Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1876-08-26
LEXINGTON, MISSOURI, SATURDAY
THE GLOBE DEMOCRAT AND MR..
PHELPS. '.'
From the St. Louis Republican. i

Shortly after the nomination of Mr..
Phelps for governor, the GlobeDemo-
cat OF this city began the publication OF
aseries of vague tiings and innuendoes
relative to the conduct" of that gentle
nlal on board steamboat. The exact
me.ning of our contemporary could not
be hlly understood until the 18th inst,
whenit printed The following editorial
paragraph: ...... LII.
1.-The jefferson City Journal does
great inGstice to Mr.. Beecher in calling
John S. helps the 'Beecher of Missou-
RI MIR. leecher may have been a Sc
ducer, butte never. SO far as is record
ed. attemped that other crime in the
commissionof which brute force is call
ed to the aiGot lechery." ~ ...laE
So tar as his is charge, and not an
insinuation, i charges MI. Phelps with
committing tie heinous crime OF rape
to which the avs attach severe pun
ishment, and yhich is held in public es-
timation as on of the most atrocious of
all otfenses. 70 bring SO grave an ac-
cusation againt any man. the accuser
ought to have onvincing and irretraga-
BILE proof. To ring it against a gentle
man OF the year, position and standing
of Mr.. Phelps, ns-shenld be able to sup
port it by testimony that would sustain
the test of the most sealching scrutiny
Being challenged for its grounds of ac-
cusation. the GlobeDemocrat on yester-
day, with forced aul sickly air of tri-
umph, publishes the following:
ION BOARD STEAMBNr Andy JOHN
SON, ST. LOUIS, July 80 1S76.-Having
fal 70 cfof e.
gard to the conduct of Col. Jno. S.
Phelps while ON this stea,er as pas
senger, between Hannibal nd this city,
l will say that on the attenoon of the
Sth of July, 1876, Col. Phels came on
at Hannibal, accompanied b. number
OF wcll-known citizens OF that lace, and
by them was introduced to til officers
OF the boat, (myself among the umber),
as a gentleman and candidateor gov.
ernor OF this state. assigned him to
one of the best rooms on the bot, and
every attention was paid him. There
were but few ladies on board that trip,
and, as the weather was very warm,
several of them lay down the sofa in
the ladies' cabin. About 1 o'clock hat
night Col. Phelps went into the ladas'
cabin and twice insulted three of the T.
dies, who are well-known and hIglE
respected people of this city. One c
the ladies had a brother on board who
when he heard of the outrageous insul
offered to his sister and her friends
would have inflicted severe punishment
ON him CPhelps) if he had not been re
strained by some friends on account o
his age. And that only was the caus
of his not being put ashore that night b,
the officers of the boat.
"The Andy johnson arrived in 81
Louis on the morning Of the 9th of July
1876.
"'(Signed)E. B B.MoREHoUsE, Clerk.
cit is proper for us TO state that MI
Morehouse, after having signed thu
above, drew his pen through the sigma
ture on the ground that he did not wis]
to appear in the scandal. The statemen
is, however, corroborated so strongl,
by another reliable witness, that tn
signature of MIR. Morehouse is not es
sential. We copy:
1 was passenger on the boat OF
the above trip. The statement Of til,
above facts is correct.
THOMAS H. WARD
And this is the "eyidence" on which
paper calling itself respectable relies tt
prove a "crime in the commission ol
which brute force is called to the aid,o
lechery." But let us see what it amounts
to. Mr.. Morehouse says Mr.. Phelps
"twice insulted three of the ladies. II
The manner OF insulting them, whotl,o,
by word or act, is not referred to. The
fact is, Mr.. Morehouse speaks only from
report. He was not in the cabin, and
knows nothing of the occurrence OF
which he writes, he having been asleep
in his room, and not ever hearing OF il
till morning. Neither dies Mr.. Ward
profess to have personalknowledge OF
the affair, and he has repeatedly stated
that while at one time, under his inn
pressions of the matter, as related tC
him, he was disposed u censure Mr.
Phelps, he afterward beanie convinced
Mr.. p. had no intention # insulting the
ladies, and he visited th Globe-Demo
crat office requesting that no use be
made OF his statement s. above given
The statement signed byMr. Morehouse
was written out by an mploye of the
CD. and that paper sdmlts that the
signature was afterwarC erased. As to
any talk about putting Mr.. Phelps
ashore, is ridiculous. C:pt. Asbury says
he heard nothing about any alleged in
suit to any passenger before reaching
St. Louis, and adds furher that there i!
''nothing in the story"
After careful inquiry, we have arrived
at the following facts Mr.. Phelps 60
aboard the Andy Johr.0n on the 8th o
July at Hannibal, wher: he had been tt
look after his chances for the guberna
torial nomination. Tie weather wa:
exceedingly hot. At night the passen
gers devoted themselves chiefly to keep
ing cool. Leaving CAPT. Asbury some
where about midnight Mr.. Phelps en-
tered the cabin to 60 to his stateroom il
the afterpart of the boat There were NJ
folding doors or curtains between the Ia
dies rooms and the man cabin, and Mr.
Phelps seeing a lady reclining on sot;
stepped up to speak to ler, and remark
ing upon the heat, suggested promen
ade on the hurricane deck. The lady a
first, being scarcely awake, was llttl'
startled, but entered readily into conver
sation, and another lady coming out INT,
the cabin some casual .emark was mad'
to her, and Mr.. Phelps passed into hi
stateroom. The lady who is alleged tt
have been insulted, and who, by the way
is not resident OF St Louis, declare
the whole affair has feen entirely ant
grossly mis-stated, and that she doe
not believe there YVES any intentiona
wrong on the part OF Mr. Phelps.
And this is the foundation on whicl
the Globe-DemOcrat has built its infam
Gus attack. 1t gathers up hearsay
piece OF scandal, and without going Il
the trouble a responsible newspape
should take before publishing an ordina
ry police item, manufactures a dastardl,
libel without particle of Justification.
Mr.. Phelps went east not long afte
his nomination. At Columbus, Ohio, h,
dropped short note to friend in st
Louis, Indignantly referring to th'
Globe-Democrat's insinuations. adding
"Rest assured that neither by word, act
look or gesture have 1 insulted an,
lady"
COLORED MEN FOR TILDEN.
A trustworthy correspondent from
Wmona. Mississippi, writes US that thou
sands of negroes in that state will vot,
for Tilden and Hendricks. He ais,
says: 1--WE have peace and auie
throughout the state, and intend tt
keep it so unless the radical leader
force the negroes to insligate row
-[Albany Argus.