New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-05-11
The COUsHATTA TRAGEDY
A NEW PHASE OF THE MYSTERY
The Democrats Virtually Confess
Their Guilt by Accusing
An Innocent Man.
TIE DANGER OF TOO MUCH ZEAL IN A
BAD CAUSE.

BAD CAUSE.
we copy below the result of tie recent
outourst OF the Democratic papers Of this
city In the matter of the assas sin alton of
Collector King and the dangerously wound
ing OF Senator Twitchell by order of the
Coushatta Democracy. There has been
we'll founded suspicion here for some time
that the public in and around the scene of
the tragedy knew more of the facts con.
1ected with it than they chose to make
known, and the Importance which has been
attached to the false rumor that CAPTAIN
Bean was the guilty author gives the Gus.
picion d consistency which almost euahJes
il to stand alone.
All the Democratic morning papers had
substantially the following statement. We
copy from the Bulletin:
The circumstances attendant on the
wounding of Senator N. II. Twitchell, aud
the killing of his brother-in-law, George
King, are Atill fresh in the minds of the
public.
There will be no more homlipg. however
for Senator Twitchell has spoken, and eays
that man named Bean did the shooting.
and Bean is thorough Republican, q red.
hot Radical Republican who figured in the
last election as supervisor of registration of
the parish of De Soto.
It was understood and asserted at the
time that Twitchell was implicated with
Bean, and the suppOsition is that promises
were made to Bean by Twitchell which
were never kept, and that Bean, seeiug
that Twitchell reaped all the benefits Of
his villainy, endeavOred to kill him Tor re-
veDge.
De Scto parish is contiguous to Red River
parish, and the assassin vas known only in
the former, and consequently it is not sim
gular that the people in the town Of Cou-
shatta failed to recognize him.
The last paragraph is thrown in as an
apology for the pretended ignorance of the
identity of the assassin who rode slowly
and casually through COushatta while the
people were mustered at the postCffice to
be ont of the way.
The Ricoye,ne evidently did not believe
the absurd story, but felt in duty bound to
say something damaging to the Republican
party in order to clear it's own of suspicious
which of late have begun t. cluster around
it.
From the officers of the steamer Charles
FL. Durfee. which arrived on Tuesday eve
ming from Shreveport, we learn that when
that packet landed at C0ushatta. on Sun
day last, it was ascertained that Twitchell
stated that he knew the man VINO shot him,
and that ne did not care to have the matter
investigated.
TGitchell is rapidly recovering.
The clerk of the court came GOWN on the
Durfee, and will lay the matter before the
Acting Governor.
The man who did the shooting is sup
posed to be one OF his own party.
The Times was not so cautious. Its re-
porters eagerly swallow everything that is
told them, and that paper fell into the trap
in the following hopeless manner:
From an officer of the steamer C. II.
Durfee. which reached here from Red
River on Tuesday, it is learned that Senator
Twitcheil, who, with one King, was shot at
Coushatta few days ago, charges the COM
mission of the crime upon Thomas Bean,
who, 1t will be recollected, was concerned
il the spiriting away, Of the election re-
turns of one of the polls of De Soto parish
IN 1873, when Twitchell and Elan were
contestants to- the State senatorship from
that district.
The Times informant states that, accord
ing to r ~itchell's story, the latter promised
Bean $1,000 for tha service OF suppressng
the returns, but that this money he subse-
auentiy refused to pay, on the ground ths5
Bean had failed to perform the tack accord
ing to the strict letter of the contract.
Twitchell says that, failing to obtain the
money, Bean threatened to kill him. and
this threat-although not sought to be
effected during a lapse of three years-cul'
minated in the shooting OF himself anu
King
rifle-a sixteen shOOter-and not only emp
tied it at his victims, b,t also emptled his
revolver, firing twenty-five shots in all.
Directly after the shooting, and escape OF
the shooter, the sheriff organized posse
and started in pursuit, but after proceeding
abeut three miles abandoned the chase, on
the plea that to take the man would be cer-
tain death for somebody, and he didn't
think it would pay. At last accounts the
assassin was still at large.
AS the world woke up gradually yester-
day after the inhiction of all this SEN
sation, it was discovered that Captain
Beau. the person attempted thus to be ac-
eused. has not been out OF this city for
single day for many months, and hence the
story about his being the assassin fell to
the ground. A faint and reluctant attempt
at hedging was shown by tho evening
papers. The Picayune had prepared some
remarks founded upon its report in the
morning, which got snaked into the paper
by oversight or design. though ito whole
theory was fatty contradicted by report
ter's paragraph in another column. Thas'
the editor said:
Our readers have no doubt been gratlhed
by the tenor of the latest news concerning
the COushatts tragedy. In the nrss p.aHe
they are glad to learn that senator "i.on-
ell ia rapidly recovering. Ineie .s, n.,
haps. no more bitter or unscEupulous
enemy of the Conservative interest IN the
State than he: but the proper way to get
rid of him ia to beat him at the polls. IL
is pleasant to know, also, that the wounded
man has lost only one arm. so iar, ~
least. we can sympathize With him and his
friends. But the most pleasing feaC9re IN
the news is that the dastardly deco was
not the work of q Conservative, that IL
was not committed for political reasons
and that it was not the result OF coiu.
blooded conspiracy. We congratulate tne
good people of COushatta and its vlclnity
that their reputation has been Vlnoicaee0 70 ~
regards this matter by the declaratlon y.
Twitchell himself. The whole affair seems
to have been the result OF i1ng
cherished scheme Of private revenge Wh'cI
was prompted by the falthlessnoss y.
TwitcheI to a promise made TO 9ro1noa
Radical. Of course, we can DuC ueplo1o
that any influential and powerful ps'y
should be even partly under the contIo. y.
such men; but, after all, it is .'not our
funeral" The Republicans complain InAC