The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1894-07-25

one horse SlQc6 1910, huG tuat Ao1so J" -
the de,iverance Of tho hope OF the people.
he told what he did In 1875, and q ms
participation in the Hamburg riot. Wh1le
he wasspeaking of the Ham burg rot d:
IA. Townes asked Butler If his house aaa
not been burned by negroes because ne
took part in the riot.
s ayes answered Butler. Joe Atk1n-
son, Tillmanite, who was standing on
the stand. to the right Of Butler, said,
Eyes, but you denied itin Washington
Butler turned like q panther, and quick
as lightning said: That is lie-an 1nier-
nal lie.''
If he had stopped at this there might
not have been any trouble at that nme,
sbut he repeated what he had said two OF
three times. Men began to surge toward
the stand while Butler continued his de-
Snunciation. In an instant Charles Ham
mond Jumped mp on the stand, followed
by H. la. ToWneS, each with his Ghano
On the butt Of q pistol In his hip pocket.
/ It was then that the desperate men o.
both sides jumped upon the stand and
those of less courage moved of. Ham,
mond and T0wnes got behind Butler and
E,rillman's friends crowded around hlm'
The antagonists began to glare at each
sother and to talk in strong language 70
each other. Pistols were changed 1rom
one pocket to another to be convenient
for l1uick use. It was n squally time.
The excitement was beyond description.
/ Atkinson did not move an 1nch from
where he had been standing. He was
surrounded by excited men.
q General Butler quickly recovered hls
wits and work ed masterfully to check the
riot which seemed Imminent. Ttllman
did kewise. Each appealed to the men
sof both sides to stop lowering. They
begged those trying to get on the stand to
seay off. and those who were already on
to get off. Among some of the men to De
resdy with their pistols were several
known to have been In thrilling ARRAYS
and noted for coolness and reoka ess.
The uproar continued for what appeared
to be ten minutes. During this time the
hundreds Of men who had remained on
the stand had gotter ready for action. ]
know .it to be fact that almost every
.ruan had singled out q target for his pls-
stoI and merely awaited the signal to turn
loose. The excitement gradually s1Dsi-
gded, but, was really never suppressed.
Butler resumed his speech TO try to get
the audience back in its former d1sposl.
.tion. He grad duallv grew salty again, and
there YVES another outbreak OF cheering
for Tillrnan. Butleg got r1ad again, ana
said there was an attempt to drown his
voice with their braying. Any com
3jackass, . said he, vehemenently, may
bray, but I do not propose to be stopped
In: free speech by G lot of blatant jackasses.
4 cannot be frightened. have seen too
much of real danger to be lnumidate9.
Governor Tillman ssys ] am not In this
race. He says he will beat me. I say II
he will leave out his ringsand give sep
arate bnxI will beat him three to one.
II will beat him three to one in Mertweth-
ar township, where both Of us live.
Butler charged Tillman with being q
ring and caucus nominee. he said 1t was
charged that there Is o ring controlling
the. gabernatorial race. Hllmau, he said,
has not denied this charge. Turning to
Tillman Butler exclaimed: 81 dare you,
I dare you to give me 8 primary. You
will. never do 1t because you are afraid.
Even rings won't save YOU"
Z Butler attacked Tillman for his denun-
citation Of Cleveland. He took from bis
pocket the certificate relating to Tillman
at Hamburg. He said that he had not
considered It a matter or much impor.
5tance and had not intended to refer to It
again, but as Tlilman demanded it he
would giveit. The certificate Is as fol-
lows:
a..:This is to certify that at Hamburg,
July, 1876, We, the undersigned, were
present. and that B. r. Tllman was not
seen by any one of Us when the fight be-
gan. That we were in the thickest of 1t
from start to finish, and If he had been
there we would have seen him, and GER
tainly did not, after the firing, began.
s (Signed.) stW. 81. Hammond, T. a..
Hammond, E. F. Strom, H. d. Strom,
Jno. M. Hightower. G. w. Walker, Jas.
B. McRie, Jno. A. Butler"
The reading of the certificate finished,
Butter sat down. The governor waited a
few seconds and walked to the front. His
eve was flashing and he read the follow
ing certificate, refuting the charges OF the
other:
"South Carolina, Aiken County.
"To all ooncerned: This is to certify
that on the night of the Hamburg riot In
1876 we, the undersigned, were In the
town of Hamburg from the beginning to
the ending Of said riot, ,.snd that we know
Of our own knowledge that B. r. Tillman
was at said riot and that he, B. r. Tillman,
STAYED in said town and did his whole
duty until the ending Of said riot"
I (Slgnedl Henry Getzen, L. w. Reese,
J. o. Holder, w. 81. 81. Butler, j. G.
Hammond; p. o. Thurman, L. D. Reese,
G. w. Medlock, ]. F. Atkins, 8. B. Mays,
T.. A. Hays, ]. A. Zimmerman, 8. W.
Miller, w. 6. Roper, j. G. Lanham, j. A.
White, T. N. Zimmerman, w. F. Dobey.
As the governor read each name he
asked the signers if they were not with
him and they answered in the af1rma-'
tive. Another row was expected at any
minute during the reading Of the certifi-
cate. but it aid not materialize. A large
number Of men who had not signed the
certificate shouted to Tillman "Yes, you
were there! Wa we're with you and saw
you.n The Hamburg riot incident was
wound up ny the following from Cover
nor Tillman, "If any man doubts that
(referring to the certificate let him meet
me on the public square," While Tillman
was reading ten or fifteen of his friends
him. A whirlwind of ap-
plause followed him and hundred Of his
admirers warmly shook his hands.
Ellerbe and Evans had their usual
sparring match. The speech of tho day
was by Tindal. Mr.. Tindal said that
there is a matter of personal independence
confronting the reformers Of the State,
and It was proper that this subject should
be brought up in this county, q county re-
nowned for independence in thought and
action. The question was how to get a
fair expression Of the reformors of the
State for Governor. He proceeded to say
that under the plan adopted by the reform
executive committee the people will not
get an opportunity. Of expressing a fair,
square opinion. To illustrate, he said
that he supposed there are q, ,0O8 reformers
voting in Edgefisld County. If three Of
the candidates for governor should get
2, 200 votes the last man would get the del
egation to the State reform convention.
Mr.. Tindal wanted to know If 1t was fair
or Just for the man who gets 1900 votes to
get the county. That would not be an
expression of the will of the majority and
the minority man would get everything:
He did not believe that the people wanted
TO be counted out or to lose their votes.
The struggle of the last four years has
been for every man to have his vote
counted. Was the plan to be operated the
right one to get the votes counted ?
'sNow," he said, ~ have proposition to
make to the people Of this county, and
through you to the people of the State.
At each Of the club meetings let tabula-
ted statement Of the vo4e for each cand1-