Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-12-30


house was by no means cheerful place
for anybody. Mr.. COnkling and the 9TH
er guests therefore left, but they did so
without q particle of trouble with Gov.
Sprague; and Mrs. Sprague, as / have
said, afterwards came to me-"
"Yet the original story has never been
denied, has it!''
:'Denied repeatedly by everybody who
knew anything about it; but some of the
newspapers would continue the talk
about if if were denied daily in their own
columns
This is a very strong statement, but, as
MIR. COnkling does not claim to have been
at Canonchet when the affair occurred,
his evidence in only hcarsay.
TIE TRUTH is
that the bottom facts were never told I'M
til this morning, when they were retailed
to your correspondent by person whose
testimony cannot be contradicted. Gov.
Spraguc refuses to talk on the matter,
but the gentleman who gave the follow
ing facts has his entire confidence:
1t is untrue that Conkling went to Can
onchet at Gov. Sprague's request, that
gentleman having but short time previ-
Gus absolutely refused to have
anything to do with the Senator. On
Tuesday of the week in which the episode
occurred Mr.. b. g. Chafe, a
merchant of this city and a friend
| of the Spragues, went to Canonchet at
the request of both parties, to try and
| effect settlement of some business mat
tiers. On Thursday he went there again.
Neither of these times was Conkling
ont ..r1t ~
Spraguc returned to Canonchet from
Albany, and went to bed without see
ing his wife. Early in the morning the
children came to him and
SAID THAT MIR. CONKLING WAS THERE.
This made him mad, and the more
he thought about the matter the madden
he got. Finally Willie Sprague came and
said that breakfast was ready, and tina t
there was only one place left at the
table; also mentioned Conkling's pres
ence. He refused to go down, but sent
the boy. Finally he got so mad that he
started downstairs and saw COnkling on
the veranda. The Senator offered to
shake hands, but was repulsed. Sprague
then said:
"Y on have got to get out of here; are
you armed?'
'NO," said Conkling
'E1Uu must leave in twenty minutes, -
said Sprague, as he went back into the
| house.
In seventeen minutes he came back
again, and found Conkling still there
Willie Sprague stood near by with a
small shotgun. This the governor took
from HIM, and
| PUT TWO SLUGS INTO II.
He then found that there were no caps on
the gun, and asked the boy for some, who
denied having any. Just then the
carriage containing Linck, the
German tutor, came up, and the
inmate became so frightened at
seeing Sprague with gun that he Or
dered the driver to get away as fast as he
could. Gov. Sprague followed the car
| rage little way, and, in relating the
matter afterwards to a friend, said that,
| mad as he was, he could not help laugh
ing at the Germans fright.
Conkling, in the meantime, was max
ing hurried preparations to leave, and got
| out of the grounds at lively rate
Sprague then went to Narragansett Pier,
| taking the gun with him, and, meeting
Conkling coming out of the restaurant,
he again asked him if he was armed, to
which the Senator replied in the mega
tive, and added that
IT WAS LUCKY HE WAS NOT.
All the previous accounts of the affair
state that Conkling then left on the
steamer for New York, but your CORE
spOndcnt made the important discovery
to-day that such was not the case On
the contrary, he came direct to Providence
by rail, and, on the following day, had a
conversation at the Narragansett hotel
with Mr.: b. G. Chafc and Congressman
Nelson W. Aldrich, of this district, they
being about the only persons who were
aware of his presence in the town. Conk-
| ling was even then very excited, and re-
ferrcd to Spraguc as a lunatic who should
be locked up.
These are the exact facts, and were
never before made public. If Mr. Corbin
can successfully reply to them, he should
do so.