The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-08-18
The Biggest Lie on Record
WHAT 4 HOR BIBLE TALE.
The Sufrerings and Reckless Courage
of DIR. Bell, of Pennsylvania, IL

The }fnsLmyh Telegraph Of the lrth instant
contains on lis frs! culGiin Il long nrIici' uii-
der these towering llc;rulincS-"A iioGloTS
Story-.tn adventure in the Soutli-iioW he
iac,da mob of Il thousand who wanted 10
lyncn him Iof Il letter written To Il N"r!hcrn
PAPER" Under this, follows The narrative Oh
ar. Vim. K. Bcll, OF Lewiston, Mifiiin t"ui-
", Ia, Il fine appearing man OF about l'riH'
i've years, who Tor the last Two years mas br.n
i'm south Carolina, and over which STATE ne
has Travelled in l,S business c;llrcliy So often
that il is rs ]ihli!!i:;r to MIN ;s his own iialiNc
state
AMI up,n writing lrutaluliy ui the state nl al
Iuirs IN South Carolina, and DISCERNING the
process 10y which writers are detected, tli'' itu-
tnorsiIp being MED on the most. p~i"hfth;c
Northern man in the ncighbOrlluud, proceeds
10 rr!alc his experience thus: "icnllclncr,
il does make my heart beat faster wlIcn !
luink OF the narrow escape | made nave
hcrn all through The war, nnd nav i''I many
escapes from Inc grim monster, bui tli"rt u
! WAS man To man, but this | speak Oh WAS al
most thnuSIiid'p one man.
The seats OF those present wcrcdrt"n ciosur
an their faces expressed the most Intense III,
trntlun. The doctor rrrT"uFly G"t up aiu
40, TX Il turn round the room, took Il pun III us
cI"Ir, which Lad gone out, tota 'l=hl nom wv
rclurlcr, and seat. Eg himself again went on:
on sec, gcnlicnucn, when ] tir>t W~tliLS"uln
to take charge of the business am casa-cu
in. | WITS as lncreduluu> as amy man couiu DC
of the stories OF southern lhliI,iua.l"n ~.
KluX raids, and the Outrnges pcrpcirtlcd by
lie Red shirts, which, 10y the way, Is the lat
est society or aniZcd Tor the Intimidation OF
Republicans at the polls; ana when ] nau
lived there So:nc time and SAW how very nt'ch
worse il an WAS than had INA cine |, %lhtllr;ll'
IL [ wanted To tell my friends in pcniisEl-
vunia all about it,, and Icing 50 used To speak
in. my mind right out in The North, did not
think of the consequences OF so doing in the
south. l wrote 4 letter to the L.eHtaOh G"-
zrUc, Il Republican paper. describing my own
experience and what | had seen politically.
About two or three weeks after the letter had
been published. / was returning to my hotel,
after u hard days drive in an adjacent county,
and alightlng ut the hotel steps. was about 10
20 to my room, wien my attention was at
tractcu 10 Il large crowd In the adjoining
Stltlurc. | noticed q man standing on Il store
box reading. something to IN excited audi.
cncc. Imagine my surprise whcn, on coming
within hearing distance. | rec >gniZcI n SEN
tcucc from my own letter. l felt shady at the
knees. At ca'h sentence where | was the
most severe on their treatment Of the ne
grocs, and their total disregard for law and
~juS.icc. loud were the dcnunciationS and vile
the c~lithetS hu,lcI at the author. Gentle.
man, when Il man IS conscious that he Is the
author of alcttcr that 4 mob like that dcpre-
Gates. and hears them howl, Hang him !
shoot the Iankcc! &c.. / tell you 1t Is trying
on his nerves. The reading finished, the lead
CIR on the box made Il few remarks rs to what
ought to be done TO such Il lying Yankee by
way % 4 lesson to the rest OF them; ana turn.
in. around in making his remarks saw anu
recognized me-, and In Il loud voice said: Gen
tlcmcn, | think that man would know whit
wrote tlllS IClltI. llitl W tS tllDiS u, lllC W
excited and frantic mob OF men rushed for me.
