Omaha daily bee., 1889-07-29

| person under trial was dangerous, or
that his brother was fighting man, or
that his grandfather was regular
| Hvrican tiger, and advised me not to
publish the details of the court pro-
| ceedings. 1 not only neglected to fol-
low this advice, but even went so far rs
| to publish the threats implied In the
communications made to me. | also de-
nounced the surviving murderers In the
| plainest terms / could use. A luck
would have it, the men | denounced
were sent to the penitentiary; and [
was at once installed in popular esteem
as a fighting editor. Several other
affairs OF similar nature came up, and
| / treated them with the same apparent
fearlessness, and somehow l bore n
charmed life, and increased my martial
reputation so much that, in less than
two months, was called Captain
| Wandless.
l was beginning TO think that 1t was
easiest thing in the world to be n fight
ing editor, and j used to compliment
myself on my adroitness in accumulat-
ing such reputation.
We'll, when l fought my duel with
Jim Douglass, that fixed my fame for
| ever. 1t was certainly the most remark
able duel ever fought, Midshipman
Easy's and Bob Acres to the contrary
notwithstandi ding. Fortunately for Doug
lass, myself, and the fighting reputation
| of both, | inherited from my mother a
keen sense Of humor, which had full
play in the emergency which soon
| arose.
jim Douglass was an Indian Hoosier,
who came to our town to start paper
in opposition to mine. l was informed
that he was very desperate sort OF a
| fellow, and concluded at first that l
| Il 10 In ntil nj "
had not heard much of my desperate ma
ture, 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 making the regular
annual deposit of a part of his journal
istic earnings with the 'bookmakers"
of the Falls City course. / was, there
fore, left in charge of the paper. paid
no attention to the first onslaught made
by Douglass, and he, observing my ST.
lence, had in the next issue paragraph
to the effect that it was easy to UNDER
stand why ms attack had not been met,
| as our baper was In charge OF a brain
less pro tenn. was bantered so much
about this that found it necessary to
reply. / did so in the lurid pictorial
fashion of Mississippi journalism. Well,
Douglas came back at me and the dis
cussion went through the usual news
| pdpcE SbuBcS. oHC plbVCl pCIoouollUy
brought on another; but t,while Douglass
called me all sorts of pet names, con-
tented myself with maliciously poking
fun at him Finally, however, his
abuse became so violent that l allowed
my an ger to get the better of my judg-
ment. had learned of a chapter in his
life, the scene of which was laid in
Texas. Douglass had started q paper
there, but had been suspected of COM
~, a., ,,,.t al
and was compelled to leave uncere-
moniously, as the combination was not
popular in Texas. [ revived the
"Reminiscences and 'scothed it with q
coat of many colors' to suit the require
ments of my readers. I described his
wild flight over the Lone Star state in
such way that expected nothing less
than gore. After the publication
several of Douglass friends came to me
and advised me to write a retraction
as he was very much enraged over the
article and was having dreadful time
trying to restrain his impulsive nature.
refused to do so, and few days later
I recei we'd challenge from him.
At first / thought l would treat
with con tempt, but on second thought
decided to accept it, for had ac-
quired such an exacting reputation that
if l ignored the challenge he could
brand me as a coward. Now, | did not
: have the remotest idea OF fighting the
duel; but day or two passed and there
was no change in the situation. l re-
ceived no intimations of weakening on
| the part of Douglass. On the con.
trary, several OF his friends continued
to speak with me about his sa rage dis.
position, and, as an Offset sent some OF
my friends to Douglass to eXpatiate
upon my crimson deeds
In the meantime the day for the duel
had been set. My perpleXity was in
did not want to fight and l did not in
tend to fight; and yet could not think
OF a respectable way out of it. cursed
Douglass for fool in getting US in such
dilemma; and he loomed up in my
fancy as demon from the head-waters
Of Bitter creek.
But how was to get out of it and re.
tain even few rags of my boasted
ferocity? was becoming very sick ol
that | had devoted myself to milder
form of literature than Mississippi
| journalism.
1t was the day before the duel, and
all sorts of fancies filed my mind.
That dreadful Hoosier was just as inn
placable as ever, and | vowed that had
, never seen such relentless man. AT
| ldSu Hnaue up my IHlHu W tlrOW Ille re-
! quirements of the code to the winds and
have personal interview with my ad-
; versary. L looked for him all day, and
of course, made inquiries of several per-
| sons as TO where he was. In the mean
time my friends had made me out tc
Douglass as devil incarnate. The in
quiries l had been making about him
were promptly misconstrued, and il
was everywhere reported that | was
, looking after Douglass, and very soon
/ observed that the town marshal and
, his deputies were looking after me
The whole town was aroused, and ! was
; the cynosure OF all eyes. | could see
the heads OF women craned out of the
windows as passed; the men contem-
plated me with undisguised admiration
; and the children stared at me in
speechless horror. l did not find Doug
5 lass until o'clock that night. We met
| IN q saloon. He had evidently heard
t that l was looking for him, and he did
, not propose to be taken at disadvant
i age, for he gave wild yell when
: came in, bounded back like rubber
ball and drew Il pistol. told him that
/ was unarmed, and the barkeepei
I begged me not to raise disturbance
! there. l replied with a dignity l die