among the reeking and
ecstatic mass was companyot colored militia,
and they would deserve whole column ofd des-
cription to themselves. Falstaffs ragged re-
cruits would be in comparison well dressed and
veil disciplined soldiers. Their attempts at
Uniform were confined to attaching upon vari-
GUS portions of their ordinary garments sum
dry bits ct bright-colored tape, While the off,
GERS proudly bore their insignia Of rank IN the
shape of patches of tinsel upon their should
ers. These were supposed to belong to
Colonel Mackey's command, and on the arri-
val of the ten o'clock boat from Charleston
they mustered In force at the landing to re-
caIve the sheriff and his party and Escort them
to the ground. With these fresh arrivals the
fun commenced. Gaillard, the ebon-hued ora |
tor, who had nossesslon OF the stump, was
heaping energetic anathemas upon the Taft |
Mackey party, reminding his auditors that they
owed no thanks to them Tor the arms with
which they had been furnished, and adjuring
them, with occasional bursts of true native elo-
quence, to send Scott, Mackey and all the
rest Of the plunderers so far out of the State
that they would never cone back to it, so that
poor men could live and rich men could thank
Goo. The Mackey party soon created diver
sion In favor of their candidates, and speaker
on their side oy the name of Broadly was put |
up to address the meeting. Next, Bowen took |
the stand, and pitched into the frauds Of the
Scott ring with great effect, his excited hear
ers shouting and screaming with applause. He
was followed by Sheriff Mackey. who accused I
Bowen of being Democrat, but apparently |
failed to convince his audience of that fact |
Then Bowen resumed the stand, aud promised!
to handle Mackey without gloves. In tact, 1
these two shining lights of Republicaoism.'
threw unlimited mud upon each others 4
record, doubtless with much truth, and
with varvlng effect upon the sable audi
ence. To en- outside spectator who did not
happen to know them both as honest and e1-
emplary gentlemen, 1t would really appear
that they were the two Veriest scoundrels il
that ever went unhung; but Bowen had the
best of 1t with his audience, because be was |
showing up the frauds of the Scott RiDg,
which have become so patent by this time that
sven the negroes begin to realize them.
Whlle all this! mutual mud.throwing was going |
IN. a syndicate of lusty 'tmaumas" were
,ooking the stew for dlnaer In huge iron ket-
les, and crowd of volunteers were erecting |
IN impromptu table IN front of huge log, on |
Hhich sat an expectant and hungry-looking
or6wd Of blacks. The listeners around
the stand began to smell the kitchen
and to tire of eloquence, and the
became numerous and threaten
lag. One coal black field hand mounted an
opposition cart while Mackey was speaking,
and grated against the 'town buckra," until
bystander, in the Interest Of peace, Tilted up
the shafts OF the cart and shot the orator out
upon the ground. Similar slde.shows were
frequent, and it was hard to tell what the
/ seakers were talking about, except the gene
raj tact that they were abusing each other, and
that Bowen was ahead. When Bowen had
concluded Sam Dlckerson was put up, anu
pitched into the scott-Mackey parties in mo
very choice or measured language. and County
Commissioner Mclaughlin followed on the
same side. While Mclaughlin was speaking
the hungry darkies could stand it no longer,
and a rush was made for the barbecue bread,
one Thousand loaves of which the provident