The Daily Texarkanian., 1894-09-22

down to the little fiat together,
took off our coats, and laid them on
! the grass, and ] turned my back
around toward him and said; "Now
you see | am totally unarmed. You
can search me, if you wish. l do
not know what you have but | am
unarmed." ''Well, he said, am
armed, and will kill you if you come
near me-" He nourished his pistol,
and called me a coward. l said:
"Well, there is one thing certain,
the charges you have made against
me are false, and the Grand Jury
will exercise their judgment in the
matter" J." again told him / was
unarmed, and said: Il do not
know what you have" He said:
"Well, I am armed, and will shoot
you" He fourished his pistol
around, and said. "Ofcourse you
may shoot me; cannot keep you
from doing that" but you agreed
to settle the matter with me like
man" said: 81 do not want to
infict any dangerous wounds on
you, and do not want you to do so
to me" said; "If you will not
settle it like a man, you will go
back to town branded the coward
that you are Tie made
some remark about not
being a coward, and said:
81 will shoot you before l will do
that" l said: 'You are nothing
but a coward, or you would settle it
like man. We we're talking in
that way, and he just merely said:
81 will shoot you," and pulled the
trigger,
'It looked like it might have been
big gun. After he fired, | told
him: Mr.. Bryant, you have wound
ed me dangerously and you had
better take me to a place where |
can receive medical attention. He
did not do so however | did not
fall down, but started to walk about
one hundred feet 20 that little rail
road house where you found me,
DR., Lightfoot. was not suffering
any pain then, but of course felt
the ball strike and go out the other
side. felt a tingling sensation,
and knew ! was badly wounded. !
told a fellow there to send for DR..
Lightfoot. | then lay down on the
cushion and began to suffer intense
| ly. Those are the circumstances Of
the case exactly"
The above fact will serve to pre-
sent this deplorable affair clearly
before the public. There are many
Of the details, thereof, which, are
matters for the consideration of the
court, into which the case must go,
and are therefore not properly
subject to newspaper comment, as
their truth or falsity can only be
determined by preponderance of
sworn testimony, before court of
Justice. This case, as we have said
must be settled, finally, by the
courts, where the full details, axact
circumstances and extent of guilt
alone can be determined. We do
not, in any manner, desire to usurp
to the press those privileges which
belong, exclusively, to the courts of
the country, but, as public journ-
al we should be untrue to our trust
were we not to condemn this affair
in the strongest terms at our
hands.
That the shooting of Ellis, from
all the circumstances yet developed,
was as unwarrantable, as it was un-
fortunate, appears upon the face
of all the facts developed The
very fact that he was unarmed and
his antagonist knew that to be the
case, alone condemns the act as
wholly ineXcusable. That Prof.
Bryant is entitled to be heard in
his own defense, is certainly true,
and it may be that he can mitigate
the strongly eliminating circum-
stances which now surround him.
The day when men were supposed
to wipe out their personal differ
ences in blood, have long since pass
ed, in this and every other civilized
land, where there exists both the
bars of public opinion and legal jus
tice, to which an appeal may be
made, and all differences adjusted.
THE WOUNDED MAN.
The sound of the shot drew one
or more persons to the scene of the
conflict, The news was then swift
ly conveyed to the city and a large
crowd of citizens, accompanied by
one or more physicians, repaired to
the spot. Examination showed the
critical nature of the wound and