Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1873-02-21

not through malice, but as a matter o
| news. When / am convinced that tn
statements made in the letter are erro
neous, L will most cheerfully make an.
correction desired, necessary to do yol
Justice. The propositions for correction
contained in the letter to you from Rul
& Ricks, dated December oath, are here
j by renewed. Respectfully,
Major NJ. J. wicks, Memphis.
After writing the above, two other let
ters were received from Major Wicks, a
follows:
MEMPHIS, Tenn, January IL, lS7S.
Mr.. W. Rule, Knoxville, Tennessee:
SIR am in receipt of your favor o.
the seventh, in which you say, '"Ih'
PROPOSITIONS for correction contained IL
| the letter to you from Rule & Kicks
dated the twenty-fOurth Of December,
are hereby renewed"
The statements in your letter of the
sixteenth which / consider as rejecting
upon me are:
First-The inference which you draw
upon the Endorsement Of the new Presi
dent of the Memgbis and Charleston
road by three of its Directors.
! Second-Your reference to the assets
of the Savings Bank of Memphis moi
| being in accordance with the schedule
rendered, and the use Of my name il
connection Herewith.
trust you are by this time prepared
to relieve me from all implied reflection
upon my integrity as a gentleman. Re
spectfully, NJ. J. wICKs.
MEMPHIS, Tenn, January 20, 1873.
M Vim. Rule, Knoxville, Tenn:
SIR-Having no reply to my letter o.
the eleventh, respectfully call yourat,
| tentiOn thereto. NJ. J. wICKs.
EXPLANATORY.
AS the reply of Rule & Kicks, Of the
/ twenty-fourth of December, and the
1 subsequent letter of my own, Of January
7th, contained all that i could reasona-
| bly, say to Major Wicks by way of ex-
PLANTATION, and as the letter referred to
must have furnished him with evidence
Of the entire absence of malice, as mo-
tive for writing the letter complained of,
| I did not see what was to be gained by
prolonging a correspondence that might
complicate matters, and probably end
| in a personal difficulty, and for these
reasons did not reply to the last two
communications from him, dated as
above.
heard nothing more of the matter
until last Sabbath evening in the city
of Nashville, where / had been on busi-
ness since the previous Wednesday.
After I had been to Masonic Hall hear
ing q temperance lecture by Rev. DR..
Baird, | returned about nine o'clock
! that night, to the Maxwell House, in
company with Hon. A. T. HOuk. I'M
] @,ta IL sTa a
4 Lacey, Speaker of the Senate, came up
| to Judge Houk in front of the clerk S
desk and said, "Where is Mr.. Rule?''
/ was just coming up when the
| Judge replied "here he is" had met
Mr.. Lacey frequently, and had been in
troduced to him in the dining room
OF the Maxwell House. / was
somewhat surprised that he should in
quire where | was when | was standing
! Immediately by. His manner showed
something of agitation, caused probably
| from q knowledge of the relations that
existed between myself and Major
Wicks-a relation about which we had
previously had a conversation. Turn
ing TO me, Mr.. Lacey handed me a
sealed envelope and said, "Mr. Rule,
here Is a communication from Major
Wicks. He requests me to deliver it to
you and telegraph him that you had got
1t. don't know what its contents are y
ThereupOn he walked quickly away.
Immediately opened the envelope and
found the following significant COM
munication:
SAVINGS BASK or MEMPHIS,
MEMPHIS, TENS., February 10, 1873.
wm. Rule, Esq, Knoxville, Tennessee:
SIR will be at the hotel opposite the
depot at Dalton, Georgia, at ten o'clock,
on Wednesday morning, nineteenth in
slant, when aud where l shall be pleased
to see you, in order that / may discuss
with you the matter about which we
have heretofore cOrrespOnded. Respect
fully, NJ. J. wICKs.
The above was forwarded by messen-
ger to you at Knoxville; learning that
you were in Nashville, have requested a
friend to hand you sealed envelope,
without his having any knowledge of
contents. NJ. J. W.
Memphis, February Is, 1873.
Yesterday 1 addressed to Major Wicks
the following reply TO the above commu-
nication, and have mailed the same to
him at Memphis:
kNOxvILLE, February IS. lS72.
SIR-You ask me to meet you at Dali
ton, Georgia, on the nineteenth instant,
to "discuss the business about which We
have heretofore correspondent have
no business to call me to Dalton on that
day, and decliRe your invitation. My
refusal TO answer your communications
as above should have satisfied you that,
so far as l was concerned, the time to
"discuss" the matter further, had
passed.
l am not familiar with the so-called
"code Of honor" but l suppose your
communication means and was intend
ed TO lead to challenge to me to fight 8
duel.
With such an affair refuse to have
any connection. recognize no heathen-
ish, sO-ealled "code Of honor" 1 am
opposed to duelling for the reason
that il is contrary to the spirit
of the enlightened age in which
We live. / am opposed TO ii becaus it
is contrary TO the laws of my country,
the law Of humanity, and the laws Of
God. You might take my life, or |
might take yours, and yet not single
feature Of the publication complained of
would be changed by the result. If that
publication were false, it would be false
still. If it were true, ii would remain
true. Hence nothing can be gained by
either Of US losing our lives in the man.
ner proposed.
NY friends who have been approached
on this subject by your friends have uni
formly expressed it as their opinion that
/ would not fight you in this way. !
have good reason TO believe that you
knew this fact before you sent your
challenge.
Since this publication was made, /
have made inquiry as to the truth of
the facts contained therein. Ny invest
igations have confirmed me in the be-
lief that the statements made are true.
Hence | cannot make a retractiOn. 1t
is legitimately part of my duty as a
Journalist to make public all such in
formation, il fairly obtained and given.
/ published the news affecting you Just
as / do every day news affecting other
officials or business men to whom are
eOnfided important trusts in the faithful
discharge Of which the public are in
terested.
You may, and perhaps will, "postn
me as a coward, because / refuse to muir
der you or give you an opportunity TO
murder me. For that / have the most
supreme contempt. Really, / do not
know whether ! am a coward in the
sense you may choose TO apply the term
or not. / have never been tested in the
way you propose. do not seek a repu-
tation for courage gained in that way.
III you are more anxious to investigate
the matter Of cOwardice than / am,
you are st liberty to make the
HnnrnaH arnru 4