The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1886-05-09
THE KYLE..R1cHARpsos AFFAIR.
NE
Mr.. Cooper Explains.

Mr.. Cooper Explains.
Editor Net0 Orleans Picay~ne-I see
from your paper that your correspon-
dent has either beeu misinformed or
that he has willfalIy misreprzsenied
me in the shooting affair which occur
red at this place OH the 2lst of Janu-
airy. lam represented rs 'Presidr"'
of the school retaining Kyle, the despe'
rado, in it," "furnishiug Richardson
with pistol with which to defend
himself" and finally ''sending him
ho,ne." did none of these things.
Kyle was not student of the school
at the time Of the misunderstanding.
between him and VIM. Richardson; he
had Withdrawn from the school more
than week before, with the avowed
intention Of going home.
/ had been from home day or two,
and found the difficulty brewing when
1 returned; and on the 2d Of January,
about 10 O'Clock; A. NJ, l found that
Kyle was threatening to attack WIN.
Richardson. went at once to Rich-
ardson's room aud found Kyle there.
I induced him to leave the room, and
after exhausting all reasonable means
of persuasion aud expostulation, l
asked my brother, Prot. S. Il. Cooper,
TO see that they should not meet dur
ing my absence, and mounted my
horse to go for an officer to arrest Kyle
and put him under peace bond; bot
when Kyle saw this he pledged his
honor that the matter should drop
until Richardson was out of school,
and so announced il at the supper
table that evening. That was Saturday
evening, and in few hours after the
difficulty was settled closed the trade
with stock company which had been
formed and had for some days been
negotiating for the school property
with view to organizing q Normal
College; 80, on that evening the school
property passed into other hands.
After preaching ON Sabbath night,
VIM. Richardson came TO me to Dor
row money 10 so home on, stating
that he had no confidence in Kyle's
fair promises, aud he believed him to
be without principle and liable TO
attack him at any time, and he did not
wish to be forced to kill him. 1 dis
coursged his going home, and told him
thought Kyle's braggadocio manner
was not an indication of danger; but
he persisted in his determination to
leave, and, simply as friend, 1 loaned
him the money to 60. did not then
know of his having pistol. The Sc
are the facts in the case; and after run
ming school for twenty years, cons
mencing just after the war, when piss
tolls were rs common as pocketsknives,
have never failed to put any student
on the rostrum, and for the third
offense, to send him home for keeping
a pistol when 1 could by any means in
my power find it out, and appeal to
the experience and observation of more
than 1000 students who have been in
the school during my administration
to show single case of failure on my
part 10 execute the school law in this
matter; and Kyle, who was not stu-
dent at the time, fired the first and
only shot ever fired at Il student in
Cooper's Institute; and that was on the
2lst of January; and my adminis,ra-
tiOn really closed on the 81 OF January
and the property of the school was
formally and publicly transferred on
the 7th of January. The statement
that I had written a letter which was
In the hands of Richardson's brother
at Shreveport, in which stated that l
had furnished Richardson, or any
other student, for that matter, with a
pistol is simply without the shadow
of fact. I have never made any such
statement nor any statement that
could be so construed. cannot believe
that you or any other man at the
head of popular newspaper would
willfully and knowingly do me so
great on Injustice as your article does,
and I hope you will not fail to allow
this statement OF facts place in your
paper; and hope other papers which
have copied your correspondents mis-
statements Of my conduct in this affair
will do me the justice to copy it. Mr..
tno Richardson has rcrnyered His