Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1884-07-25
10 the Public.

lin the Rockingham Register of last week, J
and that there was some creature here
with taste so depraved as to "request" its
republication in the VirgiRidn. For OBJ
Vlous reasons, | shall not comment on the
proprietorship that panders to the yitiated
appetites for low and vulgar personal
abuse. could not say more than has
been said; do not want to say less. 1t
Is due to myself that this "card,D publish.
ed in the Spirit Of the Valley, in answer
to the one above referred to, should be re-
produced among my own county men
where The Virginidn feebly edited, and
feebly circulates only to leave the sting OF
scandal in families of women and chill.
dren while it basely runs from men under
assumptions of superiority which are
laughed to scorn.
A CARD.
To THE SPIRIT OF THE WILEY: re-
quest the use of your columns to address TO
the people of Rockingham brief reply to
the persOnol attack made upon me in the
last issue of the Rockingham REGISTER. The
article itselfis so false in its alleged facts.
and SO malicious in motive and expression
that it would be humiliating for me to ask
space for reply in the same paper.
All that recites the facts of boarding the
train at Winchester is true, and this is
nearly all the truth in the whole article
occupying three-quarters of a column.
That approached Mr.. Bowman with an
oath is false. On entering the train, with
out noticing his half-reclining wife, ap-
preached him with the exclamation
"Hello! old fellow what are you doing
here and where are you goingP at the
same time slapping him familiarity on the
back or shoulder. He instantly said: Sir,
you do not know me what do you meanp
l quickly replied: 'You are right; have
mistaken you for friend of mine from
Baltimore, who is Il drummer At this
suggestion he became fearfully excited and
enraged, and called me d--fool. /
lost my temper, of course, and responded,
You d--rascal, you,' and struck him.
His boisterous calls about protection and
his personal denunciation attracted
the attention of all in the train,
and four young gentlemen, Messrs. Gill
lock, Shaver, Supinger and Hoshour,
friends of mine, approached us, neither
one with any hostile feeling for Mr. Bow
man, or with any purpose to injure him.
at once explained the whole affair to them;
and told Mr. B. again that l was mistake n
and asked his pardon. He refused to grant
the same, and became very much enraged,
whereupon his wife said, Frank, you are
fool; why don't you accept the gentle
mans Apology He instantly drew his
knife and struck at me violently. | had
not observed the knife, but Mr.. Gllock
had be struck Mr. Bowman a blown suf-
ficient to reseat him, thereby saving me
from receiving a cut. Mr.. Bowman arose
and struck with his knife at Mr.. Supinger
who was carrying a box under one arm.
The box received the blow from the knife,
and Mr.. Supinger, who had done and said
nothing before, struck Mr.. Bowman some
three or four severe blows, Mr. Bowman
all the while making his best efforts to use
his knife against this man, who, whatever
the gravity of my offending, had done him
no injury whatever and intended him
none. Subsequently Mr.. Helphenstine
came to the rear end of the car, where
myself and comrades were, aud asked me
if knew Mr.. Bowman. l told him l did
not. He then informed me Of his name, of
his family, &c. Knowing his farther, and
having the highest respect for him, con-
cluded to make another attempt to explain
TO Mr. b. that all of our misunderstand-
ing had grown out of the fact that | had
innocently mistaken him for another. lie
rebuhed me in strong language declaring
that he would have the train stopped, and
one or the other should get off, &c. lie
i. Iii. la Il
some one of the train officials, that his
wish could not be complied with. bat
that Le could have the baggage car. There
wcTo three or four other ladies on the
train and great many gentlemen. None
of these asked to change ears, and by all
of them the explanation of the cause of
this OUTRAGEOUS AFFAIR." as the Regis
ter heads it, was accepted and laughed at
These are the facts as they ACTUALLY oc-
cured.
As to the article as it appeared in the
Register, / have been informed by reliable
gentlemen that it was written by one
Kerr, who has so conducted the local de-
partment of that very old paper as that
many gentlemen have suggested G.. L. r.
as the proper photography of his name.
His accustomed diet is SANDER. His
weaponi persistent falsehOOd. His shield
his own cowardce. Like the most de-
spised specimen of the fish: knd-the bas-
tard of the eel and snake-un6t for food,
incapaciated for breeding anything but
hate, and so low in the scale of created
things that it will not bite at anything but
rotten bait, loves cesspools for their nour-
ishment, and where the sewers of the town
empty into the streams, there it feeds and
fattens, with palate craving excrement,
a stomach thrown on everything not de-
cayed and a soulless body peTsonating a
manhood which is so false in its pretences
that it sinks into utter insignifcancc
Go, poor Kerr! Whether you are Setter
or Pointer or Curr of low degree, my re-
gard for the best friend of Byron, the
family of dogs ranking next among the
highest of the animal kingdom, | will
adopt your own typography and say fare
well, Kerr.
In the meantime, Kerr ~ when the gen.
tlemen of Shenandoah, or the gentlemen
of Rockingham (where | was born) shall
indicate that | should resign the positions
which now hold, will take the matter
into serious consideration. But | hope
Won have enough refinement of discrimi-
nation to observe the difference between |
the gentlemen Of the two counties and |
yourself If you have not, be assured |
that have. Strange indeed that You say |
your article has no political significance |
and vet you ask me to resign the positions.
At the conclusion of all the Register has to
say. including the certificate relied on to
sustain the Kerr (O there appears the fol-
lowing:
p. S-"Since the above was in type
Walker has written an apology for his con-
duct on Saturday night"
If true that | wrote an apology (as 1t
is) it is equally true that no gentleman,
whether his name wore Kerr ~ or some
thing else, would have declined TO accept
it. | was told by Mr.. Helphenstine, who
stopped over here until Monday, that Mr..
Bowman expressed regrets to him, after
he had gone into the baggage car, for
what had transpired and further said that
he did not understand my purpose to be
apologize and explanatory when went to
him the second time Because of this |
wrote the apology, and if the Kerr (f) of
the Reqister had wanted to do me the
slightest Justice he might have published
the apology itself rather than his italiciz-
ed postscript. -,
l now submit the matter to the public
by subioining the following aflidavits as
to my statement of the facts.