The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1876-11-30
AN ARKANSAS DUEL.

AN ARKANSAS DUEL.
The legislature of Arkansas held a scs
sion shortly after the organization Of the
state government. Everything, Of course
was in condition of halr.chaotc transi
ton. The loaves and fishes " Of office
had not yet been fully divided, and mo-
nopoIy was knocking noisily at the door
Of the "pubic crib," " clamorouS to be ad.
mittcd, Intense was the fury OF parti
zans within the house, and rs fierce the
excitement raging IN the community
without, The members mostly went tc
their places armed to the teeth, and, he.
sides the choice of weapons, worn in
their bosoms, or protruding from their
pockets each kept an ample supply of re.
yolying pistols in the writng-dcsk before
him. There were munitions Of war
enough in the hall to have answered the
purposes of a small army.
Every evening after adjournment,
there was a general firing off and reload
ing in order to have their "tools" OF
death in prime condition for the cmcr,
gencics Of the morrow. vas frequently
startled from sleep at the hour Of mid
night, by the roar OF inccssant cXplo.
sions, heard at different points in the
city. Many legislators also during the
day would be out practcing to learn the
difficult art of cutting a tape string at
ten PAGES, or Of driving the center ont OF
Il silver quarter, at twelve, They used
as their pistolgalIcry little grove Of
pine trees, Immediately on the south
bank Of the Arkansas river, and not
more than fifty yards from the state
house, where every report was fcartully
audible; and admonishcd certain indie
pendent members of the doom they
might expect, provided their votes were
not cast in favor of the banks, The der,
ringer pistol and the bowic-knifc gov
erned. Power resided in gunpowdcr ;
and popularity hoycrcd around the
points of naked daggcrs
Among the most agitating measures.
calling into exercise the wisdom Of the
western sagcs, was the institution Of the
real estate bank. Its establishment was
strongly and steadily, but Intellectually
opposed by a slender minority. Ali the
wealthicst men in the state, all the lead
ing legislators took shares Of its capital
stock; and John Wilson, speaker of the
lower house, was elected president. As
this person was one Of the chief actors in
the tragedy, soon to be recorded, a brief
designation Of his appearance and charac'
ter become necessary.
Every public man in the bacIwoods
that Il soJri9wt, bestowed on account Of
some real or imcicd pcculiarity, by the
whimsical humors Of his constituents.
Speaker Wilson was called Horse Ears,'
from his possessing an accident never be-
fore heard of in the natural history Of
the species. When excited by any yo-
lent emotion, his ears worked up and
down HcXibly, like those Of horse. A
man of extraordinary looks, nothing in
his features or COuntcn&nCe denoted the
desperate, save a strange, wild, twink
ling expression of his intantile grey eyes,
alwavsin motionwith cold keen glanCcs,
as ifwatching out for some secret enemy,
lie had fought half a-tC2cn duels with
uniform success, and had been engaged
in several more ofl-hand aIl'rays, in none
of which he had received even the honor
of scar. Hence, as may well be sup
posed, his proves inspired almost uni
versal fear; and few were the dead shots
to be found in Arkansas, who would
voluntarily seek a quarrel with cold
Horse. Ears As to the rest, he was
the owner of large cotton farm, rich
and influential, honest, liberal, and Cour-
teOus in his manners exceeding amlablc
in his domestic relations, beloved by his
family and adored by his slaves. Such
are often the Inconsistencies Of human
nature, which seems utterly incapable of
producing unalloyed types Of either good
or evil-angels or devils
During the session, previously speci-
fed there was Il member of the lower
house, by the name of Abel Anthony,
in no way remarkable except for his Op-
position to the banks and his sly, quiet
wit, addicted to practical Jokes. In the
parlance Of frontier technics, he belonged
to the category Of "peaceable men,"
having never in all his life before had n
mortal rcncOunter He was even deemed
coward, for he had been known to
pocket open insults without so much as
showing a sigh Of resentment.
One day the bill to provide for the
more eflectual rcwarding of wolt-slayers,
denominated, in short, "thc wOlt-scalp
BILL came up for discussion. TEis
had been standing reform measure from
the earliest settlement Of Arkansas, and
will probably continue to be so long as
the Ozark mountains shall rear their
black, bristling crests in the western di.
visions of the state, or the Mississippi
swamps shall occupy so large an area in
the east Accordingly, whenever the
wolf-scalp bill is taken up, a tremendous
debate ensues. The contest then is no
longer between the ins and outs of pow
er. Wings and democrats alike oyerlcap
the iron lines Of party dcmarkation, and
BEGIN q general massacre of chancemcd-
lev. Il is q blttlc-war to the knife,
and the knife TO the handlc-Of every
member against every other, the object
being, as to who shall urge the most an
Initiating statues against their common
foes. the wolves, because that is the great
pivot-duestion on which hinges the pop
ularity of each and all.
The present occasion was the more