The interior journal., 1874-07-10

~ of''-t s''"oefattN hNttNI't lbi
Clerk of the Court Of Appeals, by the
Louisville Commercial, that he accepted
challenge to fight duel. and is there.
fore ineligible to any office in the Com.
monwealth, Capt. Jones published the
following letter with Hon. W. n. Swee.
ney's statement, and also a statement
frpm Capt. z. A. Pointer, which cum
pletcly exhonerates him from the charge.
CAPT. JONES CARD.
70 The Editor Of The Cowier1{nrnal:
The recent letter to ~ louisville
Commercial, charging my ineligibili,y to
the Office Of Clerk Of the Court Of Ap-
peals. on the ground that / had, as it
charged. accepted challenge to Gghi
duel in 1869. seems to call for response
and that the public may sec how harm
less is the charge | trust you and the
other papers Of the State will he GOO
enough TO publish this ton ,unication
1t would seem incret ible that IL,
charge could be true when it Is reacnl-
bered that in the very community where
ii is said TO have transpired and to have
been notorious. as We may judge by the
list Of names referred to in the letter.
and by the fact that one of the parties is
said to have been arrested by the author
itie., ] was a candidate for public office,
County Court Clerk of Davies county,
to which was elected By an overwhelm-
ing majority, and into which | was in
Quoted and remained. discharging the
duties to the present time. A communi-
ty cognizant Of the facts has ne ;er ques-
toned my right to hold Office.
There Is this much foundation for the
charge: That did have a difficulty
with gentleman of this city. resulting
in his sending me the following commu-
nication, his name only being suppressed,
namely
~. T. c. Jones:
"SrR-Your conduci toward me yes
terday was of so insulting a character as
TO induce me to demand of you that sat-
isfaction which one gentleman should
give to another. My friend, Mr.. w. II.
Woodfurd, l. authorized to receive any
communication You may with tn send
me, and to net as my friend in arrang
ing the preliminaries for a hostile meet.
ing between us"
But so far from having accepted this
challenge, never even replied to it. and
defy the production of such reply. /
was holding office at the time, besides
being a candidate for reelection. and
could not, therefore, accept; and 80 anx-
ious and determined was that nothing
might do should violate the
Constitution that | took the precaution
to take the advice of Hon. W. n. Swec-
ney, then as now. leading member oi
the Owensboro bar. / did, however ad-
dress the following note. not TO the gentle
man challenging me, but to his friend
Mr.. VIM. Woodford. viz:
"Mr. Phil. A. Pointer is my friend,
and any arrangement you may make
with him will be entirely satisfactory
to me-"
The note speaks for itself
selected Mr.. Pointer not rs my Sec
ond tn arrange the preliminsries oi the
duel, for had not agreed to |, ,ht any,
but to confer with Mr.. Woodiori on the
subject of the difficulty; AMI wcile
gave my friend full authority to act for
me, l distinctly instructed him that |
could not, did not, and would not accept
the challenge.
OF course, in the authorization of
Pointer. il was not possible to define on
paper how he was to act in the dscus-
sion or settlement OF the difficulty, or
agreements that might be made looking
To an adjustment of it.
As To these, much had To be conG1ed
t. his discretion, giving him such gener.
al instructions To govern hi n n | deem
Ell important; but on the essential point
that | was in no event To be cnmmitt,d d
to duel, that wonld not accept the
challenge, aud he might not agree to any
preliminaries looking to a hostile meeting
it is hardly necessary to add that if
everything failed MS between r. inter and
Wondfar'. this still lefl me the liberty
Of replying to the challenge or to the au-
thor of it. But, pending the discussion
between the parties, it was rumored that
a duel was on the taps, the challenger
arrested, ani this made an end Of the
matter.
| will only say. in cnaclu,iou. that i
the foregoing facts can be tortured IN N
acceptaHce Of the challenge, thea la.
offended, not with guilty intent, but
with contrary mind and uuder legal
advice honestly given, and intended to
prevent a violation of the law.
There isappendeL hereto the statement
of W. n. Sweeney.
I. c. JONES.