Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1888-01-13

prlnLS pOlutS unmlSldkuOiy TO the Iact
! that if Stevens, Burrows aud Penrose,
Speaker of the Senate had been killed
during the Buckshot War the mission
Of "Balty" Sewers and his Philadel-
pbia followers would have been en-.
tirely successful.
The uproar in the House during
the organization proceeding was tame
compared with the proceedings in the
the Senate soon afterward. When
Thaddeus Stevens and his followers
left the House after the Cunningham
adjournment be went to the Senate
Chamber accompanied by Secretary
of the Commonwealth Burrows. The
Senate had Wing majority. Char
les B. Penrose was Speaker. There
were several contested seats that ses-
sion, but the one that attracted the
most attention was that contested by
Charles Brown, Democrat, with
James Hanna, Whig, on the ground
of gross fraud. The district was in
Philadelphia The Senate Chamber
was packed with outsiders. The ac-
tion of Speaker Penrose in admitting
Hanna to his seat called forth violent
speeches from several Democrats, and
Brown, the contestant, having ob-
tanned the privilege of speaking, made
harangue that aroused the crowds
in the galleries that were friendly to
him and shouts of Kill Stevens"
Kill Penrose!" "Kill Burrows!'
drowned the gavel of the Speaker and
the cries for order. Stevens and
Burrows stood by window near the
Speakers desk Penrose finally left
the chair and joined them. Accord
ing to the testimony of George V.
Hall of Cum mberland county the can
dies had been lighted in the Cham
ber, it being late in the afternoon.
From the outside Stevens, Burrows,
aud Penrose could be seen where they
stood Hall was in the corridor where
he and Editor Cox of the Harrisburg
Iron Grey, a radical Democratic pl-
per, talking with three or four rough
looking men. He heard one of them
say: Anything less than death is too
good for Burrows, Penrose and Stew
ems" The fellows were armed with
dirks aud clubs. Cox also had a
club. Hall had been standing on a
stepladder near the Chamber door.
While he was standing looking at
the men the noise of great fracas
was heard in the chamber, aud Hall
ran to get his place on the ladder
again. Editor Cox and the man with
him ran too see what the fuss was,
and they got position near Hall
The commotion in the Senate had
been caused by an infammatory
speech made by Brown, the contest
ant of Hanna's seat The crowd bad
broken through the bar of the Senate
and was making its way with angry
threats toward Burrows. Stevens and
Penrose. While the uproar inside
was at its height man came run.
ming into the corridor from outdoors
and tapping two of the men who
were with Cox on the shoulder ex-
| claimed:
Stevens, Penrose and Burrows
have escaped by back window"
Cox and his companions hurried
out. They ran TO the window
through which they had been watch
ing the three W hig leaders. George
NJ. Phillips. leading Whig and edi
tor of the Carlisle Herald, was jump
ing out of the window as Cox, his
rough companions, and Hall got
there,
They're gone!" exclaimed Cox
with an oath, "If we hadn't run bach
to the Senate we'd have had 'em."
Then they started in pursuit of the
three men. 1t was afterward learned
that one of the three men with Coz
was "Balty" Sewers, and it was sup
posed the the editor was with him
to point out to him Stevens and the
others.
On the morning of the 9Th, Gun
ningham, Speaker of the Stevens
House of Representatives, did moi
deem it safe to take the chair, and be
deputed Henry Spackman, Phila
delphia member, to act in his place
Mr. Spackman attempted to take the
chair, bus be was elected from the
House, and the Cunningham body
met in room 40 in Wilson's Hotel
The Governor recognized it as the
legal House, as did the Senate, but
the latter body had no Speaker and
no quorum for several days after the
disturbance of the 4th. and the Gun.
ningham House of course had nc
quorum. The Hopkins House had
all the records and appurtenances OF
that branch of the Legislature, and
met daily, but had no quorum. The
Governor called out the militia and
placed Gen. Patterson of Philadelphia
in command. He placed the State
arsenal in the hands of force oi
Wings and Anti-Masons, and Gen,
Diller, of the Committee of Safety,
with force of citizens, captured the
arsenal and held it against the Gov.
ernor's people. In the capture oi
the arsenal and the subsequent chase
of number of the force that had
held it "Balty," Sewers took an en-
phatic but independent part, introduc
ing the lighting tactics of Spring Gar
den.
The weight of popular sentiment
was entirely against the proceedings
of Thaddeus Stevens and Gov. Ititner.
President Van Buren,, having been
appealed to for United States troops
byGov. Ritner, refused through his
Secretary of War to send them. The
proprietor of Wilson's Hotel, where
the sessions of the Cunningham
House were held, finally locked his
doors against it, and thereafter it
met in the Supreme Court Chamber.
After week of this farce, which was
a constant provocation to tragedy,
three of the Cunningham House
Chester Butler and John Sturetvant
of Luzerne county and John Montel.
ius of Union-deserted that body and
took their seats in the Hopkins
House, giving that body quorum.
Thaddeus Stevens read the three
men out of the party in fierce arti'
Gle of excommunication. The Sen.
ate refused to recognize the HOPKINS
House even after it had Squorum,