Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-08-03

ctllt'c iudt tue hISt tititi vi tlt
coast was between a chap from New
York, who had been ii midshipman in
the navy, and Southerner. 1t took
ilace III the old preside or cemetery,
among the grass grown graves. No
tne was killed. but blood was drawn.
Tie feeling was intense between men
from the two sections, the Southern
ers treating the Yankees with con
tempt. aud the Yankees resenting it
with spirit. The Southerners imagined
that the Yankees would not fight. but
found they were mistaken. Although
they were opposed to the code, they
lid not proposed to be bullied, so it
came about that nearly every personal
difficulty was settled in that manner.
The first duel that ! was concerned
in was between young man from
Philadelphia, named
GRAHAM. AND GEN. WALKER.
afterward Of Nicaragua fame. 1t
grew out Of a violent attack on the
County Court, of which Judge Nor
rison was the head. in ,he San Fran
cisco HcroM Wy Walker, who was one
of the editors Young Graham was
protcgc of Judge Morrison, and
without consulting him he wrote
very denunciatory letter to Walker
which ended in Il challenge. Gra-
ham had the choice of weapons, and
he chose reyolvers, at eight PAGES, at
the word to advance and fire until
either or both of these parties were
killed. At that time was stationed
at Sacramento, and one evening re-
ceivtl letter from Graham begging
me for Gods sake to come down on
| the first boat, that he was in trouble
and wanted me at once. | got ready
as quickly as possible and caught the
evening boat, wondering what sort of
scrape Graham had got himself
into, never dreaming of a duel. /
arrived at San Francisco late at
night and went at once to Graham's
room, where ! found him in consulta-
ton with his friends was there in
formed of what had occurred, and
the pleasant news was impaired to me
that I had been chosen his fighting
second. Here was n row between two
men. with neither of whom ] had
more than slight acquaintance, and
in whom | had no particular interest.
The terms were unusually sanguin-
ary. and the affair would probably
end in the death of one or both.
Under tie code, if one of the princi-
pals showed the white feather his
second was obliged to take his place
and fight it out 1t was Il situation
that | did not relish i'll the lea t. l
knew that Walker was
REGULAR FIRE EATER
and would fight to the death, but
Graham l was not exactly sure of.
His terms were bloody enough, but
then he had never been tried, and if
the thing went on he might weaken
and have to take it up. l labored
with him to obtain some modification
of his terms. told him that they
were so sanguinary that Walker
would be justified in declining them.
We sat up all night, and tried our
best to bring abont peaceable
adjustment, but it was of no use.
The fight was to come off at 8 o'clock
in the morning, and, finding no es-
cape. | was obliged TO make the best
of it. We had our breakfast and
took carriage for the dueling ground
On the way Graham told me that he
was a dead shot, and that he intended
to kill Walker on the first fire. l halt
ed the carriage, and told him that
would not go step further if tha
was his purpos,. If he were the ex
pert marksman that he claimed to b'
it would be little less than murder
! and l proposed to wash my hands o
the affair unless he would promise t.
/, wing his man instead of killing him
At last he agreed to it, and we wen
. ahead. On the ground we foun,
! Walker and his second. who wa
= Capt. Folsom of the army. l triet
o to effect an adjustment of the diff
= Guilty, but without success. L bat
:, taken the precaution to dress my maj
! in black from head to foot, without
= particle of white anywhere visible
- Walker was in blue swallow-taile'
. coat, with buff vest and black pant:
: His coat was buttoned. and below til
the breast the light line of his YES
could be seen. The impending fgh
:. was known to the whole of Sa
q Francisco, and, as it was Sunday, nc
9 less than 5000 people were on th
i ground to witness the sport. Anon
+ the most interested spectators wa
a Alexander Wells, then Chief JustiC
n of California. The ground we
n measured, pegs driven, and l wo
n the word. The men were placed i
h position and the signal given. "Gel
o. tlemen, are you ready? Fire! on
% two, three. halt" At the word bot
, wheeled and fired. Walker stoo
W still, bat Graham advanced one pat
a and both fired again. After this
% called halt and tried to bring abol
e compromise, but was not successfr
Il Walker had his blood up and pr
l. posed to kill or be killed then al
If there. | went to Graham and to
$ him that all parleying was at an en-
j. that Walker proposed to kill him
a. he could, and that l absolved hi
We from the promise made in the ca
ST liage, as he must fight for his life.
r. remember how excited the Chi
o. Justice became as he rushed up al
in down the line. swinging his arms al
h: crying. Keep out of the line OF I'll
r. gentlemen: keep out OF the line
lic fire" At last the word was give
70. both pistols cracked, and Walk
spun around on his heel and fell IN
Folsom's arms. They tore open
ri clothing and found the ball had e
,le tered the body just where the VIII
,f inc of the vest showed below t
ri coat 1t was supposed of course tt
Va it had passed through the bowels,
ny it came ont or the opposite side, /
l." it was afterwards ascertaihed. npol
rer careful examination, that by mi
he fortunate accident it had glanced a