The Cecil Whig., 1882-05-06
THAT DtT Ell.
BELMONT AND liAYEW ARD.
REMINiaGENCE OF BLKTUN.

The recent verbal encounter 1t Washing
"A hrtv-en Mr. Blains. and MIR. Belmont.
= which the LATTER WA, so seriously worS'"d
calls ii somewhat more sauguinarE attain
,hirh happened near thi> town nearly t"'
N-une years ago, i'll which tie father OF Bel
Auut, the we'll known banker and Drm'-
ratio politician. August Belmont, was "n
frhe prominent participants.
On "Wednesday evening, August 2Jl
sill, TWO parties of men, in carria grS, drn,.
y, To the Two hotels Of the town Their
vas, says the chruniclar OF the day, "ar
ppartnt >tran"entSs in rhrir actions, an"
lie wiSearre> nt the town We're at thcir wits
.,d to determine the ntjrcr OF their WISH
About twelve o'clock that night, 4 confer
nee was held between repres entativeS ~
he two parties. numerous inquiries in tic
.neantme, having been made, as 10 tie dis
'ance 10 the Delaware line, and other QueS-
lions asked, indicating that 4 duel OF a
Iea>t some hostile encounter, was III con
rerl ;lation bet ween heSe mysterious gentry.
Late in the night or rather early in the
morning, they left the town driving directly
east They We're followed by some citizens
of the village, whose curiosity had induced
them 20 watch their movements, but We're
mot overfaken, and 10 one ii se~InS resident
IN Eiktun was an eye witness Of the duel,
which occurred al an early hour ON the
morning OF the 2Gth, on Grey's Hill, about
one mite east of the town. Asia afterwards
proved, the principals in the affair bad tax
Ell assumed names, one of them being az.
dressed as Moore the other as GOLDSMITH.
In reality, however, they Mere, Mr.. August
Belmont, OF New York the American agent
OF the Rothchilds, and who has since hs"r
ed very prominently rs a New York Demo
cratic puliticiau and Mr.. VIM. Hayward.
of South Carolina. I'iIey ilad been together
residents of the American Hotel, in New
York, and the quarrel seems 10 have "rigi-
mated in Il love affair" Hayward'S broth
er stated at tha time, that Beimomt's inti-
macy with lady had Eeen resented by
Hayward. and the former having spoken OF
the iatter in terms not particularly colnpii-
ln"ntarv Hayward had struck Belmont
whereupon the latter had challenged him to
mortal combat. Intent unon blood they
had arranged duel, ~ ha fought upon the
classic soil Of Delaware" AMI fer that par
pose had taken carriages ut Wilmington.
and driven to Elkton, intending to meet up
On the field of honor (") by sunrise Just
over the Delaware line. As it turned ont
however, they did not drive far enough east,
and the soil of Grey's Hill, i'll Cecil county,
was reddeued viii! the blood of the Hebrew
Banker, and which III later years, the exc
cution of Swift, the murderer of kilhour,
rendered more notorious. \ gentleman
named Lake acted as second for Belmont,
and a Mr.. Purdy served Hayward in :, sim
liar capacity. Arriving upon the ground,
, the principals We're placed by their seconds,
and upon the first round Mr.. Belmont was
Shot in the hip one fire it seems was sui-
t:cient to appea,e the wounded honorS of
these chivalorous gentlemen, and Mr. Bel
mont was borne bleeding to his carriage.
At the time, it supposed that he was
mortally wounded Taking TO their car
riages, the sangninary sontherner and the
wounded Hebrew, were driven to Whining
|
we know, having been honored by the pres
cuce of either of these barbaric gentlemen.
| What was at the time thought to be SER
I ious wound, proved however, only painful
one, for Belmont soon recovered his powers
of Iocomotion, the only evidence of his hay-
ing made a target of himself, being a grace
ful limp which he has since carried
through life.
AS his son was the neither dog in the
recent verbal encounter with Mr.. Blaine,
he seems only 10 have omuiatei the exam
PIE OF his father in his earlier contest with
Mr.. Hayward.
The grass still grows on the Green Hill side
Where the elder Bmont fell,
And the gas still flows from the junior $ lip,
( Which Blaine alone can queN.