The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1872-05-17
ANECDOTES.
How Ben. wade bothered the South
erners--Hhy EOomss Did Net Fight

70 How Ben. Wade 8othered the South
s.;rners--"hy .;n Eoomss h'd N"t fish
i James s. Brisbin contributes to th,
If Philadelphia Press the following sto
d ries about Ben Wade:
T. When Mr.. Wade was delivering hi:
n famous speech on the Kansas Nebras
o ka bill, his colleague, Mr.. Pugh, 9
y man of respectable ability, but great
n Democrat, and no match for Mr.. Wade,
It rose in his place and put to the Radi-
|" cal Senator a taunting question rela
8 tive to bis belief in the cOmmoG broth
= erhood of mankind. 81 have" said
e Wade, "always believed heretofore in
e the doctrines of the Declaration OF
4 Independence, that all men are born
free and equal; but of late it appears
v that some men are born slaves, and /
n regret they are not black, SO the world
might know them.
As he SAID this he pointed to Pugh,
a and stood looking at him for several
5 moments with a scowl and expression
of countenance that was perfectly fe-
) rocious, while it conveyed the utmost
contempt for his hisdOugh-faced colleague
In the same speech, Mr.. Brown, of
{ Mississippi, interrupted him Just rs
Mr.. Wade said: II know very we'll,
sir, with what yell OF triumph the
passage of this bill will be hailed both
in the South and in Pandemonium. "
Brown-"Do you know what is go
ing on there ?" Laughter
Mr.. Wade-'I do not pretend to
know precisely what Is on foot there,
but / think it il pretty evident that
xhe-e is very free communication be-
tween that country and this body !; |
and unless / am greatly mistaken, /
see the dwarfish medium by which |
that communication is kept up
Great laughter, and voice on the
Southern side, 81 guess he's got you
Brown"
WADE CHALLENGED BY TOOMBS.
Wade, on one occasion, replied to
Toombs, of Georgia, in the Senate,
and to all appearance used language
which would compel Toombs to chal
lenge him. Several friends went to
Wade and begged him to desist, but
the old fellow became more and more
violent, until TOombs indicated his
intention of calling him out, when
Wade quietly sat down, seemingly
having accomplished what he sought.
The Southern men looked at each 9TH
er in astonishment, and it was a mani
fest to all that Wade had deliberately
provoked quarrel with Toombs.
That night a friend of the Southern
Senotor called on Mr.. Wade to know 5
il he would retract the offensive words
he had used. "NO, | won't take back I
a id word" was Wade's emphatic i
reply. "Then,' said the friend OF Mr.. :
Toombs, ''it will be necessary for Sem +
atOr Toombs to challenge you to NOR I
tai combat 9
"That is just what / want, and we q
might have got to the point without i
all this palaver.' c
"You surely can't bein earnest, Mr..
Wade," said the Southerner.
"Why, of course am, man. You
see, sir, we Northern men don't fight
often, or like to fight. Now, l am
opposed to he code, and so are my
but yOufellows have bro !
ken Summers head, and we must spunk
up little or you will break all our
heads The shortest way to end the v
matter is to kill off few of you, and Il
have picked on old Toombs as my s
man. He will have to challenge; i
then, of course, have the choice of /
weapons. and I'll take my old rifle, {
down at the first crack :" c
When Toombs heard of what Wade
Iaid, he was nightly disturbed, and
replied swell, | suppose l Will have =
10 let it all go-I can't challenge him; =,
{ l do, the old rascal will kill me, :
sure enough
1t appears that Wade and Toumbs Q
lad been ont together shooting with n
| rifle several times, and while Toombs .
could shoot very well with pistol, he a
vas poor rifle shot On the other &
land, Wade was an old hunter and an Il
adept with the rifle In those days u
ne could hit a dollar at 4 hundred 4
Yards three out of five, and old Toombs q
rad seen him DO it. The Georgia Il
ire eater had no idea OF becoming the
arget Of such a msn. !,
Long after the affair was over ] "
aid one day to Mr.. Wade: "If Mr.. D
roombs had actually challenger you, G
would you really have accepted and tt
gone out TO fight - Ii
Mr.. Wade replied solemnly: ''if old @
Foombs had challenged me at that ri
lime, as expected he would, would ST
lave accepted and fought him. had "
t all arranged in my own mind l tt
would have put patch on my coat A
,ver my heart the size of dollar, and C
made Toombs do the same. / was used u
% that to that kind of shooting, and, a
# the old fellow had still, d-n me if d
| wouldn't have cut his patch first t.
ire l was not much afraid of getting 1
lurt for old TOombs knew me as o
good rifle shot, while knew him to b
be very bad one, and l felt quite Ii
iure that patch business would demor t
alize him.
Not only did Mr. Toombs refuse to t
challenge Mr. Wade, but no Southern r
could he induced to send hIm S
l challenge no matter what he might t
'ay.