Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1890-09-19

cane falling out of his hand. Soon after
they both fell, having hold Of each
other, Mr.. Griswold partly upon Mr..
Lyon. At this time I got to the
place where they were engaged and
called out to part them. I heard the
cry from behind the chair, and
I also heard the opposite cry from others
not to part them. Mr.. Ravens and my
self each took hold of Mr.. Griswold's legs,
and I think together drew him off from
Mr.. Lyon. At the same time I think l
saw others having hold of Mr.. Lyon.
When the speaker observed Nj. Havens
and myself taking hold of MI. Griswold
he with apparent warmth, as if thereby to
prevent our interfering, called out in sub
stance, as nearly as can recollect: WHAT
take hold of a man by the legs. That is no
way to take hold of him. Notwithstand-'
ing I persevered, and l think Mr.. Havens
assisted me in drawing Mr.. Griswold apart
from Mr.. Lyon. Mr.. Lyon went direct
from that place to his seat, where he got a
small cane, and went from thence south of
the bar, where I say him and MI. Girls
void soon after meeting, and Mr.. Lyon
making up to him, Mr.. Griswold retiring
from Nj. Lyon, and MI. Lyon making a
blow at him with his cane, which MI.
Griswold, I think, received on his arm or
shoulder.
"The loud cry of order from all parts Of
the house and from the chair here put an
end to the ARRAY. Mr.. Griswold's zane
was delivered to him by Mr.. Sitgreaves. l
think, just az he stepped within the bar,
which he took from thence, I think, direct
to his seat. Mr.. Lyon remained without
the bar, and thus the affray ended, and
the house proceeded tt business"
It was in 1874 that John B. Weller, a
member from Ohio, and subsequently, SEN
ator from California, assaulted and severe
ly beat Mr.. Schriver, one of the reporters
Of the house. The assault took place in
the lobby, and Weller e%ndeavored to escape
punishment on the plea that the lobby was
not a part of the house, but he was ar
raigned before the bar and censured by the
speaker. Forty years ago nearly Joshua
r. Giddings, of Ohio, quarreled on the
floor Of the house with Mr.. Meade, of Vir-
ginia. Meade seized Giddings by his neck
tie, and was proceeding Herewith to choke
off his antagonists wind, when "Long
John" Wentworth, of Chicago, who died a
year or two ago, and who was a giant,
rushed in to separate them, when another
Virginian, Mr.. Edmundson, climbed upon
a chair and threw his whole weight upon
the huge Chicagoan, carrying that gentle
man to the floor with him. On another
occasion Dixon Lewis, an extraordinarily
large and strong man, a veritable Samson,
stopped a fight on the floor by holding the
combatants at arms length.
About 1860 Mr.. Graw, Il member from
Pennsylvania, had a fisticuff encounter
with Mr.. Branch, of North Carolina, over
the slavery question. A challenge fol-
lowed, but mutual friends prevented a
hostile meeting. Mr.. Graw was a fighter,
and about that time had a pugilistic en-
counter with Mr.. Keitt, of South Carolina.
When the culprits were arraigned before
the bar of the house Mr.. Keitt took all
the blame on himself, and a%pologized to
Mr.. Graw and the house.
There have been three or four duels be-
tween members Of congress-. The only
fatal one was that in which Mr.. Graves, of
Kentucky, and Mr.. Cilley, of Maine, were
the principals. Cnley was killed at the
first fire, and Graves was expelled the
house, and Col. E. w. Jones, member and
afterward senator from Iowa, who had
acted as Cilley's second, was censured.
This was in 1888, and it was between 1885
and 1856 that most of the fights and duels
of statesmen took place. That was dis
tinctively the fighting era. The most
celebrated fighting congressman was Ed
ward Stanley, Of North Carolina, who in
1910 had hot words on the floor of the house
with Mr.. Inge, of Alabama. The men
met in the field, and after the third fire a
reconciliation was effected. Stanley then
fought a duel with Pickens, of South
Carolina, the result being another recon
Citation. The debate in the house became
very bitter n day, and among the dis
putants was Stanley and Henry A. Wise.
At the r"acecourse that afternoon Mr..
Wise's horse became u~nmanageable and
ran against the horse of Mr.. Stanley, and
the latter, supposing the collision to be in
territorial on Wise's part, drew his whip
and struck Mr.. Wise. Of course a duel
followed, and it was while coaching Stan
ley's craftsmanship that Reverdy johnson
received in the eye a bullet from Stanley's
pistol which had glanced from a tree, an
accident which eventually cost him the
sight of the eye. The duel took place, but
q reconciliation was patched up before any
one was hurt.
Gen. Clingman, then q senator and who
is now occasionally seen in Washington,
was challenged by Yancy for words spoken
in debate. Reconciliation took place after
one or two shots had been exchanged. The
challenge Of Breckenridge by Cutting, which
created so much talk, grew out of words
spoken in debate. Other noted challenges
between statesmen which were not followed
by meetings were those between Burlin.
game and Preston Brooks, and Potter and
Roger A. Pryor. In 1858 Senator Givin, of
California, challenged Henry Wilson. Mr..
Crittenden, Mr.. Seward and Jefferson
Davis patched the matter up. On the floor
of the senate Henry S.. Foote drew a pistol
on Thomas H. Benton, w~hereupon Benton
dramatically barred his breast and ex-
claimed: "IIet the assassin fire." There is
but one we'll remembered case of personal
assault in the senate, and that was the at
tack of Preston S. Brooks upon Charles
Sumner.
Representative Cobb, of Alabama, and
the late James Laird, of Nebraska, had a
fight in the Capitol a few years ago. Cobb
gave Laird the lie, and the latter dared his
antagonist to go outside the house and SET
tie it. Cobb accepted the challenge, and
the two men, armed with a revolver
and the other with a knife, went to the
basement to fight an impromptu duel.
Members interfered. An hour or two later
the men met in a corridor, and Laird, who
was an athlete, "thrust his hand toward
Mr.. Cobb" and against his nose, causing a
rrofI1ca Ho11y pf ro1 h1oo5 viii.