St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-10-12
A DEADLY ENCOUNTER.
How Two Bloodthirsty Editors
INDICATED Their Honor.

How Two Bloodthirsty Editor,
INDICATED Their Honor.
1t was two o'clock in the morning
Dur labor for the night was done. and
after the manner of the Impalpable'
OF the press. we had assembled ut the
Owl. Arthur Wandless was the chosen
spokesman of the coterie; and when
ever he was in one OF his radiant moods
we suppressed our inclination to tall
and allowed him to monopOlize tho
conversation. He came from the
South, and had earned the right Il
distinction in the good old days Of
fervid Southern journalism. He told
story in an inimitable manner that
can not be reproduced in print Or
the occasion to which refer. he drift.
ed back to his early experiences and
told US how he had become a fighting
editor. With the hope that his recipe
may be Of some service to the jour.
nalistic profession. the sketch is al
this point turned over to him.
never knew why providence in
sisted upon making a fighting editor
of me; for am slight of build. rather
tender-hearted. aud not aware that
possess any remarkable physical cour-
age. l never enjoyed fighting at
school; but when grew to manhood
and became assistant editor of q small
Mississippi weekly paper. discovered
that courage had the edge on brains
and application. The first week or
two after entered journalism.
I was surprised at the number
of carnivorous Majors and Colonies
who lived in the neighborhood Of our
office. The military gentlemen had
been either through or around the war;
and. as they gathered in our Office. APP
propriated the Exchanges" talked
politics. and chewed tobacco. felt for
awhile rs il were surrounded by a
band Of red-handed Nihilists. Every
one of them had taken an incandes-
Gently brilliant part in the war, and
had furnished the material for a new
cemetery-in-Spain. by degrees,
however. my faith in the cast-iron
veracity of these warriors took flight
when / learned that most of the Col
onels and Majors were self-anointed
with military fame, and had never been
within ten miles of battle My con-
fidence was entirely destroyed when /
heard that Major Gallopaway. the
firiest fire-eater of the lot. had, at the
only battle in which he had partici-
pated. become 50 excited that he mount
ed his horse the wrong way and rode
on backward.
Ibegan to mediate upon the subject
Of courage, and came to the conclu-
sion that the marketable article con-
sisted of pure bluff" After I had
been on the paper a month l found q
first-class Mississippi vendetta on my
hands, and. as the few survivors were
arrested and arraigned in our court.
it was necessary for me to write an &C
count Of the trial Several parties
confidentially conveyed to me the fact
that this or that person under trial
was dangerous. or that his brother
was fighting man, or that
his grandfather was q regular
Hyrcan tiger; and advised me not to
publish the details of the proceedings.
l not only neglected to follow this adj
vice, but even went so far as to pub
lish the threats implied in the COM
made to me. l also de-
nounced the surviving murderers in
the plainest terms could use. As luck |
would have it the men l denounced |
we're sent to the penitentiary; and
was At once installed in popular es-
TEEN as a fighting editor. Several |
other affairs of a similar nature came |
up. and treated them with the same |
apparent fearlessness, and somehow l |
bore . charmed life, and increased my |
martial reputation SO much that. in
less than two months. / was called
Captain Wandless.
I was beginning to think that it was
the easiest thing in the world to be a
editor. and used to compli-
ment myself on my adroitness in &C
such = reputation.
Well. when ! fought my duel with
Jim Douglass, that fixed my fame for
ever It was certainly the most re-
markable duel ever fought, Midship-
nan Easy's and Bob Acres to the con-
trary Notwithstanding Fortunately
for Douglass. myself. and the fighting
reputation of both, inherited from
my mother = keen sense Of humor.
which had full play in the emergency
which soor arose.
Jim Douglass was an Indiana Hoo
Bier, who came to our town to start =
paper in opposition to mine. Twas
informed that he was q very desperate
sort Of fellow, and l concluded at
FIRST that l would ignore his paper.
He evidently had not heard much OF
my desperate nature. for in the second
Issue he began q vigorous attack upon
our paper. My chief had gone to the
Louisville races. for the purpose Of