Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-22
TALES OF A PIONEER.
Gen. William humphreys Story Of
the Broderick-Terry Duel.
HOW A WATCH ONCE SAVED A LIFE.
A House and Lot Wagered Against 500, 900
on the Turn ofa Card.
JOHN MCCULLOUGH In CALIFORNIA
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH,

| StorleS Dy 4SerS are Always interesting,
and no one tells them better than General
| William Humphreys. native of Philadel-
phia, and brother OF General A. A. Hum
phreys, of the regular army. At the Girard
House in the Quaker City the other day he
told me about the Broderick-Terry duel.
''1f every man is said to have a wild
beast in him." said the General, "a Cali
fornia politician of the period between '49
and go must have had two wild beasts in
him. The two interesting figures in Cali
fornia politics when L began to take any in
terest in public affairs were Judge Terry
and John c. Broderick. Both these men
had great and lovable qualities and ought
to have lived out their days in peace, for
both met tragic Deaths Broderick by Terry's
pistol and Judge Terry at the hand of j udge
Fields o Uni;ed States Marshal Both men
were singularly gifted with the fascination
| OF personal magnetism. Terry was the net
result of Southern culture and the best
| Southern training in scholarship. He was
delightful conversationalist, a graceful
and forcible orator, not unlike the brilliant
and gifted United States Senator Ed Baker.
who met his heroic death at Balls Bluff II
is said that Terry never lost a friend once
made, but he was very hotspur in temper.
|
'Broderick. fire laddie,' from New
York, developed fast in the hothouse of
California politics. He was manly man,
\ faithful to his friends; direct, positive and
aggressive character; nature that could
not and would not brook opposition. The
laws Of California as then administered
| could not stop two such men from shooting
| each other; that one or both should die was
| the natural outgrowth OF the California idea
| of reciprocity in mortal combat. A mis-
taken idea prevails In the North-frst,
that Broderick did not want to fight, and
second, that he was unfamiliar with the
code and ignorant of the proper use of
| dueling pistols.
''Not so. Broderiek had graduated in
| good school in the Bowery. Fighting was
as'natural to him as eating his breakfast.
He well knew that California was not big
| enough for Terry and himself. That he was
| perfectly au fait with dueling methods was
| shown in the first duel. He was killed in
the second. Extra Billy Smith, once in
ante-bellum days Governor of Virginia, had
| a bright son in California who was an ar
dent advocate of Buchanan, and young
| Smith, full of the fire of old Virginny,
challenged Brode-ick to fight duel. the oc-
casion growing out of one of Broderick's
| speeches attacking James Buchanan. The
| fight came of at the edge of a beautiful
grove near San Francisco, In the presence
of 2, 900 people. The distance had been
paced off, the principals stood facing each
other, when Broderick tried to hand me his
gold watch.
A Watch Saved His Life,
81 waved my hand, saying: Keep your
watch on; it may be of service And sure
enough, it was, Smiths bullet struck SQUARE
the open face of Broderick's watch. He
| reeled and was about to fall when caught In
| the arms OF his second. He was unhurt,
being stunned momentarily by the force of
the bullet, which lodged and hattened
against the gold case of the watch. Both
parties shook hands and that duel ended.
sit was intended that the Broderick-
Terry duel should take place in public and
| in the same spot that witnessed the Smith
Broderick duel, but the high contending
parties to that tragic affair were both ar
| rested by the city police and held under
$4,000 bonds to keep the peace. This did
not stop the duel, but it put an end to pub
| llcity. 1t was not because Broderlck was
a bad shot that he was killed in
| his fatal duel with Judge Terry.
| He simply had a presentiment that
| he was going to be killed, he was always su-
| perstitious; he was so nervous that his
| pistol went of before the word fire and
| Broderiek's bullet falling harmlessly at
Terry's feet, the bullet of the fiery Judge sped
in it's unerrlng aim straight to the vital spot i1
the body of the big Senator. His alleged dy-
ing exclamation, They have killed me because
/ opposed the extension of slavery and a cor
rupt administration was always SAID to be the
air-drawn dagger of a California reporters
brain. Those who ought to know say that this
sentence, which soon rang through the North
like bugle call TO arms, was born of the brill
liant pen of John w. Forney, of PHILADELPHIA
who was a devoted personal friend of Senator
Broderick. The Burr-Hamilton duel did not
create 4 profounder sensation in America than
did the killing of John Z. Broderick; 1t changed
the face of California politics ana Terry, still
the center of an admiring and devoted coterie
of friends (for he was the most charming of
men), received a wound in the public esrima-
tlon from which ne never recovered ="
A Story of the Faro Table.
General Humphreys is full of stories OF early
California life. Here is one he told me:
'The feverish desire to make gain swiftly
made the early settlers of California a nation
of gamblers. 1t was not an unusual thing at
Billy Owens back room to see man walk in
and lay down a certificate of deposit for SO 600
on the ace, having first asked the banker to
cover his bet. 1 once a rich horseman
come in and firing Of 'piking' along with $500
bets on single card he noncbalantly tapped
on the high card with his pencil as he said:
.Mr. Dealer. Pn just go you on the high card
my three-story brick house the Palace
Hotel against your 100000 and drawing
DetLer
these on the ten spot. Done said the dealer,
who was likely to have 10000 bank roll in his
pocket and a reserve fund of Sl00, 600 in a small
safe in the corner of the gambling hell. Quietly
the outside betting went on, and nearly all the
cards were out, the ace being the soda card
and three aces still in the box. The deed lay
on the ace. At last, when king, queen, Jack
and three aces were the only cards IN the box,
the better said: Hold, dealer: Pm til of that
ace; it's gong to split. want to put my brick
house ON the king. Are you agreedP 'CertP
exclaimed the dealer. He pulled Out came
the king. falling at the right of the dealer. The
bank lost. The man with the brick house won
$4,000. How will you have your money!
said Mr.. Dealer. Check IaconIcalIy an
swered the lucky gambler. The dealers side
partner filled out check for the winner. while
the game went on."
Recoilections of John Mccullough.
Speaking of Mccullough, the trasedian, Gen.
eral Humphreys said: --
"The California Theater in Bush street was
built for Actor John Mccullough. He was .
lion of the first magnitude. From the first
night he started the gallery gods and the pit
rose to him. His muscular rendering of
Spdr.acus, and his sublime patriotism in V3r-
gtnius took California by storm. Mackey of
the Nevada Bank, took to him from the first
night and soon opened the way for one deal
out of which Mccullough realized SO 900 in the
rise of 'Ophir stock, but while spending money
with the air of a 'matured magnifcio' the actor
was entirely destitute of the passion of ayarice
or the ordinary inspirations of thrift or desire
to save. The last year Mccullough played az
the California Theater his net income was $685.
OOO but when he died his entire estate did not
realize s25 700, when, in fact, he earned outside
OF hIs several successful adventures in mining
stock, under Mackey's fruitful management
over $50, 600
I'm the midst of "Virgiuius' one niSbt- when
the NOBLE Roman condemns his own son 70
the executioner's az. once saw a dozen cow