Iron County register., 1882-10-26

by John A. cockeriIl, the 1Ianasine
Editor. III 80 4 ri
81. LouIs. Mo, Oct 1l.
Alonzo W. Slayback, q prominent
attorney. was shot and billed by john !.
Cockerll, editor ofthe Post Despatch, this
city, Yesterday afternoon. Witnesses gave
different versions of the affair, but it was un-
derstood that Mr.. slayback, accompanied
by friend, visited the sanctum to
demand satisfaction for an editorial puhli-
cation. Mr.. Cockerill, in sworn statement
at the inquest to-day, thus tells the story OF
the tragedy:
On the evening of the soth of September a
social entert ainmeHt was given at the rooms
of the Elk Club As President of the nrganiza-
! ton il was my duty to receive and entertain
z guests About l9 O'Clock my attention was
called to Col. Siavbaek, who was sitting at a
table with Mr. II. w. Moore. and Others. He
,sat speang in 9d t9ae, % and gsns vo
went into q diferentspart OF the building to
avoid hearing his language, for feared that
pleasant to me, and / wished to avoid a scene.
Afaf hour later Mr. Moore spoke to me. and
said that Mr.. Slayback had applied the term
=. .blackmailers to the editor of the Post Dis
81,0f1h. and had IN ade serions threats. AS this
had tuken place in a public assemblage of my
friends. I felt called upon to ask him for an
to speak 10 him J We went into fIle small
room known as the library the door Of G Which ,h
him: sf, f'e coionel. Sp' | understand stand that You ~
@ Rsys 9sa se@s shis fstfsF svehis PiEe;
g apb be sas,s Hg asyoh nns%
sRsae s. aeA se s sss r. haa bg tosaea Ho 10
upon " On abtter tirsae. Of abuse against tie pa
sst @ time t1at he Was entft7ed 70 his
opinion As. as TO the course OF the paper p IN "P R
sns fhen to the tn:
fist ciinched, he said I sYon ,n have brought me
in here to bulldoze me, and now VIC are alone.
and man Imam, and tell yonanow thar if
the Post Dis7,atck ever attacks me or assail5
my clsaractef will 90 &c" your office ana kill
,you. will take the life OF any may who EN-.
plOys newspaper to abuse and iniure me-"
q Iassnred him that IShad Do@intent to bully
INN. and that r had simply called him in the
room to ask Tor al eXpIanati on that WAS due
me. further assured him that hadsalways
sntsrsained "a frieadtye .feeiing for him;
opea ~'iasa sas e neaea ssanSf woaia am
Broadhead and the charges that had been
that he would otanybody whowouid pub
f-h Such thingssOf him. He told sTae that
would be held e account for h the 6 gsourseef he
was over he would go on the stump and from
house to house to denounce the POST Dtspdfch
talk Of this Character on his part. u assured
him that was at ;fIls times In readiness to
meet any responsibility thar tbelongedto me-
and that wheff@prOpcrly called upon would
render any satisfaction that a gentleman
could demand: ~Hc gave me to untte tstand
that he held himself subject to the ssasne de-
mand, and that if occasion ever arose he
would certainly put me to the test. After stin
further conversation, in which assured him
which attempted to show him that he was
not called uron to go to extreme lengths in
lnainta,nins, Mt. Bfoadhfads ga sandidacy.
hand and we agreed to be friends I assuring
him t1lat no'aet of mine should give him per-
sonal cause TO feel hostile toward me. At his
We. e.,entered the sideboard room
and took a social drink. We then together
sat down in the main hall for an hour listened
and parted in the most cordial way. When
next saw Col. Slavback he called at the office
on the day OF the parade of the Yelled t'roph-
cts to ask me to suppress all mention of the
action OF certain citizens regarding the Irish
float. Our meeting was pleasant and he
went away in good feeling, first asking me
tiekets to the Yelled Prophets ball. Meantime
l had been informed that the course OF the
paper was. not changed toward Mr.. Broad |
head would be shot. had reason to believe |
that this threat came from Slayback, but no |
whatever. was guarded that there should |
be nothing to which he could take personal |
execution, for had assured him of my indi |
vidual friendship, and meant to maintain it. !
Yesterday morning read in the daily papers |
that on the evening previous Col. Slayback !
had addressed "A Democratic meeting in the !
Ward. and had Indignantly at |
tackled the Post Dispatch and its conductors |
notieedthen that he was putting into execution |
from the stump. Later on saw persons who |
were at the meeting and who gave me some |
idea of the bitterness of his assault. / re-
garded it as an open difiance-an intentional |
which would call for some re-
sponse from the Posi- -Iispncfh. i did not write
any thing myself, but simply reproduced Fri
day afternoon a card which had been written
by Mr.. John NJ, Glover year before; inserted
in the first edition of the Post DispHtch and /
taken out of the last edition by Mr. Pulitzer,
who did not wish To give offense to Col. Slay-
back. expec ted. .sfroms stare tone of the con-
ylub that he would send me a challenge if he
iclt himself sufficiently aggreved. and did
not think that he would come to the office to
street re,costre, ana slouid have taken all
-ea SOU dbie means to avoid it. l was de-
aimed at the of,ice Yesterday evening
,ome matters connected withthe composing
'oom. At afew minutes past 5&o'cIock was
nent' talking with. MIR. McGuffin. business
manager of the paper, and Mr.. Cole. foreman.
My aee lying Y
2ocket on changing my coat and leaving the
'fiice.a snddenlyathe door opened and two
was, facing the door ! recognized Col.
'layback, and in an instant afterward recog
,ized Mr. Clopton. n lawyer who had a few
profession in private office. IIeaifzed that
was to be assaulted, and rOseffoin my chair
,ol. slayback's bearing was that of man
ent upon violence. His first words were,
Well, am here" He started as if to draw
if his coat. was in the corner next to the
ront window. Instinctively moved my hand
oward the weapon on the desk. He saw it,
uddenly readjusted his coat, and said: Is
hat for me:' at the same time throwing
is hand to his hip pocket Ny reply
veapon as he drew his. He pointed it delib-
rately at me and heard him cock it. There
,as-a n second of delay. 1 shouted: "Don't do
lati' nnd at the same time, while his Weapon
as pointed at my breast, fired, believing
lyself at the moment y doomed man. knew
Othing of the effect of the shot. for he closed
it h me and thrust his revolver against my
de. At the same time Clopton caught me
ON behind and tried to wrest my pistol from
~ hand, which was hanging by my side
houted to Mr.. McGuflin: "Don't let these
len kill me-" u. tore Col. Slayback's pistol
'om his hand and pointed it at Clopton's
cad, under the impression, presume, that
c was trying to shoot me. At that instant
o.. ..SIaybackgreleased Bis grasp upon me and
realized for the first time that he had been
badly Knew not. II
OF the witnesses to the affrav three testified ii
afo1e q th at the ecea