The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-08-16
THE srRAGUECONKLIxG AFFAIR.



attempting to compromise M innocent
Gnd estilnSble lady by visiting her il. her
husbands absence, Us 70 assume that he Is
vain, unprincipled, and wanting IN the In
stinNs o., a gentleman. 10 further sup.
pose that Mr.. Conkling, when found by
the excited ex.Governor displaying In the
lattcr's dnwing.roOm that magnificent
torso, once 80 'rapturOusly admired by an
enthusiastic female newspaper cortespoh'
dent, and when threatened with death
and laden withopprobtous epithets, sneak.
ed quietly away, Is to assume that the
gallant New York Senator Is not so brave
In action as he is in speech. These
assumptions are monstrous and in
credible. Very possibly, Governor
Spragae, when excited by railroads,
may feel adesire to kill Mr.. COnkling, for
1t Isl curious fact that there Is something
about him-possibly his torso-whicll
arouses a vague longingto slay him even
among the most peaceful men. 1t is,
however, absolutely impossible that he
could have been at N~arragansett Tier IN
the circumstances alleged BY those who
fancy that he was the person whom Gov.
Sprague undertook to shoot. The simple
TRUTH is that the State Of Rhode Island is
not large enough to hold him. We may,
therefore, eliminate Senator Conkling
from the problem and dismiss him from
our attention. Either Senator Conkling
has becOmea German, and has been Civ
ing lessons in Ills adopted tongue to tie
youthful Spragues, or q local Narragansett
German, bearing the sanIo name as the
distinguished son OF New York and pos
seSsing q like torso, has incurred the wrath
and narrowly escaped the shotgun Of an
excited Ex-Governor.
lFnm the New York Sun, Gouble-lsadsdl 81
1t woald have been n ridiculous as well
as tragic ending Of Senator Conkling's
proud careerif he had died atthe mouth
Of a shotgun in the hands OF an enraged
husband; but It would have been in per.
feet keeping with his infamous part in the
congressional effort to gag the free press
and 10 kidnap an editor. Lot the great
public services 81 William Sprague never
be forgotten! When the'war Of secession
opened, he, a young man, had Just been
elected, as q Democratic candidate, Cover.
nor Of Rhode Island. Great hopes Of his
cooperation were entertained by the Sc
ceding states. He was foremost among
the first to lead of for the Union. He
fought btavely in the field, and at the bat
tleot Bull Run his horse was shot under
him. He who periled his own life for his
country, what il he put another life in
peril in defense Of his own honor! Brave
man-true patriot-the bride OF his youth
and his wealth may well be proud that her
first.born bears the honored name OF his
father!
Prom the Providence Pres, spnSue organ.
The half Of the Sprague.C onkling mat
ter has probably not been told, and it was
lucky that the German music.teacher
could be put forward as a convenient pre-.
text lit vas ali about this verbose Ger.
man, why did the Sprague family 90 into
a neighboring hotelP As it is o family
matter, and as We wish well to all the in
terested parties, it is to be hoped that the
scandal will be permitted to rest, and that
the domestic peace Of ex-senator Sprague
will be no further disturbed. The load
which he has to carry is enough for any
ordinary mortal. 1t really does not up.
pear what business Mr.. COnkling had a,
the Sprague mansion, and the ex-senator
cannot be blamed for wishing to he lord
and master OF his own house.
From the New York SUM-
Mr.. Roscoe Conkling or his friends-it
is all the same %thing-must have persuad.
ed the Tribune and the Herald 10 keen
silent about Narragansett Pier. The Tr.
blue and Herald are two OF the most power.
lul journals in the world. But they are
newspapers, and when Mr.. Conkling, from
motives Of personal regard or any like
motives, persuaded them to be still, what
Is the inference. The inference is that il
they spoke they would tell the truth, and
that the truth would be destructive to him.
The correspondent Of the New York
World quotes the following language from
an old neighbor Of Mr.. Sprague's: "'That
real estate matter may have increased
lSpnsue's intense antipatlIy to COnkling,
but it was not the origin 81 it. When
Sprague was n Senator in Washington |
visited him n day Just after Senator
Conkllng had made some speech. 1t was
being quite thoroughly discussed by the
people OF Washington and formed part OF
the conversation between Sprague and
myself. Sprague, while giving Conkling
full credit for being q brilliant lnan, went
on to speak disagreeably about him as a
man. He went 20 far as to say that it was
q shame that Conkling should sit in the
Senate. Mr.. Spragne gave no definite rea.
sons for his strong antipathy, but put no
bounds to the expression OF it. From that
time forward Mr.. Sprague has beenknown
by all who knew him TO have the most in
tense hatred of Mr.. Conkling. He has
openly stated it at bars, in hotel parlors
and other places here and in similar places
IN Providence. He has done so when per.
iectly sober and in q normal Condition, but
he has done so more frequently when un.
der the influence Of liquor. That Nj.
Sprague's mind is not exactly evenly bal.
anced there can be no question, although
any mi who treats him as insane, even
on any one point, will be vastly mistak.
GU 49, Hf g.F. sHta. .F- t.a .laN