Knowing that it was lif" or death, ! rrircated
TO Il corner Of the square, where l could get
protection from the side by Il large house, and
from behind by Il high board fence, and whip
ping out agO0d and trusty revolver, which ]
always carried, faced the bowling and crazeG
mob, whose faces appeared to me TO be diStort'
Ell with passion. and determined to sell my
life dearly. | have noticed in my army en-
pcricncc that where Il man showed courage
and pluck, that even the worst kind of men
could not help but admire 1t; and 1t must
have been just such Il feeling which came
over that large crowd, when they saw me then,
lone man against so muny. l knew there was
no use In denying the authorship of that let
ter, as my initials were at the bottom, so |
said In as strong Il voice rs | could muster
"Tie first man who takes II step toward me !
will shoot down, so help me God! ! will not
deny the authorship of that letter, for ! know
/ that all that it contains Is true. and YOU dare
not honestly deny 1t. am q lone mai against
you all, and Yet you boast Of your chivalry,
your honor ana your justice. Will you not
give me II white mans chance? If not, there
will bc some OF you bite the dust before |
will! Fora moment. which seemed ages to
me-, not Il word WAS <pDkcn, and the old say
ing That they that hesitate ure lost, was OK
cMpliiicd.'
The interested listeners here expressed n de-
sire TO know how the Doctor got out Of II, and
he, continuing, said:
"Wcll, l was desperate, ard showing the
courage 1 did in my desperation saved me.
IIIullSIl az lil'S NNlNy bIiNS IA NV III pht
see that the Yankee had pluck, rs they cN-
pressed It, and it being in the early evening
was another point in my favor. They dom
like daylight for thcii ugly work. After n
short consultation of the leaders, one of them
spoke and said although / did not desire ~
they had desired to let me go If | would not
write more letters like that North, and he
guessed his would teach me q lesson that they
meant business down in Carolina. ! was es-
corlcd to the hotel amid he friendly advice
OF the rabblc, who all seemed anxious that
should hear 1t, that the best thing for me was
TO get out At last settling my affairs ! start
cd for q town-Callucn, by name. But my
sins preceded me. one sabbath evening /
started from my hotc! to attend service at Il
ncighbo-ing church. Shortly after ! had left
q party OF men came into the hotel, looked
over the register, saw my name, aSlcd the
landlord where | was. and said they were go-
ing to kill the ID Yankee. The landlord,
not knowing where ! had gone, cndcayUred In
vain to apprisc Inc of their intentions. After
service | was walking home by myself, and,
when near my hotel, | was struck from be-
hind with Il club and Knocked down. and then
after receiving the frs. blow, and the landlord
and some Northern 'drummcrs' h were
stopping there came TO my assistance, or |
suppose they would have carried their threat
ont. Yam can see the scars yet; and the doc
tor barred his head for examination. SO once
more ] had cause and time, while my wounds
were healing, to reject whether had not best
norancc OF the situation In the South. Al
least that was the first and last letter ! wrote.
for those Southern papers enjoy getting a let.
ter OF that kind 1t makes spicy reading for
their patrons
Here the doctor resumed his cigar, but the
reporter asked him what the feeling for Gar
field was in that State. If there was ell.
thnSiasln among the negroes and white Re-
publicanS.
Ioc,or B.-Gen. Garfield is scarcely known
by the negroes of that state, and the white
Republicans know that to vote will he useless.
In conversation with n prominent merchant
down there. and who vas Il leading man In
the society of ltCd-ShirtS, he said that they
would not be used ut all in the coming cleo.
ton, rs tie vote of the Republicans would
not be counted anyway, and therefore they
~diShandcd. Grant was the man TO carry the
southern States. In conversation with cX-
Gov. Manning. of South Carolina, just before
the Chicago Convention, he said 1t would he II
mistake If they did not nominate Grant, and
favored his nomination by the Democrats II
he should fail ut Chicago, as he was The man
the South wanted.
Rcp.-Do you think 1t would be worth the
while of the Republican National Committee
to send money and speakers down into that
State?
Doctor B.-No! No good would come OF II
at all. 1t i n settled fact that that State will
be counted for Hancock and English.
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