The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1893-08-01

/ Il
one instant that he would try to shit
J the contumely of this matter from hi
own shoulders to mine. While ad
mire his audacity, am astounded a
his impudence. 1t is but fair to sa
that as soon as Senator Irby disclosed
the cloven hoof, L at once wrote to tn,
Secretary OF State to return to Senator
lrby his letter of endorsement and Il
erase his name from my application
Under the circumstances | coult
not honorably accept any benefit
that might be derived from Senator
Irby's endorsement.
The following are the conditions, as
near as / can recall, surrounding the
or notorious "Craddock dispatch
On the morning of March ii visited
the capitol. as was my custom in get
ting up news, and there met Senator
lrby, who told me he had sensation
he would like for me to send to my pa
| per.
Then and there, quoting Mr.. Left
| witch of Spartanburg as his authority,
II don't believe Mr.. Leftwitch gave
him any such information) he told me
in substance what afterwards appeared
in the Chronicle. l was wary Of hand
ling the news and told Senator Irby
that would call at his room that night
and talk over the matter with him.
Accordingly between $ and 10 o'clock
p. M, Major w. T. Gary and myself
dropped in to see Senator Irby at the
National Hotel. After discussing the
matter for some time, probably half an
hour, Senator Irby dictated to me the
orgiginal "Craddock special. 1t was
read aloud to Major Gary at Senator
Irby's request for Gary's criticism
Major Gary was reading some news
paper while the article was being
dictated and in consequence had not
paid much attent on to it's composition
until his attention was directed to it.
L soon afterward left Senator Irby's
room and went over to the Metropoli-
tan Hotel and read the dispatch to
some of my friends for their advice as
to whether it should be sent off. They
with one accord agreed that had best
let 1T alone. l also came to the same
conclusion, and leaving them I went
down into the lobby of the Metropoli-
tan Hotel where met Mr.. Tom Giles
pie. / beckoned him into the reading
room and read to him some other
dispatches which l had written
in connection with the one dictated by
Senator Irby. told Mr.. Gillespie that
| could not handle the Irby dis
patch and requested him to go with me
to the Senator's quarters for the pur-
pose of returning to him the matter he
had dictated, and from there we would
go to the telegraph Office and file my
remaining dispatches, one relating to
Clevelands opposition to Crisp, and the
other giving some personals and mat
to Senator Trby's room handed him
the dispatch, and as to what conversa-
tion took place between us beg leave to
refer to the following letter from Mr..
Gillespie.
Here follows letter from Thos. D.
Gillespie, confirming the statements
of Mr.. Tillman as to what occurred in
Washington. Then comes the card of
M. F. Tighe already printed in our
columns, and an affidavit of f. c..
Caughman refuting Tighe's card.
Now, as regards DR.. Pope's resplen-
dent and voluntary testimony, [ shall
have little to say His sole purpose
was evidently intended, regardless of
truth and fact, to. extricate Senator
Irby from an unfortunate situation.
DR.. Pope was in Columbia few days
preceding the appearance of Senator
1rby's reply and conve"sed on this sub
ject very promiscuously. Some of the
gentlemen to whom he talked told me
that DR.. Pope had either lied to
them or to the public in his card.
(If DR.. Pope desires the names of these
gentlemen he can get them.) His card
is brim full of misstatements and mac
curacies. In the first place, there is
no telegraph Office on Fourteenth
street. In the second place, to the
best of my recollection the article was
never read to him, or if it was, it was
in the presence Of Major Gary, before
| left Senator Irby's room tho first
time. AS for his saying that | told
him wheneyer had communications oi
nom de plume Craddock" instead OF
81. H. r." it is absurd, for all of my
dispatches to the Chronicle, even those
of the most trivial character, were
either not signed at all or signed
| "Craddock." l preferred Il nom de
plume for the excusable reason that |
was tired of seeing my name in print
DR.. Pope has probably taken this op,
portunity to inject his imaginary and
corroborative testimony into this con,
trOversy for the purpose of settling an
old score. l once alluded to him in one
of my "horrible "Craddock dis
patches as running from the cable
cars" while in Washington. He has
never liked me since. There are other
things, too, that serve to chill his affec
tions. When DR.. Pope came to Wash
ington soon after the Inauguration tt
prosecute his candidacy FOR marshal he
asked me to puff him in the Evening
News (Washington) for the place.
declined and assigned as my reason
that | had other preferences. He ther
said that If he was not appointed mar
shall, he was q candidate for Cover
nor and that the next Governor
of South Carolina "would have to bea
Samps Pope for the nomination" He
requested me to telegraph this news tt
my home papers and start him q boon
for Governor. ! refused to do this fol
reasons entirely satisfactory to mysel
anc seemingly unpleasant to Dr. Pope
He grew somewhat testy and then said
"Well, damn it, | am going back tt
South Carolina in few days and dom
propose to ride on the Richmond s
Danville Railroad because it won't pa,
it's taxes. Will you telegraph that i?
l told him yes and laughingly suggest
ed that he might run his gubernatoria
campaign with that as platfrom
My conduct on this occasion was pro
badly tho inspiration of DR.. Pope's care
and is the Iliad of his woes ant
"horrOrs therein contained.
DR.. Pope Is sort OF amatuer journal
ist himself, and while in Washington
frequently passed away odd moment
preparing nom de plume production
for the Carolina reform papers, pro
, Tossing to give the political situation
, at tho national capital in all of whicl