Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-06-28
THE ACkLEN-ROSSER
A fair, which has OccasiOned so Great a
Sensation in Washington, as the
Lady who Accompanied Cen
eral Rosser Saw II.
The Lady whom ROsser Supposed he was
kescuing the Victim Of a Painful
Disease-Talk of q Duel
Pistols and Swords.
Special to the New York Times. ]

Special to the New York Times.I
WAsHINGToN, June 24.-The Acklen
scandal continues to be an engrossing theme,
and to- day publications purportlng to ema-
nate from the friends of Mr.. Acklen have
| added fuel TO an already brilliant flame. As
| both General Rosser and Mr. Acklen are thou
sands C miles away from Washington,
nothing .ia4 AZ yet been heard from either
of them, beyond dispatch from Mr..
Acklen to his private secretary, dated to-day
| at New Orleans, In which he requests that
any statement General Rosser may make on
the subject shall be telegraphed to him imme
diately. The only person here who can throw
| additional light on the SUBJECTS the lady who
accompanied General Rosserto Welcker's last
Tuesday evening. She states that she was
| with company of ladies and gentlemen at
| the house OF a prominent southern senator.
Between ten and eleven o'clock supper
at Welcker's was proposed, and she and Gen
eral Rosser agreed to precede the remainder
of the party and order the viands to be served.
| u pom arriving at Welcker's they were shown
| to one of the private dining rooms upon the
first floor, large enough to accommodate the
half dozen persons who were to compose the
party. After she had been seated for a
short time the general excused himself for a
few moments, saying that he desired to
| wash his hands. During his absence she
fancied she heard expressions of resist
ance in lady's voice emanating from an
adjoining room. Upon paying closer atten-
ton she became satisfied that there was some
thing wrong, and when General Rosser re-
turned she informed him OF her apprehen-
sions, and as the EXPLANATIONS were still kept
up, she requested hun to ascertain their cause.
The general forthwith complied. He first
knocked at the door, but receiving no response
forced it open, which was comparatively an
easy task to a person of his great physical
strength. The lady is, of course, ignorant
of the scene that met the generals view
upon entering the room. She overheard a
brief and hurried conversation between him
and Mr. Acklen, the tenor of which she was
in no frame of mind to listen to. She was
all this time under the impression that a de-
fenseless woman was being outraged, and in
that belief her mental agony was almost I'M
endurable. When General Rosser returned
she and he Immediately left, but in passing
out she caught glimpse of the lady's face
who accompanied Mr.. Acklen, and remem
bers it wildly. They returned to the sena-
tors house and informed their
at Welcker's which rendered it impossible
for them to remain there with any self
respect, and the projected supper was there
fore abandoned. On Thursday afternoon
TINS same lady, General Rosser's companion
on the occasion above referred to, was walk
ing IN the street with a gentleman and lady
friend, and suddenly she saw Mr.. Acklen and
the lady who was with him at Welcker's on
Thursday night. driving in carriage to-
getter. As it has since been learned, Mr..
Acken was on his way to the depot to take
the train for Louisiana.
DUEL EXPECTED IN WASHINGTON.
Special to the New York Word.l
WASHINGTON, June 24-The probability
OF a duel between Congressman Acklen and
General Rosser has increased the interest in
the late scandal. Under the Louisiana code,
if Acklen challenges Rosser the latter will
have the choice of weapons, and his
friends here say that he is an expert
swordsman and would probably select
swords as the weapons, which would
place Acklen at great disadvantage, as he
is below the medium hight, while Rosser, ON
the other hand, is very large man. If pis-
tolls are chosen the reverse would be the case,
and Rosser might be at a disadvantage.
Acklen, by the way, Is One of the best anna
teur pigeon shots In the country. He has
won number of matches, showing such
skill in the winning that offers were made to
back him against any American amateur.
ANOTHER VERSION.
WASHINGTON, June 24.-To- day the affair
in which the names of Mr.. Acklen and Gen
eral Rosser have become involved is made
tenfold more mysterious by an entirely differ
ent version of the story from any which has
hitherto been printed. Friends of the lady
whom General Rosser, with apparent reason,
seems to have supposed himself to be rescu-
ing from the violence of Mr.. Acklen, declare
that she is and has for a long time been the
victim of painful disease, and that an acct
dental blow, or even touch at times, may
throw her into spasms of positive agony. 1t
Is supposed by her acquaintance here who
are aware of the fact, that by some mischance
she hurt herself or was hurt while at table,
and that the screams which General Rosser
and his companions heard and supposed to
be screams of fright. were fact Involuntary
screams of pain. 1t will be perceived that
this explanation is consistent with a general
misunderstanding all around, and that it
makes the already published stories much
less unaccountable, if not at all more intelli-
gib!e, than they were without it.