Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-18

Pons Through the influence Of Frank in
Pierce, then Congressman, General Jones
was induced to act as Cilley's second. Three
roun ds were fred, and on the third round
Cllley fell dead The hubbub that ensued
In Congress and throughout the country
was extraordinary. An Investigation was
ordered, which after long and animated de.
pate resulted In the passage of stringent
laws eharaeterizing duelling as murder.
In 1880 Jones again acted as a second, this
time to General John c. Fremont, who had
challenged Senator Foote, of Mississippi,
on the field of honor, but the duel was never
fought Eight years later Jones carried .
challenge once more from Senator DODGE.
of Wisconsin, to Colonel William Selden,
formerly Treasurer OF the United States
under Jackson and Van Buren,, but the
quarrel was compounded and the duel did
not take place.
General Jones and Jeff Davis,
Four days after General Jones' term
as Senator expired, on March 8,
1859, President Buchanan nomi-
mated him as Minister to BogotA,
the most important diplomatic post in South
America After President Lincoln's in
auguration he was recalled, and right hero
comes in a strange chapter of Senator Jones'
history. In May, 1861. while still in Bo-
gotta, and thinking in the absence Of any in
formation to the contrary that Jefferson
Davis was still United States Senator, ne
wrote to him as an old friend requesting
his good offices in the desired promotion Of
his son, who had been appointed Second Lieu
tenant in the cavalry service BY Presidents
Pierce. This letter was inclosed with
official dispatches to the State Department,
but owing to the unsettled condition Of
South American affairs and the tardiness Of
the mails, it did not reach Washington
until after Davis had become President Of
the Southern Con federaey. The letter was
accordingly intercepted and held at the
State Department, and, under the peculiar
circumstances, its contents were miscon-
strued by the powers that were.
Returning to America, Jones reached
Washington on December 5, 1861, saw his
old friends, President Lincoln and Secre-
tary Seward, was received at the White
House by the President, and was accorded
diplomatic dinner by the Secretary OF
State in the mansion now occupied by
james G. Blaine, facing Lafayette Square
Arrested by seuards Order.
At the State Department-then in the
Treasury building-on December 19 Jones
bade goOd-by to Seward, who on parting
pledged him over . bottle of wine, and
then took train to New York with his
niece, intending to proceed thence home to
Iowa Arriving in New York, he went at
once to the New York Hotel and registered.
Before laying down the pen and leaving
the clerks desk, he was arrested and next
daY conducted before Chief of Detectives
Kennedy, whose only explanation of the
arrest was the production of q telegraph
tape, on which was written this dispatch:
WASHINGTON, D. c., Dec. 19, 1861.
To the Chief Of Detectives, New York City:
Hon. George ". Jones, returning Minister
from South America, leaves here for the
New York Hotel Arrest him and send him
to Fort Lafayette. WILLIAM II. SEWARD.
No charge was brought against General
Jones, but nevertheless he was confined for
several months at Fort Lafayette as polit-
ical prisoner, and no explanation has been
given to this day of Secretary Stewards con-
duct IN the matter.
In this connection General Jones' last ac-
counts as Minister to Bogota, amounting 10
several thousand dollars. were never al
lowed BY the State Department and remain
unsettled. 1t is to have these settled by act
of Congress that the venerable nonOgea-
arian is now in Washington. Once wealthy,
he is wealtv no more, and he needs what Is
due him. Bills to that end were last week
introduced in the Senate by Senator VIII
son, of Iowa, and in the House BY Con-
gresham. Henderson, of the same State.