The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1891-12-28
\ FIGHT TO THE A
A FIERCE AND BLOODY KNIFE DUEL
IN A MOUNTAIN TOWN

IN A MUM AIN iOWN
IT was the Culmination of a Long Stand
ing Feud, and Was Precipitated by .
Car Dog-Sanguinary Results of I'm
bridIed Ferocity.
II was Saturday and Grading day
and the little mountain town was filed
with scores of both white and colored
naople from up and down the valley.
There was considerable drinking, but
| everybody seemed good natured to me.
| I could not see the slightest sign of un-
easiness, but by and by the captain came
to me as I stood in front OF the postofice
and said;
Looks mighty like thar was gwine
to be ~bloodshed yere!'
why, everybody seems peaceful and
| serene, SO far as [ can see"
'Yo' doan' know these folks. See that
| we're gatherin over by the harness shop:
| That's the Jackson crowd. See that
other gatherin over by the drug store:
| That's the Berry crowd. They're jist
! evin each other like two bulldogs, and %
| leetle mo- whiskyTl bring on a fout."
Is Ut1CIC any A1OA1IS w ~ W
crowds?' l asked.
Powerful bad. dun goes clar back
| to the wah. The JacksOns was Union
and the Berry's was Confed. Thar was
h~ouseburnin and Robin and shootin,
! and they doan forget. It's the fust time
the two crowds hev bin in town together
fur more'n a var, and l doan like the
looks of things
Cant the officers of the law keep
them quiet?"
"Ofcers of the law! Why, man, if
them crowds were to break loose fifty
officers of the law couldn't prevent blood
shed.'
The leaders of the respective factions
were men who must have been mere boys
when the war broke out. Each had
about a dozen adherents, who were ali
more or less closely related.
HOW H FIGHT ART
They did not seem at all anxious for a
conflict and might nave gone their ways
without a blow but for the action of d
dog. He was a mean looking cur AMI
belonged to the Jacksons. In wander
ing around he got into the Berry crowd
and one of the men sliced about six
inches of his tail off. The dog rushed
back to his master, while the Berry
crowd Knocked his yelps of pain and
fright.
All Of a sudden Steve Jackson stepped
to the middle of the street, flung down
his hat and shouted:
tom Berry, eff yo' hain't a coward.
come out yere and fight met
The challenge was instantly accepted
and within sixty seconds = ring vas
formed, and 800 people were looking on.
The mon were pretty evenly matched as
to height and weight and age. 1t was
not to be a battle with fists, but with
long, keen hunting knives, and you could
tell at a glance that it was to be a fight
to the death. At first there was much
jostiing and moving about, accompanied
by shouts Of encouragement to the men,
but after a few moments it was quiet
painfully quiet. think there were at
least thirty wome among the onlookers
and fully that number of boys and girls
from ten to eighteen years Of age.
BOTH
It was the first and only time | ever
saw men fight with knives, and it was a
horrible thing to see. AS o as their
friends fell back they rushed upon each
other with the greatest fury. Each
griped the other with his left hand and
stabbed and thrust, and each was
wounded four Or five times before they
broke loose. Not a person in the crowd
spoke above a whisper. Every eye fol-
lowed the men as they tented and
Ilo1oo1 lI-o ,-i1o G~1&o~1 o~I ~>o~ o-1
women shivered and gasped for breath
us one or the other of the knives drank
blood.
The road was dry, but without dust.
Presently it was dyed with blood. The
men slipped a little now and then as
they lodged about. Blood ran off their
finger tips, down their legs. l trembled
like a leaf. felt a horrible disgust, and
yet I could not move away. I felt I
must see the end.
When the fight had lasted a quarter Of
an hour, and man had eight stabs
and the other nine they suddenly
clinched each other, as at frs. Neither
uttered a cheer, curse or groan.
They stood square up to each other,
and hacked and cut ard thrust until
both sank down from sheer weakness.
Jackson died within ten minutes; Berry
lived about thirty. The one had thirty
three wounds, the other twenty-eight-
AS they were picked up by their friends
and carried into the drugstore to breathe
their last, the hogs running about the
village came and disputed with the
dozen dogs over possession Of the blood
pools.-DetrOit Free Press.
A Boarding School Supper.
A teacher in a large boarding school
for young ladies used to jest over a pupil
whose appetite at table caused her neigh
bors serious alarm. 1t was the custom
to have hot raised biscuits twice a week
for supper, and this girl, after eating six