The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-06-02
How Deacon Brown Converted the Ed.
itOr of the Waterloo Avalanche"

iects of which he was utterly ignorant;
PLAYED stiff game of poker; and was
essentially a fighting-man, having, if re-
port spoke truly, killed three or four per-
sonal friends IN the course of somewhat
limited residence in Texas.
When he arrived at Waterloo last May,
and announced his intention of starting a
daily paper, everybody was charmed.
Waterloo had no end of drinking
saloons and gambling houses, two
churches, and telegraph office, but no
paper. AS Gen. Slaughter sta!ked about
town in leather breeches and Wellington
boots Mexican sombrerO on the top of
his head, and a bright red sash around
his waist, his silver spurs ringing at
every step, he struck the whole popula-
ton of Waterloo as a man singularly
fitted to adorn the editorial chair.
The General was in search of suita-
BILE building in which to start the Water
loo AgdlGnche.
Deacon Brown, the most important
and by far the richest man in Waterloo,
owned row of brick stores on the west
side of Washington street, between
Myrtle and Spruce streets. One of these
Gen. Slaughter desired to rent, but the
deacon declined to lease without receiv-
ing a quarters rent in advance.
"Sir-r-r" said Slaughter. Do you
know who l am? Pay in advance, in
deed / never, in the whole course of a
somewhat checkered life, have been
asked to pay in advance, and certainly
shall not begin now"
The deacon, one of the mildest and
most gentle of men, felt very much en-
barrassed, and stammered Out-for he
suffered from an impeachment of speech
"N-n-no offense, ho-ho-hope, General"
But Gen. Jefferson Slaughter was
one of the men who never forgot and
never forgive. The very first number of
the A0dlanche contained a scorching
leader devoted to the good deacon, and
scarcely day passed but that holy man
was in some manner vituperated in the
columns of Waterioo's only paper. Now
Deacon Brown, leading member of the
church, was much respected and loved by
his fellow-citizens. He drove a thriving
business as wholesale and retail liquor
dealer, on the corner of Washington and
Myrtle streets. On weekdays his store
was favorite resort for his brother
church members, and a sort of club for
the townspeople generally.
Previous to the establishment of the
| AgdLdBche all the foreign and domestic
news was disseminated among the inhab-
itants of Waterloo from this center.
The violent attacks on Deacon Brown
daily printed by Gen. Slaughter were
| :,
| ly anyone approved of them, and yet
nobody dared to take such desperate
to task. Gen. Slaughter was the
only survivor of four brothers, who all
"died in their boots" leaving bloody
records behind them. The third brother,
Col. Randolph Slaughter, it will be re-
membered, came to his death at the
hands of Maj Gen. Brown while en-
gagged in "quiet" game of cards, sum-
mer before last, at the Greenbrer White
Sulphur Springs, Virginia. The tragic
occurrence was much talked of at the
time. All this was well known at Water
loo.
The good deacon paid no attention to
the calumnies in the ADGLdnche, which
increased in violence. Elder Roberts
had endeavored to talk the matter over
with him in friendly way, hoping to in.
duce the deacon to hold out the olive
branch, and thus put an end to the Gen
erals attacks, which, it was feared
might end in personal violence on the
part of Slaughter. But all he could
elicit from the deacon was this: The
G-g-g general is a Ch-ch- child of wrath
but | do-do-don't consider him dada
dangerous man"
Thus matters stood till the beginning
of July, when Slaughter, in an editorial
ON the religious revival of Moody ano
Sankey, took occasion to speak as fol
lows: eve know no one more in need OF
the religious ministrations of these good
men than that precious old scoundrel
Deacon Brown Even whisky won't re-
vive him. He has tried that for the last
twenty-five years. If the whisky he has
drank during this period could be col
lected together, it would form a lake
sufficiently large to drown the entire con
gregation who have been so long deluded
cheated, and gulled by this precious
deacon-this toddy-soaked old hypo-
critic"
AT about eleven o'clock of the day on
which this article appeared, Deacon
Brown walked into the office of the
A0aIanche, and asked the small boy in
charge whether Gen. Slaughter was
at leisure. No, the General was engaged,
and could see no one. The deacon mod
estly took chair, saying, "Pll wa-wa.
wait"
In about half an hour the General
came bouncing out with fierce bulldog
look. "Well, sirr-r, what can l do fol-
you, sir-r-r?" %.
"No-no-nothing, General; 1 meme
merely wished"
"Come, come, sir-r-r, make it short; !
can't stop here all day listening to your
suffering"
Eyes, Ge-ge-general, I'll make it as
shor-shor-short as po-po-possible" And
taking the mornings paper from his
pocket he pointed to the obnoxious ar.
ticle, and asked the General if he wrote
it. ls..
"Of course did. What of it?"
In less than two seconds the deacon
had the General by the back of the neck;
and drawing stout rawhide from his
pocket laid it on with such vigor that
the General screamed and roared for
quarter. When he thought he had pun.