Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1878-02-23

| lows forehead, knocked him down.
Perfectly unruffled he turned to the
judge and said: Having thus sum-
marily disposed of the gentleman ] will
proceed to treat his argument in like
manner" Colonel Cumming was offered
the command of the army by Mr. Polk
when the war with Mexico began, but
declined it because of his advanced age.
There is one figure that stands out
refreshingly cool and unique during these
troublOus times. This was John NJ.
DOoly, the man who announced that he
would not fight under any circumstances.
He was prObabl the most brilliant man
produced in that era, prolific OF giants.
He WAS the peer of Crawford on any
field, and his superior in the legal forum.
His abilities were trauscendent, and his
lie would never give the particulars OF
| that nights work, and it must remain forever
secret. The Imagination can fiji out pic.
ture of horror from the scant material given ;
The still quiet hunt for each other; the senses
an otlhlbNN w Nd'til HllSIltNl bblIu VT
| sight; the dry or lckle OF twig; the sudden
hurst of fame; the repeated gun.shOts and
then the unsheathing of knives, and deadly
rencOntre, breast to breast. These seem to
belong to fiction rather than 10 history,
failure to make national reputation
arose, doubtless, from no other cause
than his refusal to fight on any and all
occasions. A non cOmbatant could not
hold his head up in those turbulent
times Dooly had the most delicious
humOr, and sharp tongue withal He
was continually getting into trouble
because OF his satirlcal sayings. He was
perfectly fearless Of speech. Judge
Gresham once threatened 10 chastise him.
Dooly replied: You can do it if you
like. You will get no credit for it,
however. Anybody can do it, and
great many have doneit He was once
knocked down by gentleman that he
had introduced as " the inferior Judge of
an Interior court of the inferior county
of Lincoln" He called Justify on the
spectators for help, aud, when rescued
from his antagonist, rubbed his
head and remarked, dryly: We'll,
that is the fOrty,sacond fight I
have been engaged in, and if |
ever got the best OF a single one ! do
not now remember it, Before Dooly's
peace pr0clivities were fully known he
was challenged 10 mortal combat by
Mr.. Tate, who came to the field with
Mr.. w. II. Crawford as his second,
Dooly accepted the challenge Tate had
lost one leg and wore a wooden one.
When he and his friend reached the
field they found Dooly alone, sitting on
stump.
"Wherc is your friend?" asked Craw-
ford, in some surprise. He is in the
woods ir.'
"And will be present in a moment, sir,
! suppose ?' said Crawford, "ies, as
soon as he can find begun"
May ! inquire what he wants with
bee.gum?" "Why, | want to put my
leg in it. Do you suppose | can afford
to risk my leg of flesh against Tate's leg
of wood? If | hit his leg, he will get
another tomorrow and peg away as
usual. Il he hits mine, it may kill me,
or compel me to stamp it like him for
the balance of my life. No, sir must
have a gum. Then | will be just as
much wood as he il, and we will be on
equal terms"
II understand you. Colonel Dooly; you
do not intend to fight" "Why, really,
Colonel Crawford, ! thought everybody
knew that"
Every WELL sir; but remember,
Colonel, your name in no enviable light
will fill the columns OF a newspaper to-
morrow" 81 assure you, my dear sir,
] had rather fill every column in every
newspaper in Georgia than one coffin"
This precedent served for duel in
Georgia only a few years since. A
challenge passed between Colonel Farrow
and Mr.. NJ. A. Nevin. The latter was
a one,leg ed man, and the former OBJ,
jected to meeting him on that account
not taking. however the same practical
view of the matter that DJOly did. He
objected in accordance with provision
of the ccde. Mr. Nevin, therefore, Of
fered to allow Col. Farrow to inclOse one
of bis legs in q bee.gum. The matter
was finally adjusted by a meeting
between Col. Farrow and Maj. Tom
O Connor, the second of Mr.. Nevin !;
shots were exchanged but no danger was
done.
If Dooly had remembered how John
FarragO, a Pennsylvania militia captain,
once declined a duel, he might have
amended his answer to profit. Farrago
was once challenged and replied in these
words:
SIR--I have two objections to this duel
business. The one is lest | should hurt
you; the other is lest you should hurt
me. | do not see what good it would do
me to shoot you, could make no use
OF YOU when dead for any culinary pur-
pose as | would a rabbit or a turkey. l
could not eat you. Why, then, need
lessly shoot you down? A buffalo would
make better meat than you. For,
though your flesh may be delicate and
tender, it wants that frmness and
consistency that takes and retains
salt. 1t might make good barbecue, it
is true, being of the nature of raccoon
or opossum but do not like barbecued
meat.
Besides, it would seem strange thing
for me to shoot at anything that stands
still to be shot at, as am accustomed to
shoot at things flying or running or jump
ing. Were you on tree, now, like a
squirrel, trying to hide yourself in the
branches, and l could spy you through
intervening boughs and leaves, your
hinder parts alone being visible, / think
| should enjoy taking a shot at you.
But as il is, there is no skill or judg.
ment in either discovering you or bring
ing you down.
As to myself, do not like 10 stand in
the way ol anything harmful. | am
afraid you might hit me. shall conse'
quently stay at distance, If you want
to try your pistols take some object, such
as tree or door, about my dimensions,
If you hit that send me word, and l will
publicly acknowledge that il had been
in the same place you might also have
hit me. Yours truly, JOHN FARRAGo
Cor. Philadelphia Weekly Times,
Thus sighs the Burlington Hawkeye
"One by one all the comforts of this lie
are taken away from the toiling millions
II used to be a great consolation for US tC
think in our poverty that none OF ouI
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