Wichita eagle., 1890-03-06
DUELS AT BLADENSBURG.
A SHORT SKETCH OF THE FA.
NOUS FIGHTING GROUNDS.

! The Old Field OF Honor Near Deserted
vfnage-The First Duel at BIadensburs.
The awful Fight Between Mason and
| GIcCarthy-More Than Fifty Meetings.
! Miserably falling to decay, e deserted vii
| lage truly is Bladensburg, With little to per.
| petuate its name aside from the memory OF
| Its duchng ground. Founded about the mid
! die OF the last century, the town was named
| after Governor Bladen, Of Maryland, and
! soon became the chief tobacco mart Of the
state, owing to the facility for shipment given
! by the eastern branch OF the Potomac In
deed, Bladensburg Importance was sufficient
! TO give it & place on the map at an early date
| when scores OF towns now superior to il, il
the same neigbborhood, were scarcely even
! dreamed Of.
! The visitor 10 Washington who takes in
! Bladensburg as one of the inevitable sights"
Of historic interest scarcely can be prev allied
upon to believe that the sluggish. half dried
stream at the end Of the town once foated
merchantmen down through the Potomac
/ into the Chesapeake bay and out into the At
/ lantic. He listens TO the old traditions Of
that battle in the village On an August day
/ in 1914, when the British Gen. Ross and Adj
u,iral Cocl:burn routed the Americans under
! Winder and Barney, and proceeded on their
march OF devastation 60 the capital.
TIE DUELIsG GROUND.
A spa spring Of chalybaats water flows
uselessly away at one end OF tie only street
in the village, and the picture Of gloom is
/ completed with two or three taverns, rendeZ-
vous Tor negroes, while deep IL tne shadow
beyond is the dueiing ground
! About one mile westerly from the village,
and just outside the line separating the Dis
trict OK Columbia from Maryland, is the
! world famous BladenSbUrg dueling ground.
1t is a strip of low ground, shut in By hills on
three sides, like q natural amphitheatre. with
the fourth side open toward the road. Civil
Aatlon may c0mplacentiy gaze at this far
away nook and reflect that the world would
have TO retard instead Of advance could tho
duel ever again revive. 1t was the medieval
wager of battle" without the merit of its
attendant superstition; it made the trick OF
| the weapon the verdict of the jury.
The first duel at Bladensburg was in the
year 1908, between the Hon. George ".
Campbell and II. B. GARDENER, both MEM
bers of the house of representatives. Camp
/ bell was in the house from 1903 TO S09 repre-
senting Kentucky lie was afterward n
senator from the same state, succeeding 10
the secretaryskip Of the treasury and finally
becoming minister TO Russia. GARDENER was
! from New York. Their quarrel arose from
words spoken in debate. After several at
tempted meetings in winch friends iaterfered,
they met at Biadensburg on a cold. frosty
morning in February. GARDENER fell, after
several fires, severely wounded but he was
able to resume his seat In I. few weeks. Con
cerning the event, en- extract from The Ma
/ tional Inteligencer OF that date, signed by
/ the respective parties, stated that ''egery-
thing was conducted on the ground with the
utmost propriety."
The first death occurring on the Bladens-
burg field of honor" was that Of Edward
. Hopkins, an ensign in the navy. He was
killed in 1914 by brother officer. Both tho
cause of the dispute as well as the name OF
his slayer are in much doubt at this date
/ 1t is estimated that since that time there
| have been fifty hostile meetings on the spot.
Some have resulted amicably; some have &C.
casioned bloodless shots or wounds slight
enough to satisfy injured honor, while in 9TH
! ers at least one Of the duelists has yielded up
his life.
THE MASON AND Mccarthy DUEL.
! three years of life moro worldly honors than
Armistead Thomson Mason. No nobler sac
rifce to the demon of vanity was ever offered
on the field" at Bladensburg The great
popularity OF Mason was considered by the
FederaliSt party IS their only hope in the
campaign for the choice OF member OF the
house of Representatives. According to his
party's request, be resigned his seat in the
|
largely in that campaign was bis cousin, John
Mason Mccarthy. Between the two families
there existed a most deadly feud. The hur-
ried utter2Eces of an excited campaign were
not calculated to allay il. elimination and
recrimination followed, and, goaded on by
interested friends, Mason challenged McCar-
thy.
Jack Mccarthy, as be was famili2rly called,
was q dead shot, and, knowing the superb
ority, be i. said to his credit that he sought
to avoid the meeting. He was noble enemy,
for when he saw that the meeting was un-
avoidable, he determined that both lives
should be sacrificed, in order shat the family
ennity should end. and, being the challenged
party, he proposed in serious earnestness that
each man should SIT on a keg of powder and
be blown UP. This, OF course, was not in ac-
cordance with the code, and was not listened
TO. Els next proposition wGs to fight with
muskets, ten PAGES apart.
That was the picture at the Bladensbu-g
dueling ground on Feb. J. lS19-two men
armed with loaded end cooked nuskets, aimed
at each others hearts and only ten PAGES
apart. There was no voice IL cry out, no
hand upTaised TO prevent the murder. The
clear voice OF the second gave the command
to fire. Two shots startled the stiffness
around; two men fell, and when the smoke
cleared, Arinistead T. Mason. with ell the
honcrs OF bis young life taic., upol him, lay
dead, while Col Jaci, Mccarthy was severely
but not uIortaIly wounded. escaping death as
almost by miracle BE recovered, but ever
Rfterward. it is said. led 2 discon,ented life.
No wonder, fox if lie could shut out the view
Of the dead man staring fSedly at tho IN
pitying daylight, the other picture Of the
dead mans widow ana fatherlesa child in
their lonely home confronted him. THE
mourning, the stone AID the draping" were
the worl, Of his hand.-CIene Riley in New
York Star.
The total wealth OF the United States is
SCI. AS, Cox. 600. exclusive Of the public prop
erty and s., OPS, ,o0o, ,oo3 property invested and
owned abroad,