New-York tribune., 1890-04-30
TWO ARKANSAS WITNESSES.
AN INTERESTING PAIR BEFORE THE CON-
GRESs COMMITTEE.
rponn PATE AND DEPUTY SHERIFF BEN LIZ
OF PLUMMERvILLE TEsrlff-lhhi" 0o'
NECrIoN WITH THE CLAYTON
ASSASSINATION.
rpy TELEGRAPH TO THE rRiBuSE1


.,- h. .ho subcommittee of the House
Co,nr;tt.e on Elections The testimony OF TWO
=. ~. nrincinal witnesses. " Bob Pate ana ~ j.
p.ntlev was heard. and consumed the greater part
:. .hn of,ernoon These two men are Deneved
=. have been concerned in the stealing OF the
p,rmmerville ballot on the evening OF No
vemter g. 1883. and to know more thah theS
arc willing to tell on the witness-stahd OF the
..urder of J. NJ Clayton. In iact theN are the
men who. of all others. were oirec''A lh'eres'eu
=, tbe removal of the contestant for
Mr. Breckinridse's seat in CONGRESS. and
IL is they who have been, in view of the presence
of this motive and other clrcumstantlal evidence,
over since suspected of knowing only too well
who il was that fired the fatal Shot which ended
Clovton's life. Bob Pate is a resident OF
Plummervile. where he is interested as part pro
prir or in saloon of the worst character His
features reflect his occupation. and his carriage
or bearing would proclaim him tough in
New-York You would expect him TO run
~dive- in the Fourth Ward In Plummerville
no presumably passes as leading citizen. y
Engaged as he has been for the last few days. in
+be concenial task of coaching" counsel for Mr.
Breckinridge in their efforts 10 deprecate the
vote cast for Mr.. Clayton in Howard Township, he
is known for the present Mr." Pate only, and
enioys the sympathy Of other eminent Democrats
while in less sympathetic and kindly dispose
community he might long since have been sent
to scrve his State in striped sui''
O. to live for time in enforced re-
tirement But Arkansas is not Ncw-iorN.
O. T. Bentley is much more refined In his ou'"al"
appearance than his distinguished associate MI.
Pate. But he is said TO enjoy reputation OIL
general "toughness" surprising. if possible 'ha'
of his friend 1t is only when YOU examine his
eve. its strong stare changing suddenly INTO lur-
tive clances to the right and the lett. that you
discover what must either be the nature o'
cold -booded villain OF that of an inspired lolo'
Bentley is now, and held at the time OF 'ne eiec-
ton in 1888 and the subsequent murder OF j. NJ
CLAYTON the post of deputy sherin Tor Coh""A
County. with Headquarters at Morrton the county
seat.
II ;s impracticable. if indeed not altogether i'm
possible to construct out of the testimony VI
these two witnesses as given to-day, any
ching like a connected story, without either
referring 10 matters well known here ana IN
plummerville or anticipating to some extent
testimony vet TO he produced before the commit
,ee The tale told by Pate and Bentley, OF
course does not implcate them In any way
either with the theft OF the ballot-box or the
murder of CLAYTON. Both but more especially
Pate. account for every moment of ther time On
the day of the election and night of the MURDER
They do it, however. without corroboratlve tes'i-
mony Pate says that after the closing OF the
polls he went to take drink at his own saloon,
thence to his house for supper, and. later on, 10
n drugstore. where he was informed by some one
ON horseback that the ballot-boX had that min
ute beensseized and carried off by masked men
armed with guns. An active and aggressive poll
tician like Pate might be suspected of fastening
at once to the scene OF action as
one might say, and see 1or
himself what had been done. Not he however.
On the contrary. Pate tells the committee that
he was afraid to tackle the men with guns
and preferred to stay at home In fact for ausht
the committee knows, Mr.. Pate might have re-
tired that very minute TO his little bed and, after
saying his prayers, fallen asleep AT any rate,
as far as lis testimony goes. he did nothing, and
was innocent of participation in the ballot-boN
seizure as the poor negro election judge who was
asked to turn his back upon the box and cooked
pistol in the hands OF masked cutthroat, who
swore he would show him how to make the
blankety blank thing Democratic in blankcty
blank short time" As lar as the assassination
OF CLAYTON is concerned Mr. Pate WAS equally
ignorant Of il until told by some friends. The
shot which in the quiet hours Of the evening
reused the village Oi IlunmcrVilc didn't dis
turb "Mr" Pate He was then listening, ac-
cording u the testimony offered by him, TO the
sweet and seductive strains Of BANJO next
door 10 his saloon. and, WHAT Is
a strange coincidence, he was Just at that MN
ute alone IN the saloon, rs he had been VIXEN wan
derng home 10 his supper after the polls hau
closed on election day in sss. and he iarIed
moment to refresh himself with drink. lhi'
is a strange coincidence, but you get accustomed
10 strange things i'm this latitude, at least Of TINS
kind. after YOU have listened awhile 10 testimony
in fraudulent election case.
Bcntlcys testimony. taken by itself, clears him
as completely as does that Ci Pate III That gentle
mans case Like Pate. he has managed to ac-
count for his doin2s in the most minute manner
on November q, 1855, and the 10Th day Of Jan
uary succeeding. the day when Clayton was as
sassnated. II is unnecessary mere to 20 INTO dc-
tan as to Bentley's doiEes on those TWO days
because that may be brought out later ON by oihcT
witnesses. 1t is necessary, however. to bear IN
mind that Bentley is deputy sheriff. and that
be- was recognized as the leader OF tie
mob that left MoTllltOn Oh the evening
VI November g. lsoo, and halted OUTSIDE tic
limits Of flummcrviie, while committee oi
four masked WORTHLESS went to seize the ballot
box at The point OF "a pistol, by at least seven
witnesses. In fact. IL is said tnat BENTLEY Is Tie
man who invited the election Judge TO turn while
lit Hlddc tndl bldhktt! Dldnk thhS DclHo-
cratic.
but leaving aside all this there is enough in
the testimony Of Bentley, given by him u
day, 10 excite wonder anywhere outside Of AZ
Kansas. AS deputy sheriff II became Bcntlcys
quty ~ Investigate the murder Of Clayton. Accord
Ing To his statement. hc heard of 'hc murder
az Morrillton by telegraph. lie FASTENED 70
fluhinerville seven miles distant, on horseback.
arriving there III the morning. Seven miles OH
horseback, riding all night just think Of this
Doid and fearless rider lie got to tie housc
I.t 4 Ia. tdf t.I
with bucksnot. He investigated the footprints,
discovered that they sayorcd OF new goloshcs and
oId boots, saw the powdcr-burncd wlnd0w-ss.i
aha the broken glass, nOsed about the garden
ana yard, and finally lost the tracks Of the
goioshcs and old boots in the highway.
All Of sudden, MIN accompanying
nm, toblentz 10y name. discovered revolver, a
,prand-new revolver fully loaded never fired off.
ying In the yard halfway between the battered
window and where the palings in the fence had
peen removed TO allow the assassin to enter the
InclOsnre unX IL lhenc BENTLEY knows not