The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1878-07-13
STEPHENS AS A FIGHTER.
DETIA lis or SOME or HIS FORMER
ENCOUNTERS,

brella--His Quarrel with Johnson
"A Rich Controversy with Ben Hill.
A Georgia correspondent Of the
New York Star in giving an account
of Alexander II. Stephens political
career, narrates the following as m
evidence Of his pluck
Tho only real fight of Mr.. A. H.
Stephens was not strictly a duel,
save as it took two to do it. Mr..
Stephens, for O. little man, has
always been both plain and loud,
and he opposed the Mexican war
steal rs strongly rs did Tom Cor
win, who hoped tho ''yellow bellies, "
as our foes were then elegantly Y
called, would "welcome the invaders
with bloody hands to hospitable
graves" Stephens more eleg .ntly
spoke Of the crime to be prosecuted
against them as
Gwen until
The gates Of mercy shall bo nil shut up.
ANA the h"shed soldier, rough and hard
OF heart
In liberty OF bloody hand shall range
With conscience wide as hell, moving
lheir fresh i;.ir virgins ana thoir bloom
ing YOUTH
This sort of thing, and his speech
on the Clayton compromise of 1913,
as climax, mado things warm in
that rather warm and excitablc
climate, and Julyo Conc, q man of
Northern birth, elected to tho
judgeship of Georgia, soon saw fit
to denounce Linn as "a traitor to
the South in a public speech.
Stephens said, when he heard of it ::
III he says hat to me, + will slap
his face" They had an interview
on tue subject, anal the words were
denied by Jud< Sc Cone, ana Stephens
said bis say. TEey parted in q
friendly manner, but tho threat of
Stephens was taken up by the
mcddiers who foment duels and
never fight them, and the Judge
met the Congressm IN in the piazz ,
of Tnompsons H,thl, Atlanta, Gl.,
on September 4, 1913, with \ de-
mand for retraction.
THIS WAS THE DUEL GROUND,
and for tools Mr.. Cone bad big
knife, and Mr.. Stephens had m
umbrella. Mr. Cone weighed oyor
two hundred pounds; Mr.. Stephens
nlnety-four pounds only. Upon
the refusal to retract by Stephens,
C'ne attacked him with the open
Knife. This was parried for somo
seconds with TIE umbrclla, although
Stephens was bleeding from cnts in
tho breast and arms Then Cone
threw his whole weight on him.
and thus brought him down on his
back, With his loft hand on the
forehead Of his adversary, and the
knife in his right, Cone criod out
"Now, you rotact, or + will cut
your--throat." The firm reply
was: "No, ncver-,cut !"
Blood was flowing from breast
Wound received standing, which
would have reached tho heart, but
from q turn in the blade of the
knife, and another stab on the
other side had passed between two
ribs, and severed an intercostelary
artery. So it was not from q sense
of safety on the big mans goner-
osity that ho defiod him. As the
knife came to finish its work, Mr..
Stephens caught it in his right
hand, and his left seized the right
elbow Of Judge Conc. In this way
the struggle lasted till both parties
were on their feet again, and others
had come to the rescue. The right
hand of Mr.. Stephens, that had
seized the knife as it came at his
was horribly mangled in the
turning and twisting Of the blade
in the efforts to got it out of the
grip. The hemorrhage from the
severed artery would haye resulted
in speedy death, but for the fortu-
nate presence of DR.. Hitchcock, of
the United States Army, whose
skill arrested it. Mr.. Stephens
was confined to his bod for several
weeks with these wounds, and tho
right hand vas thought to be
permanently disabled. The ten
dons of several fingers and the
thumb were severed, and he began
to write with his loft hand, not
using the right for twelve months.
10 this permanent hurt his terribly
bad chirography is now duo.
Ri1f tho frht d;d Hin ,,t,oJ fo,!