Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-07-21
j EDITORIAL ! !
-. RECOLLECTION Z

0bdtt, WuICll udtGS lis DlEtf1
from the bloody days of '63 dur
ing the Rebellion, / will a plain
unvarnished tale unfold of act
ual fact with names of persons,
dates and places, as clearly as
the same can be called to mind. ]
do this notfrom a purely egotis-
tical standpoint, but mostly to
show the vicissitudesof the good,
bad and Indifferent fortunes and
incidents inseparably connected
with the editorial career of a
rather inexperienced but zeal
Gus and aggressive dispenser
of political doctrines and To-
cal happenings amongst, to him,
a strange people in a strange
country, for some twenty-five
years following the close of the
war. As space and inclination
may admit many other Incidents
may be related, that may posi-
bly, repay the reader for the
trouble of perusal, and recall the
memories of the days of "auld
lang syne."
On the Fourth of July, 1866,
the first issue of the Union Ban
ner appeared at New Creek, a
then small village, the county
seat of the newly created Miner
al County. West Virginia, its
pages boiling over with patriot
ic sentiment. Republican politics
and glad rejoicings over the col
lapse of the Rebellion and the
return of peace, and the open
ing of this portion of the State
to the influences of free speech
and a free press. The day was
appropriately observed byanum-
Der of the Union people of the
county in grove some dis
lance from the courthouse,
though much bitterness still ex-
listed between the citizens on ac-
count of tie opposite sides tax
en- during the war, when rela-
tives and neighbors often prov
ed to be the most dangerous en-
emies.
The test oath held many Of the
ex-rebels in check but it CALLED
them terribly to fad that ON
their return after Lees surren-
der and the disarmament of the
guerrillas, the control of the
civil power of the country and
State had passed out of their
hands and that they could not
rule themselves nor even the
gallant boys in blue who had
shed their blood-in sending the
Confederacy to the "sweet by
and by"
Altogether, it was turbulent
time to attempt the publication
of a country newspaper, of such
decided and out-spoken political
principles, but coming as we
did from the free-speech coun-
try, and rather needless of what
the uncompromising course
we had adopted might bring
forth, we called things by their
right names and went in to win,
cost what 1t would in blood or
bitterness. And sure enough,
in less than a month from the
first issue of the Banner we had
a fight ON our hands resulting
in bloodshed and a dangerous
proximity to the ending of our
editorial career.
The encounter came about as
the consequence of a criticism
in the paper of a harangue by
Mr.. 0. D. Downey of Piedmont,a
candidate for Congress on the
so-called Conservative Dem
ocratic' ticketat the court house
at New Creek. AS the speaker
had furnished no argument
worthy of thenam or given even
a shadow of what we deemed a
good reason why he should be
elected to represent our people
in Congress, we had no show at
all to say anything about the
speech except in the way of rid
icule, and only wasted a few
lines on the subject even on
that line. But as the only point
made by Mr.. D. was the declar-
alton that he would always be
a thorn In the side of the Radi-
cal party as he termed the Re-
publicans we dubbed him the
"Rig Thorn and thus brought
down on our devoted head the
maledictions of the speaker and
his most rabid friends who
thirsted for our blood as the only
means ofwashing out the dead
ly insult that they claimed had
been pit upon their candidate
and leader by the editor of the
Banner.
The distance was short and
soon travelled from angry words
to armed hostilities; and some
what to our surprise, ON arriv-
ing one day at the Sims House,
in Piedmont, | was viciously at
tackled by Tom Paxton of that
town, very stout and quarrel
some man, a friend of Mr..
Downey's, whom | had never
met before, and forced to defend
my life at great disadvantage
to myself on account of the sud-
denness of the attack and the
superior physical powers of my
antagonist. To hesitate was
death, to resist looked desperate
indeed, but the first crack of my
pistol which | pushed up from
the bottom. of my pocket after
slight delay, as he was crush
ing me to the pavement, broke
his tightening grasp upon
my throat, and he FASTENED into
the basement saloon of the ho-
tel, three shots being fred by
me at his back as he ran, each
of which took more or less effect
but, fortunately for him no mar
tai wound was inflicted, as | |
only wished to save myself, not |